Well the past couple of days have been quite interesting. Let's see where I had left off. Ok so on Sunday, Lydia, Alice, the Mamas of TERREWODE, and I drove to a health center in Kaberamaido so that I could see what a sub-county clinic is like. We drive a ways from Soroti and then proceed down this dirt road seemingly in the middle of nowhere for a good hour. I was amazed each time we would come across a "developed" area after traveling so long of just bush and little villages. At one point a lorry was driving in front of us packed full of people. The one person sitting in the back kept hanging out and throwing up. We guessed he was on his way to the health center, either that or just car sick. But he didn't look well at all and you couldn't help but be concerned for him. On the way there, one of the Mamas of TERREWODE was telling me how an increased awareness of delivering at a health center was actually creating some problems as there were too many patients and not enough nurses or midwives. Or beds even, as evidenced by an earlier blog where delivering mothers only get a bed if they had a c-section. When we finally reached the health center, we found a small building with a couple of rooms and one ward with about 6-8 beds. We met the midwife who was on duty and were able to see the labor/delivery room and the new bed that they had for it. I also saw the old bed outside...let's just say no bed at all may have been better than what they had been using. We walked around the clinic a little and went into the ward where there were several patients. Some new mothers who had recently given birth. The midwife said that they have on average 3 births a day there. Which is great that it is getting utilized, however, you also know there must be quite a few not coming to the center to give birth. Again, I was encouraged to take pictures in the ward and again, I felt pretty awkward about it. But a lot of them didn't seem to mind. Outside of the health center we saw some bicycle and push ambulances that were out of commission. They were originally out of use because the tires had gone bad, but since the time this occurred, they have just been sitting outside so now they are all rusty as well. I think TERREWODE had helped implement the program that enabled the health centers to receive these things so needless to say they were pretty disappointed at the lack of care they had received. We discussed how if a community doesn't take ownership of a program, it falls apart because people are too short-handed, too tired, and too under-paid to care whether or not the program is successful. Whereas if the community had seen the project as more important, they should have all chipped in a little to buy new tires for the ambulance and built a storage shed. It only takes 2 bike tires...not much for a community to pull together on.

After leaving the health center, we went to Bululu, the village where Alice grew up and where her clan resides. We first went to her eldest brother's house (Lydia's dad). No one stays there but it is out of obligation and from pressure that the eldest male child must build a house on the family plot. Alice explained it to me as the sign that the male child is successful. It's kind of silly. I mean, it makes sense to have family land and have the clan all settle there, but when many of the members of the family now live elsewhere for work, what's the point of the second home when you are struggling to supply the first? Not that her brother is struggling but in general this is the case. Anyways, we then continued on to another brother's house where we would be having lunch and spending the day visiting. This was a lot of fun as it was the family of one of the student interns in the office at TERREWODE. So it was nice to meet his family even though he wasn't there. When we first arrived, we sat and talked to Alice's brother while waiting for lunch to be prepared. He's a school teacher but hasn't gotten his salary since April. He's one of 10,000 teachers in Uganda who hasn't been paid a salary...some since November. Teachers are treated so poorly. Here they are the ones who are bringing up the next generation and they are forced to live lives of poverty by being in that profession. At one point during the day, Lydia and I walked with some of the kids to the borehole to fetch water. It was maybe a 15 minute walk there. And boy was I ever something to stare at when we arrived. Everyone just stopped what they were doing and stared at me the entire time we were there. I'm not surprised. We were out in the middle of the bush and here a mzungu walks up to the well. A bit out of the ordinary I would say. Once we filled the jerrycans with water, we tied them all on the bike and began to push it back. I tried to push at one point and finally one of the girls told me she was just going to help me. As in do it for me. Either I was moving too slowly or I was spilling too much water and she was afraid she would have to go back and start all over again...either way, that thing was heavy to push. Not only to push but to keep it steady. It wasn't the easiest. And here these young girls are just plowing through it. Anyways, it was a good experience. When we got back Lydia asked if I would be able to survive in a village, I said perhaps with time I would but it would be a huge adjustment. Maybe I'm kidding myself.

