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.