This nearly 3 week journey starts off with Jenny and I arriving in Entebbe very late and driving another hour to Kampala on the same night. We drive for an hour or so in the pitch dark, lit up only when cars come in the opposite direction. I get anxious driving this long stretch of semi-paved road in the dark as drunk-driving is a common pastime activity for the locals ....while rules of the road seldom exist.
Once in Kampala, Jenny and I get our stuff organized at our host and grab a hot tea to settle down from our travels. The house is quiet as the children are fast asleep and we are also ready for bed.
The morning starts off with children bursting through the door greeting Jenny and I. They have been eager to see us and hug us, and play with us, and quick to ask what we brought to them as gifts. While I am a huge fan of teaching children manners, I let this one slide and just enjoy meeting everyone at the home of our host. Morning breakfast is similar to what we ate the night before, toast and tea however, Uganda toast seems to taste a whole lot better once other options are set out in front of you. But we are still fresh off the plane and find most things exciting to try out.
We spent a few days in Kampala, meeting with stakeholders, getting some admin work done, and buying all that we will or think we need in Masaka.
Once in Masaka our options become very limited in purchasing most things, but converting money is the major one. Jenny also hooks me up with doxycycline (made in India) and this will become a key 'culprit' in the first few days in Masaka.
Just in a few days, we get ready to head to Masaka. Our driver is arranged through connections and friends which saves us from the crowded public transport we usually have to endure on these journeys. Though we aren't totally convinced this is a good idea, it gives us the flexibility to stop wherever we want to ....which I requested at the start of our journey.....the Equator!
On this trip, we also bring along a young male translator who is from a smaller village himself but currently resides in Kampala. At first I was skeptical about using a young city boy to translate for us in the village but for now, I was not fully voicing my concerns.
Since I have been taking the doxy, the last 2 days or so, I have been feeling extremely ill. During the days I felt fine, but each night I was sweaty, with chills and crazy stomach ache. Nausea, followed by crazy diarrhea. Hmmmm, 2 nurses on this trip, yet neither of us can figure out what is going on with me. Once in Masaka, Renata gets worse.
We hold our staff meeting and develop our plan for the next 14 days. I try to remain focused and take notes along the way, but my body wants to get horizontal. After the meeting we make a group decision to stay at a friend's place in the village however, I became extremely ill, and this time, we are off to the closest hotel.
Since we have planned to do 7 days of simultaneous visits to each of our micro-finance groups, deciding to stay at a hotel was probably the smartest move. After about 2 days of walking, meeting Thrive group members, and feasting on delicious jack-fruit and local meals, the nurses come to an educated guess, aka, diagnosis: Renata was reacting to the Doxy. I have never had an issue with taking doxy however, a dear nursing friend once warned against taking Indian made doxy (or any medication for that matter) in Uganda. However, this same nursing friend, bought me doxy (made in India) ....and let me suffer for 3 days. I blamed Jenny for my suffering....but at least it is confirmed that generic brands for medications do not work for everyone ...
Oh well. We realized that after 14-15 hour days of walking and meeting people, and consuming large amount of feasts which were prepared for us, having a hotel room was key to sustaining our momentum and give us the 4-6 free hours to recharge. While the shower and toilets worked, they were bare minimum. However, by day 3, we got bumped up to the executive suit, because staff decided to burn garbage next to our window. We woke up in distress from the fumes and choked by the black smoke entering our room. Feeling better from stopping the doxy, but now inhaling carbon monoxide from burning garbage. Run! And this is why we were upgraded.
Before I explain our 7 day village visits, I must give a little more detail of our executive suit. It was big, lavish, and yes, the shower was broken, and the mozie net did not protect me, the one without malaria protection. I guess we were both unprotected against malaria since Jenny cannot take any of the malaria meds.....this meant we had the best room in this hotel, and wished that we still had our old room but without the fumes. Never mind, we had a lot of work ahead of us. (But it is important to note that staying in a hotel.....still drains our energy, in a way)
By Day 2 of M&E, we had the routine down. Though we have realized that by the afternoon our energy fades to bare minimum, we still had to continue on with the show. Each morning we started fresh, but by the final visit we had to force our smiles to the eager crowd.
It was wonderful to hear each participant's testimony. The stories were telling of the successes and challenges which come with the savings groups. But most importantly, tears of joys were common in each story as it was filled with gratitude for Thrive and the project's commitment. It was both exhilarating and also difficult for us to hear the systematic limitations which has cursed this country.
Day 3-4-5 seemed to mold into one long day with a nap between each. Getting home each night was pure exhaustion, and each morning, brainstorming and documenting new ideas and plans. The food was ok at the hotel, but much more AMAZING in the villages. We both tried to not offend anyone by refusing to eat, so our bellies were exploding by the end of each day. Also, as we walked through each village, we gathered gifts given to us by the thankful Thrive participants. We had kgs of fruits, baskets and mats to carry with us. Of course, transportation remained our worst nightmare. After the morning rush hour, finding rides home was nearly impossible. But we somehow managed each day.
Our translator, while lovely, was not the best fit for this project. He continued to wear urban attire while Jenny and I were trying to assimilate by wearing clothes which resemble people living in the villages. I felt that this created a little barrier between him and group members and maybe even lost some of the trust in being open with their stories. But either way, we managed to complete 7 days of walking and talking and develop our evaluation which we set out to do. The final day 7 or 8, I am losing my memory on this, we managed to only visit homes. We walked nearly 14 hours with 3 of our staff and visited nearly 10 homes just to see the fruits of our work on the ground. We were hungry, thirsty and sun burnt.
In order to celebrate our final night, we had a big dinner with all of us (3 staff and 2 of us) and even had time for some silly pictures on the Zebra statue outside our hotel.
Getting back to Kampala was again a nerve wracking experience. We had only a few days left to meet with stakeholders and decide on some big steps for the future of Thrive. I was also going to leave Jenny alone for a week because my ticket to Europe was waiting, and I had to attend meetings which have been planned along the way.
Overall, we had a wonderful time in Uganda but I'm sure this isn't my last time.
Off to Amsterdam on Feb 4.
- R :-)
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