Photo courtesy of Alec Jacobson
Thursday, June 9th: We passed most of the day writing documents. In the late evening, Dr Kristen DeStigter finally arrived. Kristen is one of the two co-founders of ITW, and the person who chose Bwindi as the site for Paul’s project. The last time I saw Kristen was at the conclusion of 2010’s first implementation at the Nawanyago clinic. Somehow it does not seem like a whole year has passed, because of the multiple conference call meetings each week that keep the team connected. The picture below shows Kristen (wearing the cap) scanning a patient at one of the clinics.
On a different note, we have really come to appreciate the staff at the Silver Back Lodge. (click to see video of the beautiful setting) Agatha is the primary person tasked to serve meals. Based on the needs of the guests, many mornings this poor young woman gets up at 5:00 to start serving breakfast, and often does not get to bed until after 11:00 after serving the last meals and cleaning up for the day. The Chef prepares wonderful meals and quickly became a friend. He has given me a family recipe for pork chops that I can’t wait to make for my wife and kids. Henry manages the place. Today, during a break time, we tried to teach him how to play hearts. It was very funny to watch as his neophyte mistakes resulted in him getting the queen multiple hands in a row. Everyone here goes out of his or her way to make us comfortable. We will miss these wonderful people when we leave.
