June 14, 2010

Where to start? So much has been going on. I’ve just returned from a 5-day safari trip to western Uganda. We went to track the mountain gorillas, of which there are only around 700 left. They are in Bwindi National Park, about 7 hours from Kampala. We had a great tour guide - Dominic - who drove us and set everything up for us… which was really important because driving ourselves there would have been painful. Uganda roads suck. I thought it was just Kampala but it really appears to be the whole country. Despite Bwindi being one of the biggest tourist attractions in Uganda the road to get there is a dirt road that seems to never be maintained, so there are huge holes and washed away areas. You have to have a 4-wheel drive to get through it and it’s seriously like backroading. I think I got whiplash. This lasted HOURS!

We had a group of 8 to go track the gorillas. The professional trackers go out an hour before we’re set to leave and go to the area the gorillas were yesterday, then follow tracks and flattened bush to follow the direction they moved since the day before. They only move about 1km a day so it’s not hard to find them. Then the radio the GPS to us and we head in. The most strenuous circumstance - and yet my favorite part of it - is that we are not following a blazed path. We are trekking through the think rainforest and having to blaze our own trail. This meant a lot of falling and trees whipping us in the face and climbing steep terrain.

Man was it worth it. We were within 15 feet of the gorillas and they were HUGE!! They didn’t even pay attention to us but they knew we were right there. There is a part of me that feels awkward about stalking and gawking them in their natural habitat when they seem incredibly used to it. I realize the fees they get for guiding these treks are used to protect the existing population and conserve the environment and protection of the animals, but no wild animal should feel that comfortable in a human’s presence unless they are specifically being used for research purposes. What if a poacher treks in? They wouldn’t even run. Anyway, I am torn about the availability of these gorillas despite enjoying their brilliance. To look at their facial expressions, hands, feet, habits - they are so close to ours. I love science. It seriously bewilders me to think there’s still a question in anyone’s mind around the history of evolution.

In all we saw 5 or 6 mountain gorillas, 2 of them being babies and 1 a silverback (the dominant male, called silverback for the grey/silver hairs it develops as an adult male on its back). We watched a female try to climb a tree where one of the non-dominant males was, and the dominant silverback came running over grunting, basically saying no - that aint gonna happen! The female was obedient and came down right away. We found out the day before the dominant silverback was fighting hard with one of the other silverbacks because he was trying to ‘make nice’ with one of the younger males. Yes, that’s right - even gorillas can be gay!! Evolution, baby.

After visiting Bwindi we stayed in a local village and were drawn from our room to follow the sounds of drumming and singing. It was coming from an orphanage close-by, and we sat and watched these 50 or so beautiful children performing songs and dance. They were so cute it melted my heart. Even the littlest had soul and it seemed like it all came so natural to them. There high little voices echoed through the nearby valley and their smiles radiated my soul. They had art that all the children had done laid out, and we were able to meet the artists for each thing we bought. I hugged a little boy named Joseph who painted a gorilla on canvas that I bought, and he clutched onto me and hugged me so tight. Don’t worry, mom, I didn’t take him home. I seriously thought about it, though!

Our next 2 days were spent in Queen Elizabeth National Park where we did game drives and a boating trip. We saw a bunch of elephants, antelope, birds, hippos, buffalos and lots of monkeys. The hotel we stayed in one night - Jacana Safari Lodge - had as many monkeys in the trees as we have squirrels back home. Having never seen monkeys in the wild I was astonished, again, by their resemblance to humans. I seriously want a monkey… despite the fact that one of ones I stalked tried to pee on me from the tree.

Our last night in Queen Elizabeth was spent watching the US vs. England in the World Cup and I was sick with a fever and horrible sinus problems, but it made me feel a closeness to my friends and family back home that made me reminisce about past times and feel a bit homesick. I’ve only been out of the country for 2 months but it feels like much longer. That said I feel like I’ve only chipped the iceberg of the travel I need to do. I’ve decided to spend this week in Kampala recovering. I still am fighting this cold/flu thing. Next week I’ll head over to Kenya to do a 6- or 7-day safari, visiting Masu Mara and the Serengeti in Tasmania. After being out of the city for a few days I’ve realized what I learned in Botswana - that the more desolate a place I am in.. the closer to nature I am… the happier and soul-filled I feel. This makes me seriously consider whether I want to spend the next 5 months in Barcelona and am considering now spending 3 months there and then finding someplace in the countryside to stay a while. It sounds silly but seeing farm animals all over the place really makes me want to have a farm with a little animal sanctuary on it. Some pet goats, pigs, chickens, cows…

I am still trying to capture the chaos in Kampala in photos but a picture just doesn’t seize it. The cars and motorcycles fighting for space on the small, pothole-filled roads that are encircled by tiny tin-roof covered shacks - all selling CRAP like batteries and airtime - and the half-naked, barefoot children playing on the side of the road everywhere and waving and smiling excitedly at you in your car. It’s a sight to be seen. The smells of diesel fumes, the sounds of horns honking, the smell of garbage burning, the seemingly infinite number of hair weaving shops, the packs of boda bodas (motorcycle taxis) waiting on street corners, the potholes, the women with babies strapped to their backs with colorful fabrics carrying huge items on their heads…

The American Embassy sits atop a large hill in the city and from it you can see a village that is clearly poorer than its surroundings. I came to understand these are the slums and had Justin put me in touch with a remarkable man, Moshen, who runs a free school for the kids living in these slums. Last week I spent 2 days over there. The first I taught an English class to kids around 13. I really have no business trying to teach. I had no idea how to, but Moshen helped me along and eventually I connected with the kids and found fun ways to engage them. The second day I helped the older kids make jewelry. As this NGO is funded mostly by donations, Moshen wants to make sure the kids don’t feel like they are being given money. He wants them to learn they have to earn things. So the kids make jewelry after school and sell it to the craft market. This is how they raise a lot of the money to keep it running. I love what they’re doing. Parents here have to pay for their kids to go to any school, which just keeps the poverty continuing generation after generation. For parents who are not educated and very poor they can’t/won’t pay for their kids to go to school. Understandable, I think. So they can enroll their kids in this program if they can’t afford it but want their kids to get a formal education and vocational training.

The school is located behind a maze of narrow dirt roads that are littered with tiny shacks, kids and chickens. It’s an area about 30 feet by 60 feet, separated by 6-foot plywood walls painted with images of elephants, Bob Marley, birds, a map of Uganda, etc, into 4 classrooms. The walls start about 2 feet from the ground and there is open air below and above them, so it’s very loud and hard to keep focus on what’s happening in your small classroom. They have a bathroom in the back, which is a new addition, but it’s all you smell. The smells of horrid feces fills the air and the lungs of the kids and they don’t even notice. As an outsider it’s all I notice. The stench is overshadowed by the privilege these kids have to actually have a small concrete room with a hole in the floor. If this doesn’t make you feel fortunate, yet powerless, nothing will.

It would be great to see more of these schools open and even better if I could find a way to help Moshen in his mission. This is a feeling I seem to be experiencing a lot here. I want to help but have no idea where to start or how to. Even more, it’s not a small task that I could give a little and walk away from. They need ongoing help and dedication. And there are hundreds of groups doing similarly extraordinary things. How to help, who to help… I’m immobile trying to find my place in all of it. For years I could have thrown money at these organizations but being unemployed and on a tight budget I just can’t right now. Or can I (says my soul)? All I have now is time to offer, and that is what I can give. I still just have an overwhelming feeling that I can do more. Suggestions welcome!