Reflections – part 1 & 2

Final Reflections – Part 2

Prior to this trip, I knew that I was not fully culturally competent because I was lacking information about formalities including policies in these foreign countries regarding public health. I think that I did learn some of what I was missing. For example, at schools we cannot do programs talking about the importance of safe sex or abortions because the schools will only teach abstinence. Basically, don’t speak on those subjects until spoken to first about it. I learned that the formal processes to field work in public health are not followed there. By this I mean that they do not conduct needs assessments and then do research and plan a program before implementing and then evaluating afterwards. (This may also be a struggle for future students traveling with SIUE to Uganda.) The Ugandan students are quick to formulate programs before researching or assessing if that is a true need versus perceived need or if that’s the best way to carry out said program. Overall, I think that I am a little more culturally competent than I was before I went on the trip, but I am still culturally pre-competent because I only know some of Ugandan culture. There is still so much more to see and learn about the world before I would consider myself fully competent! Things you didn’t think would be different are different, so you can never be too sure or overly educated — ever.

I liked many aspects about the trip but there were a couple of aspects that I did not like. This sounds very first-world of me which I apologize for but I hated the wi-fi not working in the dormitories. It was hard being without family and friends for five weeks and then when I couldn’t talk to them, it made me even more homesick. I would be having a conversation with a loved one and then wi-fi would just quit working and I couldn’t say goodbye or goodnight. That upset me most about the trip. I can handle the change of diet and the cold showers and all the creepy, crawly bugs.

The best part to all of my days were seeing the children’s faces when they saw we students. They would get so excited, dance or jump up and down and would scream “muzungu” as loud as they could. This term refers to a traveler, but in Africa, more specifically, it refers to white people. Anyway, the children just loved seeing us and that made me love seeing them even more.

I found field work the most challenging part of the trip. There was a large misunderstanding between the American students and the Ugandan students about what field work really is here and what the mission was. We didn’t see eye to eye like the whole trip or until the very end. I am sure Dr. Cathorall will go into more detail with this for those of you who want to go on the trip in 2019, but just be open minded and patient with your Ugandan colleagues. They are not used to doing the kind of program planning and implementation that public health students are used to back home. It will take some time for both parties to adjust and to fully understand each other. I know things will be different in future years — Dr. Cathorall will help you; don’t worry!

The most rewarding part of this trip for me was seeing the bonds that were created between Ugandan and American colleagues. In Uganda there is a saying “One Uganda, One People” meaning inclusion and no divide. Everyone we encountered there was so welcoming and just wanted to get to know us. Almost everyone on the trip with we Americans were open to the idea of making new friends. One learns so much and gets so much enjoyment out of these new found friendships. It truly is a great, rewarding experience to have all of these connections and people who truly care about you and your presence. Embrace it!

I learned a lot about from this experience about African culture. For example, there are a lot of things in their lives that they contribute to witch craft. We don’t do that a lot in America. If a child is disabled or kidnapped or if your land or possessions are stolen, this can be due to the “black magic.” I learned that all parts of Africa are not like the UNICEF commercials that you see on TV. There is food security in the rural villages which I didn’t really expect based on stereotypes from the commercials and media/campaigns like that. Poverty is defined differently many places around the world. There is so much more that I learned. It would be impossible to tell everything. I hope that my previous blogs can help explain my findings more in detail, but I did learn something about myself that I would like to take a moment to share. I learned that I need to be a more of a go-with-the-flow kind of person. Not everyone is going to agree with me or think the same way regardless of how well I explain something or try to make them see it the way that I do. Not everyone is going to be on time either. I need to expect the unexpected and RELAX.

Huge shout-out to Dr. Cathorall and Dr. Brady for allowing me to go on this trip. I appreciate the opportunity! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Final Reflections – Part 1

To those of you who are interested in going on the trip in 2019, I have some advice for you….

As far as packing is concerned, take more pants or capris versus dresses. Your field work partners are not going to be dressed up too much at all. You will be more comfortable walking in shirts and pants. Speaking of walking, THE RIGHT WALKING SHOES ARE SO IMPORTANT! Some days I walked 14 miles — be prepared to walk and hike hills. Bring more bug spray than you anticipate to you, as well.

