UCVM Outreach

Okay, I wrote this about a week ago and haven’t had annnny internet
access since then so I haven’t been able to post this. Since… I have
been up in Soroti and then in Kangole doing small animal outreach
stuff with Dr. Liz and Julia. We are trying to educate people on
Transmissible Venereal Tumors (or TVT) which is very common in dogs
here. So mainly we are doing spays and neuters and have treated a few
real nasty cases of TVT surgically, debulking their tumors (which are
generally on the genitals) and then giving them chemotherapy which Val
and I will go back and do a few more times in the next weeks. I have
learned a ton… can successfully put in catheters (most the time :-P)
and give IV injections… sedation, treatments… shove pills down dogs
throats… neuter (:-O), suture (well… I was having some issues), etc!
It’s been AWESOME. We got a new pet yesterday. Some kid shot a
Rufus-headed Roller with a sling shot so we wanted to save it cause it
was pretty :-P He was going to eat it for a little snack, but we
figure he can find some other protein source with the money we gave
him (2000 shillings… less than $1 American – but that’ll get you
dinner around here!) The little boys hunt birds around here all the
time so now that we bought that one they keep bringing different
things to us… haven’t obliged to any others yet but they’re kinda fun
to see. Trouble the chameleon is still doing well but has not had her
babies. We are currently assembling cages for her and the bird so
hopefully that’ll help. Dr. Liz and Julia leave tomorrow, but then we
have some other vet named Julie coming in on the same flight (if she
makes it… someone stole Val’s phone the other day so communication
will be… well… pretty much impossible if there are issues). So things
are crazy busy, but good :-) Having a ton of fun and loving Uganda!!!
We had church this morning which is the most ridiculously hot and
crowded building ever… about 80 people were baptized at our service
(after a few month long discipleship program) and about 60 were
baptized in the first service… and it was the same last week. It’s
amazing :-) But there are probably about 400-500 people at each
service… in quiiite a small building. But every time they sing and
play the drums I almost melt (I suppose that isn’t really a compliment
considering the last comment) but it sounds soooo cool. I could sit
there for hours despite the heat just listening and watching it. But
anyway… here was my update as of last week:

So… lately we’ve been doing veterinary outreach stuff. Two doctors
from the states came with various family members to join us for a
symposium put on by the Ugandan Christian Veterinary Mission (UCVM).
The first part of it was an outreach in two different villages in the
western part of Uganda. The team split up… I went to Bushenyi with
Val, Dr. Liz Hoffmann, her daughter Julia, a couple doctors from the
vet school here and another student we took from Soroti named Joseph
(or Lobai or Kateok depending on which name you want to use… but since
you won’t know how to pronounce them, I’ll go with Joseph :-P); the
team with the other vet went to Arua.

That name comment brings me to another point which I keep forgetting
to mention. So I have been called MANY things since I’m been here.
Any time I introduce myself, I get a bunch of reallllly blank looks.
NO ONE can say my name correctly (unless they’re American). So…
during our trip to Bushenyi we were working with Dr. Michael who has
probably had the most issues with my name. For a while it wasn’t so
bad… he was calling me Heid-a, which was pretty close. But then… the
problem is, here they don’t do the whole last name thing. Any name
they ‘own’ is a name they can be called… they are all equivalent. So
like Michael – you think it’s funny that an African has a name like
Michael… but that’s because his other name is Kanssiime… which he is
also called. Moses Otim… Kateok Joseph… etc. And they can all be
switched around which gets confusing at times. So… I always avoid
saying anything but Heidi, but while we were in the car, someone was
putting my phone number in his phone and asked what my second name
was. I proceeded to explain the American system… how it’s a family
name and not a second name and people don’t use it… but I knew it was
a risk. The thing was… they guy I was talking to was very
understanding – he got it. But Dr. Michael, who was driving,
completely missed the point. From then on I was things ranging from
Heid-a Jud-y to Jud-a to Heid-a and Heid-a Judd-a, Jud-y Heid-a and
who knows what else. I get a lot of Heid-a… and I have luckily still
avoided anyone knowing/attempting my middle name. No amount of
explaining or clarifying by me or Dr. Val could reverse the damage.
Dr. Michael’s not always one for listening very much anyway so there
was no changing it back. When I’m up in Karamoja… people, of course,
still can’t say my name. And everyone thinks there should be a second
name anyway, so you usually end up being named by the locals. My name
came about when I was in one of the Peace Villages… Nabwal. After
attempting to marry me (he offered five cows… a lot for the Peace
Villages where they aren’t allowed any cows) this man who spoke no
English kept saying one word. Of course I had no idea what he was
saying… eventually (after a long time… and actually I think it was
even later in the day or the next) some lady came over to rescue me
from marriage (actually that’s totally not why… she was African and
was probably just trying to help along the negotiation) but anyway –
she spoke a miniscule amount of English (more than the guy) and tried
to explain to me what was going on. The guy had given me my African
name! Now I am Nakiru Heidi (though with the ‘Heidi’ all
mispronounced if they actually attempt it). So in Karamoja, Val often
introduces me with both names… and the Africans always use Nakiru. It
can be pronounced a bit differently by different people… the first one
used a maaaajorly rolled “r” and he turned the whole thing into two
syllables – kind of missing the “i”. A lot of people say it probably
how you are saying it – though the “r” is rolled a bit or “flipped” as
I like to call it (the cheater roll… my version :-P) My name means
“one who comes with the rain” or something to that effect. It was
funny how rapidly my name spread. As soon as I got back from the
Peace Village I was hearing it everywhere… and seeing that guy in
random places that I didn’t understand how he got there. But anyway…
in Karamoja that’s what I’m called… and down here (in Kampala) I am
usually called Heid-a. Anyway… that was quite a long aside.

