Thursday, MGVP recieved a call from Justice, a friend of the group, that one of is goats had not eaten in 3 days and he was very worried. This particular goat was a gift from one of our doctors, and a very sweet boy,so we were also very concerned. After sending our technician to check on him (its over an hour and over a border from here) "Tommy's" illness remained a mystery, so the next day Magda, Noel, and I all drove to the Uganda border to pick up the poor boy. This was a quick trip since we were in the middle of having "rounds"with MGVP vets from all 3 countries (DRC, Uganda, Rwanda) and went to a lecture on socio-economics of the people surrounding the forest. When we arrived we found him to be very thin, but in good spirits. He rode all the way home on my lap. As soon as we had him back at the compound, he instantly ate everything we put in front of him! Labwork was all normal, physical exam was normal...my verdict was that we had a case of a homesick goat. We are keeping him here with us (and the dogs) for a few weeks to fatten him up before returning him to Uganda.
Saturday, Molly wanted to show me around Uganda and take me to Justice's farm. We walked to the bus, and I had my first public transportation experience. It was crowded andstinky, but not nearly as bad as I had imagined. As we arrived at the border, Molly took over, she had previously looked up exchange rates etc. and was great at dealing with the swarms of people that attack you as you get off the bus. The border is a bit like an old west scene, with old buildings and dusty roads. There was a slightly complicated system to check out of one country and into the other and you have to pay and enterance fee of $50 to get into Uganda. Molly then expertly negotiated motorbike fees and I nervously hopped on the back of one (helmet on of course!) We took a 25 minute ride over twisty bumpy "roads." Once I was able to relax enough to look, I realized how amazing the views were. Riding those bikes on those rocks is a bit like riding a tiny bucking pony, only heels down and look up doesn't really apply. I was grateful for my full face helmet when I saw that Molly's face was a very different color when we arrived from all the road dust! First we stopped at the very famous Traveler's Rest (Dian Fossey and others have stayed there many times) to make dinner reservations as Molly explained it was the best and very cheap. Then we checked in at the Golden Monkey which is like a cute glorified hostel. Molly knew all of the staff and we actually got a room with a toilet (other alternative is the shared hole for all rooms) and shower! Plus they had a Gus look alike named Barney- as you can see, he was vicious. We then met up with Justice.
Justice is a very sweet man who lost most of his family in the genocide. He, his mother, and his older sister survived. His sister was then blessed with two wonderful sons, but she and her husband were tragically killed in an accident, leaving the boys in the care of their uncle. Unfortunately, Justice works very hard at whatever jobs he can get in addition to selling potatos but it is not enough to feed everyone. My friend took an interest in Justice's family and set him up with goats and a cow who recently calved. This is now still barely enough to get by on and the boys were not recieving any education and almost no nutrition. My friend decided to pay for the boys to enter boarding school where they are only about 30 min from their uncle. They get proper food, and are being well educated. Unfortunately this friend is currently unable to help pay anymore so everybody here is trying to scrape together enough for the $200 a month tuition that covers both boys. I went with Justice to meet them, the picture is Prosper, the younger boy. I delievered the toys, clothes, and books that you all were kind enough to send with me, to their farm so the boys will have them when they come home on break. They had previously been robbed of everything, including the kids clothes and books.They are so grateful for everything. If anyone is interested in helping, let me know! We are going to attempt to gather enough for at least a year's tuition back in the states, $2400.
We left Justice's and again hopped on the motorbikes and headed to the Golden Monkey for a shower and rest before dinner. Dinner was fabulous! It was some sort of fish tartar with horseradish,tomato soup then an amazing salad of green beans, lettuce, tomatoes and other fresh veggies. Then came the potatoes, fennel (ick,) and the main course of broiled fish on eggplant. For dessert, my first since i'd been here, we had boisonberry crumble. Mmmm..hands down the best meal I have had since I got here..best part? With our NGO discount, the grand total was $9 including wine.
It was then bedtime, and time to mentally prepare for Sunday's challenge. Molly was taking me to climb a volcano.
No comments:
Post a Comment