When you are traveling with Dr. Cathorall and/or Dr. Brady, don’t be afraid to talk to them and get to know them. They both are very interesting professors with lots of knowledge pertaining to culture and travel. Use them as a learning resource when you are there. It was fun to travel with both of them! They truly have your safety and best interest in mind throughout the whole trip.

Before going on the trip, I wish I would have known about the more relaxed dress code and about the hills/hiking. Dress code was already addressed in the first blurb, but for hiking/hills… there are hills all over campus which is HUGE. Campus is very spread out. You also have long walks/hikes to your field communities everyday for the first couple weeks. These walks are great to get to know your team — I just didn’t anticipate them at all. I also was not prepared for the food when I was there. The food at the school is going to make your body go into shock. No lie. It is so different from what we eat in the US everyday. Your everyday meals are bread, ground nuts (peanuts) and occasionally boiled eggs for breakfast. Lunch and dinner will be the same: posho which is a flour/water mash, peanut sauce on matoke which is a plantain smash, rice, beans, stewed beef occasionally and stewed vegetables. This is a high-carb diet. Be sure to buy a knife there and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables at the market. You will miss them. In the market, we were frequent flyers at the fried chicken and french fry stands… A.K.A. you will spend more money on food than anticipated. Also be ready for cold showers when at the university — BURR!

Overall, the value for the money was great even if the trip is extended next time. All meals (except for meals like chicken and fries and snacks you buy in the market) are paid for when you are there. The week of safaris makes everything so worth it — just finish the field work and it is a great way to end the trip! Five weeks was plenty long enough for me to be away from my family and friends, but I wish I had more time at the university so I could work on my program planning and implementation with my group more. That’s why I encourage future trips to be longer. I would definitely go again though!

Thursday, July 5th

The day had come. We were supposed to leave Uganda the night of Thursday, July 5^th. My day started with eating spaghetti with my coffee for breakfast. Then a couple of the girls and I went to the mall for some last-minute shopping/souvenirs. The hotel provided transportation to and from the mall. Their transportation was a Mercedes van… this was the first time I have ever rode in a Mercedes in my life. I felt fancy. Anyway, we had a very nice time in Entebbe looking at all the craft shops and we had drinks and lunch in the city. We went back to the hotel later that afternoon and I took advantage of the hotel being a spa, as well. I had a foot scrub, manicure and pedicure for $13! These services were amazing! The quality was comparable, if not better, than the same service I receive at a nail shop in the United States but pay almost four times as much for. After my mani/pedi was done, I finished packing and then it was time for dinner. We had a very relaxing day but after dinner, the schedule got tight again. We had to load up the vans that were taking us to the airport. When we arrived at the airport, we had to drop all our bags in a row outside the door and a police man and his dog came around to inspect all the luggage. This was intimidating, but I am glad that we all passed! After check-in, we started our twenty-six-hour journey back home. There was a lot of downtime in airports and on planes, but it was so worth it to finally be back home! I missed my people.

