One of our rhinos is missing

Maggie and I decided to have a weekend away from Masindi at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. The original plan was a romantic weekend for two, but it is too hot for that sort of thing so all the Masindi volunteers decided to come out for the Saturday night which worked really well.
We arrived on Friday after work to find that one of the female rhinos had given birth to a still born calf that week. There are only six rhinos in the sanctuary and the hope is to breed them to restock parts of Uganda that previously had wild rhinos. Every one was sad to lose the first calf a month premature after a 15 month gestation. To add to the concern three of the rhinos had escaped from the ranch when the villagers cut the fence to gain access to the grazing. The rangers had to track down the lost trio and found them several miles from the ranch. Finding them is difficult but more of a problem is to persuade them to turn round and return. You can not just say shoo to a rhino they are big and definitely have minds of there own. At one point they charged the rangers who had to climb a tree to keep safe. Some how they managed to return them to the ranch and repair the fence.
We spent Saturday sitting on the verandah , reading and watching the birds and butterflies around the house. It was idyllic. We did manage a short walk but realised that we were not sure of the correct procedure if we met a rhino. The rhinos roam wild and there was plenty of evidence of their presence with great piles of rhino dung around the place. They certainly do not suffer from constipation. At one point on our walk there was a crashing in the bushes so we decided to retreat to the verandah for another cup of tea.
Sunday it was decided we would all go off and see the rhinos with a ranger. The 2 groups of three rhinos are all supposed to be watched by the rangers all the time so there whereabouts are known. After about 20 minutes off road driving we parked and the rangers pointed out the beasts in the bushes trying to find shade. We were able to walk to within about 30 yards of the group. Luckily rhinos have poor eyesight and locate you by smell. We can’t have smelt too bad that day as they took no notice of us.It was a great weekend after a pretty awful week at work and we returned to Masindi refreshed.
This week has been better. The mouse and stray bat that invaded us last week seem to have taken the hint and left. Maggie seems to take all our little visitors in her stride but was very annoyed that the mouse had dared to chew a corner of her Green and Black chocolate. She managed to overcome her disgust and eat it, needs must I suppose.
Last week most of the staff I work with had been on a diabetes course leaving me to run the clinic and the ward. It is much easier when the whole team is available. Unfortunately Monday was another difficult day. During the ward round we found the 10 yr old severely disabled child of one of the patients fitting. She had stopped taking her phenytoin as they had run out. It took 3 doses of diazepam and over an hour for her to stop fitting. There were no other drugs available either in the hospital or in the pharmacies in town. It was awful to see this child fitting with nothing available to help. She may have had malaria so she was given quinine. It took 2 days for her to really come round but by Friday she was back to her normal self. She has no sitting balance and a left hemiplegia but she has a lovely laugh when she is tickled. What sort of future she has is debatable especially as her mother has terminal liver disease. There are so many tragic stories here.
Monday also was the day that we asked Raymond to stay away from the clinic. Raymond has been the mainstay of the clinic for several years. He is an expert patient and chair of the local group for people living with HIV/AIDS. Unfortunately he also has open TB. He has had 5 treatments for it but is still positive which almost certainly means he has drug resistant TB. There is no treatment for MDRTB in Uganda. The best we have been able to do for him is to register him at Mulago hospital so if a donor starts a programme with the necessary drugs he will be able to access them. It was sad to see Raymond go he will be sadly missed but the risk to other patients and staff is too great .
The Tuesday clinic was quiet without him and not as efficiently run as there was no one to do his job but the patients were all seen.
On Wednesday I managed a trip out to the community. This was in a UK ambulance donated by the rotary club of Hereford and Wye. The siren was useful at scaring children and cows!. We travelled to a village where 2 children had died from diarrhoea and vomiting in 3 days. The concern was that it may be the start of a cholera outbreak. From the story it is possible that it was cholera but could have been any diarrhoeal disease. Unfortunately the parents had not taken the children to the health centre and they had died from dehydration. The village is several kilometres from the health centre. It has very poor sanitation and poor water supply. Many of the houses have no latrines and the water comes from the local river. There is a market in the village which attracts many people. There is no latrine or washing place for the market. It is not surprising that diarrhoea is common. Death of children is common here and is an accepted part of life.
Everyone is aware of the need for improved sanitation, in fact this week is national sanitation week, but the resources are not available to deal with the problem in the villages.
On Saturday I visited the Family Spirit Centre with Pam our latest VSO volunteer. The centre has 57 pupils , 35 of them are orphans or abandoned children who live at the school. They range from 18m to about 13 years. The centre was started by a small group of concerned parents to try and provide education and shelter for vulnerable children. In spite of no official funding they manage to feed and clothe the children. The children all seemed happy and well cared for. The centre is always short of money but never short of children. They desperately need more accommodation and a fence around the compound. They have just dug a new pit latrine as the old one is nearly full. They needed money to complete the programme and I thought that it would be a good use of some of the donated money I brought out to Uganda. For 800,000 ush the building could be complete, that is about £240. They were very grateful so we had kids singing and speeches in the African style. It is an inspiring place. One of the best things about it is that it is a purely Ugandan response to a Ugandan problem. Yes they would like help from any one who can give but the inspiration and drive is coming from ordinary Ugandans who recognise that there is a big problem..

