May 21st, 22nd, 23rd

Okay these last few days have been so busy I haven't had even a second to write down my thoughts. So I'm going to try to catch up. 

On May 21st we loaded up the giant bus and drove to Lira. On the way up we stopped at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary and had some lunch and did a rhino trek. Yes, it was as cool as it sounds. Rhinos were extinct in Uganda at one point, so Ziwa is working on breeding and protecting the population. We went out with two rangers and walked for about 15 minutes into the bush where we found two rhinos- a mama and a baby, named Bella and Luna respectively. It was amazing to see them in the wild, it really was. Following Ziwa we loaded in the bus again for what was supposed to be a 2 hour drive up to Lira. Four hours, lots of red dust, sweat, construction, and cursing later, we all dragged ourselves into the St. Lira Hotel. Two people got to share a room and they each had their own shower. It was a pretty nice accomodation, especially after such a long day. 

On May 22nd we got up and had some breakfast ("omelette," pineapple, watermelon- what we have for breakfast every day. Oh and nescafe instant coffee) and then had a group meeting. At the  meeting we were introduced to Erik and Betty- both experts in the conflict and child soldiers from the Lord's Resistance Army. Betty herself was a child soldier, and it was horrific to listen to her story. The things that humans do to one another are unfathomable. You can probably look her up online somehow, because I'm not going to share her story here- it's just not mine to tell. Betty became a nurse and has two children and now writes poetry about her experiences. She has also spoken to the UN about the conflict and child soldiers. We spent the day with her and she was just a remarkable person. After speaking with Betty we loaded in the van and went to the former rehabilitation center for child soldiers (Rekelle Rehabilitation Center) which is now a school. Many of the students there now are the children of child soldiers, and when they were rehabing child soldiers they integrated other children of the same ages so that child soldiers and non-child soldiers were indistinguishable. After we wandered around the school, we got back in the bus and went to a women's center that specializes in midwifery and birthing for Lira. I can't even begin to describe this place. They perform natural births in this tiny little room, and then women recover in this shared dorm type room with three beds and mosquito nets. The room is approximately 100 degrees. We were able to walk around and meet some of the women and babies- many who had malaria and/or HIV. Most were hungry. They do teach the women to breastfeed, which some do for up to three years. I will post pictures later because it was really remarkable. We walked next door to the Holy Innocents Babies Home of Lira, where orphaned children are sent. Many are orphaned by HIV/AIDS, some are found in toilets or in the bush. Many themselves have HIV or mental disorders. They were so tiny. The sisters who run the orphanage are truly amazing, and many are there strictly on a volunteer basis. They take care of the babies up to three years. The main nun- Sister Francis- was such a jovial and generous spirit. She truly cares for these babies and for what she does. Her main concern right now, she says, is that the roof is beginning to cave in and she fears it will fall on the children. In the back of the orphanage, the sisters showed us a tree that protected them from gunshots from the LRA during the war. It was this massive tree (I'll post a picture when I can) that apparently shielded the sisters from gunfire. The sisters fed us lunch (chicken and chips, aka fries) and then we loaded the bus once again. We then headed out to a rural village (Bungyano, I think, but I need to look it up) that was the site of a major massacre from the LRA in the mid 1990s and is now home to those who were internally displaced. This village is like nothing I've ever seen. People live in clay huts, there is no school for the children, and very little water (no clean water, of course). People who live in this village do not have jobs, and subsist on farming. Tavia and I, since we are MPH students, were assigned to lead the health clinic for the afternoon, similar to the one we set up in Katanga. We set up stations again: handwashing, toothbrushing, eye care, wound care, vitamins and de-worming and then Sue, our nurse, was triaging other problems. Many problems were outside of our scope- particularly malaria. I felt one baby, who must have been 5 months old, who was so feverish I could barely touch him. One woman had such bad pain in her side that she could barely walk. The pain had been going on for over a year, but she had no way to treat it and no way to get to Lira and back. Another woman was paralyzed in one of her legs from her pregnancy. The children all suffered from hunger, and many also clearly had parasites (you could tell because they have large rounded, distended bellies). Many also have open wounds and sores, and fungal issues- particuarly in the hair. The clinic went as well as it probably could have, but I left with that sense again that we didn't do much. Many of these children were wearing only rags. We saw one three year old who was carrying an infant on her back. They need so many things it's difficult to know where to even start. And you're left feeling disenchanted. Like there's nothing you can do. We left in the evening and dragged ourselves into the hotel. I have never been so dirty. And I managed to pack like nothing that I needed up in Lira. I still can't find my hairbrush. We all met back in the lobby at about 8:30, and we were starving. We quite literally didn't get our food until 11pm and for most of us it was inedible by the time it did arrive. I have never seen chicken so dry that you actually could not find any meat on it. And we were so hungry that it was just comical at that point. We went to bed, exhausted. I woke up only a couple times, once because of the loudest thunder I have ever heard. I was actually legimitately afraid for a couple minutes because I couldn't figure out what the noise was. 

Anyway, today is the 23rd and it's my birthday. We got up this morning and had our usual breakfast and then hopped on the bus back to Kampala. The bus back was a lot better in terms of construction, but my birthday was present was to be plagued with another stomach bug. Then we came home and I did some laundry in a bucket and now I'm sitting in the GLI house. We're about to have a family meeting and talk about tomorrow. I'm pretty tired and missing my friends and family, today in particular. I'm hoping some good sleep will help. Tomorrow we have a bbq with some local people and community members and leaders, and I think it will be a lot of fun. The group has sung me happy brithday 3 times today, and I can tell they're trying to make it special for me. Anyway, our meeting is starting. I'm hoping I can get more into debriefing, and less of just a play-by-play, but I just don't know that there's the time! But I'm excited for this debriefing we're about to have. I'm ready to hear some other's thoughts. More later!