Wednesday, July 4th

It was the last full day in Africa — Wednesday, July 4th. It was weird to wake up and not hear talk to fireworks on the 4th. It’s just another normal day here in Africa. We drove back down to Lake Bunyonyi and met with the same tour guide as yesterday. Thank goodness we had a different mission today. We were taking a motor boat to one of the islands. I’m glad it wasn’t canoes again because we would never get there! On the boat, the guide explained that there were over 250 species of birds on the lake. It is the deepest lake in Uganda measuring about 900 meters deep at the deepest point. It is also a crater lake made from a volcanic explosion. It’s also the safest lake to swim in, in Africa. There are twenty-nine islands in the lake. While many of them are strictly for agricultural, food crops (not cash crops), there were some tribes living on an island. The guide pointed to the smallest island in the center of the lake and said that was a place for girls to go if they were pregnant before marriage. If this happened, the girls were supposed to starve to death. Some did escape because they were good swimmers. There is still a woman still living in the village who is about eighty years old and tells stories of this happening to her and how she survived. This punishment is no longer practiced here anymore though. The guide then pointed to the largest island and stated hah it was for old people to go who had leprosy so they wouldn’t infect others. A doctor came to the island and opened a hospital to treat those who were infected. Since those who have leprosy are now treated and not isolated on the island, they turned the hospital there into a primary school. It’s still open today. By this time, we had finally reached our destination. We were at Pigme Island! Visiting this island was supposed to be a cultural experience for us students. The Pigme tribe is known for being short. They have no chromosomal disorders that make them short — just generations of short people reproducing. We were told that the Pigme people used to live deep in the forests and would plant crops and hunt for food so they were self-sustained. The government came in and ordered them to move closer to civilization so that was how they came to occupy this island. Since they live at the top of the island, they have very little land to grow crops on and it’s very difficult for them to hunt for food now. They rely solely on tourists and donations to live since there is no economic activity here. When we pulled up to the dock, there were many Pigme children waiting to walk us to the top so we could see how they live. They offered us walking sticks and held our hands. I had a young girl named Frank who was eleven years old help me up. I was so thankful for her! The altitude on the lake was about 6,400 feet and then we had to hike up the side of the island another 400 feet. We are not used to this high elevation let alone hiking in it, so it was quite a sight to see. At the top, we saw the school and where some of the people live. This could possibly be the most impoverished area that I have ever seen. Most of the people had on clothes with holes in them and almost nothing for them properly. Kids were walking around with mismatched shoes that were entirely too small or too big. It was humbling to see. We are so blessed, so we blessed the Pigme people. They took up donations after doing cultural dances. The music was played on a water jug with a stick. Another way they accepted money was by selling handmade crafts. The crafts were made of wood with designs burnt into them, banana leaves or hollowed-it, dried gourds. We also visited the school where children sang and danced with us. We weren’t on top of the island for too long before we had to go back down the steep hillside to get on the boat again. Frank came to help me again, and saved me many times from rolling straight down the hill. I gave her permission to laugh at me if I fell because Muzungu are not good at hiking. One girl from SIUE even slid most of the way down the hill on her butt so she wouldn’t slip and fall. I’m still not sure if it was harder going up or coming down! In retrospect, it was a great experience to see the Pigme people and how they live but I felt so badly that they rely only on tourist donations to live that it was kind of uncomfortable being there and asked for money. We gawked and took pictures while they danced for us in exchange for money. We were asked for money while they danced, to buy the crafts, at the school and for the children who helped us down the hill. I didn’t mind donating in the least but I felt bad that they had to live like that. I’m sure the people who live there don’t like being a tourist attraction and relying only on donations to live. It must be stressful to wonder when someone will come to visit so you can buy food for your family. Anyway, once we got on the boat, we went around one more tourist island before heading back to our starting point. We were shown a course that is like Go Ape back in the United States and we were shown zip lines from one island to another. If only our travel insurance would have covered us doing this course! It would have been so fun. We were supposed to hit the road to drive to Entebbe where the airport is, but no one could wait to have lunch. We went back to the lodge and they prepared us sandwiches and fries before we started the eight-hour ride to the city. On the way, we stopped for street chicken. Basically, it’s chicken on a stick. The road was busy with lots of vendors so as soon as we pulled the van over, the vendors swarmed the van. We had learned from the last experience that you should only open one window when getting street food for a van full of people. If you open all the windows, you get chicken and drinks coming in every which direction. We were pros now! We got our chicken and on our way, we went. We ended up back at the hotel in Entebbe late that night. We were so late that we missed dinner, so we all ended up just heading to bed.

