alright.
this could very well be my last post while in africa. i leave this evening for home.
the last week was very.....interesting. i saw some of the most beautiful things that I have ever seen before. Lets see, where did i leave off?
We bussed from the desert town of dar es salaam to the town of arusha in central and northern tanzania. there, we met with a maasai man named joseph saningo. joseph is the founder and leader of a group called the maasai pasturalist initiave, ,focused of land conservation and ecotourism management. he took us to his village north of arusha about 4 hours, a drive which took us by mt. kilimanjaro and many other small peaks that were quite beautiful. at this area, the only people you saw were the tribal maasai wearing their red and purple cloth and carrying spears and completely covered in beautiful beads and earings. we left the main road (in a land cruiser) and trekked straight through the bush, a very semi arid climate with small trees, volcanic rocks, and hills. there wasnt much of a road anywhere we were going,, it really was just an excursion through the wild. ocaasionaly we would come across local maasai herding their goats or cows, and occasionally camels. after a very bumpy ride and 4 or 5 hours or so we arrived in a small maasai village where joseph lived. as soon as we got out of the car the children came running up to us yelling this and that and the women came up to us trying to sell their beads (something that never really stopped at all throughout the duration of ythe trip.) we were ushered into a small clay hut and served tea, chappata bread, and a strange sort of cracker.
the town was in a very lazy sort, the maasai were reclining under the trees in the shade making beadwork or sleeping, or, in our case, staring across the road at us. a few mangy looking dogs ran by, chickens that looked like they hadnt been fed for days squaked at us. as i sat on a small bench near the hut a lady came by carrying what looked to be goat entrails. she casually held them up, dangling white and greasy, took a knife and cut opened what was apparently the stomach of the goat, and pulled out whatever meager food the goat had been eating. the inside of the goat stomach looked a bit like a sponge, or a brain or some sort. i passed an uneasy glance over to amanda (a vegetarian)...we were a bit apprehensive. the lady through the entrails into a bowl of water, apparently to be discarded or maybe used for flavoring. with that lovely scene, i took a walk around the villege, introducing myself in the limited maasai that i could speak, and even making a few friends. one man, the brother of joseph, offered me a gourd to drink from. since it was roughly 200 degrees outside i agreed and took the gourd, but stopped short when i realized it was full of hot lumpy milk - more along the lines of cottage cheese. because its rude not to drink when your offered i tried to take a sip but was unable to follow through because the smell was overwhelming. the man, barack, laughed and took back the gourd and downed it himself, with the clumpy milk escaping his mouth, slowly running down his face and dripping onto his red cloth. we turned back around, with 20 children follwing at out heals and holding our hands, and we were surprisingly ushed back into the small hut were a steaming bowl of something was put before us. i looked down and realized that whatever spongy stuff this lady was cleaning was now in my bowl. it was goat stomach.
i fished around the stomach at first, nibbling on a few potatoes and sipping the broth...and then when the lady told me "eat, eat!" i took some of the spongy stomach and tried to chew on it, unfortunately this proved futile. the stomach was of the same consistency as rubber, and the pungent smell was overwhelming. honestly, the soup smelled like goat dung. i took my hand and tried to tear a piece off with my teeth but i couldnt do that either, so i ended up just swallowing the piece whole.
the next few minutes were a combination of me trying to smile, nod,listen to the casual conversation around me, and not throw up at the same time.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
The Slave Caves of Zanzibar
Hello all.
Its been 5 days or so.....
Well I am now in Tanzania working on the Flamingo Documentary. I am in a town called Dar Es Salaam, which is a very arabic influenced city. For fun, you can go to Google Earth and check it out, its right on the Indian Ocean.
Her in Dar it is very very hot, and very humid. The people are nice but there are, as in all africa, many people trying to rob and rip me me off. but i deal with them...lol.
