Everything always goes as planned.

Well… the plan was to drop Dr. Julie at the airport in Moroto on Monday morning, stop by the office for an hour or two to get a few things done and pick some stuff up, head back to Kangole to pack and leave for Soroti to get there by late afternoon, when we would get to the MTN store to try and get the internet working. We would stay in Soroti for a day and leave early on Wednesday morning to get to Ngenge for the afternoon and start phase II of their livestock training.

It is now Tuesday night, and let’s see how the plans are coming along. Monday morning Julie had to be at the airport (30 mins away) by 10:30 for her flight. We woke up around 6am, plenty of time to pack things up before breakfast at 7:30… at this point we didn’t know the time of the flight because they only tell you the morning of, and the earliest we would have had to leave was 8:30, so we were playing it safe. Sunday at Church they had announced that an older lady had died the day before, and the service was on Monday. Having one of the only vehicles in Kangole, Dr. Val was in charge of retrieving the body of the lady to bring her to the Church for the service. Luckily these days we have a driver named Lowok Godfrey, who has been extremely helpful. We also were going to be needing fuel because basically all of Northern Karamoja has been out for weeks. There was one place not too far away that had the only supply anywhere in the area and the prices were therefore through the roof. So Lowok left around 8 to do some errands. A while later he brings back a bag of tree sap that someone he ran into gave him to show Val. It is special sap… and the secret ingredient for Coca-Cola that the Karamojong have a lot of access to. We are trying to get woodlots started and turn it into a real business… Coke is requesting it from them by the truckload, but unfortunately it’s hard to harvest enough at this point. This man wanted 50,000 shillings for his kilogram of sap (it’s worth more like 2,000), so Val sent Lowok back to inform the man. He then had to figure out the fuel, but the man wouldn’t sell a small amount because he “didn’t have time for that”. So instead, he came in the truck with Lowok back to Dr. Val to discuss what to do. We ended up just buying 200,000 shillings worth from him despite the ridiculous price… not much you can do when you need the fuel! After that, Lowok went back to pick up the body.
Meanwhile, Dr. Val, Dr. Julie and I are at home finishing up our tea, trying to get the modem-man to help us with our internet issues, and bottle-feeding/medicating the goat kid that we had obtained a couple days before. We discuss all the interesting things happening so early in the morning. Lowok driving back with a dead lady in the truck (probably not in a casket yet) to finish the errands before the service starts. Bathing with frigid water at dawn, cleaning goat feces off of my skirt and then bottle feeding a kid before breakfast. And I almost forgot… how could I forget?! You all want to know what breakfast included, don’t you? Well. The night before we had had a going-away party for Julie. Well, it was that combined with a celebration for Uganda’s independence day (that was Saturday, but we had gotten home too late to roast the goat we had picked up on the way back). We had bought this black, good-looking male goat for 65,000 shillings (about $30). Our watchman is the one who slaughters and roasts our animals for us and in exchange he gets to keep the head and the hooves (don’t ask me how that’s a fair exchange… that does NOT count as payment in my book). We had a fun little party that night. I had a great time because somehow the intestines had gone missing by the time it came out to the table and I somehow got away with avoiding the liver… there wasn’t enough so I was generous enough to share it with the others. But anyway… back to breakfast. The next morning we were looking for a saucepan to warm up the leftover rice with. We were thinking we’d turn it into some version of rice pudding when all of a sudden we found the missing intestines. Turns out they had reserved the best part for the hosts of the party! Awesome. So what do we do with them? We have no fridge so it’s not like we can save them for dinner; therefore, they had to be eaten. For breakfast. I was sitting there smelling… well… intestines, thinking about the rice pudding that had sounded so tasty. There’s also more leftover meat, so we have to get rid of that. Val drops a piece of rumen on my plate and I groan with enthusiasm as I scoop some plain cold rice on my plate to