Tuesday, July 3rd

The morning of Tuesday, July 3rd we were supposed to go on the same safari drive through the savanna to see if we could spot the lion. We left the hotel very early and drove to the park. It must have been a popular time to enter the park because there were so many vans lined up waiting to start their game drives. I felt bad but I ended up falling asleep on this game drive because I opted out of sitting on top of the van. I didn’t feel that badly though because we never saw a lion, unfortunately. In the time that I was awake, I saw a heard of buffalos that had a couple babies with it and then lots more Ugandan Kob. That evening we were supposed to stay at another lodge so we drove a couple hours there. We stopped midway to eat at a restaurant that had sculptures and fountains symbolizing African culture. It was nice! I even had a strawberry smoothie. This wouldn’t seem exciting to most but it was for me because ice is hard to come by around here. When we got closer to the lodge, we saw that there was a village of gravel makers. They use chisels and hammers to take large portions of rock from the mountain side and then turn it into smaller, gravel-sized rocks. It was a cool process to see, but it seemed like such a tiring, laborious job. We stayed at the Arcadia Cottages which overlooked Lake Bunyonyi and its its many islands. This was by far the best view of the entire trip even though I have probably said that about all of the views. But trust me, this view was beautiful! The rooms were so beautiful and updated too. I was excited to stay here. I didn’t even have to sleep under a mosquito net for the first time in five weeks! After we checked into the hotel, we went down to the lake and met with a new tour guide. He told us that we were going to be canoeing around one of the islands. Not a lot of the girls with us have ever canoed before so that was something to see! First off, all of the canoes were hand-carved out of eucalyptus trees. Our boat in particular was shaped a little differently than the rest. It constantly tilted to the left even when in the water. I was one of two people in the canoe that were rowing but there were four of us total in the boat. We had both rowed canoes before but this was not like anything else. I had to sit all the way to the right of the boat to keep it somewhat balanced. That made it extremely difficult to paddle on the left side. Many times we just went in circles along with the other girls in other boats. Imagine seeing that! There was a lack of understanding from the guide about where our destination actually was, so that made the circles even more frustrating. One of the groups had to go back to shore early because not only were they frustrated and not knowing where they were going, but their boat started taking in a lot of water. Note to self: Canoeing with beginners is not a great team building exercise. Like Dr. Brady told us, “If you put a newly-married couple in a canoe, they would divorce immediately.” I believe this to be true after this experience. We drove back to the lodge, thankful canoeing was over, and relaxed before dinner. I played some pool and tried to soak up the free WiFi. Funny thing is that the WiFi would only work for emails and some random web pages, but it wouldn’t work for any other messaging or social media platforms. There is a new tax on social media in Uganda that must be paid daily. We hypothesized that the hotel must not have paid the taxes to use social media over their WiFi. We could be wrong, but it was interesting! I took the longest and hottest shower of my life before crawling into the big bed. This hotel was beautiful but boy was it cold at that high of elevation! I froze all night long. That is until my roommate found out the window was open all night unbeknownst to me. That might have been why… haha.

Monday, July 2nd

We spent Monday, July 2nd exploring Queen Elizabeth National Park and the surrounding communities a little more. We started at Karinzu Ecotouring Center first. Here, we were supposed to go trekking to see chimpanzees. We were briefed by the tour guide first. She said that there are 414 species of trees, 262 species of butterflies, 372 species of birds and thirty species of animals including eight species of primates. As far as my knowledge, we saw three different primates while on our tour. We saw baboons again as soon as we got out of the van. There were baby baboons rolling around with each other playing on the ground and in the trees. When we entered the forest, we were told it takes sometimes four hours of walking before spotting a primate but we saw some within ten minutes of entering the forest! We saw a blue monkey that I forget the formal term for. Then shortly after we saw the chimpanzees! There were about five of them spotted on our tour including one little baby who was only a couple months old and then a toddler chimp that was only about two years old. The toddler chimp was climbing all over and swinging in the trees while the baby chimp was clinging to its mother’s stomach the entire time. The area that we spotted them in was a territory of about six kilometers that was home to forty chimpanzees. We saw one monkey swing to the ground and she got annoyed so she was banging her fists in the ground as she ran away. I think that’s my spirit animal (haha)! The guide told us that when the chimpanzees want to attack a smaller monkey that’s in the trees, multiple chimps circle the base of the tree while one runs up to chase the smaller monkey down. Once it’s on the ground, the chimps pounce. Similarly, if the chimps wanted to get us, we would be circled-in in the same manner. Our tour guide was funny. Some of the chimps were in the trees and would begin to urinate. She said that why it’s called a rain forest (haha)! Some other monkeys were eating fruits and throwing peels and seeds to the ground below. One of which fell onto the top of my head. That didn’t feel too pretty and it made my hair sticky! I’d say this chimpanzee trek was successful, so I was pleased! We hiked back out of the forest and ended up randomly along the roadside. Our drivers were called to pick us up and away we went. We went back towards the lodge and stopped at a local shop to get souvenirs. This shop was owned by an organization called the Kataara Women whose mission was to save/conserve the elephants for future generations and alleviating poverty. Apparently when the elephants go onto farmer’s land and destroy the profitable crops, the farmer’s act against the elephants. To put an end to this, the organization buys the elephant dung left on that farmer’s land to make up for what they destroyed. This dung is then made into paper products or jewelry and sold at this little gift shop. I bought my grandma a poopy necklace. They also sold more generic gifts like handmade elephant trinkets and handmade banana leaf products like bags and bowls. I was so excited about these finds! After lunch back at the lodge, we left again for another game drive through the park. We were supposed to see lions on this specific drive/tour! Along the way, our guide pointed at a lake and said that this lake was in the shape of Africa. I must research more to find out the name of this lake, but I thought that was pretty interesting besides just seeing the animals. We went to “Crater Drive” to first look at the craters that were created from volcanic explosions many years ago. I honestly don’t think I have ever seen anything more beautiful in my entire life! Ever. Never. The crater lakes were rimmed with salt and there were buffalos taking water here. Apparently when the buffalos get injured, they know to go into the lake for a salt bath to help the wounds heal. How cool is that?! We went to another part of the park and drive through the savannas to look for the lions. We didn’t see any unfortunately, but we did see warthogs, Ugandan Kobs, water bucks and more buffalos. The buffalos here were taking a mud bath. We saw two male water bucks fighting and then chasing each other in a zig-zag pattern across the road. Their horns/antlers were so loud when they collided. So cool! Since we didn’t see the lions this evening, we are supposed to go back to that same park in the morning to try again. It was a lovely evening that ended in seeing more elephants walking across the savanna in the distance.

