On The Frontline - Fighting Malaria In Uganda

According to the World Health Organization, "in 2013, malaria caused an estimated 584,000 deaths (with an uncertainty range of 367,000 to 755,000), mostly among African Children." 198 million cases of malaria were reported to the CDC in 2013. With those numbers, that means a child dies every minute from malaria and most of the deaths are children under the age of five years. Hospitals records show that malaria is responsible for 30 to 50 of the all the outpatient visits in Africa. However, the United States sees less than 20,000 cases per year and most of them are from tourist who return home with Malaria. Here in Uganda, Malaria claims the lives of 70,000 - 110,000 Ugandans a year.

So what is malaria may you say? Well, Malaria is a life-threatening disease that is transmitted from infected mosquitoes to people. Not all mosquitoes carry the parasites; it is the only ones who are infected. It is something that affects people around the word in countries that have not been able to get to a point where they have removed most of the mosquitoes that carry it like the us has.

Below is a map of the Ugandan Malaria Transmission. As you can see Fort Portal is in the low transmission level yellow.

In the Kabarole District there are not many mosquitoes and the ones I do find are slow, large, big, and easy to kill. They are also not the ones that can carry malaria - those have checkered colored legs.  During the dry season there are only a few and during the rainy season there tends to be more of them but only when it is dry for a couple days after a big rain. I am currently in Kampala and I see a lot more of them buzzing around. Fort Portal is higher up in altitude and also cooler in climate, which mosquitoes do not like. Fort Portal is around 55/60 degrees currently. 

The Ugandan Government did a national bed net distribution a little over a year ago but of course most people never got them (either people sold the bed nets, gov’t officials made people pay for them when they were suppose to be free, they never got to people deep in the villages, or they were sold them for profit and so on). Most people I talk to do not use bed nets or they have one bed net for the whole household. The funny thing about malaria here is that most people get it but most people do not get tested or only go to the doctors when it gets really bad so there is not a very clear idea of if someone actually has malaria. They also view everything that makes them sick as either malaria or the flu.

Peace Corps Volunteers in Uganda and around the world are always educating people on Malaria as it is one of our main goals as health volunteers to lower the rate of infected people. We work to provide people with information about what to look for, treatment options, and also looking at ways of preventing malaria. My first second term health talk will be about Malaria in June. In Peace Corps, the whole month of April all the way through May 15^th is the Peace Corps Malaria Challenge with its Stomp Out Malaria campaigns. This is when PCV’s get points and awards for doing various activities and events that engage the local people in malaria prevention. I have had the opportunity to be a Malaria Champion for the West and Southwest, who keeps track of the activities and points PCV's do in the communities and I have to say I am so impressed and proud of the volunteers who have done activities they are amazing and so inspiring! According to Stomp Out Malaria Peace Corps Uganda, "Collectively, Volunteers and their counterparts reached a total of 18,053 individuals, and an additional 11,039,800 through mass communication channels." We are planting the seeds of change one individual at a time. SO COOL!

  

I love my bed net just like I love my pit latrine. I sleep under a bed net every night as it keeps the mosquitoes, spiders, and any other creepy crawly thing that comes along in the night away from me as I snooze! Many of our fellow PCV's have gotten malaria one time or another here in Uganda but all the West PCV's myself included have yet to get malaria (I don't plan on getting it while I am here) but even though the Fort Portal area does not get very many mosquitoes that does not mean we won't be there to help and educate in anyway we can. Malaria needs to be stopped.

Happy Fighting And Ending Malaria Month!

Peace Corps Youth Technical Training

At the beginning of April, my counterpart Patrick and I along with two students had the opportunity to attend the first every Peace Corps Uganda Youth Technical Training in Mbarara. They were designed to get youth from all different backgrounds and cultures thinking about about issues they face daily in Uganda and come up with ways to tackle them. One of the ways was students and youth lead clubs at schools and in their communities.

Kayesu Moureen from Kiko Primary School and Busiinge Kenneth from Kyanawara Primary School attending with Patrick and myself. Below are some photos from the event! It was a great time and the kids really enjoyed all the experience they gained from that one week in Mbarara.

Moureen and Kenneth

Both of the kids got to learn about permagardening a great way to create gardens that are sustainable and profitable for communities.