No pictures the system has crashed 3 times!

The Lost Forest

Normally we set aside some time at the weekend to put something on the blog. As we have now learnt through experience, and become to accept, there is no point in making definite plans. Last Saturday I was unexpectedly invited to a wedding ‘introduction’ to accompany Sallie. In Uganda this ceremony is as important, if not more so, than the wedding itself. The mother of the bride, daughter-in-law to the king of one of Uganda’s kingdoms, is someone I have met before. On our visit here last June we went with her to her ranch set on a very remote five square mile plot of land in the middle of the bush. So remote, she couldn’t find it herself as she hadn’t visited for some time. We had to stop often to ask the villagers, who inhabit her land, where it was. She has lived in Barnet for the last thirty odd years since she went there with her lawyer husband and young family. Her husband was murdered during the Amin regime. The Introduction was at the same venue but we managed to find it a bit more easily this time and only had to stop once for directions. It was a very grand affair with marquees outside. We were the honoured guests from the UK and were seated with the princes and princesses. It was quite an experience and I’m pleased I had the opportunity to attend. These occasions can be very lengthy and often boring but this one,although lengthy, was well organised and entertaining. Many potential brides are paraded before the groom before he declares which one he will accept. Gifts are proffered, numerous speeches delivered, the ceremonious cutting of the cake (the bride-to-be with her brother as the groom has to wait until the actual wedding), certificates to be signed, local entertainment, etc., etc.
Sunday turned out to be quite an interesting day too. We set out to go for a swim at the Kinyara Sugar Co. Management Club, as we have done many times before. It is quite a trek to get there, along narrow, dusty roads and we have to rely on being able to find a driver and car to take us. On the way, Sallie announced that she’d like to just pop and check up on the chimps which are under threat from poachers and live in a nearby forest. I’m not sure how many miles we drove around the sugar plantation; it was like being in a maize of 6ft high sugar cane. We drove from forest to forest, sometimes off road (in a saloon car!) until we eventually found the right forest. Of course, by this time it was bedtime for the chimps and we didn’t find any. We did see lots of collobus monkeys and african grey parrots. The moonlit swim was quite nice really!
So, despite being away from Masindi for five weeks, we soon felt like we hadn’t been away at all. Chris managed to go straight back to work although his arm is very weak. I’m sure everyone who has seen him recently will be pleased to know that he’s gaining weight - we managed to eat very well back in the UK and we don’t exactly go hungry here either. Trouble is, I am also gaining weight and I’d rather not. When we returned I was paid a great compliment, allegedly in Ugandan culture, by a couple of people who told me I was fat! This means I must be very healthy and strong. Mmm….!!
Chris was very excited to finally see the vehicle which he is hoping to use for work being towed away by an ambulance (though we haven’t found out where to yet). When we arrived in Masindi last September, Chris found it abandoned in the hospital grounds and discovered it hadn’t been anywhere for six months. No-one seemed to know why not and there were no plans to get it back on the road. It was originally donated by the Elton John Foundation and intended to be used for District work. As this is what Chris is supposed to be developing and can’t because of lack of transport, he thought he would some of the funds he has raised to get the vehicle back in action. So, after several trips to the ATM to withdraw the necessary 4.3 million shillings (and a suitcase to carry it in!) it has been towed away - I wonder when we will see it again. Another great excitement last week was the arrival of Pamela, a VSO district nurse from the UK, who will be working with Chris. Pamela is staying with us until her house is ready and we are doing our best to gently introduce her to Uganda without scaring her away and heading for the next flight home. She bought a washing up bowl and a spoon yesterday so it’s looking hopeful that she will stay! I am full of admiration for anyone coming here on their own and tackling this.
Before we left for the UK I had been setting up a craft shop at Sallie’s hotel. It has always been on my list of ‘things I’d like to do’ but never yet got around to doing. I was really pleased when Sallie took up my suggestion and was just about ready for opening when I was whisked away. Thankfully they managed to finish getting it ready for the half-term rush and it’s doing very well. If you look hard enough there are quite a lot of crafts being made by various projects in Uganda, some of them struggling to market their goods, so hopefully this will be another useful outlet for them. Consequently, I am spending more time at the hotel but really enjoying it and there’s never a dull moment!
Yesterday I celebrated my birthday as well as International Women’s Day. I cooked for a group of friends and had a lovely day. I’ll try not to let muttering of ‘best food in Masindi’ followed by ‘best food in Uganda’ go to my head!! I received some very nice cards and gifts, thank you all!
It is Sunday again and we are about to set off for a swim at Kinyara - watch this space……………….

P.S. photos to follow, network is too slow tonight!