So far we have interviewed the director of Birdlife International, the CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania, the Professor Emeritus of Ecology at the University of Tanzania, a maverick journalist named DEO trying to get to the bottom of the Natron Flamingo Controversy, and tonight leave for the desert to talk with 2 or 3 Tribal Masai Warchiefs near the Lake, and also a field expert who basically lives in the desert working on wildlife research. Also, last week we had a surprise chance meeting with Chris Magine, who is the African Director of the Royal British Society for the Protection of Birds...we just found him sitting downtown Dar Es Salaam smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer, and he kindly engaged us in conversation and it just happened to turn out that he was here from England working on the EXACT same project as us...the Lake Natron Flamingos...so how crazy is it that we just ran into him/ So he agreed to interview and it was fantastic!!!!
Also, we had an interview scheduled in a more expotic location....ZANZIBAR!!!!!
About 3 days ago we took the ferry across the Indian Ocean to the famous Island of Zanzibar. Unfortunately, once we got there our contact was unable to meet with us...but since we were already there we stayed for an extra day....AMAZING!!!! The Island is so beautiful, I would suggest going to Google Images and just checking out the beaches, as well as a place called PRISON ISLAND....I met a guy there in Zanzibar who spends his days building ancient Dow boats and sailing around the ocean to the islands, and he finds wood and carves masks and sorts...extremely nice guy. Well he asked us to ride his dow boat out to the island and he gave us a tour and let us go snorkeling in the reefs around the island..and all this was completely unexpected or arranged!!!!
We stayed in a place called STONE TOWN, the coolest architecture in the world......
I think I want to live in Zanzibar.
Also, we went to see the Slave Caves, where the British Slave masters hid their slaves...it was really dark, wet, and creepy inside the caves...there were even remnant of rustly chains and things. I also saw a millipede twice as thick as my thumb and about 10 inches long. yummy.
So Zanzibar actually turned out to be quite a nice experience even though we didnt get the interview.
Now I am back in Dar Es Salaam and we are trying to get ahold of some Masai people near Arusha and we are bussing out there tonight or in the morning. If you didn't know, Arusha to very very near to the famous Mt. Kilimanjaro.
I am very tired, sun burnt, and more tired. We are staying in Dar at a filthy run down hostel downtown...so the people around this area are quite creepy. In Zanzibar, there was no power or running water so we couldnt shower or anything for several days, and coming back to the mainland it was well over 110 degrees with no clouds, its like a desert city.
Everywhere I go Im meeting more people who have more stories to share and its just crazy!
When we were walking through the forests in Zanzibar Island, we ran into a Norwegian couple, the husband teaches English at a rural university in Malawi, he was very very smart and told us to bus down to Malawi and stay at his place and see the extreme poverty of this country, where there are even less Mzungu's (white people) than here. Of course we cant do that.
I suppose I will be back soon...i dont even know what day it is today, i think sunday.
Cheers to all, and hopefully you'll get a Masai Trek update in the early part of next week!
-ben
Its been 5 days or so.....
Well I am now in Tanzania working on the Flamingo Documentary. I am in a town called Dar Es Salaam, which is a very arabic influenced city. For fun, you can go to Google Earth and check it out, its right on the Indian Ocean.
Her in Dar it is very very hot, and very humid. The people are nice but there are, as in all africa, many people trying to rob and rip me me off. but i deal with them...lol.
So far we have interviewed the director of Birdlife International, the CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania, the Professor Emeritus of Ecology at the University of Tanzania, a maverick journalist named DEO trying to get to the bottom of the Natron Flamingo Controversy, and tonight leave for the desert to talk with 2 or 3 Tribal Masai Warchiefs near the Lake, and also a field expert who basically lives in the desert working on wildlife research. Also, last week we had a surprise chance meeting with Chris Magine, who is the African Director of the Royal British Society for the Protection of Birds...we just found him sitting downtown Dar Es Salaam smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer, and he kindly engaged us in conversation and it just happened to turn out that he was here from England working on the EXACT same project as us...the Lake Natron Flamingos...so how crazy is it that we just ran into him/ So he agreed to interview and it was fantastic!!!!
Also, we had an interview scheduled in a more expotic location....ZANZIBAR!!!!!
