Dear Blog,
I’m so sorry I haven’t written to you in a while. You see, I
have been really busy with the Kasiisi Project.
I’ve been overseeing five construction projects, the anticipation of
eight volunteers living with me in the Guesthouse, a Debate Cup, World Environment
Day activities, an International Clean Stove Competition, 600 chickens, 6
piglets, 6 staff members, legal documents, board of director meetings among
many other things. I also got sick, bought a dog, attended weddings and church,
jumped in crater lakes, tended the gardens, and visited Queen Elizabeth
National Park to see some wildlife. I still haven’t watched TV in 4.5 months,
minus the 1980’s music videos on the bus between Fort Portal and Kampala. News?
What News? Shame on me. Although the
stress of the job can make me crazy every now and then, I still love my job and
am grateful to my boss for the opportunity.
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| Mukwano, "Friend", rescued from Uganda Society for the Protection Care of Animals |
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| The chickens started laying eggs in May |
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| New piglets arrived at the farm once the piggery was built |
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| Tasha's wedding in Kampala |
To me, Uganda is one of the most aesthetically pleasing
places on earth, reflecting both natural environment and cultural beauty. It’s no wonder the guidebook, Lonely Planet,
rated it the most visited place for 2012.
Mom and Dad, are you sure you can’t make a visit possible?
It is so interesting how life develops. Throughout my life, as I searched for ways to
find nature between the cement cracks of Chicago, I found nature by being a
zoologist and working hands-on with animals. But there is something else; I have hid a
secret from myself and only realized it this year. I always wanted to be a botanist
and farmer too. You know, like live off
the land directly, the way it “used to be”, what I believe humans were meant to
do.
I wrote a little poem within the first month that I came
back to Uganda with a permanent, paid position with Kasiisi Project. This is the first poem I have written since I
had to write a book of poems in second grade. I meant to share it with you,
Blog, many months ago…
Back to the Earth
The water I drink
falls from the sky
The food I eat is
plucked from volcanic soils
The air I breathe is
the breath from a forest
The trees I see are
older than me
And the birds have
many places to be
Everything surrounding
me is Technicolor green!
Construction projects
The Kasiisi Guesthouse, where I reside, has been undergoing
renovations for 4 months. It began with
improvements to the kitchen, electricity in every room, furniture including
beautiful bookcases made by a local carpenter, and gutters. Then a tent
platform was built, a fence placed around the back of the house property, a
slate walkway/patio was laid and a garden added to each side of the porch. Last week everything finally concluded and I feel
like I can relax a bit around the house, except now I am hosting six lovely visitors,
a cook and two housegirls. Privacy is
not really in my vocabulary anymore, but I don’t mind as I love my job and this
is part of it!
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| Tent platform and a new walkway under construction |
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| Inside the guesthouse |
Other construction completed in the last 3 months included a
chicken house and quarantine room, piggery, and rain barrel tank bases. Current construction: biogas digester and
dormitory, both on site at Kasiisi Primary School – where the Guesthouse is also
located. The biogas digester will eventually power the Guesthouse and Porridge
kitchen (to provide lunch for the students where we are currently using wood eco-stoves).
Activities
The International Clean Stove Project was hosted by Rich
Lehrer of Brookwood High School. The Kasiisi Project was kindly invited to
participate because our students make eco-stoves near Kibale National Park to
decrease firewood use and smoke inhalation, among other things. Eight students from Kyanyawara Primary School
were chosen to build a 16-brick eco-stove, an Earth stove, and a tin/rocket stove. Then the stoves were tested. The students
shared their results with students in the U.S. at Brookwood via three Skype
sessions while also sharing about their lives.
The cultural exchange was priceless. The competition included schools
from Brazil and Rwanda.
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| 16 brick stove (left), Earth stove (right) |
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| Tin stove |
Nature Walk – Rweetera Primary School to Kibale National
Park
One of our active Wildlife Clubs (WLC) initiated a nature
walk to the edge of Kibale National Park, a one hour walking distance through
crater lake hills and farmland. Francis,
Kasiisi’s Environmental Educator, joined the WLC teacher in the educational
experience. They covered topics such as eco-farming, soil erosion, water
pollution, the importance of indigenous trees, and more. When reaching the
forest, they spent 10 minutes inside to compare the two environments and
appreciate the forest and its services.
Rickettsia: A tick and flea borne disease
At first, I thought I had malaria because I finally went off
anti-malaria pills due to overuse. But it wasn’t malaria, because the
post-treatment pills didn’t completely work, all my symptoms came back a week
later partnered with a chest infection.
When I went to the local clinic, they took my blood pressure (70/35 – surprising
that I wasn’t passed out) but there was nothing else they could do, especially since
my veins had collapsed. So I thanked the
spirits that I had brought Gatorade with me and rehydrated for the rest of the
day/night so that the next day I could travel to Kampala – only a 5 hour bus
ride - to the “mazungu” clinic. They
tested me for everything and gave me Western medicine, all for about $50. I took the drugs for the suggested 2 weeks
and it worked, now I am Rickettsia free, hooray!
Earth Day, April 21
World Environment Day, June 5
On Earth Day our Wildlife Clubs were invited to a
collaborator’s annual function in Bigodi, on the other side of the park. Our Kasiisi girls played a football, AKA
soccer match, against Bigodi girls to kick off the day. We also had a booth presenting our WLC
activities - indigenous tree seeds,
laminated animal pictures, environmental messages and of course chimp pictures
and paper mache animal masks. It was a fun day!
On W.E.D our wildlife clubs marched into the trading centers
to pick up rubbish and teach the community about the importance of a healthy
natural environment and why we are all responsible for keeping it clean. Five schools
reached out to five trading centers!
Dominic the Harvard student
One of our Kasiisi scholars was admitted to Harvard, a huge
accomplishment for him and the Kasiisi Project. It is one of those stories
where Dominic walked 3 miles to and from school every day with no shoes and
worked on his family’s farm and didn’t eat a lot. We had a send-off dinner for him and he
leaves for the US this week. He asked questions about cultural differences, and
we tried to give him advice, but he will just have to experience it for himself!
We are so excited for Dominic, Congrats Amooti, you will be missed!