Sunday, July 1st

The morning of Sunday, July 1st started with baboons fighting right outside of my door as soon as I walked out. I quickly ran back inside and shut the door. I peeked out the window and the baboons were gone, so we started walking towards the dining area to have breakfast. On the trail, we saw the baboons running up the trees around us and jumping down around us. I was terrified so I ran, bags in hand, until I was safely off the wooded trail. Breakfast was a delight. I had coffee. Oh, how I missed good coffee with real (not powdered) milk. I was so used to eating bread, boiled eggs and peanuts every morning that I forgot what it was like to have fruits, bacon and pancakes. We had to hit the road because it was going to be another long drive. We had to drive five hours north until we reached the next lodge in Queen Elizabeth National Park. We would be staying in the park for two nights. On the drive, our tour guide pointed out a couple of crater lakes that were made many years ago from explosive volcanos. There wasn’t as much wildlife on this journey, but we saw a lot of rolling hills that were home to many bright green tea plantations. Once we got into the gate to the park, some of the girls in another bus saw a baby elephant in the distance. I was quite butter that I didn’t get to see one, but shortly after there was another mature elephant and it was so close to the vehicle! The girls got so excited that they screamed and it started turning away and retreating into the brush. We learned our lesson about doing that again… good thing there’s supposedly five or six thousand elephants in this park! There were plenty more to be seen, and that’s just what we did. We spotted every one of them that we could. When we had lunch next on the lake, there was a herd of elephants across the way taking water. After lunch we were supposed to take a boat ride on those very waters to see the elephants closer. It was the Kazinga Channel going into Edward Lake. The waterway is split between Uganda and Tanzania. I wish I could tell you the length of the waterways, but I don’t know the metric system so the figure didn’t stick with me. I really need to learn the metric conversions! Meanwhile, on the boat, we saw lots of water buffalos amongst hippos amongst more elephants. The water buffalos and hippos look so tiny compared to the elephants. Apparently, the hippos and water buffalos can all live together because they are vegetarians. The tour guide pointed out a huge tree that elephants had uprooted just to eat the tops off the tree. They are so massive! I can only imagine the destruction that they can do. Incidentally, the type of tree they pushed down was the same type of thorny tree that hit me in the head the day prior when I was watching the game and not the road (haha)! We saw other animals such as more crocodiles, water bucks and birds like storks and pelicans. The guide also pointed out a fishing village along the lake. This village has been in Queen Elizabeth park since the 1950s. The fisherman here can only fish at night though to avoid the hippos attacking their small boats. All of this was so cool to see and to learn, but nothing beats seeing so many elephants! This was my favorite part of the trip so far. I will never get tired of seeing elephants. We saw many of them on the game drive that afternoon on the way back to the lodge. We got stopped by some baboons in the middle of the highway as well. There was a mother walking across the road with a baby clinging to her underside. She was going over to another mother who had another baby with her. There was a larger male sitting on the side of the road doing hand gestures towards the van. This ride was the first time we have seen a Ugandan Kob. The Kob looks like a cross between the antelope and a buck but the horns go straight up and them curve inward at the tops. We traveled through a rural village setting that resembled Ggunda until we reached our lodge. We would be staying at the Enganzi Lodge which overlooks Queen Elizabeth National Park for the next two evenings. I have never seen a more beautiful skyline than here! You could see herds if elephants crossing the park in the distance. I could get used to this view! If only there was a door on the bathroom in my cottage, then it would be perfect! We ate dinner at the lodge and enjoyed some time looking at the scenery while eating my pork chop dinner before turning in for the night.

