Thursday, May 8, 2025
After Jonathan departed River Station, we hung out until 11am and departed ourselves. We boated across the channel to Katunguru and transferred to a Land Cruiser driven by Julius, our driver for the next several days. After a very bumpy 4 hour drive on rain damaged dirt roads we reached Buhoma, the town where the Bwindi Community Hospital is located. We were booked into the BCH Guest House and glad to have the driving behind us for a while.
We were no sooner moved into our room, when we met up with other people arriving for the dedication of the Dental/Vision Clinic. We visited a bit and then headed to the clinic to see how it looked. It was disappointing to me as the place is decidedly unfinished. We walked through all the rooms in spite of the muddy and sticky floors. The ceilings were done, exterior window frames and doors installed and the terrazzo floors not quite finished. There was rough plumbing and electrical, but no finishing details inside or out.
The contractor showed up and told me that he expects to be done in a month. I am not convinced, but I cannot control the outcome.
Shortly before dinner, Juliana, our 21 year old goddaughter, arrived and we happily sat together for dinner and a good visit. She has just finished her first year of University and is volunteering at BCH for her break time. Unfortunately, the dining room is very noisy when full of people so we had a hard time hearing each other.
The room we were booked into, called Blacky Shacky, is very basic. Only cold water in the sink, trickle of water in the shower, no shampoo, 2 tiny pieces of soap, thin queen size mattress, windows with no screens, a toilet that does not accept paper and a bare stone floor. We knew it would be basic when we made the arrangements, but wanted to be near the other dedication attendees. And it is only for 4 nights. We were in bed early and drifted right off to sleep.
Friday, May 9, 2025
We joined other guests for breakfast and then all walked to the D/V Clinic to give it a thorough look. Having rained heavily during the night, the walk to the clinic was exceptionally muddy, and so the clinic was very muddy too. Ugh!
This was a work day for Juliana, so it was the perfect day to visit Anivious, the Mutwa girl we sponsor. She is the same age as Juliana, but she will be a sophomore in high school. The difference between them is significant. Juliana is average size, charming and outgoing and speaks good English. Anivious is a tiny person, very shy and speaks English poorly. They are both good students, however. Unfortunately we did not get a photo of her.
At lunch time, Mark and I walked to the street vendor,Susan, who sells samosas. We buy them from her every time we are in town and she remembered us cheerfully. We enjoyed a beef and a veg samosa each. Then Scott toured Mark and me through the pediatric department to show us his plans to improve that wing of the hospital.
The afternoon was very relaxed.
At 5:30, Scott, Juliana, Julius, our driver, and I went to a place new to us for dinner, called Buhoma Lodge. I had veg lasagne and the 4 of them had pork roulad. We had a good time together, but the dinner was mediocre in my book.
Saturday, May 10, 2025
Finally got my hair washed in our frugal shower and dressed for the Dedication. After breakfast everyone assembled in front of the D/V Clinic at 9:30.
The BCH choir sang How Great Thou Art and To God Be the Glory. It was lovely. Then Dr Charlotte welcomed everyone. Laura, the Kellermann Foundation ED, Rick lead Rotarian, Debbie from Isle of Man, Scott spoke about Lavonne, Stacey about vision care, and I said something, but can’t remember what.
After the simple dedication at the clinic, everyone walked to the graduation grounds for the 4th UNSB (Uganda Nursing School Bwindi) ceremony. 220 students were graduating and there was much falderal.
Many speeches by the bishop, ministers, professors and politicians. Scott gave a humorous talk. There was also a lot of singing and dancing and way too much rain. By the time we left, mud was everywhere and the graduates had not yet received their diplomas.
Everyone was served a boxed lunch of rice, matoke and chicken. I could eat only a part of it.
Spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on the guest house porch typing and chatting with other dedication attendees.
Scott, Juliana, Julius and I went back to the Buhoma Lodge for cocktails and visited with many other Kellermann folks who had the same idea. Finally we returned to the Guest House for a light dinner and bed.
Sunday, My 11, 2025
The church service began at 8am with the choir singing hymns. The minister arrived and began making comments while people filed into the BCH chapel. There were several speeches by different KF members including me. I chose to have Juliana join me and share the reading. It went very well and I learned that Juliana has a good public speaking voice.
The service went on for over 3 hours, but Mark, Juliana and I slipped away after 2.5 hours. Enough was more than enough.
Around 11am we joined a group of fellow muzungus, ie white people, on a Batwa Experience walk through the woods with periodic stops to learn aspects of Batwa life before they were expelled from the forest.
We learned about the different plants they used for medical problems and about the foods they ate, which included mostly small animals. We learned how they used traps and snares as well as bows and arrows to catch animals. They did not hunt gorillas, but sometimes a gorilla got caught in one of their snares.This was part of why they were expelled from the forest. They did not cook their food, but ate it raw and fresh. At one point we were invited to try out a bow and arrows to see if we could hit a target they wet. We all tried, but only 2 of us succeeded. By then it was raining again and Mark and I hiked back to camp at a good clip. We missed the musical part of the Experience.
At 12:30 we departed Buhoma with Julius and Juliana and followed Scott with the Lipperts. They were headed for the Kihiihi airport and we were headed for the Savannah Lodge next to the airport. After dropping the Lipperts at the airport, Scott joined us at the Savannah and we drove on to the Congo refugee camp near Kihihi, called the United Nations for High Commission Refugees UNHCR. Scott wanted us to see what a refugee camp looked like.
The people did not look much different than the Ugandans we had been around. They looked a bit lost, especially with nothing to do, but were not starving as they receive a modest meal. They did not feel safe to return home and said they would not go back. We were thronged, but not pushed or grabbed. Many smiled when we did and answered questions that Julius asked in Swahili, which he speaks fluently.
Finally, Scott signaled for us to leave and we piled into the Land Cruiser and drove away with many people looking as us forlornly. Very sad prospects for the thousands of refugees currently in Uganda.
Back at the lodge, we had dinner, talked awhile and went to bed.
Monday, May 12, 2025
At breakfast at 7am, the 5 of us enjoyed our last visit together and drove to the airstrip. The plane was on time and Mark and I flew to Nairobi at 9am.
Adventures with Julia 