It turned out that Geoff was an IT specialist back in the UK, and so the next day he came along as Mercy showed me around and we began to assess at least some of the situations that our attention could possibly rectify.
I had been nervous in the days leading up to this day about how helpful I would be. Although I had these two degrees in this very advanced field, I felt I had little experience, or at least, my experience was limited to lab projects designed to work in the end, and I did not want to try things that could make matters worse. Within an hour of working with Geoff and Mercy, however, I felt so much better. In that first hour, we assessed that all of these industrial sized un-interruptable power sources (UPSs), which are large batteries you charge up with AC power, were, unfortunately, useless. They had been donated from Ireland and other parts of Europe, probably as scrap that was cheaper to send here than have disposed of properly. What it boiled down to was that the energy resources here would never, ever be able to supply the 16A and amount of power required to charge up these UPSs, and so they could not be used here. :(
There was another smaller UPS that did show some promise. Although it did not seem to be recieving enough power either, we thought perhaps the power it was receiving was just not clean/stable enough, it did function as a surge protector and Mercy had been running her desktop computer with. After trying to charge it with some other equipment and at different locations, we realized that this UPS, too, would not be able to recieve enough power to charge here.
From there, we went to a computer in the hospital where staff enter patient records and data. Due to viruses brought in by previous internet connections (there was no connection now) and by people connecting USB drives that had picked up things in public internet cafes, the computer would LOSE this data, routinely. The first steps to take there, we decided, would be to install anti-virus software I had brought down, maybe re-install the OS, and then instate a restricted access system to these computers, or to the USB ports, which Mercy would regulate.
Besides cleaning up all the other computers around, other network connections and wirings need to be fixed/created/secured, organized, and documented so that when Mercy leaves, her successor will have some idea of what is going on.
Ok, so that was Friday. On Saturday, Geoff and I did more work with the computers, fixing some computers in administration and also a linux computer that had been used for running
OpenMRS, an open source web-based medical records system that had been working a few months ago. It was set up by another volunteer, but stopped working shortly after he
left and had been sitting collecting dust ever since. Getting the system to work again required hacking in to the computer and changing administrative settings and passwords. Once we fixed those things, the computer worked very well, and now the use of OpenMRS needs to be reinstated. People will need to be taught how to use it. Because of the nature and availability of open source software and linux's low susceptibility to viruses, it is the most ideal OS for computeres here.
We spent the morning working with Mercy and then broke for lunch. By now, I had met Colin, a doctor from Scotland who had been here for some time, and newlyweds Jeff and Angela, a doctor and nurse, respectively, who had arrived then night before. We had lunch in the guest house (spaghetti, cabbage, bananas? and something else I think) before going on a little adventure in the afternoon.
A quick word about bananas- in the rest of the world, there is one kind of banana, the genetically enhanced and stately Cavendish. And it is sweet. Here, there is a different kind of banana for everything- there is a sweet one for eating fresh, a starchy one for cooking (like potatoes), one for juice, one for fermenting, and I think the list goes on.
Saturday afternoon was very exciting. I mentioned that Geoff was here working on introducing the bio-sand filters here. This afternoon, he was going to go to the orphanage
in Caberisi (?) where John was working to check on the progress of two sand filters that had been set up there. Angela and I went along with him, each of us riding on the back of a motorcycle, or boda boda, whos drivers we had negotiated the price of the trip with before leaving. We knew what was an appropriate fare, and haggled our way mostly there from 8000 ush to 4000 ush, there and back.
The orphanage was beautiful, and the children were all friendly and adorable. They loved holding our hands and being picked up, and the smaller ones all wanted to be picked up and given a little toss in the air (you know what I mean). There were 4 houses, with a 5th one being built, where the children and mothers/caretakers lived. One was designated for the youngest babies, and there, each mother slept in a room with anywhere from 3 to 8 babies, some in cribs, and up to 4 in their beds with them. The mothers of the children at the orphanage had died in childbirth. The houses were constructed very well, it was a very good establishment, started by one woman on her own a long time ago, and run now by her daughter, I think.
The sand filters were working wonderfully, Geoff even performed the Muzungu Test, drinking a cup of water himself, and survived (muzungu is the term for white person).
