Family Visit

My family finally made it out to visit me. We had to rearrange the visit a little, but we had a blast. They arrived late Thursday night and I let them sleep for about 5 hours before we were headed north to Jinja to go rafting. Luckily, despite some car troubles, we made it to the rafting site just in time. Rebecca, Zack, Jake, and I headed out to conquer the Nile. I tried not to spook them too much or ruin the excitement for them, but I certainly did throw in a couple stories that got them a little nervous. We also placed a friendly bet on who the first to be tossed out of the raft would be. We had a great time, despite the fact that both Zack and Jake are incompetent and unable to keep any sort of a tempo with their paddling. Zack lost the bet as he was tossed out on the 2nd major rapid, although naturally, he blames Jake.

Mom, Dad, and Leah took a less exciting, but still enjoyable boat ride to see the Source of the Nile River. They had a great time and were happy to see that we had survived.

The next morning was another early departure as we were driving the 8 hours down to Mbarara. Rather than put the family up at the one nice hotel in town, we stayed out in Nsiikye at the Montfort (where Connor, Brian, and Annie lived). That afternoon was filled with playing soccer with the local kids, meeting the families, and naturally being asked to help sponsor kids for school. While the rest of the family got to rest a bit, I had a bit of surprise planned for them that night and was scrambling to get things together. It had just been my Dad’s birthday, my mom had had her birthday about 3 weeks before, my sister graduated from Wake Forest, and Jake was about to graduate high school. I was throwing a surprise goat roast for them. I had arranged for goats, beer, music, and dancing. I invited all my co-workers and friends and we had a blast. The family was pretty tired so we didn’t make it out to the discotheque, but we did have a great time.

After sleeping in a bit Sunday morning, we were invited over to one of the villager’s home. We sat down in the living room of their comparatively large two-room mud-house. We were served plenty of delicious black Ugandan tea and G-nuts. Then came the main course of matoke, fried cassava and potatoes, beef stew, and rice. It was all topped off by some fresh paw-paw (papaya). We then gathered for some great family photos outside and played a little soccer. We then toured the small banana plantation behind their cluster of homes. We were given some freshly cut sugar cane.

The rest of the afternoon was more hanging out with the kids and another soccer match. It was fun playing soccer with the family, because Zack and Jake are just as cocky about their soccer skills as they are with their bball skills (which they actually have…). Watching them playing was funny, they held their own just fine considering we were playing with only 2 kids older than 12. It was a lot of fun for all of us and all the kids.

Monday morning we went over to join Miss K at Mburara International. We were warmly received and after a nice talk over tea with Miss K, the kids put on a bit of presentation for us that culminated in a large dance circle. Next thing I knew, Steve-o had on a grass skirt and was dancing around like a little kid. The rest of the family joined in no time and the students and teachers were all very pleased that we were participating. After the dancing, we moved down to the play area to partake in some competitive volleyball and soccer matches. The teachers (primarily male) can get pretty competitive when it comes to sports. We had a great time and the students who weren’t playing, we sitting around watching and enjoying watching the Mzungus play. We had a great time at the school and it definitely left a lasting impression on everyone. Mburara is a very nice school, but it is over-crowded and my family couldn’t believe that they had 3 different classes operating out of one living room with only 1 wood wall in between that only went ¾ of the way up to the ceiling.

I then took the family into the central market in Mbarara to have a walk around and to buy some fabric. My sisters are getting bags and dresses made. We also bought some delicious avocados for 100 schillings each (5 cents). That night we had a delicious feast at the Montfort with the seminary boys (Jailos, David, Dido, and Gideon) and Father Charlie. It was a good way to go out of Mbarara as the next morning it was off to Ndali Lodge in Fort Portal. The Montfort has been great to me and very welcoming over the past 6 months and I know the family felt very welcomed and comfortable there.

We left for Ndali early the next morning and got there early afternoon. It is a beautiful set of “bandas” situated right on the rim of a crater lake with a view of the Rwenzori Mountains and the rolling hills. We had some delicious steak and chips for lunch (quite a treat for me to say the least) and fresh fish for dinner. We had a nice relaxing afternoon and soaked up the scenery and enjoyed some sugar cane and Cuban cigars in the evening. The next morning we went off to Kibale National Park to go Chimpanzee Tracking. We had to tell a little white lie so Leah could join as you have to be 12 years old to go. No problem though and within 45 minutes we were watching a family of 4 chimps eating fruit and hanging out in the trees above us. We had a great time and I was very pleased we got to see the chimps as I had had 2 bad experiences before which you may remember (as I got attacked by some African Killer Bees… (killer is just for effect)).