About 3 days ago we took the ferry across the Indian Ocean to the famous Island of Zanzibar. Unfortunately, once we got there our contact was unable to meet with us...but since we were already there we stayed for an extra day....AMAZING!!!! The Island is so beautiful, I would suggest going to Google Images and just checking out the beaches, as well as a place called PRISON ISLAND....I met a guy there in Zanzibar who spends his days building ancient Dow boats and sailing around the ocean to the islands, and he finds wood and carves masks and sorts...extremely nice guy. Well he asked us to ride his dow boat out to the island and he gave us a tour and let us go snorkeling in the reefs around the island..and all this was completely unexpected or arranged!!!!
We stayed in a place called STONE TOWN, the coolest architecture in the world......
I think I want to live in Zanzibar.
Also, we went to see the Slave Caves, where the British Slave masters hid their slaves...it was really dark, wet, and creepy inside the caves...there were even remnant of rustly chains and things. I also saw a millipede twice as thick as my thumb and about 10 inches long. yummy.
So Zanzibar actually turned out to be quite a nice experience even though we didnt get the interview.
Now I am back in Dar Es Salaam and we are trying to get ahold of some Masai people near Arusha and we are bussing out there tonight or in the morning. If you didn't know, Arusha to very very near to the famous Mt. Kilimanjaro.
I am very tired, sun burnt, and more tired. We are staying in Dar at a filthy run down hostel downtown...so the people around this area are quite creepy. In Zanzibar, there was no power or running water so we couldnt shower or anything for several days, and coming back to the mainland it was well over 110 degrees with no clouds, its like a desert city.
Everywhere I go Im meeting more people who have more stories to share and its just crazy!
When we were walking through the forests in Zanzibar Island, we ran into a Norwegian couple, the husband teaches English at a rural university in Malawi, he was very very smart and told us to bus down to Malawi and stay at his place and see the extreme poverty of this country, where there are even less Mzungu's (white people) than here. Of course we cant do that.
I suppose I will be back soon...i dont even know what day it is today, i think sunday.
Cheers to all, and hopefully you'll get a Masai Trek update in the early part of next week!
-ben
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
The Ghosts of the Hills
It has been several days since I have last written anything on my blog. The days have been busy, the days have been hot, the days have been emotionally pulling and very hard to get through, but I did and thats what matters.
As you all knew I have been in Rwanda in a small village called Kibungo in the south Eastern part of the country.
I have been working on a short film documentary over reflections from the 1994 Rwanda Genocide.
For those of you who dont know anything about it - shame - you can go to a site like wikipedia and learn about it.
for 100 days in 1994, the 2 main ethnic groups in Rwanda, the TUTSI and the HUTU turned against each other (of course there is more to it than that though) actually mainly the HUTU turned against the TUTSI and had one mission...to expterminate every tutsi alive. In rwanda at the time, the tutsis nade up about 15 percent of the entire population. So after the presiden twas murdered and the UN was forced to evacuate the country, it turned into a planned Final Solution for the Tutsis, and propoganda from the hutu was comparable to the Nazis. Over night, the hutus turned on the family, neighbors, community, everyone. For instance, if you were a tutsi family, and your neighbor was a hutu, he would come over to the house, pound down the door, take his machete and violently kill the ENTIRE family. The Hutu men who were diagnosed with HIV AIDS would rape the women, they would take babies and smash them up against cement walls, I heard stories of women getting their eyes plucked out and then thown onto a highway where they would get ran over....wells were filled with kids and then the hutus would throw rocks on them till all of them were dead..even if you were a hutu who was sympathetic you would be found and killed. If you were a hutu and didnt want to be a part of the killings, they would just kill you and move on. So the tutsis were forced to flee into the jungle to hide but the hutu would send savage dogs after them. Families were separated, communities were burned down....in one instance, the WHOLE village went to the local Catholic church to hide from the killers. inside the church were 1000s of women and children, the men banded together and went to try and fight the Hutus. All of them were huddled inside the church, most of them with severe wounds already. The priest of the church was scared of what the hutus would do if they found him hiding the tutsi families so he went and told the hutu rebels that his church was filled with tutsis....the rebels came to the church, and with grenades, guns, knives, rocks, machetes and fire, killed EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN THE CHURCH. today, the church is still there and all the bodies are still there. The clothes have been removed and placed in a single room and the thousands of skeletons still litter the sanctuary of the church......a nightmare....this lasted for 100 days.
