We have had such a wonderful time in Mbarara. Tanner and I feel like we are being pulled in about 10 directions by all the people who are demanding us to spend time with them! Last weekend we went to church (Hilda's church!) and it was so lively. We were really into the songs and we even got invited up to say a few words (the 'guests'). This week we have been spending time taking a lady called Enid to the doctor, and looking at potential sources for goats to buy. We have found so far 24 brucella negative goats. Today I also ran a training session for the paravets. It was amazing to see them. At the beginning I told them I loved them all, because they are truly an inspiration. They literally got up at 6am and walked for 2 hours to attend the training!!!! and they were very patient, helpful and interested. We covered a good amount of stuff and they were really good at blood sampling for brucellosis. I even got a little emotional at the beginning, because it was where I met them all for the first time 2 years ago.
I have to go, internet time is low :)
We are fine, I got a bit burned today but otherwise in good health!
Friday, January 28, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
In Mbarara. . .
We are here in Mbarara, we arrived on Thursday. It is so GREAT to be back. The organization is doing very well from what we have seen so far. They have expanded the project into 5 more parishes, and just had a goat distribution day before we arrived. They gave out approx. 44 goats evenly distributed amongst the new parishes. There are a lot of new workers at FAOC!! They are fantastic. We really enjoy Shamim, Vivian, Alice and Vincent (the newer members). Vincent really reminds me of a friend of ours at home, Rene. He is cheeky like Rene and always has a comment. The past few days we fixed the car up, and went out to the field. I attended a goat training session for the new parish, Rutsya, and went to treat a sick goat. Yesterday we were out in the field monitoring beneficiaries and giving them advice on taking care of their goats. It was so great: the smells of the fruits and the warm climate are so comforting and relaxing. And the company is so great: we saw Ibrahim, a paravet as well and it was great to catch up with him. We also had the opportunity to see his garden (he is growing onions, cabbages and even watermelon, which is not commonly grown in the area) and meet his wife. I believe they are both HIV positive, but are on anti-retrovirals and are doing great in terms of their businesses (she sews and Ibrahim is a digger/goat farmer). They are beneficiaries of FAOC and Ibrahim is extremely knowledgeable about farming practices. He is a para-vet, one of the people who we trained to move around the parishes and help people who have sick goats (for a small fee as well for their time and the drugs they use). He was with us when we where visiting the beneficiaries: there were some pests on a cauliflower plant and he advised the woman how to make a herbal spray that will kill the pests. It is organic and a very cheap method of eliminating the pests!!!
Today we are attending an event for youth in the Kaberebere town. People are coming from the area to showcase their talents and of course we will have lots of speeches for them. I am also attending a goat training at a new parish.
That's it for now!
Ibrahim's wife and son.
Vincent, me (and a cabbage from Ibrahim's garden) and Ibrahim
A beneficiary in the new parish, Kinyanji. Her goat just gave birth, then the mother passed away, leaving an orphaned kid behind.
Shamim and Ibrahim with the orphaned kid
Myself and Joseph on the FAOC motorbike cruising thru the parishes.
Today we are attending an event for youth in the Kaberebere town. People are coming from the area to showcase their talents and of course we will have lots of speeches for them. I am also attending a goat training at a new parish.
That's it for now!
Ibrahim's wife and son.
Vincent, me (and a cabbage from Ibrahim's garden) and Ibrahim
A beneficiary in the new parish, Kinyanji. Her goat just gave birth, then the mother passed away, leaving an orphaned kid behind.
Shamim and Ibrahim with the orphaned kid
Myself and Joseph on the FAOC motorbike cruising thru the parishes.Tuesday, January 18, 2011
lions, leopards and hyenas
January 16/2011
Dear Journal;
We are now in Queen Elizabeth National Park. We have been doing some amazing activities here with Dr. Ludwig Seifert, and his assistant, James Oluka. They are running a predator project in the park and have collared about 20 lions and one leopard and have been tracking their activity and movement. There are several obstacles they face in terms of preserving the predator population. They are poaching, cattle farmers poisoning the lions (because the lions eat the cattle which are illegally grazing in the park) and lots of burocracy (SP?) and corruption from the government. So far we have seen 3 leopards (one which is collared and is named Kim), and 4 lionesses with their cubs.