That night we headed off to Amsterdam for the weekend. I had mixed feelings about leaving for 4-5 days because I am going home so soon, but it was a great time and it was nice to be with the family. We went to a bunch of museums, ate some GREAT food (at least compared to Uganda), biked through the park, walked through town, and other stuff…but I must keep this PG. I did crash pretty hard and did some catching up on sleep. I didn’t really realize how draining working and organizing the family trip was.

Anyway, I am back in Mbarara now after a joyful chicken-piss smelling and overcrowded bus ride back. Gotta love it. I have two weeks left and I am shocked. It has snuck up on me fast. I am working to transition my project to Dr. Kigozi Isaac. It should be a rather smooth transition, but things always pop up. I will be taking advantage of my remaining time here and spending a lot of time with my friends and people in the village.

I will try to make one more post before I get home, but I might not get around to it. If not, I will write a wrap up post when I get home reflecting on my time here. It has been a remarkable and rewarding experience. I have made some truly great friends and definitely have a different take on a lot of things now. I look forward to getting the chance to come back to visit as I know I won’t be able to stay away from this place. The people have welcomed me more than I could have imagined – not to mention they love my dance moves.

For those of you in the Boston area, I will see you soon. Now it is off to enjoy my last two weeks.

Kigali and Soccer Match

I was finally able to make it to Rwanda. My friend Connor and I left early Friday morning, May 1st just as Brian and Annie were about to make their trip back home to the States. It was very sad to see them go, but I was also excited to see Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.

We ended up catching a ride from a guy who was driving all the way to Goma (DRC) for work. He was taking materials to them to help build a school. It was a much safer, cheaper, and comfortable way of getting to Kigali. It worked out great.

Connor and I, after getting yelled at for taking pictures of the Rwandan border crossing, met up with my friend Max in Kigali. He has spent almost 18 months since 2004 working for the Millennium Village Project and living in Rwanda. He has done a great job picking up the language and was able to show us all around Rwanda. It is a stunningly beautiful country with huge green hills and mountains surrounding the town. On our drive into town, we saw prisoners from the Genocide working on the hills. I started to worry that we would be overwhelmed the entire trip by reminders of the genocide.

We went out for a delicious lunch where I splurged for an amazing hamburger (hard to come by in Mbarara). We then visited Max’s home and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out there. It is much different from where we are in Uganda as it was a true suburb of Kigali. Unfortunately our plans to head out to the village to visit a church in Nyamata that is a memorial to the genocide were foiled because it turned out to be Labor Day and everything was closed.

We went to grab some drinks at a bar / restaurant called Executive Car Wash were the principle is simple. You drop off your car to have it washed and while you wait, you go have some beers. Pick your car up, and drive home. Wouldn’t exactly go over well in the states. We then went and had some Italian food for dinner, which was delicious and met a handful of the other Americans working in Kigali (many work for Paul Farmer as part of Partners in Health). Definitely gave off a bit of a snotty vibe, but I am sure they are good people.

The next morning Connor and I went over to the Genocide Memorial Museum in Kigali. It was an extremely depressing and eye-opening experience. I still remember seeing clips on TV back in 1994. I don’t remember any details or anything. Walking through the memorial center, it was one disheartening fact after another. I struggled and continue to struggle to understand how something like that was allowed to happen, even though I know similar massacres happen around the world today. There was so much tension culminating and it wasn’t even close to the first time there had been a considerable massacre carried out in Rwanda. The most difficult section was upstairs where they had short biographies about children who had been murdered and how it had happened. They did not hold back details. It was especially difficult because I kept thinking about all the kids in Nsiikye and that these kids were no different than those kids. We had planned to go out to Nyamata afterwards, but we both agreed that we had had enough for one day.