So the people I interviewed were survivors of this genocide. One old lady, maybe 70 years old, lost all 7 of her chiuldren, her husband, all of her husbands family, all her siblings, all of her relatives, and every single person in her entire town. Of the thousands of people in her town, she was the only one still alive.
The reconsiliation process has been amazing to hear. a lot of the killers have come out ad confessed their crimes and asked forgiveness from the families they killed. They serve a sentence in prisonm then do lots of community work, and then have been able to integrate back into society. I was amazed at this but it makes sense. This country depends on neighbors and friends to survive, its mostlky farming. So they have to forgive and keep on with life.
Remember the old lady i was talking about? Well, the hutus that murdered her family came to her and asked forgiveness....the killed EVERYONE. and they asked forgiveness. The Lady accepted their apology and forgave them. So the hutu family GAVE this old lady 2 of their own children. And since all the ladies children were dead, they offered to replace them with 2 of their children. SO now, this old lady takes care of 2 children who were born from the family that murdered all of her family. Can you believe that? And the 2 families now co-exist, are neighbors again, and the husband who did the killing is still in prison but he gets out and comes visits quite often. They have a good relationship now. The Old LAdy talked a lot about how God tells us to forgive, so why shouldnt she?
I think we americans can learn something from this.
Think to yourself.....have you not forgiven someone lately? Or for a long time? And is the reason something pitiful? (in comparison to this, it likely is pitiful) So if this lady can forgive thses hutus, then surely we can learn to forgive as well......when you see this old woman talk on cameram you are probably going to cry.
So we did about 15 interviews with people who had these crazy stories that blew me away...and what was fascinating was that most people didnt talk about the actual details of the genocide, but about how they are forgiving and rebuilding...i guess to them, thats whats i,portant and they have put the rest behind them....
Also, we did another story film about an even trelated to the genocide. Since the Hutu and Tutsi have been fighting for over 50 years, many rwandans have moved to Tanzania and other countries.
In 2006, the tanzania govt. said "ALL RWANDANS HAVE TO GO BACK HOME OR BE PUT IN PRISON" These are people who haved lived 50 years in Tanzania. So were loaded into a truck, lots of times separated from their husbands, and thrown onto a patch of dry land in the hills near the border.
These people, some of them who in Tanzania were very wealthy, now have no home, 5 kids, no husband, no water, nothing....they are living in tents up in the hills.
We went and talked with them as well. A gentleman from Kibungo named Ernest has put together a program that for 2000 US dollars, he can build a house for a refugee family. Last year, a couple from Colorado went with ernest and saw the camp, were told that 2000 dollars could build a house, went home, and in a few months had raised enough money for ernest to build 18 houses for these returnees (the familied with the most need - number of kids, no husband, health problems) were given top priority for the houses.
Right now, in this returnee camp, where the kids are the nicest, sweetest ever...there are 104 families....104 familes. of those 104 families, 18 live in a small cement house now, thanks to Peg and MArk from Colo. so that leaves 86 more families living in a tent smaller than our bathrooms. And it only takes 2000 bucks to give them a home.....so when I found that out, the camera waqs turned on, and a film to help raise awareness for these people was made. Im thinking Ill be able to raise some money for these families
IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED IN HELPING, LET ME KNOW AND LETS GET THIS ROCK ROLLING EVEN BEFORE THE FILM IS RELEASED. 2000 bucks.
By the way, for water.......the children are given a yellow jerry can. They walk 4-5 hours to the water source, nasty stagnant water, every day to get their mother water to cook with. They dont bathe, they cant. They cant even drink very much. Yes, 4-5 hour walks in the blazing hot of the hills, every day, and half of that walk was carrying heavy water. We took the camera and followed some of the kids. I thought to myself....how do I justify living like I do???
The old man of the returnee camp (who happened to be a TWA PIGMY, found out why we were filming, and he was so happy for us, he gave Amanda a cooking pot he had just made out of clay. That was a big thing. He siad this....many people might visit us and feel bad for us...but what do they do? Nothing. Will you please not forget us?
So yeah, my mind and heart is in this mess of confusion right now.......please comment if you have anything to say, Ive already been contacting places to start fund raising for houses for these people.