drown out the taste. Some potatoes were cooked in with the intestines, so I mistakenly think it’d be a good idea to have that alongside. Having been cooked in that mixture, they tasted just like intestine juice and are covered in grease… just what I wanted for breakfast. I take some goat meat – sadly a relief from the piece of rumen that I had choked down. I rip through the meat, trying to avoid all the fat that’s left and the leather that surrounds it. They cook it in the skin, and then eat that too. But it literally is leather and trying it once was all I needed. It was still covered in hair anyway… so appetizing. Course two of breakfast did include some makeshift rice pudding… so much better. Topped with semi-alcoholic bananas. We had obtained an entire bundle including about 84 bananas while we were in Kapchorwa the weekend before, and were doing our best to eat them all before they were entirely rotten. We’d been giving them out to people all over the place, but in nearing the end, they had been beginning the fermentation process and were a bit off. You just can’t waste these things with so many hungry people around. So that was breakfast. Then, when we were about ready to leave, we realized that Lowok wasn’t back yet. Julie wanted to pick up some Karamojong items before heading out, but time was running low. By the time 10:00 rolls around (the latest we should have been leaving… and that without having any time to shop), the vehicle wasn’t there and we decided to call Lowok. It turns out while he was out the police decided to take him in. He’s in some way a leader in his community of the village and they had had a problem where an alcoholic lady decided to poison a bunch of people by putting pig feces in the local brew, resulting in many people getting sick. Lowok had been dealing with this issue for quite some time, but now the police wanted to talk to him I guess. So there he was in the police station when we needed to leave to catch a plane that was taking off at 10:30. He managed to get back to a semi-frantic Dr. Val by 10:15 and we rushed off to Moroto. Dr. Val drove because she’s preparing for a future in Land Rover racing through the African bush. We got there in a very impressive 15 minutes. The plane flew in at pretty much the exact time we drove up to the runway. Yeah, that’s how it works… they land, they put your bags in the bottom (NO security) then you fly off. So we sadly parted ways with Dr. Julie.

Wow. That was just the morning! We then headed to the office. I will omit some not-so-interesting detail here for the sake of your day. Basically, we didn’t leave the office until 3 or so. We stopped a couple places on the way out of Moroto to find milk to feed to our goat kid and were too exhausted to stop and get lunch so we decided to have a redo of that wonderful breakfast for lunch. There were stilllll leftovers. When we arrived in Kangole about 30 mins later, we opened the hut to find our little Juliette sleeping… permanently… in her little basin home. :-/ It wasn’t so much of a surprise… she hadn’t looked so good that morning and she had had pneumonia like her twin sister when we adopted them. It was very sad to lose my first two adopted kids, but we decided to do some exploration to find out what had happened. Dr. Val and I took our surgery kit and did a necropsy on the little thing. She still had diarrhea all over her because of the cow milk she had to take since their mom had died after the birth. We found the intestines semi-inflamed, but not bad. The cause of death was determined to be pneumonia due to initial force-feeding of milk by her owner. (Many times we find people who don’t understand the whole swallowing reflex thing… don’t hold the tongue out and pour liquids down an animal’s throat!) At the end of our necropsy and after identifying and evaluating each organ (yes, Niells… we examined the kidney well… and I told Val about your obsession :-P), Dr. Val blew up the lungs. It’s quite a fun experiment next time you all find a dead animal. Just cut out the lungs and blow into the trachea. It’s like balloons! It also showed the pneumonia well. We then gave the carcass to some kids nearby who were excited to have a good lunch to roast up and we moved on to our lunch. A semi-repeat of breakfast except that I managed to avoid the innards and just have the real meat (and a taste of leather). The dogs got all my scraps (LOTS of fat and skin and a femur bone) and the kids (who had been voluntarily doing some work for us) got what was left of the meat. Eventually we got ourselves together enough to leave for Soroti.