We returned to Kagando where Angela decided to stay, and then Geoff and I went on in the other direction to a village where he had a friend he needed to visit. I went along for the opportunity to see a real village and local people and to see the sand filter he had helped set up there, which I was very interested.
For this portion of the ride, I rode the boda boda sidesaddle, which is the appropriate way for a lady to ride. On the first ride Angela and I rode the normal way, facing forward, since that seemed the safest and most sensible thing to do. Although I'm sure it was a spectacle for the locals, as muzungus, we could get away with it. We were a spectacle anyway. Riding sidesaddle, however, was really fun! And not that scary. They didnt go tooo fast.
So, we went to this village, Chujwende (? stab in the dark) and rode the boda bodas through a forest of banana trees and other lush foliage to the home of Geoff's friend, Yokinara (?). Yokinara had a number of projects he was working on; he had a chicken coop, where he raised chickens to sell to people and harvested eggs. He also had a few cows, which we got to see being milked. Geoff was bringing him a digital camera, along with a battery charger and rechargable batteries for it. We showed them how to use it, had some ginger tea, and then walked to another home where the sand filter Geoff was coming to check on was.
The pot used in this sand filter was ceramic, locally made, while the filters at the orphanage were cement. Unfortunately, the potter that had been making these pots had recently been attacked. He had several pots made, locked in a store room which was broken into, and the pots were smashed. It turns out the people who make their
livings off of selling water (bottled, I guess) were not happy with the idea of these pots providing clean sustainable drinking water for all. Someone had also broken a pipe that delivered clean spring water to people, and clogged it with an avocado pit.
We met more friends of Geoff's there, including the headmaster of the primary school in the village, who was also a priest. The entire village was returning from a burial, a 38 year old man had died of malaria.
There were little children everywhere, who smiled such big smiles if I waved to them or said hello to them in their language. They loved having their picture taken and then getting to see themselves on the screen. I got some cute photos of me with a bunch of children (I tried to upload some last night but it didnt seem to be working...so I'm not sure I'll be able to get any posted here anytime soon...). There were banana trees everywere, as I said, and also coffee plants and jackfruit, which I tried and enjoyed although I cannot really describe what it tastes like. We signed the guestbook and I was invited to come back some time for dinner.
Geoff and I returned to Kagando, waving the entire way at people staring (and waving) at us as we rode by, and paid our boda boda drivers the agreed fee, plus a little extra for waiting for us at each place. If they didnt wait for us, it would have been very difficult to get another ride back.
An exciting day, yes! Kirsty, Colin's girlfriend and also a doctor from Scotland, had just returned from an interview back at home, and so at dinner we had a full table: myself, Geoff, John, Angela, Jeff, Colin and Kirsty. Accents, accents, all around! We said our farewells to Geoff and John, who were leaving very early the next morning.
By the way, the weather has been rather gorgeous here. The temp has been staying between 70 and 85ish, I think, and there have been a few very satisfying thunderstorms in the evenings. Also, there are very few mosquitos, I have only actually seen maybe 4 since I am here. Ah, just saw a 5th. I have seen some lizards crawling on the walls inside, and a praying mantis has been hanging out on the porch outside the dining room for some time. There is also an elusive blue tailed lizard which I have tried several times to get a picture of, against its wishes, it seems.
Sunday was nice, everyone went to church and I had the morning to myself pretty much. I took care of some paperwork and planning, and started cataloguing all the computers here.
After lunch, Angela, Jeff and I walked to the marketplace in the village to buy some supplies and to look at fabrics. There is a shop with several different printed fabrics, and then there are one or two tailors who you bring the fabric to and have a dress or something made. I bought two lengths of a print that I liked, but am waiting to go to Kasese (a larger town) sometime to see what else there is. I'm not sure if I want to make clothing out of it or bring it home for something else.
Today was a relaxing day.
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(more than 2 thousand live in the channel), lots of buffalo, small and huge birds (kingfishers, eagles, pelicans, cranes/storks, etc), a couple of alligators, and on our way out of the park, two baboons! The baboons were really awesome to see..their faces were so intense. I got a few good pictures. We also saw a few elephants by the water, drinking. It was an excellent trip, but we all wanted to go back another time, early in the morning, for the game drive, where you have a much better chance of seeing the lions and other land animals. You have to go early in the morning, when it is still cool out. That is when the lions hunt.
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