Today we woke up to go out early with james and saw a leopard outside the front window of our house! Tanner saw it first and he said it was walking past the window and grabbed my t-shirt. The leopard saw Tanner thru the glass and paused. Tanner beckoned me and when I came I saw it but it was already starting to go around the corner. I saw it carrying my t-shirt as it went into the bush! So crazy! We went out with james and saw one lioness, Shifra, and continued looking for a pride of lions which is not collared.
The predators in the park are suffering. there used to be 9 leopards which all died during the anthrax outbreak. The lion population has halved since Dr. Siefert's been here, and the hyenas are nearly extinct within the park. It is too bad. We did see two hyenas this morning, but they are some of the remaining few.
They also have these neat camera traps which we have been setting up to see what types of animals are in the area. They flash at night and the animals look so surprised in the photos!!! a hippo's face was right next to the camera, it was a great shot!
We are having fun here in the park. Tonight is our last night and tomorrow we shall return to Mbarara.
Bye for now!
James, Dr. Siefert's research assistant, holding the antennae used for tracking the radio-collared lions.
Dear Journal;
We are now in Queen Elizabeth National Park. We have been doing some amazing activities here with Dr. Ludwig Seifert, and his assistant, James Oluka. They are running a predator project in the park and have collared about 20 lions and one leopard and have been tracking their activity and movement. There are several obstacles they face in terms of preserving the predator population. They are poaching, cattle farmers poisoning the lions (because the lions eat the cattle which are illegally grazing in the park) and lots of burocracy (SP?) and corruption from the government. So far we have seen 3 leopards (one which is collared and is named Kim), and 4 lionesses with their cubs.
Today we woke up to go out early with james and saw a leopard outside the front window of our house! Tanner saw it first and he said it was walking past the window and grabbed my t-shirt. The leopard saw Tanner thru the glass and paused. Tanner beckoned me and when I came I saw it but it was already starting to go around the corner. I saw it carrying my t-shirt as it went into the bush! So crazy! We went out with james and saw one lioness, Shifra, and continued looking for a pride of lions which is not collared.
The predators in the park are suffering. there used to be 9 leopards which all died during the anthrax outbreak. The lion population has halved since Dr. Siefert's been here, and the hyenas are nearly extinct within the park. It is too bad. We did see two hyenas this morning, but they are some of the remaining few.
They also have these neat camera traps which we have been setting up to see what types of animals are in the area. They flash at night and the animals look so surprised in the photos!!! a hippo's face was right next to the camera, it was a great shot!
We are having fun here in the park. Tonight is our last night and tomorrow we shall return to Mbarara.
Bye for now!
James, Dr. Siefert's research assistant, holding the antennae used for tracking the radio-collared lions.
goats
Dear Journal;
Today was another AMAZING day. We didn't get going very fast, but a lady came by the house where we are staying (at Emma's Mom's farm). Her name was Tushemerirwe Fatuma. She is a neighbor of Emma's Mom, Anna. About 4 years ago she found a 3 month old baby, abandoned. She is a clothes trader and has no children of her own, although her husband has some kids. She took the abandoned child to the police (because otherwise if she didn't go to the police and get documentation, the parents could come back and say that she kidnapped the boy). She needed some help/advice, and Emma advised her to put him in school through the universal (public) system, which is not as good as the private system, but it is better than nothing. She has been caring for this boy, Moses, for 5 years now, but she is getting old and unable to provide food, books, school fees, etc. to this boy. She asked us for help and we said we would try to find someone to help him.
Fatuma, the lady who is looking after Moses
MosesWe also went with Levy (the farm laborer) to get two goats for the women we met yesterday. We got each one for approximately 50 000 Uganda shillings, which is about $23. They were both young females and should be ready to produce in about 4 or 5 months.
We gave one goat to Nankunda Mercy, and one to Mangadelena Bamaryo (see previous post for pics). Hopefully we will find they do well and produce for the women.
We then gave out some of the clothes we brought from the Next to New in RMH. We had approx. 150 pieces of clothes in a village. There were maybe 20 kids to start with and they kept coming and coming! They were pushing so HARD to get to the front of the line and receive a shirt, pants, etc. Most of them were SO happy! The next couple of days we saw some of the children sporting their new clothing.
