September 25, 2018
Mimi speaking at the daily BCH morning prayers
Phil playing drums after Mimi talked.
Today the group was up at 7 and at the hospital at 8am for the daily prayer time. Attended by most of the staff, volunteer workers and visitors. Mimi and Phil gave the talk for the day. After their talk, Phil played a set on the drums. Their efforts were appreciated by everyone.
Scott take about BCH to Larry, Phil, Mike and Amy
Scot talks about the hospital to Lynne, Marlene and Mimi
Then Scott proceeded to give our group an indepth tour of the hospital. We visited every department except the OR. Departments we visited included: the Mother’s waiting hostel, pediatrics, the maternity ward, the kitchen where families prepare meals for their hospitalized relative, the premium ward for post-surgical patients, the ER, Administration and the HIV ward. Scott kept up a running commentary as we walked along. He certainly has a big heart for this hospital and its benefits to the local population. Births are up, childhood deaths are way down, malaria is vastly reduced due to the distribution of bed nets for children and mothers. and HIV is under control.
The BCH kitchen can accommodate several women cooking for their families at the same time.
People are healthier and happier. I did not have a note pad so I did not get the stats that Scott rattled off. Sorry. If you want to know more about the hospital and what it is doing, please google Bwindi Community Hospital, Uganda or TheKellermannFoundation.org. Scott finished his talk at the top of the hill looking down on the facilities and spoke of his desire to create a teaching environment at BCH so people will come here to learn more about how to improve hospital practices in other African locations. He envisions a second floor above the Premium Ward for classrooms and another building adjacent to it for an ICU ward and more hospital beds.
If you are interested in helping bring Scott’s vision to reality feel free to contact him, the Kellermann Foundation or even me.
Mark treated everyone to Samosas at Susan’s Café next to the Hospital entrance and then we had lunch at the lodge. We were supposed to drive to another school in the afternoon, but it required a 3 hour round trip drive. The group nixed that and opted to go back to the Victory School so everyone could experience it. Back we went and this time the school was waiting for us and the 65 recorders.
Everyone had a front row seat for the Victory School performance
We left school supplies as well as the recorders and were escorted by the little children to chairs placed in the shade.
Mark prefers to hang with the kids.
The performance lasted about an hour and included a handful of students playing our recorders, which made me very happy.
The performance begins
They were not practiced, but their sound merged with the singing and drumming. At one point the kids dragged us off our chairs to dance. Everyone obliged laughing all the while.
The “new” recorder students pose with the instruments.
When they finished, I invited Phil to play the drums for them and he obliged. The kids loved his playing. When we dragged ourselves away we were all grateful that we had to drive only a few minutes to get back to Mahogany Springs Lodge.
Shopping in the Batwa Craft Banda
We happily shopped in the Batwa Craft Banda and stayed in for dinner and the evening. Word got out that Mark and I will be celebrating our 25th anniversary soon and so Larry made sure we had a celebration with dessert. It was very sweet of everyone. It is also Al and Lynne’s anniversary soon too.
A group photo before dinner. In front is Mimi, Julia, Marlene, Lynne, Jean, and Scott. In back is Phil, Larry, Mike, Amy and Mark.
September 26, 2018
The gorilla trekkers receive a briefing from their guide.
This was the big day for the group to go gorilla trekking. Everyone was up and properly dressed for a hardy breakfast by 7:15. Mark and I escorted them to the starting point at 8am and waited while they were briefed on the does and don’ts, were assigned one porter each and a walking stick. They each had plenty of water as well as lunch. Larry chose to go with a slower group that would, hopefully, not have to walk far to see the gorillas. It felt a bit like watching children go off to school for the first time.
A classroom at St Mathew’s Catholic School with desks donated by the kids at Mt St mary’s Academy in Grass Valley, CA. Jean, on the far right, made the connection happen.
After they were gone, Mark and I went back to the hospital to connect with Jean and Scott. This time Scott bought a round of Samosas. Then the four of us took 45 recorders to St Mathews Catholic School up the hill from Juliana’s parents’ home. The teachers were very appreciative and showed us around the school. Jean had previously organized a sister school relationship between Mount St Mary’s Academy in Grass Valley and St Mathew’s School and we were shown the desks that Mt St Mary’s students had provided for the St Mathew’s classrooms. We took photos so she can show them to the Mt St Mary’s students. This school is very needy. Some of the classrooms are not yet completed and need floors, windows, doors and furnishing. There are many more students than there are completed classrooms to accommodate them
When we left the school and drove to Scott’s place, called Gorilla House, as it is next to the park entrance. Jean is staying there at the moment. We had tea on the deck and soon Larry showed up as his hike was over by 11:30. He had a super experience with gorillas without having to work hard.