So my team went to Bushenyi… a seven or so hour drive from Kampala.
On the drive we saw a Uganda Cob (antelope kinda thing) and some
ZEBRAs!! They were adorable. Then there was one on the side of the
road that had been hit a while ago and was teeeeming with maggots. SO
cool. Of course I went over and took lots of pictures (while holding
my breath) :-P We then stopped at a market kind of thing and some
people shoved sticks with beef and liver on them in our faces trying
to get us to buy them. We hadn’t eaten lunch (it was about 4:00 by
then prob) so I got a beef stick and the guys got us all roasted maize
and roasted bananas. The maize is… funny. It looks like it’ll be so
good… but that’s thinking in terms of sweet corn (which looks very
similar). But basically it’s realllly dry and tastes a bit like
popcorn. It’s actually not a baaad taste… I think it’s kind of fun,
but it’s so filling and it makes your jaw tired chewing on it. Just
think about munching on some Indian corn – the kind we decorate with
in the states. It’s the same thing (though the colors aren’t so
exciting here). Anyway… we proceeded on to the village. First thing,
we had to go to a radio station to speak because they were giving us
an hour of free airtime to do some public service kind of stuff
(talked about a few zoonotic diseases) and to introduce the exciting
news of the year – that the muzungus were in town!! So the next
couple of days we treated animals… huuuuundreds of goats, lots of
cows, sheep, pigs, dogs and a few cats. Dewormed and acaracide
(flea/tick killing) sprayed pretty much all the animals and treated
the sick ones for various things… pneumonia, trypanosomiasis, east
coast fever, anaplasmosis, foot rot, wounds, etc, etc, etc. During
the outreaches, we would take a break and talk to the people. We
would share Christ with them and about five people came forward to be
saved. The first guy… it was cool… he was probably late 20s – I’m not
sure. But when he came forward both Val and I really felt like he was
going to have a ministry. He just had such boldness to come in front
of the group and really accepted God and prayed. Val brought out the
“Evangi-cube” (funny name…) which is an evangelism tool – just kind of
a guideline of the story of Jesus that is in one of those little flip
cube things that you can open in different directions. So she showed
him how to use it and gave our last one to him. She really saw some
potential in him and I totally agreed – it was cool to have
confirmation like that… we talked about it that night. So pray for
him! :-) Then there were some little kids the next day and lots of
appreciative people which was cool.

One story I just heard today actually… we were staying at Dr.
Michael’s house – the house he grew up in. They had had neighbors for
a looong time who were Muslim and refused to associate with any of the
neighbors. They wouldn’t even go to anyone’s funerals (funerals are a
very big community thing here) and wouldn’t let anyone have anything
to do with them. One of the mornings, the neighbors brought their
animals over for treatment! They had missed the first day of
treatment and had decided to actually come into the compound of the
home (where they had refused to set foot before) the next morning. We
didn’t know anything about this during the time, but Dr. Michael was
talking about how amazing it was that they came. Their animals needed
treatment, and we were able to show them the love God has for them in
helping them just the same as all the others. We even had gotten out
early in the morning because they were waiting. It’s cool how we can
reach out to people through the profession. We never would have
gotten to talk to them and just help them with their animals if we
didn’t have that connection. Now we’re praying that that relationship
can continue and grow and that they can see the love that we (and God)
have for them (no matter how they feel about us)!