Then we visited a hospital. It was so weird. Most of the work revolved around labor/delivery and pre-natal education. Also they had tests and counseling for HIV/Aids and malaria. They have funding from the government but most of their supplies/maintenance comes from the Millenium Project (UNDP). Each month the facility delivers 100 babies!!! and there are 5 more facilities like this within the district, and some women give birth in the village. Sometimes they lose the baby, or die giving birth. Often transport to the hospital is a limiting factor. Rides at night from the village of Ruborogota to the health center can cost up to 100 000 UGX ($50) because the driver knows they have no other alternative for transport.
There are antiviral drugs also at this facility, but the HIV prevalence is high!! 9% of the people are HIV positive (approx. 1000 in the area). Only 150 people are on antiviral drugs. The high prevalence is because they are near a major thoroughfare.
HIV testing, HIV education and prevention are so important to decrease the HIV prevalence. And it is so important to educate people on family planning, as people have TOO many kids. Apparently it is a status symbol for men, and women sometimes compete between sisters in terms of number of children. Even the president of Uganda (museveni) encourages high birth rates. In this region, birth rates are higher than the national average of 6 children per family!!!!
We definitely learned a lot about this region and the hospital facility was quite impressive. They are supported by the UNDP, however. Tomorrow we are going to visit another hospital which doesn't have external (non-government) support, so we shall see how it compares.
first couple of weeks
Shifra, a young girl that was my shadow and a very wonderful companion during our time in Nshenyi village. We gave her these very sporty yellow rubber boots :)
The cattle on the farm had humongous horns!!! Luckily they were docile and not aggressive :) the people in this area are part of the bahima tribe, which are a cattle/herdsmen tribe. They valued cows!! Most of them didn't eat cows, but drank the milk. The cows are a status symbol so the more cows you have (no matter what your house looks like, etc.) the more respect you gain in the community.
Myself and Shifra
Myself and ShifraWe are in the middle of the savannah and miraculously we have an internet connection (what a contradiction!). I will try to update as much as I can on our activities, by typing my journal entries (which are relevant) from the beginning. . . I will post some pics later hopefully :)
Jan. 11/2011
Dear Journal,
Today has been a wonderful day. This morning we went to the villages to visit some of the beneficiaries of the 'ROAD' (the ROAD is an NGO started by our friend, Emma and it is aimed at minimizing poverty in the rural areas. I will write more details later. This is located in SW Uganda, along the border of Ruwanda, Tanzania and Uganda). We talked to a lady who has been volunteering for the ROAD. She has three children and looks after many other children. She is struggling to make ends meet. Her name is Nankunda Mercy. We talked to her about possibly giving her a goat and her responsibility with the goat: to rear it and give it lots of food, water, etc. She promised to take good care of it, and keep it so it will produce other goats that she can raise and sell off for money for food, school fees, etc.
Mercy and her female goat, which we handed out the day after we met her and her family.
Then we visited a lady named Mangadelena Bamaryo. Her story is very difficult: she recently mourned the death of her son, who had raped her. He had a 'mental problem'. She is old and quite weak but her daughter and grandson are there to help her. Apparently she had a goat but it was killed by bees (which later I found out isn't that far fetched). We asked her if the goat we proposed to give her would die and she assured us 'no'. We also told her she was not to just sell or eat the goat but keep it well and we would be back to check on how she is doing.
Mangadelena with her local goat. She had requested a local goat as they are more 'hardy' than the exotic cross goats (which are locals crossed with Boer goats from S. Africa).
The children in the area were so many!!! They came in crowds, crying 'mzungu'. Apparently some of them had never seen a white person before. The people here produce too many children! It would be very good to talk to them about family planning and instead of having more children to sell some excess food to increase their quality of life. 90% of people in Uganda are subsistence farmers, and if they have lots of food, they will just have more children!! In order to sell the food, they require good transport routes (roads) to move foodstuffs to market. Unfortunately the roads are not in any shape to reliably transport goods to a major center.
The children we met in a village. We brought some clothes that were donated to us by a used clothing store in Rocky Mountain House (Next to New). Once the kids found out that we were giving out clothes, they came by the hundreds running and shouting, in hopes of getting ONE piece of clothing.
