Road trip - Day 2 (Kamwengee)

We awoke from a good night’s sleep ready to travel to Kamwengee. We are to visit a primary and pre-primary school today. Henry (Idah’s husband) is also involved with this school. Kanwengee is an area that has been devastated by aids. One of the villages that we are to stop at has a population that is almost 80% affected by aids or HIV related symptoms.

You can see the Mountains Of the Moon in the background.

For my friends at National Beef - These cattle are called Ankole. Very lean. I wonder what we would do with the horns?

The route to Kamwengee takes us through a rain forest. We have taken bananas with us to feed to the baboons that we should encounter. The terrain is very mountainous and the roads are the usual mixture of red dirt and gravel with a liberal sprinkling of potholes. We can see the snow-capped Mountains of the Moon in the distance. As we climb from the valley of Fort Portal, we can see the beautiful lush countryside spread out before us. It is truly a breath-taking view.

We come across several families of baboons. It is remarkable to see them quickly peel the bananas and discard the peels. I had expected them to eat the peels and all. The dexterity of their hands that they display was not anticipated and was fun to watch. They would not stay on the road long and usually only the biggest males would linger to where we could observe them.
The stream under the bridge.

Team two - back row Amber, Gene, Luke, Renata, Michelle, Idah, Kaitlin, Ricky and Richard.
Front Row, Boscoe, Deb, Chris, JJ, Taylor and Jamie.

We stopped at a bridge to stretch our legs. There was a stream that wandered through the rain forest. The water was the usual murky brown colored by the red dirt. The vegetation was very lush but still covered by a fine layer of the red dirt. I think that all vegetation next to non-paved roads in Uganda have a permanent coating of this dirt.

As we drive up to the school we see a sea of small children waving branches coming to welcome us. It brings an overwhelming sense of awe. It reminds me of the description of Palm Sunday when Jesus enters Jerusalem. Was this feeling similar to what Christ felt when the people welcomed Him? The smiles are contagious and we are very quickly surrounded. The children are eager to touch and hug. They love to hold hands and walk with you.

Note the solar panels on the roof.

Note the cord wrapped around the machine - no electricity because the batteries for the solar panels need to be replaced!

One of the patterns used by the students - it is made of very heavy paper so that it can stand up to repeated use.

We are welcomed by the village dignitaries and asked to sign the guest books. They give us a short program of singing and dancing followed by a tour. They have a classroom where they train people to sew. The majority of their sewing machines are the old Singer manual machines that I remember seeing at my Grandmother’s house. They have another room where they have electric embroidery machines. They cannot use these most of the time because they are trying to conserve electricity from the solar panels. The storage batteries need to be replaced (about $1000 – one more need) – a generator would be even better.

The classroom for the children is nothing more than a dirt floor covered by mats. There are 41 children in this class. There are two teachers and they have remarkable control. The children respond quickly to any commands given by the teachers.

Michelle gives a short skit and demonstration about germs. Through Milton (the field worker), she explains to the children not to cough or sneeze into their hands. This concept was quickly grasped by the children as all the ones I saw started using the crook of their arm to cough or sneeze into.

Teaching materials are very limited - another need.

Taylor passed out coloring books, markers, crayons and some toys/games. The teachers are standing by Taylor.

This was the moment that Taylor had been waiting for. She had collected MANY coloring books, markers and crayons to distribute to the children. You could see the excitement in the children’s (and adults) eyes as the coloring books were given to the teachers to be distributed later. I continue to be amazed by the poise and maturity that Taylor shows. She was truly in her element with the children. You can tell that she has a real love for them and they return that love.

Henry shows me the plans for the primary school and vocational school that they would like to build. It is truly ambitious. The immediate need is for school supplies (teaching material, books, paper, pencils, desks, etc.) – perhaps another project?

It is soon time to go, we have one more stop before we head for Kampala. The people of the community present us with gifts and refreshments. It is wonderful to see those who have so little give so freely. It reminds me of the parable of the widow who gave a mite in the temple. The rich men mocked her for giving so little but Jesus rebuked them saying that she was truly blessed because she had given all that she had compared to the rich men who had given very little of what they had.


We loaded the bus and departed for a village near Kamwenge. Here we were to meet the family sponsored by the Pahlows. The greeting we received was no less enthusiastic than what we had received from any of the other villages. We were seated in the shade, asked to sign the visitors books and entertained with dancing, songs and speeches. One of the songs was done by a boy about aids. It went something like this – Aids, Aids, Aids, you’ve killed my mother, you’ve killed my father, I have nowhere to sleep except on the veranda. I will try to get the exact words to the song but I think you get the drift.

This woman has elephantitis of the feet - very painful. They have no medicine to treat it - another need.

After this song, the elders asked all those in the village affected by aids to come forward so we could see the sheer numbers. It was gut-wrenching to see men, women and children come forward. We hugged them and told them that we loved them and Christ loved them. They are not used to people treating them like people and they weep with us.

Most of these people have aids - they are not used to receiving hugs.

This is the clinic that is the dream of the community. It is located outside Fort Portal and would serve both Fort Portal and Kamwengee. It needs to be finished and staffed. A doctor costs $30,000 (5 years at $6000) to train. They have to sign a contract promising to stay and work for at least 5 years. A nurse costs $6,000 (2 years at $3000). A counselor costs $1000 and one year. This would be a HUGE benefit for the people of the area.

We boarded the bus and started the long ride back to Kampala, mostly in silence as we contemplated the events we had just witnessed. We arrived late in Kampala, tired but looking forward to tomorrow.