The rest of the trip was fun and relaxing. We continued to eat delicious food, but it was much more expensive than Uganda. However, Max was able to put us up at his place, so we saved money on accommodations. It was a nice treat to get to eat some good food. The other striking thing about Kigali is how clean and organized the city is. Boda boda (motorcycle taxis) drivers all wear uniforms and have helmets for themselves and passengers unlike in Uganda. The streets are spotless and there are very few street vendors. NGOs are all monitored and even kicked out of Kigali if they are not doing what they are supposed to do. It is amazing to see how far the country has come since 1994. Although, I do have my concerns about how restrictive everything is.

It was a great weekend and Max ended up coming up to visit because of work later in that week. It was good to catch up with him and see how different everything is. Although, it was nice to get back to Mbarara where things are much less expensive (although still expensive relative to Africa).

That following week was intense as the last of my partners in crime was leaving. Connor and I made the most of the last week he was around and had a great time out in Nsiikye with all the kids. I actually started taking Runyankore lessons from one of the local Nsiikye girls in return for me teaching her some Spanish. It is going on well so far. Kinda tough because neither of us really know how to teach a language, but I am trying (ninjezaho) which is what matters to all the locals.

This past weekend, Danny and I were finally able to pull together an event we had been trying to pull together for about 2 months. As I had mentioned in a previous blog, too lazy to figure out which one, Danny has been coaching a girls soccer team out in Nsiikye and I will sometimes go out and help him with that. Also, the Mburara International school has enough girls to field a soccer team. We figured, none of these girls have ever had a chance to play a full 11 v 11 soccer game because really, there are very few opportunities for girls to play soccer at all. On Sunday, May 17th we were able to arrange for the two teams to play against each other. It was a mismatch in terms of age as the Nsiikye girls are almost all in secondary school, but the Mburara girls were skilled and had shoes…

We had a great turn out and had an extremely successful game. The Nsiikye girls won 1-0, but everyone had a great time. Danny is leaving soon, and I am as well, so we have put the coaches in contact with each other and hopefully they will be able to arrange another game in a month or so. It was great to give the girls this opportunity because really it is the boys who always get a chance to have matches and play. It was a lot of fun.

Anyway, that catches us up for a while. My family is coming out this Thursday and we will be going rafting on Friday, then back to Mbarara for the weekend before heading up to Fort Portal to do some Chimp Tracking then flying to Amsterdam for a long weekend. Should be a blast. I am really excited about them coming out and happy the finally got around to it. Will update you when I return from Amsterdam. I will only have about 2.5 weeks left after that as I fly home on June 19th. It is going to be reallllly tough to leave.

Magahinga

About a week after the study started, I also had to prepare the new MGH Guest House for visitors. Dr. Bangsberg was coming with the President of MGH, Dr. Bruce Walker (who is doing amazing HIV research in Durban, South Aftrica), the VP of MGH, two development officers, and one of MGH’s major donors, Mark Schwartz. It was a very hectic week as I had to deal with many Ugandan businesses to get furniture delivered, curtains made and hung, caters arranged, and everything else that goes along with furnishing and preparing a house. While it was not the most fun I have ever had, it was a very interesting experience dealing with Ugandan businesses. It required a lot of micro-managing and follow-up, but in the end everything came together and all the guests were very pleased.

The following weekend (Easter weekend), I was up for another adventure. This time I went with 6 others to the very south-western tip of Uganda (at the border of Rwanda and the DRC). We went into Magahinga National Park. It is the smallest national park in Uganda, but it continues into Rwanda and the Congo and is known for its extinct volcanoes. The countryside is absolutely breathtaking. In Magahinga there are three extinct volcanoes on the Ugandan side; Muhavura (The Guide), Mt. Gahinga (Small Pile of Stones), and Mt. Sabinyo (Old Man’s Teeth). Muhavura is the highest and peaks at 4,500 meters. However, we were climbing Mt. Sabinyo which is a series of peaks. There are 5 peaks in total, but 3 are on the Ugandan side and the middle one is the highest of the 5 at 3,650 meters (~12,000 ft).

We started off on the hike nice and early as it was supposed to be an 8 hour hike up and back. We were starting at about 2,300 meters. The region is very rainy and it being the rainy season, we knew we were going to get muddy and dirty, but that was part of the fun. The hike started off very gradually as we moved through the hills. When we finally reached the base and started our ascent, the trees around us turned into a bamboo forest, which was very dense and beautiful. As we continued up, the bamboo gave way to trees again. This time, however, the trees were covered in moss that looked very much like an old man’s beard to go along with his teeth that was comprised of the 5 peaks of the volcano. Very well names volcano.