The Whole Group From Across the West and Southwest Uganda

Patrick Digging The Permagarden

The Group Of KFSP Schools - Kyakatara, Kyanyawara, Kiko, and Kigarama Primary Schools

The KFSP Group

Working On Presentations

Demonstrating What Type Of Club Each Of The Kids Will Be Doing

At The Equator

Celebrating Earth Day In Uganda

The Kibale Forest Schools Program staff and U.N.I.T.E for the environment along with other environment conservation organizations gathered together to celebrate Earth Day in Bigodi.

The day started off with a football game with Nyabweya Primary School and Bigodi Schools. Of course they forgot to tell us that they would be pulling girls from the Bigodi secondary schools so it was slightly unfair but our primary girls did a fabulous and had some great saves and we only lost 6-0. I guess previous years had been 19-1 and 18-0 all won by U.N.I.T.E... am I the only one who sees a pattern here? Anyways...

Nyabweya Primary School Girls Football Team

After the football match, we headed over to the KFSP stand which the conservation education section of KFSP talked with kids and adults about the environment and the water project.

Patrick and I handed out STOP Malaria pictures for children to color and did a couple handwashing demos and did a few talks on Malaria with groups of children and also repaired bed nets.

Hope and I Coloring!

KFSP Staff

It was a great busy day getting to meet other environmental conservation organizations from the Fort Portal area but getting to hang out with children who normally do not get to color or do fun activities was the best part of the day.

KFSP Staff Photo L to R: James, Pamela, Myself, Max, Dr. Emily, Patrick, James, and Hope.

Patrick Talking To The Students About Malaria As They Fix Bed Nets

Bed Net Repair

A Young Boy Coloring

More Coloring - We Handed Out Around 325 Pictures

STOP Malaria

Patrick and I Demonstrating Handwashing

People Of All Ages Came To Repair Bed Nets

This Young Girl Wanted To Show Me Her Picture

A Lake By The Name Of Bunyonyi

This past weekend, my roommate Max and I took a trip to the lake to celebrate our birthdays early. We are both May babies and with both of our birthdays coming up, we are both going to be out of town for the 15^th and 20^th or more like I will be gone both of them - actually traveling on a bus both days now that I come to think of it. So we thought okay lets take a trip now and so we went south to Lake Bunyonyi. We rented a car and Max got to experience the world of Ugandan driving with his favorite front seat driver Katelyn who finally just closed her eyes to not have to freak out every time Max got close to a motorcycle or pedestrian. He is a good driver don’t get me wrong it was just both Max's and my controlfreakness had a hard time keeping its mouths shut. I do thank him for all the driving though!

DRIVING IN UGANDA!

We drove down on Friday morning and arrived in only about 6.5 hours  (would have been 10 to 12 hours by public) with a pit stop in Mbarara for lunch at Café Ark - YUM. Lake Bunyonyi is located between Kabale and Kisoro close to the Rwandan Boarder.

Canoeing Out To Our Island

We had to canoe to get to our little island which Max was excited for and I was at first but well I prefer to not have to work for shelter and about half way I wanted to just lie down and be lazy which I did of course. It took us about an hour to get to the little island via canoe. Our Island, Itambira Island is home to a small eco camp Byonna Amagara which works to be environmentally friendly and does a great job at it. There were very few people there at the camp which was nice and we chatted up all of them. We also had a whole dorm room to ourselves. Check out their website Byoona Amagara Island Retreat

Me Paddling In The Front

Our first evening was just relaxing and recovering from traveling. I had been under the weather for most of the week so it was really the first meal and rest I had all week. They served lots of American style of foods and also American sized portions which for me was way too much as living here I have been eating way less than I do in America. Max kept making the comment of how little I was eating but for me what I was eating was perfect!

Our First Evening On The Island

The sunset behind the hills and clouds of Lake Bunyoni was wonderful and Max and I chilled just enjoying for the first time in months a relaxing weekend. We also made up our minds that we would not talk about work until we got back home and we only talked about work two times that whole weekend which was great!

Which Way Should We Go?

