Kristmas in Kampala

Lots has happened but we have suddenly become even busier than normal with work and parties.  More updates to come.  We just thought we would share some pics from our Christmas so far.

Christmas cookies and our Disco Christmas tree

Deb posing with the tree.  Note the My Little Ponies, a gift from our cleaner.  Not sure what it is suppose to symbolize, but is a nice addition as our nativity scene.

Christmas Eve lunch with our friend Rachel.  No snow here, just lush trees.

We are off to Zanzibar.  See you in 2011!!!

Lots of love from Kampala and we will chat soon! 

Deb's first publication....sort of....

Okay - so it's a bit of a stretch, but I can now claim that my name has been published in the academic domain!!  Here's the link to an article I helped work on (I did some editing, made the figures, and did all of the online submitting (which takes a lot of time)).  You can see me if you scroll all the way down to the bottom to the 'Acknowledgments' section.  I told you it was a bit of a stretch...haha  The paper itself might be interesting for you clinical and public health folks... ;)

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0013438

Otherwise, all is well here.  In my new 'less work' lifestyle, I don't work on Saturdays, so yesterday Stu and I went to a music festival in town and then to the finals for the Uganda Basketball Association aka UBA (like the NBA - but a lot less flash).  The game is played at the outdoor concrete court at the YMCA and people crowd in everywhere to get a slice of the action.  Luckily, the team we were cheering for, D-Mark Power, won the championship!  We cheer for 'Power' because my colleague used to play on the team, but had to leave this season to come and work for us.  Playing in the UBA is not nearly as lucrative as the NBA, so many players have to leave when a good job comes up.  I'm sure Stu will have more to write about the game itself and the style of playing, I just enjoyed being in the action.

Well, I have to get back to work now...yes it's Sunday...but this time next week we'll be off to Zanzibar, so I can't really complain!

Thanksgiving, Glühwein and Chanukah

So after a great visit to Canada we are getting back into the daily grind here in Uganda.  It was so nice to be back to see friends and family but with so much going on, we almost feel like we need another vacation.

While some things in Kampala have changed (most notably that everyone is electioneering leading up to a national election in February), we have setting back into our routine with surprising ease.  Within the first month we have already had two visitors come and stay with us.  As always, we are happy to have people visit and it provides and excuse to travel a little bit. 

Erin actually timed coming to Kampala to arrive on the same flight as Deb back from Atlanta.  While I am sure they got lots of gossiping in on the plane, we thought that we still needed a relaxing weekend out of the city.  We headed to the Hairy Lemon, a resort on the Nile farther upstream than we normally stay.  We didn’t paddle this time around but did relax on this beautiful island.  It was the perfect place to get away.  While we usually stay on the other side of the river, which provides a great party, the Lemon is unbelievably serene and a perfect place to read in a hammock, go for a swim, or play water-volleyball.  I am a little surprised that we have not made it up there yet.  All I can say is that I am looking forward to going back.

We have also been bringing in the festive season in style.  As Melissa is American we decided to host another Thanksgiving dinner (as if we really needed much prodding….).  Last weekend we had 12 friends over for dinner from around the globe to celebrate the British colonies first harvest in America (I have sworn that I won’t discuss the true history of American Thanksgiving anymore, but it is interesting to see the different histories from those around America (and a British, American History grad)).

This thanksgiving was a little different than those in the past.  Yes, we had the usual, pumpkin pie, mash potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc., but this time our turkey was a free ranger who was walking around our own backyard!  Since we see so many chickens and turkeys running around, we thought we should get some of our own.  We have chickens for eggs (not going so well, they don’t seem to be laying for some reason), meat and then our thanksgiving turkey. 

Needless to say, the process of getting a walking turkey onto the table was interesting.  Having never killed a turkey before, we asked two locals to help us navigate the way through.  They were happy to show us what to do in exchange for a taste of the turkey once it was cooked (they had never had turkey before as it is too expensive for many locals here due to its size).  Getting the turkey ready for roasting was surprisingly easy and (as Mel remarks in the video) was very more ‘tame’ than anticipated.  For those interested in watching the video it is here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgVmIwR4Sm4).

Dinner was a resounding success.  Once again, everything seemed to make it on the table just at the right time and everyone had a blast.  It is always so fun for us to get together in an international environment and share our culture with others and also learn from them.