The hike up was cold and rainy, but the fog from the clouds added to the mysterious feeling of the dense forest. As we reached the first and second peaks, the clouds refused to give way. Going from the second peak to the third and final peak, things got a bit hairy as the ascent was almost exclusively on wooden ladders that were not soaking wet and cold. The whole way along the ridge is actually the border between Uganda and Rwanda which was a pretty cool feeling. At the very top, we were actually standing in all three countries at once (Uganda, Rwanda, and DRC). Definitely a cool experience and would have been a bit better if I could have seen more than 20 feet in front of me… It was interesting to think about all those three countries have been through in the past 30 years and to be standing in all of them at the same time was something else. Uganda suffered in the late 70s and early 80s under Amin (Last King of Scotland movie) and Obote; Rwanda had its troubles in the early 90s with the genocide, and DRC has been having problems more recently.

On the way down, the clouds broke briefly and we were able to take in the amazing views of the countries. Absolutely breath-takingly beautiful with large green rolling hills, volcanoes, lakes, and valleys surrounding us on all sides. The clouds were creeping up over the steep drop-offs of the mountains from the Congo side maintaining the mysterious and rather creepy feeling. Made it all worth it.

It was a great trip and I am now back in Mbarara. Brian and Annie are leaving on May 1st so the next week will be hanging out with them and having a going away bash for them. After that, it is off to Kigali (Rwanda) to visit some friends.

Catching up...

I apologize, I have been awful about blogging this time out here. It has been about 2 months since I have written anything and I doubt many people are still following this (which boldly assumes people were at one point). Anyway, I will do my best to summarize the past two months in some detail, while keeping the length to a minimum...

So I left off with Lake Mburo, I spent the following weeks getting caught up with Mbarara life and everyone here. Continued to teach the Health and Life Style class in the local primary schools and played a bunch of soccer on the weekends with the local kids in Nsiikye (where Brian, Connor, and Annie live).

The first traveling excitement that occurred thereafter was a trip to Tanzania. Connor and I flew to meet Brian and Annie and a friend of Connor's in Zanzibar. For those of you not aware, it is an island about 70 km off the coast of Dar Es Salaam in the Indian Ocean, and it was absolutely beautiful. We arrived in Stone Town which is aptly named for it is an old town with stone buildings, stone roads, and crazy streets. Zanzibar is known for Stone Town, its assortment and quality of spices, and its unbelievably beautiful beaches. We headed up the West Coast to our destination, Kendwa Rocks. We spent the next three days enjoying ourselves on the beach with snorkeling and spear fishing. The snorkeling, unfortunately, underwhelmed us all because we just went using one of the beachfront shacks. Spear fishing was quite an interesting activity as well. We expected the guy would come out with us and show us what to do. Nope. He handed us three spear guns (Brian, Connor, and me) and some snorkel gear and told us to go shoot whatever we wanted. So we did. We swam about 25 meters off the shore to basically the same spot we went snorkeling in the day before, and began spear fishing. Problem, was, we didn't know what the heck to shoot at. There were tons of 4 inch long zebrafish, but who shoots those? We occasionally spotted some larger fish, but they didn't like to venture out of their holes too far. On top of that, people were snorkeling near by. Finally, after about 45 minutes, Connor had had enough and in his frustration during a dive, shot blindly at some zebrafish. Next thing I know, he is calling me over saying he shot one and was cracking up hysterically. I dove down to see that he had, indeed, shot a 4 inch zebrafish, right through the stomach. Soon some snorkelers came over, just as he pulled it out of the water and the woman let out a terrifying scream. It was quite an entertaining series of events as Connor immediately became ashamed and embarrassed. But I was able to convince him to bring the fish ashore, albeit in his bathing suit pocket to show Annie and Connor's friend. It really brightened up our day (Connor and Brian had things stolen the night before).

