Quick Hits

I’ve been in Southwest Uganda the last several days, working with a group called the Bushenyi Alliance for Rural Health and Development. Between the seven hour drive from Kampala and the relatively full days of work, I don’t have a lot of time to write something really substantive. But here are some bits and pieces from since I last wrote (and some from before that):

•Rural Uganda is beautiful. Pretty green everywhere, and full of banana trees in this part of the country. Streetside stands with beautiful fish, tropical fruit, and one photogenic moment after another.

•Ugandans don’t seem to litter all that much. And what is littered gets cleaned up pretty fast. I see people sweeping everywhere and all the time, and while their bodies don’t always smell fresh and clean, there’s a real premium on keeping public spaces clean and tidy.

•Morgan noted the other day that we’ve not seen any public drunkenness, which I would have expected to be commonplace in the not-so-smart part of Kampala where we had been staying. But we’ve seen very little drinking and not too much smoking (and one man was sure to ask me if I’d be bothered by his smoke before he lit up). One booze-related tidbit is that many types of hard alcohol are sold in sealed plastic capsules—holding maybe 2 shots—and it’s quite interesting for me to see people pull those out in a bar, or suck directly from the capsule.

•People are relatively healthy here. There seems to be a lot of natural resources, and I’ve not seen any malnutrition or blatant public health problems that weren’t being addressed. Even at the rural clinic today, I would have expected to see far more patients with advanced medical problems than I did. This is not to say that there aren’t health concerns here—and HIV/AIDS remains big—but it doesn’t feel like it’s at a crisis level. The one glaring problem seems to be with dental health. Rotting teeth everywhere!

•Ugandans continue to be some of the nicest, most gracious people who I’ve met. If only I could leave my aggression at the door, as they seem to have, the world would be a better place.

•If I could make all of the potholes in the world go away, that would be one of my priorities after food, shelter, health and justice, peace, love, and harmony.

•The rain is really really really coming down hard right now! And it’s nice to be in a room with a very sturdy roof.

• The generosity of relative strangers amazes and delights me, and I need to be more generous.

•I had a wonderful dress-buying experience at the equator, and will tell the story at my slide show upon my return. And no, it’s not for me.

•And speaking of stories that I’ll be telling, I’m looking forward to sharing some from my day at an all girls school. Apparently, I melt the hearts of at least some Ugandan high school girls, and was delivered a few love letters today after I photographed and talked to their class. I actually felt like quite a celebrity in their company, thanks in no small part to Obama. All liked that I voted for Obama, and wanted me to carry their regards for the president back to the States.

•The internet is everywhere. Slow high speed access is available in what seem to be the smallest of towns, and here in Uganda it’s quite reasonably priced (half an hour for the price of a soda).