Today i leave for Tanzania to help stop the destruction of one of the most beautiful birds in the world...the Lesser Flamingo.
Cheers,
-ben
PS I will be coming back here. Nothing will stop me.
As you all knew I have been in Rwanda in a small village called Kibungo in the south Eastern part of the country.
I have been working on a short film documentary over reflections from the 1994 Rwanda Genocide.
For those of you who dont know anything about it - shame - you can go to a site like wikipedia and learn about it.
for 100 days in 1994, the 2 main ethnic groups in Rwanda, the TUTSI and the HUTU turned against each other (of course there is more to it than that though) actually mainly the HUTU turned against the TUTSI and had one mission...to expterminate every tutsi alive. In rwanda at the time, the tutsis nade up about 15 percent of the entire population. So after the presiden twas murdered and the UN was forced to evacuate the country, it turned into a planned Final Solution for the Tutsis, and propoganda from the hutu was comparable to the Nazis. Over night, the hutus turned on the family, neighbors, community, everyone. For instance, if you were a tutsi family, and your neighbor was a hutu, he would come over to the house, pound down the door, take his machete and violently kill the ENTIRE family. The Hutu men who were diagnosed with HIV AIDS would rape the women, they would take babies and smash them up against cement walls, I heard stories of women getting their eyes plucked out and then thown onto a highway where they would get ran over....wells were filled with kids and then the hutus would throw rocks on them till all of them were dead..even if you were a hutu who was sympathetic you would be found and killed. If you were a hutu and didnt want to be a part of the killings, they would just kill you and move on. So the tutsis were forced to flee into the jungle to hide but the hutu would send savage dogs after them. Families were separated, communities were burned down....in one instance, the WHOLE village went to the local Catholic church to hide from the killers. inside the church were 1000s of women and children, the men banded together and went to try and fight the Hutus. All of them were huddled inside the church, most of them with severe wounds already. The priest of the church was scared of what the hutus would do if they found him hiding the tutsi families so he went and told the hutu rebels that his church was filled with tutsis....the rebels came to the church, and with grenades, guns, knives, rocks, machetes and fire, killed EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN THE CHURCH. today, the church is still there and all the bodies are still there. The clothes have been removed and placed in a single room and the thousands of skeletons still litter the sanctuary of the church......a nightmare....this lasted for 100 days.
So the people I interviewed were survivors of this genocide. One old lady, maybe 70 years old, lost all 7 of her chiuldren, her husband, all of her husbands family, all her siblings, all of her relatives, and every single person in her entire town. Of the thousands of people in her town, she was the only one still alive.
The reconsiliation process has been amazing to hear. a lot of the killers have come out ad confessed their crimes and asked forgiveness from the families they killed. They serve a sentence in prisonm then do lots of community work, and then have been able to integrate back into society. I was amazed at this but it makes sense. This country depends on neighbors and friends to survive, its mostlky farming. So they have to forgive and keep on with life.
Remember the old lady i was talking about? Well, the hutus that murdered her family came to her and asked forgiveness....the killed EVERYONE. and they asked forgiveness. The Lady accepted their apology and forgave them. So the hutu family GAVE this old lady 2 of their own children. And since all the ladies children were dead, they offered to replace them with 2 of their children. SO now, this old lady takes care of 2 children who were born from the family that murdered all of her family. Can you believe that? And the 2 families now co-exist, are neighbors again, and the husband who did the killing is still in prison but he gets out and comes visits quite often. They have a good relationship now. The Old LAdy talked a lot about how God tells us to forgive, so why shouldnt she?
I think we americans can learn something from this.
Think to yourself.....have you not forgiven someone lately? Or for a long time? And is the reason something pitiful? (in comparison to this, it likely is pitiful) So if this lady can forgive thses hutus, then surely we can learn to forgive as well......when you see this old woman talk on cameram you are probably going to cry.
So we did about 15 interviews with people who had these crazy stories that blew me away...and what was fascinating was that most people didnt talk about the actual details of the genocide, but about how they are forgiving and rebuilding...i guess to them, thats whats i,portant and they have put the rest behind them....
