Locomotion commotion
Apr 5, 09
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sweeping enswa flying ants Kampala

There was a big commotion outside the compound this week. We heard the train rattle past – just a few metres beyond our compound wall – and then a big BANG!

Simpson and I ran and grabbed the locally-made wooden ladder to look over the hedge but it was too dark to see anything. It took us a while to work out what had happened. However, the general hum of hundreds of voices conveyed a sense of excitement.

We heard the next day that the train had run into a lorry packed high with charcoal and the whole of Namuwongo had descended to Go Down to collect free charcoal! I asked about casualties but didn’t get an answer (read into that what you will).

Google Earth view Namuwongo, Kampala
Here you can see how close I live to the railway. View of my house on Google Earth. Namuwongo bottom of photo; light reflects off the tin roofs of the slum area at the top of the photo.

The railway line is 50 metres from the house. A train thundered past on my first night here (so you can imagine what I was thinking!) “No wonder they’ve moved me here, the rent must be cheap if that thing’s going past every night, how am I ever going to sleep? …” As it turns out, trains only pass once a week or so, carrying freight from ships docked at Port Bell on Lake Victoria. The occasional passing train is quite exciting now I know it’s only once a week! And I always wonder where it’s come in from – possibly Tanzania or Kenya. Suddenly the train ‘and what lies beyond’ seems exotic.

It was raining heavily this morning so I went back to sleep to the sound of it, snug under my blanket. (What a treat! There’s the a slight chill in the air).

It’s time to make tea for me and Simpson. Not only have I missed the spout of the kettle but I have filled it with water straight from the tap. A ‘no, no’ but luckily I realised what I’d done. I haven’t had any stomach upsets yet but I don’t want to chance it. Occasionally, National Water add chlorine to the water supply and it comes out of the tap cloudy (and you a grey scums appear when you boil it). We try and avoid drinking it then.

enswa flying ants Kampala Uganda
The enswa flying ants were attracted by the security light in the compound – these are their discarded wings!

Simpson says there’s a lot of work for him to do on the porch this morning. At first sight there are 100s of leaves to sweep. They turn out to be the wings of 100s of insects – some kind of ant, a delicacy enjoyed by the Baganda and Acholi tribes. The insects have been attracted by the security light. Now the sun’s come out, the ants are all running off, leaving their wings behind! Simpson wanted to sweep them up right away but I asked him to wait so the Greenbul (bird like a Flycatcher) can eat his fill. He wanted to put them in a bin liner but I’ve asked him to put them in a pile under the tree “so we don’t deprive the bird of his natural food.” (He’s getting used to my funny mzungu ways!)

bucket enswa flying ant wings Kampala
Blue plastic bucket of enswa flying ant wings Kampala

More rain will mean more mosquitoes of course.

“You have to respect their intelligence though don’t you?” I say and Simpson adds “they breed just like African families!” Uganda has the 3rd highest birth rate in the world – he is child number 8 out of 15, and that is very common. I saw an ad for a contraceptive pill on TV last night “for mothers who are breast feeding.” It featured a happy young couple playing with a baby. The line was “enjoy bonding with your baby as a couple, without having to worry about the other children.” So it was promoting quality time (smaller families) + breast feeding as best way of feeding babies. But how do people afford the pill? Do they offer free contraception in Uganda? The authorities should (like they do in the UK) but I would be amazed if they do.

Last week as I walked down the road, someone offered me his daughter to take care of. I laughed in reply but actually the situation made me quite angry. How did that little girl feel? And why have so many children if you can’t afford to look after them? It’s funny; when I lived in the UK I made excuses for people having more kids than they could cope with but here in Uganda, this attitude gets to me. I suppose it’s on a much grander scale in Uganda and many of the kids I see around Namuwongo are absolutely filthy (i.e. uncared for).

My colleague Patrick says there’s never been a lack of food in Uganda – portions in restaurants everywhere are certainly enormous – but malnourishment is still common, as we saw yesterday on our visit to the famous Mulago Hospital (subject of a BBC documentary a few months ago). Mulago is a massive, creaking place. My friend Isla is a VSO Speech Therapist there and has seen some shocking sights.

Mwana mujimu. Mulago Hospital Kampala babies
Babies and mothers as Mwana mujimu, Mulago Hospital, Kampala

Today’s visit was to Mulago’s Healthy Baby clinic ‘Mwana Mujimu’ to hand out toys to the kids, hear more about the clinic and suggest improvements such as cheering up the place, installing a playground for example. I’m not sure whether I’m going to get involved or not. I haven’t been in Uganda long enough to decide which personal projects I’d like to support, but will happily collect any unwanted toys or kids’ clothes on my trip home (next year?) if anyone has any they no longer need.

The clinic provides a free meal for the carer too (usually a woman but not always the mother), to encourage them to stay the weeks with the child. This gives the clinic the opportunity to educate them on nutrition.

plumpy nut therapeutic food Mulago Hospital Kampala.  mwana mujimu
‘Plumpy nut’ therapeutic food is distributed at Mwana Mujimu unit at Mulago Hospital

I came to Uganda as a volunteer with Voluntary Service Overseas. We volunteers are business development volunteers (like me), teachers of special needs children, nurses, midwives, doctors and cardiologists. In addition to our ‘day jobs’ as professional volunteers, we also support other projects, in our spare time.

Artist Rolands Tibirusya was commissioned by VSO Uganda to brighten up the walls of Mwana Mujimu childrens’ ward at Mulago Hospital. We volunteers came along to ‘colour in’ his paintings

A bad hair day at Mulago Hospital. VSO volunteers Pat and Charlotte ‘colouring in’ Rolands’ paintings at Mulago Hospital, 2009

On a personal note, the Muzungu writes:

Thanks for all the emails and sorry if I haven’t replied yet. I will! I write this blog offline but it’s still taking time to download and reply to individual emails and I’m a bit behind this week after submitting my first fundraising proposal for UCF. Worked on it most of last w/end and two very late nights / early mornings. It’s for a wee $40k! but I couldn’t help but make the same amount of effort as I did with the big Laing PFI bids. UCF Directors and Trustees over the moon with what we submitted so fingers crossed we get the grant …

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4 thoughts on “Locomotion commotion”

  1. Wasswa frank says:

    I would like to know where i can buy plumpy nut for my malnutrietion clinic
    Please i need directions

    1. the muzungu says:

      Sorry I have no idea.

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