 As if we didn’t eat enough at thanksgiving (we were all way over stuffed to the point that one couple needed to go home!), we were invited to two separate parties the next day to celebrate the first advent.  Apparently advent is a very big part of German’s Christmas celebrations so we could not turn the invites down so off we went to see what advent is all about.  The core of the celebration surrounds lighting the advent candles (there are four), but along the way much Glühwein (mulled wine) and baked goods are consumed. We could not be happier to have partaken.

To round out our holiday week, this Wednesday was the first night of Chanukah. Despite the fact that we don’t have a menorah we were not to be swayed from our latkes. We assembled a menorah made from used bottles and went to shredding the onion and potatoes, while trying to avoid taking of our knuckles (Stu already cut of the top of his thumb while making Thanksgiving). The latkes were delicious and happily shared with our friend Mark.

Who knows what the plan is for the next holiday but we are looking forward to it!

Update on our update

I just came home to find these three little chickens sitting on my kitchen counter...and Stu sitting on the balcony drinking a beer. See, all is well in Kampala.

Quick Update

Well, in just 5 days we will be touching down in Canada – we’ve been looking forward to this visit back home for some time now. When we haven’t been thinking of coming home, we’ve been moving along just great here in Kampala.

I (Deb) have been working to the brink, but making really good progress. We just received ethical approval for our main trial, ‘The ACT PRIME Study: Evaluating the impact of enhanced health facility-based care for malaria and febrile illnesses in children in Tororo, Uganda’ and are awaiting ethical approval for our supplementary trial, ‘The ACT PROCESS Study: Evaluating the process, context, and impact of interventions to enhance health facilities in Tororo, Uganda’. While it may seem boring to the outsider, receiving ethical approval is a big challenge and quite a lot of work, but also integral to the study design process. Over the past few months, we have been really thinking through the science and practicalities of how we will run our studies and how we will achieve & measure our outcomes. For our studies, we’ve had to apply to four ethical boards (2 in Uganda + London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine + University of California, San Francisco), most trials only go through one or two boards.

In addition to these ethical approvals, I have been working like mad on developing our ‘health facility intervention’ which is to train health workers at lower-level government health centres in the areas of ‘health centre management’ and ‘patient-centred services’. It’s been a really awesome experience to develop training for health workers from the ground up and I’ve been leading a really great team. We still have a ways to go and many challenges to overcome – so it doesn’t look like my 70+ hour weeks will be ending anytime soon...

Stu has been keeping busy as usual doing all of the manly things he likes to do - like cooking and baking. Today (while I am at work), Stu is preparing a Canadian Thanksgiving for 12 of our friends. The menu, developed and prepared entirely by Stu, is: Deviled Eggs for appetizer (my contribution here is to bring some chips from the corner store), Roasted carrots, Mashed potatoes, 3 beer can chickens (with different spice rubs on each), Stuffing, and Salad for the main course; and Coconut cream pumpkin pie with ginger snap crust for dessert! Phew! Stu woke up early this morning to go to the meat packers to get fresh chickens...and the rest of the dinner is in progress...

We are looking forward to seeing some of you in Ancaster/London/Cambridge/Waterloo/Toronto, Atlanta and Amsterdam very soon! For others we won’t be seeing this time around – we are sending you much love and kisses from Kampala! Come visit – Stu needs taste-testers...!!

D&S

Dolla J, Silent Discos, Goat races, and the Cranes

Many people have asked us what Kampala is like at night and what there is to do here. As we have said numerous times, Kampala has so much to offer. Aside from the outdoor activities (game drives, whitewater kayaking, and climbing) that are an easy weekend adventure, there is all kinds of things to do in town. Over the last couple months we have been getting much more into the Kampala scene. The city has a surprisingly good art scene, the largest music scene in East Africa (although some might debate this) as well as all kinds of activities aimed at expats.

The music in Uganda is a mix of 90’s Hip Hop and Dance Hall. They idolize the North American bar music from the late 90s and early 00s (and also unfortunately Celine Dione). Modern Uganda music (like that from Kenya) includes a lot of these beats but adds a much more dancy feel. The Ugandans love to dance. They really get going to any beat at all and use their whole bodies to get into it. Some of the biggest musicians are Bebe Cool, Chameleon, Radio & Weasel, Rachel K and Kid Fox. After a particularly eventful night, we got to meet an aspiring artist named Dolla J (I have no idea what his real name is). He has taken me under his wing and tried to teach me a little about the music scene. It has been great to have a local show us around the music scene. Needless to say, both Deb and I have had some crazy nights out dancing away with the Ugandans. They usually head OUT at around 11…..and that is usually to a bar serving as a meeting place. The dancing doesn’t get going until around 3 and the bars stay open until the patrons leave. We have not been there yet, but there are many bars still pounding out the music at 10am! I am not sure I could walk out of a bar after a night of dancing and have the sun come up….although we may have to once as a ‘cultural experience’.

