I'm a day behind...

Tuesday afternoon, I went on a house visit with some of the counselors from the tuberculosis clinic. Many patients are uninformed about TB, and they are afraid to go to the clinic for treatment, so counselors are sent out to talk to and educate people. We took a man positive for TB back to his home, and the counselor Grace set about trying to convince his wife, who had started showing symptoms, to come to the clinic. She and one of her 3 children had acquired the cough common to TB, but she was fearful about getting on treatment because of the plentiful and gigantic pills her husband had to take. She was very ashamed to have a mzungu in her home because it was tiny, and they think that all whites have a lot of money and big homes.

The area we went to is part of the slums in Kampala, of which there are many. The houses are so small- they usually consist of only one room, maybe 10 x 10 feet in size, and often they house up to 10 people. There are not toilets, just some clay, outhouse-type structures that pipe into a ditch. You can imagine what a huge problem cholera is. The houses are all rented, so people can’t cultivate the land that surrounds them, which is a real shame, because people don’t have enough money for food and many eat only one meal a day. One of the neighborhoods we visited was built right next to a swamp, which meant two things: the houses often flood and the mosquitoes are terrible, which spreads malaria throughout the community. The children were fearless, walking up to the Land Rover and demanding money. The little ones were quite cute though, and shy. Word went through the neighborhood that a mzungu was around, so children came out of the woodworks to have a look. As we were leaving the older ones started chasing the vehicle, and the driver got really annoyed. He slammed on the breaks, threw the car in reverse, and started chasing the children. They didn’t expect that- it was pretty funny.

That evening I met Robert at an Indian restaurant named Khana Khazana that came highly recommended. The place was stunning- it was half indoor, half outdoor, and there was a waterfall that we sat next to. And the decorations were to die for. So was the food. There are a couple of pictures from the restaurant. The host got a bit artistic with the angles. I’ve also attached a photo of two antique statues that I purchased. They are from Congo, from the Mdekese and Songe tribes, and they are about 52-53 and 58-60 years old. Gorgeous!

xo...G.