Fun fact: If I could be any animal in the world, I would want to be a hippo! Why? Well, for starters I am so large that no one would think I was fatter than the rest of them and my size is intimidating to most predators. Like what is weight management?! I can graze all day and don’t have to worry about catching and killing my food since I’m a vegetarian. I can swim around in the lakes all day and seem to be so carefree while doing so. I can lay on the shore and take a nap in the warm sun when I get sick of swimming. Best yet, when tourists see me, I would go underwater and stay there for about ten minutes. They would be waiting and waiting for me to pop back above the water but I would swim far away before coming back up to shock them all. Wouldn’t that be fun?! Lastly, it’s cute that my babies swim on my back when they are young. That’s why I want to be a hippo — life seems so much easier.

Saturday, June 30th

We woke up about 5:30am on Saturday, June 30th to finish packing our bedding and mosquito nets. Some of the girls in our dorm woke up early to help us and to see us one last time before we went. The safari vans were there bright and early to load up our luggage and away we went. We drove a couple of hours west to the equator. Here, we stopped to take pictures with one foot in the North and one foot in the South. The equator had a line marked across the entire road. It was so cool! We stopped at a couple shops and bought small souvenirs before getting back on the bus to go to the lodge. It was another couple of hours on the road but along the way we saw so much wildlife and it wasn’t even the start of the official safari tour yet! We saw crusted cranes that are on the Ugandan flag and huge spoonbill storks (yuck!). There were tons of ankole cows with huge horns. We had seen them all the communities surrounding Ndejje as well, but here the cows lived in harmony amongst impalas, grevy’s zebras, and water bucks which we also saw plenty of. Water bucks look like deer that we have in the US but these are much larger and chunkier with horns instead of antlers! We eventually arrived at the Rwakobo Rock lodge. It was on top of HUGE rocks overlooking the savanna. It was breathtaking! The room was just as beautiful. I think the most exciting part was seeing the solar panel above the gravity-fed water tank. This means I would be able to take my first hot shower! I had not taken a hot shower in four weeks. We ate lunch at the lodge and really knew we were staying in an upscale place when they served cheese and so many fresh fruits and vegetables. It wasn’t all carbohydrates/starches at lunch. The open-air dining patio was a huge attraction for little vervet monkeys. One of them sat in a tree across from our table posing for pictures. As soon as he got the chance, he jumped across our table and stole a piece of bread someone had on their plates. He quickly went back to his tree and enjoyed the bread. We decided to name that monkey Swiper (Swiper, no swiping! #DoraTheExplorer). We run a tight schedule so right after check-in and lunch we got back in the buses. We drove another hour and a half through Nshaara National Park until we reached Lake Mburo. Through the park we saw a lot more game! There were many more zebras, water bucks, cows, vervet monkeys and impalas but in addition, we also saw warthogs, baboons, water buffalo, giraffes and bush back antelopes. I didn’t think I would see nearly the amount of game that we had and this was only half a day into the safari! It wasn’t even an official “game drive” yet. When we finally reached the lake, we boarded a double-decker boat. We had a lovely tour guide on the boat who pointed out the natural salt lakes and papyrus plants surrounding the lakes in addition to many more animals for us. We saw a lot of birds including malachite and woodline king fishers. These are bright blue! We saw African fish eagles that look like bald eagles with white heads and black/brown bodies. There was a huge, black buffalo that was spotted drinking from the lake. The guide said that buffalos are normally never seen estranged from the group. If they are alone, it means that they are old and sick and these are often very angry and aggressive. We saw crocodiles both juvenile and mature. Some of the crocodiles in this lake weigh up to ninety to one-hundred kilograms (convert to pounds). We learned that a crocodile will lay fifty to eighty eggs at a time but only ten or so of those eggs will survive. The baby crocodiles have so many predators that the mother croc will swallow her babies to teach them how to swim before allowing them to go into the waters where the predators are. Of course, saving the best for last… we saw tons of hippos in the water! This was my favorite part. The hippos like to spend a lot of time in the lake when they are not grazing. Some of them were playing with other hippos by splashing water around, others were teaching their babies to swim while having the baby on their back, and others were just enjoying their time going above and under the water. Some of them can stay under water for up to ten minutes, so we tried not to concentrate on just one hippo coming back up to the surface. You might have been waiting for a while and missing out of seeing something else. At one point we felt a jolt while we are on the boat. It was a hippo coming out from underneath! The hippos make cute pig-like noises but it sounds like they are laughing pigs. The tour guide told us that if a mother has a male baby, she will hide the baby until it’s grown and can survive on its own. If the dominant male hippo finds the small male baby, it will kill it to assert its dominance. The boat ride was very relaxing and so worth-while. When we were done, we took the scenic route back to the lodge. This was our first official game drive. We sat on top of the van on the luggage racks while we rode through the savanna. At first, I was so scared being up there but that fear quickly went away when we started seeing more zebras, bucks, antelope, etc. At one point, I was so focused on the game that I didn’t duck my head for the branch overhead. That one hurt, but I survived! When we got back, our faces were all black from so much dust being stirred up while we were driving. It took longer than expected to get back to the hotel but we finally made it. My night ended in another delicious meal and that hot shower that I had been looking forward to all day! It so was nice.

