Mbita

We left Jinja and crossed the boarder back into Kenya and were met by our giant tank-like safari busses (which I cannot wait to show you all pictures of because you are not going to believe these monstrosities). We drove to Sauri, which is the pilot project of Jeffery Sach's millenium village projects. It was really interesting to see what had been done and how the theory worked when it had been put into motion, and you could definately tell there was progress being made. The goal is for the communities to be self-sustaining in 5 years, and since Sauri is only at the 4 year mark we are just going to have to wait and see how the pull-out part of the plan is going to work. We camped out for the night near the water and discovered that 2 HIPPOS (which by the way are the craziest, most massive and terrifying animals I have yet to lay eyes on) had also set up camp 50 feet from where our tents were set up. Luckily, there was no midnight stampeed that turned us all into tented mush, so ultimately the Hippos were just really really cool.

We spent the next day travelling and took the ferry across to Mbita (I love that vowels are optional here - its litterally pronounced Em-Bita). We've had some lectures from some local MDs and health workers about the problems in the area (mostly HIV and Malaria, not so surprisingly) and then we got to go into the village and visit the hospital (which believe it or not does not actually employ a single doctor - the doctor is at the bigger hospital which is about 20km from here)
Today was much the same as yesterday but with more emphasis on AIDs and a visit to the HIV clinic. All very cool. More updates to follow. And thank you for leaving comments, it makes me feel so warm and fuzy to know you are slogging through this rambling. Miss you all!

Return from the jungle!

So Sunday before last we flew to Kampala (in Uganda) and then drove to Kibale National park where we stayed at the field station just inside the park. We stayed in dorm-style buildings with bunk-beds that felt just like camp - except that you had to be extra careful not to leave your door open so the baboons wouldn't get into your stuff. I was in the primatology class so I spent most of the week in the forest studying the red colobus monkeys - it was freaking nuts. On the second day we did a census count of all the primate species in the forest and my group stumbled on the CHIMPS! It was freaking unbelievable. Chimps are huge and so intelligent looking and there were 60 of them sitting in this tree. ugh, I wish I could describe them well enough to do them any justice at all... One of them actually came down from the tree and wandered past me so close I actually had to move off the path to get out of his way! For the rest of the week we worked on our individual research projects on the red colobus, and I now know more about the social interactions of females with infants than I thought my brain could ever contain.
Last Sunday we started the morning by going to church in the near-by village. I went with the pentacostal group; there were cow hide drums and dancing in the isles and all kinds of brimstone and hell-fire. It was absolutely fantastic. After that we went to the official opening of the Kibale health centre which was put in place by 2 of our proffessors and Dr. J last year. The women's co-op group did some educational dances and some skits about malaria and using the clinic to stay well. After that there was a soccer match organized. Team Canada against Team Uganada and the ENTIRE village turned out to watch. I have never had so much fun being so terrible at a sport. The crowed just loved Rochiera who was playing net for us, because apparently women don't play soccer here, and the fact that she was so good seemed to blow everyone away. In the end we only lost 3-1 which we counted as a very near win.
On tuesday we climbed back onto the bus and drove 8 hours to camp out at Lake Nabugabo. The primatology class spent the first day talking to farmers about the local monkeys (called vervets - they are bold little guys with teal-coloured testicles) crop-raiding. Yesterday we did food experiments to test aggressive behaviour, including one where we put a huge stack of bananas under a bucket with a brick on it to see if they could figure out how to get at it (turns out it took them like 3 seconds, but it was fun to watch).
Today we traveled to Jinja, and so far we havn't done much but discover the internet cafe. Hope you're all doing wonderfully! And 10 points for getting all the way through this massive entry.
xx