Ugandan Cray Fish

The next morning dawned chilly and slightly grey. Our morning walk which took us about 30/40 minutes to walk around the island. We meet a young guy who was catching Ugandan cray fish. The island is connected to another half of the island which they are building more tourist sites. After our walk we set up shop in Byoona Amagara's library and began reading as the rain started to fall. I ended up spending most of the morning reading and then going and taking a nap until lunch time as it was perfect sleeping weather.

 

Hiking Around The Island

After a wonderful lunch we just chilled in their main area/dinning room and started talking with a young man from Switzerland who was working for Johnson & Johnson doing a trial run in Rwanda and had been all over the world in his 27-years. He had traveled to Uganda when he was 17 years old and was in Gulu during the LRA control in the north. He said that was something he never mentioned to his parents. Such an interesting guy with lots of information on traveling and adventure. But also super smart working on his PhD.

I spent the afternoon reading and watching all the different types of birds around the island. There are so many different kinds and it was hard to not get distracted with them flying around or coming up to you looking for food. Lake Bunyonyi actually means 'Place of many little birds' and there are lots of little birds there as well as large ones. There are 29 different islands in the lake and it is rumored to be anywhere between 144ft and 2,952ft deep in places. It runs 15.5 miles long and is 1.4 miles wide. It was formed when a lava flow blocked the water flow at one end of the lake creating a dam. People get around via canoe or motorboat. A couple of the islands actually have people living on them with houses, schools, health clinics. One of the islands has wildlife living on it. There is one island called the punishment island were they would bring the girls who got pregnant and leave them to die there... okay it does take two to tango so where was the island for the guys who got the girls pregnant? They say they do not use it anymore but I guess you can still meet girls who where put there who knows if it is actually true or not.

The May Birthday Babies!

Well after a great relaxing weekend we paddled our canoe back to the mainland and drove back in the rain but it was a really fun adventure with my dear roommate!

Sometimes You Just Laugh

Normally, I do not laugh at people when misfortune strikes. This morning was one of those situations when for some strange reason you just end up laughing.

Since Saturday morning, it has been raining here pretty much nonstop. It would be fine if the road heading into Fort Portal from my village was paved but it is not and since they have been clearing and getting it ready to pave it has become this massive pit of mud, cars, matatus, bodas, trucks, and people slipping and sliding trying to make it to where they are going. I spent an extra forty minutes with my motorcycle driver pushing our way through the mud pit on Monday night. Rainy Season has started!  Man I miss dry season.

Anyways there is a bend in the road heading from Kasiisi village into Kigarama that has really turned into the Monster of rainy season. Anyone who goes through at speeds faster than walking gets a bite in the bottom. One day last week while Max and Will got their hair cut, we saw three crashes/slides/splats whatever you want to call them and a near collision of a young girl and a motorcycle on that bend. Drivers go way too fast on motorcycle tires that are not made for mud or really African roads in general. This morning a large truck over turned sending Matooke (bananas) everywhere. There are large ruts and massive piles of mud building as people get stuck and try to get out. Mind you, they do not do the classic pump the gas, rock the car, put down cat litter or gravel, or even push, they just put the pedal to the floor and hope that gets them out and in the end it creates massive ruts. Had this happen on our road in front of the house with the tea trucks stuck in the ditch the other day. You get the picture the road is bad – if you don’t here is a picture so you have some idea of the Monster.

A Guy Helping Another Into The Monster

Mud!

Puddles Or Small Lakes As I Call Them

Matooke From The Overturned Truck On The Side Of The Road

One Brave Boda Driver

So to the story, I was walking to Kigarama Primary School for a handwashing demo with P1 and P2 students. I enjoy walking here and plus I was not going to ride a motorcycle until the road has had at least two days to dry out. I was following behind a young woman along the edge of the road watching the traffic jam at the mouth of the Monster as cars, motorcycles, and trucks tried to work their way through the now very narrow one lane road. A young boy up a head maybe around four or five years old ran across the mounds of mud to get from one side to the other. As he reached the other side, he got his sandal stuck in the mud and I kid you not this young one did the most graceful movie like face plant right into the small lake of muddy water on the other side of the mound of mud. As I saw it happen, I thought to myself ‘oh no… poor guy’ and the young woman stopped to see if he was okay, well, he stood up and was covered head to foot in mud and dirty water and I lost it and started laughing. As the young woman directed the young boy out of the water she looked at me quizzically. I quickly controlled my laughter, put a sympathetic look on my face and said ‘sorry sorry’ to her and the boy and hurried away before I started to smile and laugh quietly to myself.       

