Zebras, meetings and Kisoro

Alive and well in Uganda!   Arriving after two flights spanning two days, we arrived in Kampala to buy new sim cards for the phones (ours expired after 6 months of non-use) and exchange money. Saturday morning, our friend Tony from Mamaland Safaris, picked us up to head to the southwest and the town of Kisoro.  Along the way, we crossed the Equator where we stopped for breakfast (avocados, boiled bananas (the starchy kind) and ground nut sauce- a non-sweet peanut sauce) and Dr. Aavatsmark got his picture taken with his Black Bamboo t-shirt on...hoping to make it Black Bamboo’s gallery of photos from around the world (pic below).

On the way to Kisoro, we stopped at Lake Mburo National Park (NP). Our idea for the 2016 trip with students is to avoid Kampala with its traffic and drive more directly to Kisoro from the airport. This change would not only reduce the time the students spend in the car but will also give us the opportunity to visit Lake Mburo NP, a smaller park that is home to Uganda’s only zebra population. Staying overnight at the lovely Rwonyo Camp perched high on a hilltop above the park would be a great place to recuperate from the long flight and allow the students to ease into life in Uganda. We completed a short game drive where we saw zebras, impala, warthogs, Ugandan kob, olive baboons, black faced monkeys, millions of butterflies and a pygmy mongoose that ran in front of the car (photos below). A game drive here would also allow the students to do a comparative study of the landscape, vegetation and wildlife with the larger Queen Elizabeth NP we will visit at the end of the 2016 trip. A “comparative study” may sound too geeky, but we will design a fun problem solving activity to get them to understand the science behind the differences.

Arriving at the Golden Monkey Guest House in Kisoro was like coming home. It seems like not much had changed in the past 15 months since we were here on the 2014 service trip.  The friendly staff, resident dogs and food (yummy pineapple pancakes!!) remained just as great as the first time.  Torrential downpours of rain throughout the night kept waking us up as we continued to recover from the jet lag. This is supposed to be the start of the dry season, but the rains seem to be hanging on a little longer this year. Refreshed, we spent Sunday making plans for the week.  Despite my instinct to have every detail planned (with color-coded spreadsheets!), life in Uganda runs differently.  Most pre-trip planning amounts to exchanging cell phone numbers through email and saying “call me” once you are in Kisoro.

Today, we met with Festo and Godfrey of the Mgahinga Community Development Organisation (MDCO) who we hope to work with when we return with students. The MDCDO supports environmental, social and economic sustainability for the people living around the Mgahinga NP who were displaced when the park was established in 1991. Today, a thriving community exists with a school, agriculture programs, veterinary services, tree plantings, economic support for small businesses and student exchange programs.  Festo and Godfrey were more than happy to share their organization’s mission and offer ways for our students to work and learn in Mgahinga.  Our plan tomorrow is to visit sites where the organization does work and continue exploring service opportunities.

Grace from the Kyibumba Women’s Center came by at lunch to discuss our work with the Center.  Last year, the students visited the Center, played with the children there and spent an amazing evening at Grace’s house perched up on a hill overlooking her village (see last year’s blog post “The Grace of Grace”) and hiking to a volcanic lake. Grace told us about the many new projects at Kyibumba including new farming initiatives and the purchase of sewing machines for the women to learn how to make children’s clothes.  

We were also able to visit the workshop across the street with the UN supported Virunga Engineering Works that produces energy efficient stoves made with the local volcanic rocks.  The large stoves produce virtually no smoke improving air quality particularly for the women who ineviatably do the cooking.  The stoves are also so efficient that they greatly reduce the amount of wood needed for cooking. Jackson, our friend from the last trip and a worker who makes the stoves, explained it reduces the amount of wood needed for cooking by over half- reducing the need for cutting so much wood and the amount of money schools who often get the stoves have to pay for wood. With local materials (lava rocks), local labor and cleaner, cheaper and more efficient cooking, the stoves are a win-win for everyone.  The only drawback is the high cost of the stoves ($5000 US), making donors to fund a school’s stove essential. Possible fundraising for Watkinson???  Note: Jackson gave us gorilla’s carved from the lava rock.  They call it their ‘business card’.  Inspired, Dr. A grabbed a chunk of lava rock and quickly carved a gorilla of his own in a matter of a few minutes. Not bad for a first attempt (see photo below...Dr. A’s is on the right).

Plans for the rest of the week:  Tuesday- visit the many projects of the Mgahinga Community Development Organisation, Wednesday- visit Grace and the Kyimbumba Women’s Center & dropping off the books, shoes and toys donated by Watkinson faculty, Thursday- visit Katarara Primary School, Friday- gorilla trekking (how could we not do this at least once in our life!!) and Saturday- meet wtih Dr. Kevin Deikhaus and the other UCONN doctors at house of the government minister, Pius Birgirimana, a great supporter of work throughout Kisoro. Finally, the long drive back to the airport to be followed by a much longer series of flights to JFK.