On the way to Soroti, around 5:00pm, Dr. Val got a phone call from the Ugandan Army commander. I think I mentioned before that Val lost her dog in the bush right before I got here… about 2.5 months ago. Well, it turns out someone had spotted her again the night before! Which was crazy news… it’s insane that she would have survived this long, but from the descriptions it was definitely her. We happened to be driving by the place Punzel was seen on the way to Soroti and were going to be there in about a half hour. So we met the commander and a bunch of villagers there, including the lady who had spotted her, just as it was starting to get dark. We broke out whatever flashlights we could muster up and searched in the recently burned off grass for about a half hour. No sign of Punzel. We did see some adorable Bush Babies (google them, they’re so cool – though I hear, quite evil). We wanted to search more, but it was too dangerous in the dark, so we decided to spend the night sleeping at the Army barracks. The funny part was that we hadn’t exactly planned this, so it’s not like we had a tent. The closest thing we had were these two “coffin” things. They’re mosquito nets that are tubular and you sleep inside. If you are claustrophobic, you’re in trouble. We set them up in the dark… next to the commander’s tiny hut. Looked quite entertaining… two coffins with net/see-through tops on top of a folded up tarp which we used as a form of mattress. My name being Nakiru (born with the rain) we were worried we might get poured on. Luckily, that morning a lady had given me a second name… Limlim (meaning one who brings sprinkling/light rain) that goes with my first. Oh, we also had no food with us except for some Matoke bananas, so that was dinner… and no water because the borehole had disappeared with the darkness and we couldn’t find it. At about 3am, I woke with a start. Raindrops were beginning to fall on my head. I knew what could be coming and Val and I rushed up and flipped the tarp over our coffins. Great. Now they were essentially flattened and we were going to be rolled up in a tarp the rest of the night. Quite a sight. Luckily, my new name did us some good and it did not end up pouring, which would have created a puddle between the two coffins… probably completely soaking us and our blankets. We managed to maneuver ourselves back into our coffins with our roofs touching our faces… but we both fell back asleep and woke up with the sun at about 5:45 to some minor puddling at either end where the tarp didn’t quite cover. My toes were frozen but it wasn’t so bad. Since we hadn’t brought any clothes for this adventure, we didn’t have to do much. Brushed our teeth with no water… ate another matoke for breakfast and got ready to search the bush with 5 army men. We spread out and managed to find some of Punzel’s footprints. Unfortunately we couldn’t follow them long because the grass then became over our heads. Trekking through in a skirt and sandals, pushing tall grass and unseen thorny bushes aside with my ankles, we searched in procession for a couple of hours. We ended our loop at the local borehole where I rinsed the mud, sweat and a little blood off of myself.
We all walked back down the road to the army barracks with a few kids who had been fetching water. They joined us in the call “Punzel, Punzel!” but still with no avail. Val and I had decided that next we would do a “quick” drive-by at the dam where she had been seen at one point as well. Only problem with that was that the vehicle wouldn’t start when we got back to the barracks. It has two batteries, but one was non-functioning and the other was not doing well either, so we have had issues starting it multiple times. This time we thought we were in luck because we had a bunch of army men around to join in the pushing. We pushed and pushed, trying many times to start it. We got out to the main road and thought we’d be set then. There was a slight slope going down, making our pushing easier, but we still had no luck. Another vehicle drove by a while later, but of course, someone had permanently “borrowed” Val’s jumper cables so that was no help. They still pulled over and tried to help – everyone suggesting different things that were wrong and looking for the battery under the hood (aka “bonnet”) when really it’s under the passenger seat - so they weren’t much use :-P We kept trying and after a lot of groaning and on about the 4000th try, it started! Only problem then was that the fuel started pouring out from the fuel pump. I reached down through the cascade of diesel and tried to tighten the bolt but it wouldn’t turn. We had to turn the vehicle off again. Val got down and removed/replaced the bolt, praying that it would work. Covered in fuel, we tried it again and it started! I looked and saw that the fuel was staying in its appropriate location! YAY. We thanked everyone for their efforts and discussed what to do next. We decided to still go to the dam, but that we would not turn off the vehicle again! Especially because it was a ways off the road and then we would be stuck in the bush far away from civilization.
