Melissa Graham April 15th 2012

Fun times continue :)

In my fourth week! So much happens weekly that I have been writing things down in a very hickeldy-pickeldy manner, so I hope you can follow me :)

I'm been enjoying slowly getting to know some of the women here, usually a smile and a hug goes a long way to cross the 'I am sorry I don't understand what you are saying!' but I am excited that I can understand words here and there that usually I can get the gist of what they are saying plus they add some english they know in too which is good.

The manager of KACHEP (Karamoja Christian Ethnoveterinary Program) that I am helping out with while I'm in Nabilituk is actually not from Karamoja but from the city in the south and is a more organised person than many of the Karamojans inately are and so has been grating against the way things have been; people coming and going when it suits them and generally taking the easy way of doing things whether it is the right way or not. He seems to be excited I am here so we can "follow the program, keep to the schedule and be effective!" as he says haha. We had our first staff meeting the other day and I have been promoted to secretary, or rather he said something like "Melissa take minutes" and so there you go. He's great fun to work with and I am glad he is there to get everyone to do what they are supposed to and that it doesn't fall on my shoulders.

One thing that is important here is that anywhere we go we have to introduce ourselves very formally. They do not do anything here without making sure the correct procedures for their culture are taken care of. So we have all memorised some phrases in Karamojong to do that. My language learning has been centred around general greetings and important phrases anyone should know - one of my favourites is Apoopie iyong (I don't understand) hehe and then also some words to help with the vet work. Funnily enough many of the words sound very similar (sarcasm- all the words sounded the same to me when I first arrived)

e.g. Lomid (ear pus), Lopid (Anaplasmosis or more literally 'gall sickness' - a common bacterial disease here) and Lokid (East Coast Fever - another tick borne disease that's very common in young animals).

Dr Jean can speak almost fluent Karamajong, she's an amazing help, as is Miriam but we also have a few Karamojong guys who translate for us and help us learn; namely Joseph and Joshua ( I might mention them around story time).

Like right now :)

On Friday night we went to stay the night in a manyata (traditional Karamajong village) in Okotoot which is about 50 mins from Nabilituk where we live, us 'whites' and two Karamajongs; Joseph (our translator friend) and Valentina, who does not speak much english but works for KACHEP mostly with the chicken project, she's a lot of fun haha. So we got there and there were a few sick animals to see, mostly sheep and goats as the cattle are still down south for this dry season but will be returning soon as the rains start to come. One of the goats had swallowed a plastic bag! You could hear it when you pushed into it's rumen; sch sch sch was the sound. It was breathing really heavily, had a rapid heart rate and was visibly in pain; hunched over, grinding it's teeth, etc. Unfortunately surgeries here are rare because the people here simply cannot afford it and so Jean suggested slaughter. We were only able to do that surgery on the cow that had been attacked by the hyena because the owner paid for it with building supplies for us.

 Later on as the night started to come we sat around together in the centre of the manyata and were just talking. Valentina soon got a plastic jerry can/water container and two sticks and started up a beat and kids appeared from nowhere like she was the pied piper or something and Summer (one of the full-time mission leaders here from America- not a vet but my tent buddy for the year) started them all singing and dancing! It was amazing to see and hear. Soon we were surrounded on all sides and a circle forms. Joseph hops up and takes over singing leading which was crazy cool in the Karamojong language (very African sounding! So beautiful), it started to sound like a music concert and then people from all over the place who must have been outside of the manyata appear and join in. So after about an hour we heard another story from Tom; Noah's Ark, which seems really appropriate now because as I write this I hear thunder and rain pouring down. It is the first day that it has been not stinking hot :)

Afterwards, the music, singing and dancing start up again and Summer got up to dance with the girls. I was so tired, it was late as and we've been doing a lot of vet work walking the plains the past few days, but I got up to join in anyway and am glad I did. The traditional dancing in Uganda is to jump up and down in time with the music while clapping and singing and literally you jump as high as you can haha at first I almost fell over doing it a couple of times but then you get into a rhythm and it is so fun!

Next week, Tom and Jean fly home to the US for a month or two to treat Jean's ongoing sickness that she has been braving, she's so tough. So it will just be Summer, Miriam and I for that time and I have been given a lot of achievable work to do in that time working with, teaching and learning from the local people who work for the main organisation here KACHEP.

Looking forward to the challenge :)

On the 21st May there is a Pioneers International conference in Uganda for all the missionaries in East Africa and I get to go! I can't wait to meet more people working our here and here what they do. That goes from Mon to Fri and then we have around 2 weeks holiday before we get back into it. I am thinking of going to Kenya and hanging out at the beach or going to some wildlife parks/reserves, maybe I can shadow a lion or giraffe vet for a day!

But if anyone is interested in coming to East Africa in that time, feel free to visit me! Like seriously.

Also, there is a post box address they use in the 'city', I know some of you wanted to know if you could send me stuff. Letters would be amazing but also know that not everything you send me in terms of goodies may reach me, depends on who is sorting the mail that day :) That said I'm dying for some licorice.

Address: Box 2244 Jinja Uganda

All my love,

Mel.