The next day we went back to Stone Town and just got "lost" wandering in the streets. It was great. Ate some delicious and well-spiced food, which is not readily available in Uganda... The next morning I took the ferry over to Dar and met up with Authman. Authman is a teacher at Kwala Secondary School which is the school that my friend Ross has been working with (www.newtontanzania.org). I decided to use my free day to go check out what Ross has been doing and the progress he has made. I traveled with another teacher, Comfort, up to Kwala, about 2 - 2.5 hours outside of Dar by public transport. I was welcomed by the headmaster, Mr. Ernasto Lulandala and was showed around the school and town. It is a very remote village with many Mesai (herders) people in the area. The school is in need of quite a bit of help and Ross is doing some great work there. Most recently getting a second computer for the school and internet! He will be traveling out there with a group of volunteers this summer to help build new latrines for the students and teachers. Right now they have 4 latrines for over 400 students and 10 or so teachers. Good work Ross!

Shortly after returning from Tanzania, I found out from Dr. Bangsberg that he had discovered he needed to start collecting data using the wireless devices sooner than he had realized because he would need the data for his grant renewal. This meant pushing forward with the approval process, which had stalled, and meant pressuring the company in South Africa to get the devices ready. Surprisingly, and very much welcomed, I got informed that I "had" to go down to Cape Town to meet with the company and pick up the devices so that they wouldn't get stuck in customs. I got flown down to Cape Town and put up in a nice little bed and breakfast. Met with everyone I needed to, ironed out some details, and got flown around in one of the guy's two-seat, single propeller plane. We spent close to 2 hours flying around Cape Town, getting an aerial view of the mountains, coast, Robinson Island (where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned), seal island (great white territory), and the surrounding vineyards. It was absolutely awesome.

The next day I went into Cape Town proper (actually Sea Point) to meet up with a friend, Rob Rosenbaum, from Colby. He has been in Cape Town since graduating working for an organization called CHOSA that helps the children of South Africa. It is a great program and he is really enjoying what he is doing, which is great. We spent the afternoon preparing a sunset beach picnic for his roommate's birthday. We had a blast hanging out at the beaches at Clifton and we got to watch a beautiful sunset right out over the ocean. Unfortunately, I couldn't stay any longer because I had to get back to Uganda to implement this study.

The study finally began about 2 weeks ago after I spent about a week getting everything functioning. We are now collecting data for 10 participants which is serve as the "proof-of-concept" for Dr. Bangsberg's grant proposal. Dr. Bangsberg's work will focus on this new wireless monitoring (and other new wireless technologies) over the next 5 years (at least that is his hope). It is really exciting to see that it is working and that this study will really help him get the funding he needs. This technology has not been widely used (if at all) in such a rural and developing setting. There are still a lot of obstacles to overcome before it is scalable, but it is a start.

Last tid-bit, as we were consenting patients to participate, I had a really interesting and rewarding experience. I went with one of the Research Assistants out to the individual's home and was told that this particular individual (a participant of the parent study), was devastated when she learned that she had graduated from the parent study and was not going to be visited at home anymore. When she found out we were coming back, she was thrilled. When we got there, she was living in the middle of nowhere, in a tiny mud house, surrounded by a banana plantation. She had old calendars on the walls as posters and they all had large pictures of Jesus in the middle. It was obvious she was happy to see us, but I still didn't fully understand why. Then she told us that she loves participating in these studies because it makes her feel like there is someone out there who cares about her. She has an educated Research Assistant visit her every month and she knows that if she were ever to take a turn for the worse, there would be someone there to support her and help her along. She said that everytime she gets a call or a visit, she has a renewed sense of hope and that is what keeps her going much of the time. This would have been enough to blow me away, but then she heads into the back (separate by mud walls) and comes back with half a dozen fresh chicken eggs and gives 3 to me and 3 to the Research Assistant. I couldn't believe that this woman, who had absolutely nothing compared to what I have was here giving out her eggs to me because I happened to pick her as a potential study participant. I learned from the Research Assistant that she never leaves that home empty handed. Sure enough, I was back there a week later and I was given a bundle of delicious bananas (not the typical yellow ones, but some enormous purple ones that are delicious).

Anyway, I still have a bit more to fill you all in on, but this is all the blogging I can handle for right now! Hope everyone is doing well and I will try to be a bit better about keeping everyone up to date. Take care and as always, feel free to shoot me an email if you want more details or anything.