The radio station had us give another hour on Saturday, and they even
taped us so we could get on TV! Big news… muzungus + free vet care!
Now we’re back in Kampala and I’m staying at Dr. Michael’s house. Val
had to head back up to Karamoja to search for her dog that got away
about a month ago. There have been several sightings and Val had seen
her footprints about a week ago, but it is so tough to survive out
there in the bush (and one of the most dangerous areas, too), so it’s
hard to know if she’d still be alive. It would be SO amazing for Val
to find her, though… she means a LOT to her. Please pray that God is
protecting Punzel and that Val can find her and/or be at peace about
the whole thing. It’s been hard because there’s been so much going on
that she hasn’t been able to search really at all. I’m staying in
Kampala to help out with the rest of the symposium.

Staying at Dr. Michael’s is fun(ny?). It’s amazing… two adorable
(though semi-crazy) little kids… his wife is awesome (and cooks SO
well) and they are very welcoming. But I am eternally discovering
more about Ugandan culture. The way it works with girls is
interesting. Usually we are treated as visitors around here… which
means they alllways want to serve us and take care of us… and that’s
definitely the case in a way. But in a way, Dr. Michael really enjoys
treating me like a daughter. Sounds great… homey… part of the family
and all… but what that really means is that I should get everything
for him. He actually doesn’t do it all the time – just he’ll have
periods where it’ll be one thing after the next. “Heid-a go get me
tea.”; “Okay, now I need dry tea.”; “Jud-y everybody wants the tea
outside”; “Can you believe I don’t have any tea??!” (talking to his 3
year old daughter Esther… hint hint!); etc. It’s funny because a lot
of the time I think he’s kidding. Just the way he says it – if
someone said that at home they would be completely sarcastic (or they
better be!). But that’s not how it works here. He actually expects
it – and you can’t be slow! (which is difficult when you don’t know
where anything is and when the water is not boiling yet) There have
been many times when he says things… like the last time – I had just
made him a mug of milk tea – it was very complicated anyway for
various reasons – involving the tea bags and loose tea and confusion,
etc. When he finished it he says “Heidi… okay, so now I need some dry
tea” – holding up his cup – I was pretty convinced he was kidding and
I gave him a kind of blank look while laughing… but he kept talking to
someone else… holding his cup and expecting me to take it. Luckily I
caught on, but there was no water. And the kids were playing with the
tea and licking the jelly top and the sugar spoon… being as unruly as
usual. It was quite the adventure and I even failed (NOT for the
first time) to get everything together. But there have been many
blank looks – me not understanding that he’s actually serious (“this
time he must be joking”). Don’t get me wrong… he’s a very nice guy…
that’s just how it works… he sits on the coach and other people get
him things if that’s what he wants. (Just to support my statement
that he’s not so bad, he just asked me if he could get me a glass of
juice :-) so sweet.) But it’s fun stuff.

I’ve had lots of expectations for interesting foods… I haven’t had
anything too bad though I have had a few adventures. One of the US
guys got a cockroach in his food for lunch today though. Not such a
surprise – they’re little ones – and they’re all over… but that’s how
things are. There’s allllways a fruit fly in the sugar and rice and
occasionally a worm-like thing in the beans… or some other surprise.
They’re all nice and cooked… can’t hurt. I had cow tongue yesterday
for dinner, which I figured must be semi-normal because I’ve at least
seen it sold in the states. It wasn’t bad at all. Wouldn’t choose it
out of a pile of (what I would call) “Real” meat but it was acceptable
– a little bit above liver… which is way above some other things! I
also tried sugar cane while we were in the village! That was… … an
adventure. I must say I could NOT handle the texture. It’s fun to
eat cause you have to rip the outside of the stalk off with your teeth
and you tear some sugar cane off and chew out all the sugar water then
spit the stuff on the ground. I’m def glad I had the experience, but
between the super super sweetness of the liquid and the feeling of the
pulp stuff on my teeth… I was not a big fan. The kids watching me
were entertained though as I attempted to eat my first sugar cane…
smacking myself in the face with the stick (which was about 3 ft.
long) and all :-P

Oh, one last thing before I let you stop reading! I have OFFICIALLY
applied to vet school! I submitted my application to Cornell last
night (with mom’s help doing it over phone cause I had no internet)!!
But that means I am DONE :-D Which is nice… but please pray for those
admission people… His will be done! I’m gonna try not to think about
it too much now – not sure when I find out but I’m thinking maybe
January? I dunno, but hopefully it’ll work out well :-)

Thanks for reading! And thanks for your prayer! And your support!
Love ya and miss ya all :-)

Heidi