On Monday we did an assessment of a new district that TERREWODE is hoping to include in their programs when they scale-up their services. We were told to meet at 8:00 at the office. But minutes before Lydia and I started walking, we were told no longer 8 but 8:30. So we decided to wait until 8:30 to leave our guest house figuring we would still be too early if we had left any earlier. Well we get to the office and then proceed to sit around until past 11 waiting to proceed to the field. Glad we didn't show up any earlier. We finally left and drove for 3 hours to get to Amolatar District. We arrived right around lunch time so we decided to grab a quick bite before heading to the offices to hopefully find the officers there...it's funny to me that we would travel 3 hours without calling ahead of time to schedule an appointment but I guess that's just not how things are done here. For lunch I had tilapia. Probably 3-4 normal servings worth. And it was amazing. Me who has vehemently been against any and all seafood for 23 years loves tilapia. And now willingly orders the "fresh fish" when we're out. I'm even getting used to having the scales, fins, bones, and all sitting in my bowl in front of me. I'm not, however, used to getting the front end of the fish. When that comes my way I politely ask if they have the other half that I could have instead. Something about the eyes and thinking about eating both those and the brain still disgusts me a little. Anyways, I know Phil will be pleased with my new love of fish. At least super fresh tilapia in Uganda. After lunch, we proceeded to the district government offices and met with the city planner, the chief financial officer, the chief administrative officer, and the district health officer. A lot of important people. I'm getting to sign my name in visitor's books all over the country. Somewhat cool. They were very excited about the idea of partnering with TERREWODE and assured us that the partnership could start immediately once they receive some documents. It was a warm reception and an overall positive visit with each official. Which is good considering we were spending a total of 6 hours in the car to have an hour's worth of meetings.

On Tuesday, we were supposed to head back to Kampala and stop in Sironko District on the way to do another assessment. We were supposed to leave by 8:30. I think we pulled out at 11:30. Not like we had an 8 hour drive and several meetings thrown in there ahead of us or anything. So we start the drive as usual and then turn off to head to Sironko. What a BEAUTIFUL area. We drove up into the mountains and it was just breathtaking to look out at the scenery. After a quick lunch, we headed to the district government offices and met with the Chief Administrative Officer. Not nearly as warm and welcoming as the day before. At first, she seemed on board and excited...but overall, not a great meeting in comparison to the day before. But there's still hope that TERREWODE will have a good partnership there with time. We then drove to a health center that one of the women's groups that TERREWODE works with had advocated for. There wasn't any health center locally for the people and so they used the skills that TERREWODE had developed in them of lobbying and advocacy and they were able to convince a leader in the local government to donate land to build a health center. Pretty big accomplishment for a grassroots women's group. It is still under construction and it was quite interesting to get to. We drive down yet another dirt road with gullies every couple hundred feet that are underwater...there's really no wondering why they have so much car trouble...we then turn into the bush along a path that is maybe two-people-wide. And we're still driving in the car. Then we come to this little market place completely hidden in the bush. And people have to move their things out of the way so that we can continue driving through to this health center. We were laughing so hard the entire way wondering what the poor women in labor are going to do to get themselves to this place. Infrastructural issues? Maybe. Just maybe.