We had a tentative meeting planned with Canon Jovhan, the Batwa Development Program manager, to give him the rest of the recorders to distribute as needed to various outlying schools. He was out to lunch on our first attempt, so we left the bag or recorders beside the door and left. Later, we hired a bodaboda (motorbike) to take us to the BDP office and finally connected with him about 4:45pm. With him was the BDP music teacher, who happily took charge of the remaining 128 recorders. At last, I was free of my commitment to distribute recorders. Hopefully, they will be used judiciously and students will have another instrument to play. Jovhan promised to keep me informed about their distribution.
Back at the lodge, the rest of the group arrived about 4:30. They had had a really long and arduous trek to see the animals and were exhausted. Unfortunately, this was the night we were to have a party at the Guest House, aka the Monkey House, with Diane Stanton’s missionary group. Our group rallied, cleaned up and went to the party…….for awhile. Unfortunately, the food was not served timely and six of them returned home without dinner and went to bed. I felt badly, especially as the food was served about 5 minutes after they left.
The rest of us ate dinner and left too. Oh well.
September 27, 2018
After another early breakfast, we all checked out of the Mahogany Springs at 7:45 and went to the hospital for one last prayer service. This time it was Any and Mike, who are from Denver, who lead the prayers and gave a homily. As a number of people were preparing to leave Bwindi, there were a lot of tears and good bye’s. We said our farewells too and headed back to the Park entrance to begin our walk to Clouds Resort. Larry and Phil had opted out of the hike and went in the vehicle with KK and most of the bags. They took off directly from the lodge at 7:45. Amy also did not want to hike and rode with Mike after he dropped off the rest of us at the park entrance. We thought we would beat them to Clouds as the drive is about 6.5 hours.
When we started the hike to Clouds we know it would be steep and long, but we all thought it would be more fun and interesting than the long, bumpy drive around the park that the cars had to do. It had not been planned that way. The hike was originally a 3.5 hour walk that Mark and I remembered doing 2 years ago. Unfortunately, we heard just a few days earlier that a bridge had washed out and the short trail was not useable. We were forced to take the longer, harder trail. Scott told us it would be difficult, but we all thought we could do it. Well, we succeeded, but it was brutal—8.9 miles of very steep terrain. We started at 4,802 feet elevation, according to Mark’s phone app, climbed gradually to 5,307, then down to 4,710, then up to 5,048 and down again to 4,900, then we climbed gradually back to 5,000 feet before making the steep ascent to 6,968 feet. The last 1,000 feet were really steep, 33 % according to Mark’s calculations, and slow going. Thank goodness we each had a porter and a stick. The porters went between each of us with one pulling and the other pushing us up the hills. Mark was in the lead and handled the hike better than anyone. I was near the rear and feared I might get heat stroke from the sun and exertion. The porters made palm fans and kept me cool whenever we stopped. Thankfully, much of the hike was in the shade of the forest, but the steepest parts were mostly in full sun.
The forest scenery was lush and verdant and full of birds. About half way into the trek, we came upon a group of habituated gorillas who were not afraid of us. They were on the other side of a small stream eating greenery. We stopped and took many photos. We were pleased with ourselves for having the opportunity to see the animals. At one point a medium sized gorilla crossed the steam to our side and sat on the bank casually munching away. Wow! We all enjoyed the surprise encounter, but were soon back at the task ahead. Not long after that encounter, we stopped for lunch, ate what we wanted and gave the rest to the appreciative porters. During the gradual climbing and descending we crossed several foot bridges and many streams. Gradually, the really hard work began. We passed out of the forested park and into sunny, rocky terrain. It was then, I stopped paying attention to the scenery and concentrated on getting myself up the mountain. It became as steep as climbing deep uneven stairs. It moved from hiking to climbing.
As we crested the top of one hill, we were only at the bottom of the next. I was push and pulled up the steepest parts. Eventually, we ascended into steep farm land. There were near vertical fields of potatoes, beans, coffee, tea and other foods. At last we crested the final hill and could see our destination. We arrived at 4pm. Our drivers had beat us and our bags were waiting.
We arrive at Clouds and take a photo before we collapse.
With cold towels and welcome drinks in hand, we collapsed into the cushioned chairs. Soon hot appetizers and alcoholic beverages were being served and we bagan to relax.
Finally, Mark and I went to our room. Coincidently, the same one we had two years ago, and were met by the same butler, John Bosco. It was a happy reunion. I felt much better after a hot shower and was ready for dinner at 7pm. The food was excellent. We all ordered fresh tilapia. It was delicious. No one lingered after dinner. I, for one, collapsed into bed.
Adventures with Julia 