One of the coolest Ugandan music experiences was at the annual Bayimba festival, which highlights some of the best musicians and artists. The weekend featured many great artists on the main stage (including the one and only Ugandan rock band, who were surprisingly good). However, the best part was a silent disco. For those who have never heard of this concept, a silent disco is when all attendees wear head phones wirelessly connected to the DJ (or in this case, DJs which you got to choose between). It is a surreal experience when you see hundreds of people dancing away in complete silence with DJs at the front egging on the crowd.

While not dancing, we have also attended several sporting events. The most notable was the Royal Ascot Goat Races. The races are organised annually as a fundraiser for a variety of different charities around Uganda.  We had no idea what to expect with the day but everyone told us that we needed to attend.  Needless to say, the day did not disappoint. The event took place at Munyoyo, which is a very posh resort that was set up for the 2007 Commonwealth conference (as is much of the Ugandan infrastructure). The core idea behind the event is to raise money and have fun. It is hard to have fun when you see ten goats ‘run’ around a track with hundreds of people cheering on the goat they bet on. Needless to say, most of the ‘race’ involves the goats eating grass and slowly moseying around the track. The race is sped along by caretakers who push a giant board to make sure the goats move and encouraged by live play-by-play worthy of the Kentucky Derby. Next year we are going to buy a goat and cheer it on with all we have got.

While not cheering on goats, we have been encouraging the Cranes with our money and our voices. The is the Uganda Cranes football (soccer) team who are in the process of qualifying for the Africa 2012 Cup of Nations. The atmosphere at the stadium is unbelievable. Ugandans take their football seriously and once you mix in nationalism, things can get a little out of hand. Fans dress up and cover themselves in full body paint, jump, scream, play drums, and blow vuvuzellas at all times (and I think all the hoopla about them at the World Cup is garbage! Talking to some people who went to the WC and the qualifiers, they were mush louder in Kampala and I love them. I think South Americans and Europeans just didn’t like that their songs could not be heard over the sound of their chants). One fan even brought an air raid horn to the game!!! Having been to some games in Europe and South America, nothing competes. Everything here is at such a high intensity; it is hard to not get wrapped up in all of the emotion. Thankfully Uganda won their game and are still sitting on table of the table. Can’t wait for their next home game!!!

How to buy a 'new' car in Kampala

In some of our previous blog posts we have mentioned ‘Suki, our trusty Escudo which has been chauffeuring us around Uganda.  She came to us about five months ago from a shipping bond.  Vehicles in Uganda are almost all imported (mostly from Japan) and then sold of as new at these bonds.  What new really means is that the vehicle hasn’t yet been on the pot-holed paths they call roads here.  Most vehicles don’t last more than 4 or 5 years before things begin to fall apart in a serious way.  Getting our little Escudo proved to be a nerve-racking experience.  To begin with, I (Stu, Deb decided that as long as it was green and ‘not too big’ she would be happy with whatever I got) went around with our friends Paul and Robert to more than 10 shipping bonds.  Each one of these bonds is filled with the slimiest of used car salesmen who are looking to make a cut.  They even follow you from bond to bond to try and explain why their vehicles are better.  We ended up having to go out several weekend in a row because we could only stand an afternoon of being heckled and pestered to buy vehicles that I would not feel safe with my enemy driving.

Finally, we came across a nice new-ish looking GREEN vehicle that matched everything we were looking for.  After taking so long to find the car, I wanted to move on it to ensure that it wouldn’t be sold to someone else.  When I inquired about what the next step was, I didn’t really know how to answer.  I needed to find money to pay for the car….in cash…and they wanted it in USD if possible.  I had no idea how I was going to find the money, let alone in dollars. 

Up until then, we did not have a Ugandan bank account and had just been withdrawing money from the ATM.  Finally with a little finagling, we managed to secure the appropriate cash, but walking around with this much cash, especially in Kampala, was terrifying.  It isn’t like you can hide it very well.  Because of the exchange rate, we ended up with a huge stack of bills.  When the time came to pay for the car, the bills got shoved down my socks, into pockets, anywhere possible for people not to notice we were carrying a big wad of cash.  

 

All I have to say is that we are so happy about our little car, and I would be happy to go through the whole ordeal again.