Anyways. After that adventure, we had yet another. We're driving along and maybe an hour or two into this part of the trip,  the car starts making funny noises. And then smoke starts pouring out of the hood. So we pull over, all get out (which, in and of itself is quite the process as there were so many of us shoved into the car that it was a puzzle getting us both in and out), and start examining the car. We soon notice that oil is pouring from beneath. Never a good sign. We figure a part is missing (probably broke off when the vehicle bottomed out in the first water-filled gully). So Mawanda (the driver) catches a boda and heads back to the nearest town. Because at this point we're really just in the middle of nowhere. He comes back with a mechanic who fixes the problem. But the car still won't start. So Mawanda hops back on a boda with the mechanic and they go and get a battery because they determine ours is now dead. During this time I took many walks up and down the sides of the road. And then proceeded to attract 5 little kids from a nearby house. So now we have the two Mamas, Alice, Martha, her baby, and Lydia sitting on the side of the road. Me standing on the same side but across a small ravine and 5 kids giggling and staring at me a few feet away. I found them entertaining at least and enjoyed making faces at them while none of the adults were looking. They would all start cracking up and laughing and looking at each other. Finally (after a good 30-40 minutes of this and several pictures) they mustered up the only english they knew between all of them…"give me money"...still cute kids but lost a little of their charm I have to admit. During this time, Mawanda and the mechanic get back and the battery isn't working. The mechanic and his friend hop on a boda and will "be right back" with another solution. Well. Unfortunately Mawanda had already paid them so they never returned. Nor did they put the battery back in the car after taking it out. So now Mawanda starts walking back to the town. The rest of us sit there and try to flag down vehicles passing but at this point, it's getting dark. And no one stopped to help in the light. Therefore absolutely no one will stop to help in the dark. And now not only is Alice upset over yet more car trouble, but I think panic started to set in as breaking down in Uganda in the dark is probably the last thing you want to do. Ok, I can probably think of other things that would really take last place. But breaking down in the dark is down there. Luckily, the next town had "a break down" aka a tow truck and we finally determined we will just have to tow it and spend the night at a hotel. Hours from the time we had first broken down, we were in the town for the night and hoping to have the car fixed in the morning. We eat dinner at a little restaurant and then find our way to a hotel. Martha had been walking around the town earlier trying to find a place for all of us to stay. As she was walking, a man sees her and recognizes her. An old friend. Used to be Lydia's family's driver and then worked for Alice as a driver for awhile. Talk about God looking out for us. No one even knew that Richard was living in this little town. He helped us hugely. Not only found us a safe place to stay but did so much more in figuring out car details.  To get to the rooms of this hotel, you have to enter through the bar out front. Richard goes first with a few of our bags and I follow. And even over the loud music you could hear people yelling things to/about me. Even in the dark I'm white. Wonderful. One guy said, "you are welcome mzungu" while stroking my arm. Let's just say I think they had been drinking for quite awhile. Richard stayed in the corridor where the rooms were until the owners had closed the bar and everyone had left so that we felt protected. It was nice of him. The bathrooms were long drops in the dark and the holes were much smaller than others I have encountered (I know, important piece of information for you). The showers were to get a bucket of water and find a dark corner...I decided to just wash my hair, my face, and my feet while still being fully dressed...those are the only parts that get dirty right? The next morning we learned that the car can't be fixed around here because what had happened was the engine had run dry of oil before we even knew that it was leaking, and well, I know enough about cars to know that oil is essential and if you run the car without it, you are in big big trouble.

So, we start looking for other solutions. We find a matatu heading to Kampala and all of us except Mawanda cram in. Mawanda stayed with the car which was going to be towed all the way back to Kampala where there are garages that can fix it. On the way back, we passed a boda accident that had happened just moments before. A young man was laying in the middle of the road, a lady was picking things from his pocket (so I was told that's what she was doing...I'd like to think it's not true), and as we drive by, people start running towards the scene. Check his pulse. And then grab one of his arms and one leg and lift his limp body up and carry it to the side. The scene just looked shocking to me as everything was done so mercilessly.  And just not careful in any way in any hope that he was still alive. Needless to say the whole thing disturbed me a little and I prayed for quite some time afterwards that God would comfort his family and we would arrive back to Alice's house safely. After stopping at the taxi park, hopping in another vehicle, taking several people home, and making several stops, we made it home. Safe and sound by God's protection.

The rest of the day was spent helping Alvine and Emma learn how to ride a bike, watching China (student on holiday who has been staying at the house) patiently help Emma learn, playing football with Aidah (which was hilarious, man can that girl laugh and when she laughs you can't help but crack up too), and all sitting together hanging out and keeping China company as he made chapatis for dinner. That's the first time I really was able to interact with him and unfortunately he leaves today to head back to school. He's a sweet kid and unfortunately the weeks we were all here were more awkward than anything because he (as well as Aidah and Raymond) are silent when around the adults. So talking to them was pretty much not happening. But I'm thankful for last night. It was really enjoyable. Even if half the time I just got laughed at for my accent. Whether I'm saying their words or English words, I get laughed at. Despite the fact that I would like to think I can speak English and pronounce things better than they can (though I should admit that I just spent several minutes trying to figure out how I was spelling pronunciate wrong before I realized the word is pronounce or pronunciation, not pronunciate). It's still funny. At least I don't sound out every letter in a word. Mil-lik. El-le-bow. 

Anyways, entering my final week here and so much to do still in terms of reports and grants for TERREWODE. As well as my own internship report for OSU. I think the days will fly by. A week from today I'll be getting picked up in Washington DC. Seems crazy. At times, it feels like time is flying. I look back and feel like I've been here forever. I'm anxious to get home and want the days to pass quickly and at the same time hope the week doesn't go too fast so that I can finish everything up. What a mixture of feelings! But what experiences along the way.