Finding the dam was an adventure as well. The “road” consisted of a path that Val had made about a month ago by driving the Land Rover through the bush with someone walking in front of her to tell her where she should avoid a stump or a rock or a termite mound or a ditch, etc. So we didn’t want to stray from that path… there was another path made by an APC (armored personnel carrier = tank) that we found first… but discovered it was not the right one when it proceeded to go right over a medium-sized tree that had been knocked over. We turned around and eventually found the partially flattened trail that was Val’s “road”. I got on top of the vehicle to watch for Punzel as we drove out maybe a kilometer or two to the big pond created by the dam. No luck, unfortunately, but at the end we got out and looked down at the water. We were still disgusting and sweaty from our trek through the bush and that algae-covered, extremely turbid water looked quite appealing. We decided that we were actually wearing our swimming skirts (and shirts… and shoes) and went around to where we could check out the water. It smelled a little funny, but not funnier than we already did. The vehicle was still running because we still were not daring to turn it off, but since absolutely no one would ever be back there we didn’t need to worry so much. We jumped in the water and did a few laps. I had to take off my swimming shoes because they were quite awkward but I avoided the bottom. I had to sneak in some butterfly, and Val even made quite the valiant effort considering the amount of drag we were wearing. We both fooled around for a while and called out to Punzel, telling her she should join us. After a while, we returned to the vehicle and changed into whatever other dirty clothes we were able to find… at least they were dry. A few minutes after we finished changing, two men come up to Val’s side of the vehicle (suspicious timing, huh?...). One of them is holding an axe, and they talk to Val for a little bit while I stay on the other side of the vehicle… we didn’t really want to do any bargaining for cows at that point. They talk a little about the dog and rumors about where she’s been and then they leave. Val and I find an orange and an overly-ripe avocado that we had in the truck and give it to them in appreciation of their “information” (basically we just try to make friends with anyone carrying a weapon!). We’re thinking they’ve probably never seen an avocado so I wonder if he tried to bite into it like an apple… yummmm. They didn’t speak English, so we couldn’t do much explaining. They went on their way with no trouble.
Val and I decide to head out after a little more calling and honking the horn for Punzel. We spread some leftover burnt posho around the area that we had found on the ground at the army barracks so Punzel would have some food. I ride on the roof to keep a lookout and make sure our sopping wet clothes don’t go flying off since they were drying on top. We eventually get to the road and decide we need to move on to get to Soroti. After a quick stop at the borehole to rinse off a little and get a sip of hydration (and then help a construction guy load about 20 Jerricans of water into the truck so we could take them down the road for him) we were on our way. We were supposed to arrive in Soroti the night before (Monday night) and start the animal training in Ngenge on Wednesday morning (a 3-4 hour drive from Soroti). God knew we needed a break, though… Val got a phone call about an hour down the road saying that they guy we were working with in Ngenge would rather have the training be just two days, starting Thursday morning instead. We were relieved. We stopped in Iriiri to grab some lunch and met a few hundred people who all knew Val and had questions and requests for her. Eventually we made it out… ate some Chapatis and beans and were on our way. Last leg of the journey… we were going to make it! About 15 minutes out of Iriiri we had to let off some people who had hitched a ride in the back of the truck and some guys came up to the window trying to sell us some sticks. They had very pointed ends and I wondered if they were daggers (why were they selling those on the side of the street?!). As I looked more closely and as Val was looking interested, I noticed that there was a string attached to it and a loop at the bottom. Then it clicked! They were rat traps. I had seen one demonstrated a while before… it’s quite an ingenious construction, actually. Not sure I can explain how it works, but hopefully I’ll bring one home… we got 6 of them (for about $2). Basically you stick it down in the ground, where there is a path that the rats take, and a loop is formed at the bottom that when they get their heads in it, it will tighten around their neck. Then you have dinner! Awesome. I can’t wait to try! :-P Once we bought them we were determined to make it to Soroti.