I knew the young boy would be okay and maybe it was the look on his face when he stood up of shock and ‘did that really just happen?’ or maybe it was the fact that I had not laughed in a couple of days and was dealing with a challenge that it made me laugh and break the mesmerism of that challenge. Who knows?!  

Most of the time laughing is a nervous impulse we have to defuse a situation or some type of tension. Laugher is a powerful thing and sometimes you just end up laughing.

*Side note: I saw the boy later and he was smiling still wearing the same muddy clothes.

Goodbyes As A PCV

This past weekend as a friend left to go back to head back home, I got thinking about friendships, relationships, and goodbyes.

Goodbyes are not always fun and most of the time they just plain outright suck but they tend to suck more when you are a long term volunteer serving in a foreign country. After roughly about ten months here in Uganda, I can say that because I have seen a lot of short-term volunteers come and go in a matter just ten months and I guess you could say it is a challenging aspect of being a Peace Corps Volunteer. Most volunteers come and go here in Fort Portal every three, six, or 12 months, they come to Uganda from all over the world for various reasons: touring, internships, research, working, filling a gap year, serving as a doctor or nurse, being invited by a friend, getting over a divorce or life issue, or just volunteering their time. There are so many different reasons and so many interesting people with so many different backgrounds, skills, and identities.

Ex-pats (people who are not Ugandan by birth) tend to stick together, we build relationships or friendships, we hang out together, host dinners or BBQs, we play Frisbee, or just chill drinking a milkshake. We become friends. It is very difficult to be an outsider or Ex-pat in an African country and no doubt other countries as well that you need these relationships to help keep you stable as the months go on.  We have good laughs, deep conversations, and a lot of joy is exchange but all most come to an end and they return to their lives...everyone but me. I am here for 27 months maybe even more as I am currently thinking of staying longer in Uganda and I am starting to realize how it might feel to be a Ugandan seeing so many people come and go over the years and most Ex-pats will never return to Uganda after they finish their time here. Most Ugandans will never have the chance like I do to see many of these volunteers again in the near future. What it must be like year after year to see people come and go while you stay put?... What a world volunteerism is…. This weekend also made me realize for the first time in my service here how hard it might/could/possibly be to say goodbye in 17 months (I am tearing up right now even thinking about that day when I leave and everyone I will have to say goodbye to). When you think a goodbye is going to be easy it ends up being one of the hardest thing you ever do.

But there is a bright side to all these depressing thoughts… There is Facebook and email!!! Many of the younger Ugandans are starting to get the hang of the technology world and are starting to keep more and more in touch with Ex-pats (I will say they have not mastered web etiquette yet but we will let that slide for now). This is such a beautiful thing, which I am very grateful for because I am not sure what it would be like if I was not able to call home, email a friend, or stay in contact with people I know.

I am so grateful to have met so many wonderful people from across Asia, America, Europe, and especially here in Uganda. No matter how hard it will be over the next months to say goodbye and greet the new group of Ex-pat volunteers and say goodbye to them and repeat it all over and over again until I leave, I will continue to make friends no matter how short they are here for because you never know who might impact your life.

A Ride Into Fort Portal Town From Kasiisi Village

Before Will left Uganda, he wanted to film going from Kasiisi Village where we stay to Fort Portal town. Sooooo Will and I hopped on a motorcycle* with one of our boda guys Friday and headed into Fort Portal. The day was a little windy, partly cloudy, and cool. We do take a back way into Fort and not through the main part of Fort because we were doing a little shopping at the top of Kasese Road that heads south out of Fort to Kasese. I will work on getting a video of downtown Fort on a motorcycle soon.

It takes us just under 30 minutes so sit back and relax enjoy the world we travel here in Uganda! The road is a lot better than it used to be since they have been working to get it ready to be paved. You can also hear random commentary from Will and myself at different parts of the journey. ENJOY!

*Peace Corps has given me clearance to ride motorcycles in Uganda.