Sunday, May 29th: We arrived in Entebbe at 7:45 am (8 hours difference (later) relative to the time in our home of Forney, Texas). Paul was shocked with his first view of the African continent. He was not expecting it to be so green and lush. From the plane window we could see that there was a light rain in some areas. From the rain, the dirt roads seem to bleed as they twist through the green vegetation. The crimson color comes from the very red soil that exists throughout Uganda. When I see the red earth I am always reminded about the myriad stories I have read about the Africa which allude to the red soil, often personifying the land and making allusion to blood shed (Alan Paton’s Cry the beloved Country and Too Late the Phalarope come to mind).
We were picked up in a newly purchased (refurbished) Japanese van by an ITW employee named Picho. The start was not all that auspicious as the vehicle would not start. The battery cables were very loose with the result that the battery did not charge while driving. Picho found a cab driver to “jump start” the vehicle. This is where it got interesting. The “jumper cables” were nothing more than wires with exposed ends. To jump the car, Picho held the exposed wires on one set of terminals while the cab driver held the other end. For those of you who are now worrying about the risk of electrocution (or at least a good shock) – not to worry Picho – used a handkerchief over one of the terminals he was holding. Although I am not 100% sure about the sufficient insulating properties of a thin piece of cotton cloth, he did not get shocked so I guess all I can say is it worked. Paul was aghast! I guess for completeness I should mention that the risk of electrocution is very low from a car battery, although the chance of being electrically burned or of a spark igniting escaping battery gases is certainly not zero.
From Entebbe we drove for about 90 minutes to an area outside the capital city of Kampala. There we put up at a hotel called NOB View Hotel. The view from the hotel is quite nice. There was running water, but no warm water to speak of. I think Paul’s first experience with a cold shower instantly elicited a statement about no longer taking warm water for granted. Overall though, this hotel is quite comfortable, with multiple food choices and even a swimming pool. This is a far cry from the hotel at which I stayed last year near the Kamuli mission hospital. In comparison, this rates five stars! This hotel has running water and even warm water.
In the afternoon, we went out to buy tools for our work at the clinics. The idea is to build up a tool box so that we can be ready for any needs. This was an eye opener! Tools are incredibly expensive in Uganda. Just a simple low quality screwdriver cost upwards of $15. Drill bits, nails, hammers, wrenches, etc, all cost about three times what I would expect to pay in the States. At one point, the ITW guys (we were now accompanied by Collins, Allan, and Picho) suggested that we could get better prices on screws and nails at the small markets in town. Thus began an interesting adventure in haggling at markets which defy logic. I have absolutely no idea how these markets can sell enough to constitute a living. First there are three million of these shops. Each shop is very small but crammed with “goods” for sale. Over a half hour period, I did not see one transaction take place. Somehow these people make a living, but I do not know how.
The city is a bit hectic. There are crowds, noise, myriad smells, and a lot of trash around. Uganda seems to behave something like the way the US behaved in the seventies, when it was necessary to have television ad campaigns about not littering. Here, it is quite common to see people open packaging and just drop the paper and plastic wrappings on the ground. In the market areas where fruits, vegetables, and various foods are sold, there are often food remnants just dumped on the side of the road. As I mentioned, there are myriad smells. I don’t anyone to get the wrong idea. The city is dirty, but I believe almost all cities are very dirty, including the ones in the States. It is just different from the “dirty cities” of the states and so stands out more in my mind.
One other major difference is that people seem to be much friendlier here than in cities in the States. Perhaps it is due to our being different, but I don’t think so. I have been watching the interaction between people and it seems that in general there is a greater degree of friendliness and less isolation.
In the evening, we went out to dinner to a pizza restaurant. There was a very large group of us including our Ugandan team (Picho, Allan, Collins) our photographer Alex (currently a student at Amherst College who received a grant to come on this trip), Ben (soon to graduate from Vanderbilt and start a residency at Stanford in radiology), Debbie (a wonderful person, sonographer, *clans mate, and now third-year med student who took part in last years training in Kamuli), Ron (another great person and sonographer who took part in last year’s program and of course Paul and myself. Proving that insanity has no country borders, we somehow got onto a joking conversation about how a larger head size (see Paul and Ben) could be detrimental when bullets fly. The natural extrapolation is that a narrower head is safer as long as turned in the correct direction. This started a running joke about Allan disappearing whenever he turned straight on to look at us, and that an appropriate helmet could be constructed simply by angling two pieces of metal over his head. As I said, insanity and crazy humor knows no boundaries. We all got many laughs out of protracted joking about Allan and his occasional disappearances.
*From last year’s work during training with Debbie and Somalee (not pictured) I was made an honorary member of the monkey clan and given the new appellation of Mr. Mugerwa.