We drove a couple hours and were getting close when we saw a lorrie that had driven off the road. It’s not an uncommon scene, but this didn’t look good. People were gathered and the lorrie was sideways in a swamp/pond down from the road. We opened the window to ask what was going on. They said all the people were out but they needed help. As we pulled up, I saw why… it had been carrying a bunch of cows. They had been tied up in the back of the vehicle… packed in – maybe about 15 total. A number of them had gotten out and some were swimming to shore as we came over, but there were about 5 still stuck. We locked the vehicle and Val ran down to try to help… her veterinary oath kicking in. I shut the window in back and as I was catching up to Val, I saw a woman standing there shaking from the cold – she had been sitting on top of the lorrie with a bunch of other people and had been thrown in the water when it went off the road. The driver had already run away from the scene, knowing how much trouble he would be in, leaving all his passengers to fend for themselves and to try to rescue the cows as well. I wanted to help this lady but now the car was locked so I run to find Val and get the keys. When I get behind the lorrie, Val is already in the middle of it all and she’s yelling for me to bring a knife. I take the keys and run back to the vehicle. I unlock the door and find my knife. As I’m about to leave I quickly find a towel to give to the lady. Relock… and run to the scene, wrapping the lady with the towel as I run by. Val is nowhere to be seen as I get to the back of the vehicle, so I follow suit and jump into the water… with my second swimming skirt of the day. People yell, warning me it’s deep and telling me to be careful. I, of course, ignore them (I think I might be able to swim :-P) and slide down the slope in my sandals and skirt right into the water. It’s up to my waist as I walk around the side of the vehicle (well… the top… which had become the side as it sank into the pond). As I turn the corner, the scene is quite amazing. Val takes the knife to free one of the cows whose head is barely above water. There were five or six total and they were all tangled in one another and in the frame of the vehicle. Val hands me back the knife and I put it in my pocket (covered in manure and swamp). She tells me to hold up the head of the cow to keep it from going under again while she and another man try to pull at various legs and tails and free it from the mess. I hold it up by the nostrils (surprisingly, quite a good grip) and as I’m standing on one bar of the vehicle and the side of another cow that was already dead, they extricate it enough for it to be freed. There was one more living cow, but it was under some dead cows and in a very awkward place. I hold it’s head out of the water and then pull on one of its legs while Val and the man move another dead cow and try to get the other end free. I hope that it doesn’t decide to kick me and try to stand far enough forward that it won’t be able to and eventually it is able to struggle its way out of the mess. They pull it to shore while Val and I determine that our work is done. We follow the cow’s path to get out of the water. As I’m following Val, climbing up the hill behind her, the men yell for the knife again. Not sure why, I quickly pass it up to them and when I reach the top I see why. They were slaughtering the first cow we rescued to sell the meat! There were at least 3 or 4 dead ones and we wondered why they were killing the one we went through so much to rescue. Eventually we discovered that it had collapsed when it got out of the water, so we felt better. I guess they can get more money for the meat if it’s slaughtered, as opposed to it dying by itself. During the rescuing process, we discovered that the men didn’t know that cows breathe through their noses or something. They kept letting the heads fall underwater and that last cow had been dunked a few too many times. The man who was slaughtering it kindly went down to the water to wash the blood off my knife and returned it to me. We headed back to the truck… taking a few soaked passengers who were also headed to Soroti. Unfortunately the lady was going the other direction, but we were able to help a few guys, one of whom had a pretty good gash in his arm. Our duty done, we start on our way. Unfortunately, Val’s towel had been the one closest to the top, so I may have given it away to that lady :-P But we found some things to sit on and laughed about how ridiculous our day had been. We were… for the second time… covered in nasty swamp. And this time, we both smelled like cow manure on top of it. As we continued to Soroti, we decided that instead of going home right away, we should go into town to get there before all the shops were closed. We needed to go to a store and get the internet fixed since we hadn’t had any in about two weeks. We were quite the sight going into that store – I picked some swamp grass out of Val’s shoes and got some manure out of my hair before entering. We got the modem fixed at the last second – they were very nice to let us in the store when they were trying to close! And then we headed home. There’s even electricity in Soroti so we heated up some hot water on the stove and Val took a bath while I bathed mug-style with my nice hot water :-) And it was good. So as usual, that day went just as planned!