We also visited a young girl, Prudence, whose father just died. She is 20 years old and is in Senior 4, which is 2 years from completing her high school education. Tanner and I spoke with her about school. She showed us some books on what she learned in school. The writing was excellent and what she was learning was very advanced. We asked her what she wanted to be. She said a veterinarian :) trying to model after me. I think she was inspired by our talk to continue her education, as she may have ended up dropping out of school and staying home to help her mom. She has 3 other siblings, and her dad was the breadwinner of the family, so she doesn't have the money to continue with schooling. We promised to help her with school fees in the upcoming school year, which starts in early Feb.
Tannner and I with Prudence, a very shy, modest Ugandan girl.
A lot of people ended up where we were and of course speeches were made. It was really touching. The kids wanted to feel my hair: they were so amazed at it!
Jimmy and Emma (our Ugandan colleagues) laughed when we went to get water and the local people said (in the local language, which we don't understand) 'Ah, for them they like water' as if it was so strange.
Jan. 11/2011
Dear Journal,
Today has been a wonderful day. This morning we went to the villages to visit some of the beneficiaries of the 'ROAD' (the ROAD is an NGO started by our friend, Emma and it is aimed at minimizing poverty in the rural areas. I will write more details later. This is located in SW Uganda, along the border of Ruwanda, Tanzania and Uganda). We talked to a lady who has been volunteering for the ROAD. She has three children and looks after many other children. She is struggling to make ends meet. Her name is Nankunda Mercy. We talked to her about possibly giving her a goat and her responsibility with the goat: to rear it and give it lots of food, water, etc. She promised to take good care of it, and keep it so it will produce other goats that she can raise and sell off for money for food, school fees, etc.
Mercy and her female goat, which we handed out the day after we met her and her family.Then we visited a lady named Mangadelena Bamaryo. Her story is very difficult: she recently mourned the death of her son, who had raped her. He had a 'mental problem'. She is old and quite weak but her daughter and grandson are there to help her. Apparently she had a goat but it was killed by bees (which later I found out isn't that far fetched). We asked her if the goat we proposed to give her would die and she assured us 'no'. We also told her she was not to just sell or eat the goat but keep it well and we would be back to check on how she is doing.
Mangadelena with her local goat. She had requested a local goat as they are more 'hardy' than the exotic cross goats (which are locals crossed with Boer goats from S. Africa).The children in the area were so many!!! They came in crowds, crying 'mzungu'. Apparently some of them had never seen a white person before. The people here produce too many children! It would be very good to talk to them about family planning and instead of having more children to sell some excess food to increase their quality of life. 90% of people in Uganda are subsistence farmers, and if they have lots of food, they will just have more children!! In order to sell the food, they require good transport routes (roads) to move foodstuffs to market. Unfortunately the roads are not in any shape to reliably transport goods to a major center.
The children we met in a village. We brought some clothes that were donated to us by a used clothing store in Rocky Mountain House (Next to New). Once the kids found out that we were giving out clothes, they came by the hundreds running and shouting, in hopes of getting ONE piece of clothing.We also visited a young girl, Prudence, whose father just died. She is 20 years old and is in Senior 4, which is 2 years from completing her high school education. Tanner and I spoke with her about school. She showed us some books on what she learned in school. The writing was excellent and what she was learning was very advanced. We asked her what she wanted to be. She said a veterinarian :) trying to model after me. I think she was inspired by our talk to continue her education, as she may have ended up dropping out of school and staying home to help her mom. She has 3 other siblings, and her dad was the breadwinner of the family, so she doesn't have the money to continue with schooling. We promised to help her with school fees in the upcoming school year, which starts in early Feb.
Tannner and I with Prudence, a very shy, modest Ugandan girl.A lot of people ended up where we were and of course speeches were made. It was really touching. The kids wanted to feel my hair: they were so amazed at it!
Jimmy and Emma (our Ugandan colleagues) laughed when we went to get water and the local people said (in the local language, which we don't understand) 'Ah, for them they like water' as if it was so strange.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Before we set sail
In three days, myself and my husband Tanner Barmentloo are returning to Uganda, and are planning to re-visit the Goat Project (VWB-VSF & FAOC) in Mbarara. We are super excited to share more information with the beneficiaries, and see how they are doing. We hope with our previous experience we can contribute in a different (hopefully improved) fashion, and of course we will learn more from the locals!!!! We are also hooking up with Dr. Ludwig Siefert, in Queen Elizabeth National Park, for a week, and we are working with some other friends to see how we can be of assistance in their projects/lives. Hope you all are excited to follow our adventure.
Pam & Tanner
Pam & Tanner
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