Friday, June 29th

We had plans on Friday, June 29^th to meet with the Germans who are partnered with Ndejje University. They are doing a research project on renewable energy and we were to take a tour of where they work on campus. Their project is to make clean-burning coal-like bricks for cooking. They take donated, dried corn cobs (with no kernels) and put them in a carbonizer which basically turns the cobs into charcoal, but the process is not quite done! After being in the carbonizer, the cobs are taken to be grinded down into small particles and dust. Once its ground down, one to two tons of this charcoal substance is mixed with some water and molasses to hold it all together. This mixture is put into a machine that shapes it into bricks that are then used for cooking. Here at the university, they have energy-efficient, insulated stoves and they burn these larger bricks while cooking. This plant now produces enough coal for the university, a secondary school and makes enough available to sell to individual households. While these are more expensive than standard charcoal made from carbonized wood and they don’t burn with as much energy, reusing the corn cobs helps cut down on deforestation and when burned, it is much healthier for the air! The scientists are still researching and working on a way to mass produce to market it better and to make them denser so when they burn they put out more energy. This project has been ongoing for three years now. Ndejje is not the only place that this process is being tried out at. There is a place in Kampala that does it on a larger scale. Seeing as my degree is International Studies with a concentration in Development and Sustainability, I thought this project was so cool and I was honored to be able to see how it’s done. It was a quick tour but very worthwhile. After we got back to campus, I had some time to just chill before it was time for lunch. After lunch we were to go to the market and meet up with some more Ugandan colleagues. We had another going away party without staff members there. We had a large turn-out at our going away party in the market. We got there early and helped the owner of the joint set up the chairs and tables and put up her new inventory that she ordered just for us. While we waited for our Ugandan colleagues to arrive, we went shopping in the market for some last-minute snacks and gifts. Meanwhile, we saw a dog eating another dog’s decapitated head — fur, teeth and all. It was so disturbing. And to think the day prior we were scared to give the dogs our left-over chicken bones. After this, we went back to the bar and our friends were starting to show up. We bought our last round of chicken, fries and drinks and shared with everyone before we had goodbye speeches. The student body president drove all the way from the capital of Kampala to send us off. Everyone was crying by the end of it, but it was so heart-warming to know that our new friends cared that much. They started playing the “See You Again” song from Fast and the Furious as we walked out. It was going to be so hard to say goodbye the next morning.