Back in Uganda

Hello alllll and Happy (belated) Valentine's Day,

I am officially back in Uganda as of last Sunday, Feb 8th. I will be here this time until early June. I am excited to be back. It was great to see as many of you as I did while I was home. To those of you I didn't get to see, I hope all is well and expect to see you sometime this summer. First things first, if you didn't notice on the right side of the page there is a slideshow of some pictures! I was finally able to get that to work. So please enjoy. Here is a link to my Picasa web gallery (http://picasaweb.google.com/Josh.Kahane). This is where I will keep any albums I am able to post. If there are any requests for pictures, feel free to write a comment on the blog or send me an email and I will try to get some pics up.

Anyway, I am back to help implement the studies I was working on before. The approval process is underway, and now we need to get things in place. I will be responsible for helping to set up the necessary technology as well as help train the local staff and doctors. I am excited to get things moving, but so far things have been a bit slow. The test wireless device I was sent over with hasn't been working and the integrated voice response (IVR) project is moving slowly as the company we were working with in the States, has been slow to provide us with the assistance we need. I will also be putting together a business proposal for Mass General Hospital and the Uganda Research Initiative because MGH has fronted the money to lease a guest house here in Mbarara. I will be speaking with the head of URI and people at MGH to figure out the best way to run a guest house and hopefully make it profitable for URI.

It is good to be back. It was a little weird because I didn't expect to be so comfortable getting back. Everything was already familiar. It felt just like a brief holiday away. I immediately went out to dinner for some delicious roasted goat at Lord's Bar with Brian, Connor, Annie, and Jacquelyn (Connor gf who is visiting). It was great to be back and hanging out with them again. It was also great to see my co-workers and Ugandan friends as well as some of the other docs and American friends I became close with.

On Wednesday I got a call from Brian telling me that they just bought two baby goats. It wasn't until Friday that I got to check them out, but Brian, Annie, and Connor then had two baby goats (Thelma and Louise) they were bottle feeding and letting roam around their compound. Thelma wasn't able to "bah" so well, it sounded more like some sort of sick bird. They wouldn't let me too close to the goats for a while because of my slaughtering experience. But soon they realized I wasn't actually going to try to slaughter their baby goats, they don't have enough meat on them yet...

Thursday night I discovered that one of my friends, Dean (American), has decided to run a pizzeria out of his apartment on Thursday nights. He ended up making 24 pizzas out of his 6x6 kitchen for all our friends. About 15 of us all ate, drank, and listened to Dean play guitar together. It was a good way to celebrate my being back. Dean also needed to practice because he got himself a music gig at Lakeview Hotel for Valentine's Day. He thought it was going to just be a small thing, but then found out they were advertising it all over the radio. I wasn't able to go to the show, but it sounded like it went well.

This past weekend, Brian, Connor, Annie, Jacquelyn and I all went to Lake Mburo NP to go camping for a night. Unfortunately, we got a little delayed because one of the goats got really sick. Thelma woke up Saturday morning and wasn't able to walk or hold her own head up. After trying to feed her milk, ORS (oral rehydration solution), walking around town asking for help, and taking her to the Vet, Thelma passed away. All of the Ugandans were surprised that Annie was especially sad, because the goat only cost them 20,000 shs (10 bucks) and was so young. It was interesting to really witness this because it seems like it should be such a sad thing, but it is just far too common and inconsequential for people here to really worry about. On a brighter note, Louise has benefitted from the extra attention and is fattening up quite nicely. I was even allowed to feed her last night.

We spent the night camping right on the shore of Lake Mburo. We had a good time lighting a camp fire and drinking some boxed wine to celebrate Valentine's Day. The next morning we woke up and went on a nature walk that didn't really end up being very exciting. We didn't get to see many animals by the lake side because it is the rainy season and the animals had all moved inland. However, we then went on a game drive and saw a whole bunch of Zebras. Lake Mburo is the only place in Uganda that has Zebras. It also had been without Lions for a long time because during the Idi Amin era, they were all hunted. However, within the past month, there have been a couple viewings of a small pride of Lions. This has spooked a lot of the animals that seemed to still be far more comfortable with the car approaching them than in the other game parks.

Anyway, it was a good first weekend back and I am looking forward to what's to come (trip to Rwanda, trip to Murchinson Falls, and possibly a trip to Tanzania).