6-23-09
So Its officially been a week since I’ve been in Bumwalukani, and I officially love it. I can’t decided if it’s the locals, the other volunteers, or the scenery that make this place so appealing. Pictures really don’t do a justice, not matter how hard my little Olympus and I try.
The Bududa District (a few villages combined) is set in the foothills of the mountains. An endless skyline of banana trees surrounds us. The canyons are filled with eucalyptus and bamboo, spotted with corrugated tin roves. At the base of the hills is Kiholo, where the guest house is located. People congregate along the narrow strip of mud houses to buy and sell their goods, and to catch bodas (motorcycle rides) out of town…
Mbale, about 90 minutes by matatu, is one of larger cities in Uganda. Last weekend, we all crammed into a van and headed to the city for a night on the town and to tour a local hospital. We stayed at a “nice” hotel with great good. (Nice- A hotel that provides a towel and a mosquito net. Bathrooms are not included.) It took about two hours for the seven of us to get our food, but it was well worth it. The next day we went to visit CURE, a children’s neurosurgery hospital. It is the only hospital in the world that treats only children with neurological disorders, and does most of it for free.
CURE is run by a non-profit based in the US, but they have hospitals all around the world. The hospital administrator, a mezungu from Texas, showed us everything from the operating rooms, the intensive care unit, to the pharmacy. We saw lots of kids with hydrocephalus, who had severely enlarged heads. It was heart-breaking at first, but then we saw the outpatient center where most kids leave in good health. The doctor who performs the surgery to correct the disorder has done more surgeries like this than any other doctor in the world. Pretty cool.
After visiting the hospital, we went to the markets where we met up with Jenipher. She had a long list of groceries to buy for the guest house. The markets reminded me of being in the food-mart in Thailand. People were selling huge bags of rice, beans, corn meal, and barrels of exotic fruit.
One man was witting in front of his table of pineapple. I thought it would be a cool picture: a bright yellow painted wall covered in muddy handprints from children playing, and the man sitting at a wooden table displaying his perfect crops. I took out my camera and asked the man, “Is this ok?”, pointing to my camera. I motioned “OK” to him a few times before he gave me a head nod. Apparently, the nod wasn’t a sign of approval because after I took the photo, he stood up and told me to give him money for taking his photo. His friend came over and kept asking if I planned to sell the photo for money, and demanded I give him money too. Little kids surrounded me asking me to take their picture so they could look at themselves. It was turning into a scene. I quickly pointed to the trashcan icon on my camera and showed him that I deleted the photo, which they understood. We were anxious to leave after that…
We headed back with Jenipher in the car before the rain hit. Judging by the roads, it had rained. It rained a lot. We took a few back roads to avoid the main road back to Kiholo, which was likely washed out. Long story short, we ended up pushing the car through remote farming areas. The kids acted like they had never seen mezugus before. Nonetheless mezungs who were covered in mud pushing a car through their village.
I was happy to return to the guest house. On Saturday, a group of us asked Mike to guide us on the hike up to Mt. Nusu. I knew the hike was going to be intense, but I think I overestimated my abilities. Five hours later, we completed the hike. The view from the top was something like runner’s high. It was a breathtaking view of the whole district that made the blisters and sweat-pouring journey worth it.
For a nice lazy Sunday afternoon, all 11 of us (including the new recruits) took a hike up to the mountain next to Nusu. Again, a hefty workout but worth it. I am not going to mention that I didn’t make it to the top and opted for a grassy patch half way up the mountain…
So, Monday rolled around too fast, but it has been good to get back into the school.
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