A goat shat on my step….and other highlights

You read that right, he didn’t sit….he shat!! Either that or barfed, we couldn’t quite tell but nonetheless it was disgusting!! The other night a bunch of goats got into our fenced off camp area and they were running around, trying to eat my mango tree, and generally being noisy! We all trudged out with our head lamps on to figure out it was goats and then Graeme alerted me to the “spot” on my porch step. They were in there all night I think, at one point they were bleating and knocking on my porch so I ran out in my underwear to scream at them. Crazy beasts, with their beady little eyes shining in the light of my headlamp!! They are everywhere around here. Even better than that is the long horned cows. Ugandan Long Horns I call them, herds of them wander down the roads all well controlled by some little 5 year old kid who isn’t scared a bit and whips them with a long stick!! They have 4 feet of horns, and could gore you better than your average bull!! I steer clear of them.
Anyways I wanted to write and give a little more detail about some of the experiences I have had, specifically in relation to the work I am going to be doing. I haven’t really begun to work in the Aid Station yet as I am getting a general overview of everything first. Basically the Rubingo Aid station is run by Evas, she is a trained nurses aid, and provides basic assessment and medication for common illnesses (think Malaria, infections). I will be working alongside her in the Aid station as one of my projects. (note Aid station does not mean HIV/AIDS station, confusing I know, but more to come on that). Eventually she will orientate me on how everything is run there at the station. Another project I will be working with is ACTS program for people living with HIV/AIDS….or “clients” as Perez calls them. Perez is a wonderful man who works at ACTS, he was a pastor, then a carpenter, and now a trained HIV/AIDS counselor! He is in charge of the HIV/AIDS program which is also linked with the Rubingo Aid Station in some ways. There are about 170 clients that have registered with us, we do monthly testing here in Rubingo through collaboration with the AIDS Information Center (AIC) in Mbarara who does the actually testing and some counseling. People who are positive can register with us as clients. We arrange and provide transport for all the clients to get to their monthly appointments at various HIV/AIDS clinics in the surrounding area. Mostly The AIDS Support Organization (TASO), AIC, and another clinic at the Mbarara University Hospital run by an American guy, Dr. Pepper (yes I know..haha). Clients also receive counseling as needed from Perez, monthly multi-vitamins, and..when there are funds…other needed items such as mosquito nets to prevent malaria etc. Any who qualify and can manage to get Anti Retro Viral (ARV) drug therapy do so through those other organizations whom we collaborate with. Very few of them seem to be on ARV’s, it is reserved for those who are already quite affected by the virus, as determined by their blood work.
Yesterday I went on home visits to see our clients with Perez and Evas. We went far out of our water project area as the testing (and therefore registration) is open to anyone in the sub-county. We left at 8:30 in the morning and returned around the same time at night…and visited only 10 clients homes. So you can see how time consuming it can be to visit these people directly in their homes. Usually you drive on some pot-hole infested dirt road and then get out and hike a little bit through the plantations to a house. Many of these clients were in very dire need. I don’t know if it was just because they are not in our water project area where much work has already been accomplished, or just because they are HIV positive, but these homes/clients were some of the worst I have seen so far. I visited one family where both parents are HIV positive, the kids hadn’t been tested yet. The father was on ARV’s but was suffering from extreme swelling in his feel and legs, as well as immobilization of his left hand. I couldn’t get a clear story on what was the cause, he was being followed at an AIDS clinic, but he had been this way for over a year and could only walk recently. The mother was out working on someone else’s land for money. They had 5 children, one of them named Lilian was very cute..she had tiny little legs and hands and feet. I assumed she was the youngest and guessed she was about 2-3 years old. When I asked someone I found out she was 6. The oldest of the children that were there and by far the smallest, I noticed she was tiny but had a big swollen belly under her little rag dress. I couldn’t believe it, she looked like a toddler. I have no idea but wonder how many of the children are HIV positive but don’t know yet. Some of the places and faces were very sad. There was one home with 3 children, the oldest maybe 11. Both of their parents had been our clients but had passed away and all they had left was this house, no plantation to farm. Their Aunt was staying with them but has a husband and 6 kids of her own. Their house was a classic Ugandan house made of bark, wood, and mudded. It had 2 small rooms. Out back I saw the cross marking one of their parents graves, buried in their backyard.
There is much to be done with the HIV/AIDS program, part of it is trying to work with local organizations to increase the numbers that can be tested, and getting children tested. In November I will have the chance to be here on our monthly testing day, and also get to visit with all of our clients, who come to the Aid station once a month for their multivitamins. There is a lot of other administrative stuff as well and lobbying for funding from different places, government and church. So far I don’t feel like I have done much but have definitely been inspired to advocate for the programs and find funding from anywhere that I can!! So much work is limited by the lack of resources. I have been impressed by the 24 HIV/AIDS clients that form a choir/Community Based Organization called the Hope CBO….they performed at a church service on this past Sunday and did songs and dramas teaching about HIV/AIDS. It was very impressive and lively, even if I didn’t understand a word. They work with what they have to get their message across and openly talk about how HIV/AIDS is spread, how to prevent it, what to do if you think you have it, the importance of testing and on and on…. Education is such an important part….a lot of the ideas are brand new to some people from the villages. For example, a story from Katie who attended a Family Planning Presentation by another one of our groups. She told us everyone was staring in wonder as a condom was passed around, I don’t think they had seen one before. One 70+ man even wanted to be taught how to use one! They were trying to open the package very carefully, peeling the 2 sides apart and Katie said she just grabbed it and ripped it open on the perforated edges like you’re supposed to, they freaked out thinking she was gonna tear it! Anyways it is quite humorous to us where most people have heard it all before but really….anyone who has 13 kids can’t have heard anything about Family Planning their whole life! It could make a huge difference in the lives of these people who haven’t really had any choice up till now!!

This is Lilians family, her parents are both HIV clients of ours. Her father suffers from complications that cause him to have difficulty walking and working is next to impossible.

Me and Lilian, the little girl who is supposedly 6 years old. She is so tiny!

These three children are the orphans of our HIV clients. Both their parents have now died of AIDS. They are standing behind the small mud house that is their only possesion.

The gravesite of their parents, in the back of the childrens' home.