Also, we did another story film about an even trelated to the genocide. Since the Hutu and Tutsi have been fighting for over 50 years, many rwandans have moved to Tanzania and other countries.
In 2006, the tanzania govt. said "ALL RWANDANS HAVE TO GO BACK HOME OR BE PUT IN PRISON" These are people who haved lived 50 years in Tanzania. So were loaded into a truck, lots of times separated from their husbands, and thrown onto a patch of dry land in the hills near the border.
These people, some of them who in Tanzania were very wealthy, now have no home, 5 kids, no husband, no water, nothing....they are living in tents up in the hills.
We went and talked with them as well. A gentleman from Kibungo named Ernest has put together a program that for 2000 US dollars, he can build a house for a refugee family. Last year, a couple from Colorado went with ernest and saw the camp, were told that 2000 dollars could build a house, went home, and in a few months had raised enough money for ernest to build 18 houses for these returnees (the familied with the most need - number of kids, no husband, health problems) were given top priority for the houses.
Right now, in this returnee camp, where the kids are the nicest, sweetest ever...there are 104 families....104 familes. of those 104 families, 18 live in a small cement house now, thanks to Peg and MArk from Colo. so that leaves 86 more families living in a tent smaller than our bathrooms. And it only takes 2000 bucks to give them a home.....so when I found that out, the camera waqs turned on, and a film to help raise awareness for these people was made. Im thinking Ill be able to raise some money for these families
IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED IN HELPING, LET ME KNOW AND LETS GET THIS ROCK ROLLING EVEN BEFORE THE FILM IS RELEASED. 2000 bucks.
By the way, for water.......the children are given a yellow jerry can. They walk 4-5 hours to the water source, nasty stagnant water, every day to get their mother water to cook with. They dont bathe, they cant. They cant even drink very much. Yes, 4-5 hour walks in the blazing hot of the hills, every day, and half of that walk was carrying heavy water. We took the camera and followed some of the kids. I thought to myself....how do I justify living like I do???
The old man of the returnee camp (who happened to be a TWA PIGMY, found out why we were filming, and he was so happy for us, he gave Amanda a cooking pot he had just made out of clay. That was a big thing. He siad this....many people might visit us and feel bad for us...but what do they do? Nothing. Will you please not forget us?
So yeah, my mind and heart is in this mess of confusion right now.......please comment if you have anything to say, Ive already been contacting places to start fund raising for houses for these people.
Today i leave for Tanzania to help stop the destruction of one of the most beautiful birds in the world...the Lesser Flamingo.
Cheers,
-ben
PS I will be coming back here. Nothing will stop me.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Genocide
connected to the internet from a friend of a diocese in Kibungo.
Today was a long drive through rwanda. Very cramped, very packed.
Made it to Kibungo and filmed 3 families who survived the genocide. Heard their stories. They are amazing. Most everyone here had a family member slashed apart by a machete or shot in cold blood. One man we talked to lost 4 of his 8 children, his HUTU neighbors killed them. Another man fled from the intrahamwe into the jungle for a few weeks and was almost killed 3 times. finally he was rescued and was sent to a refugee camp. He thought his whole family was dead, but at the camp he suddenly ran into his wife and kids.......the stories just go on and on.
Have to go. Tonight I will go outside into the jungle a bit and find a place to sit and watch the stars, if I can.
I am in a very rural area right now.
Rwanda is beautiful.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Rwanda - kigali
OK stayed in Kigali today i could not find transport out into Ntarama.
This is a very clean well kept city, much nicer than nairobi and kampala.
This morning I visited the Genocide Memorial Museum......Seriously wow.
This genocide is so recent, everyone in the city nearly remembers it. i cant even begin to talk about the images and stories I read today...it is much to difficult. Several people going through the moemorial just broke down and cried.
This subject is so intense that we will find it difficult to bring it to film, and will have to be quite careful.
i leave for kibungo in the morning to a refugee camp.
-ben
This is a very clean well kept city, much nicer than nairobi and kampala.
This morning I visited the Genocide Memorial Museum......Seriously wow.
This genocide is so recent, everyone in the city nearly remembers it. i cant even begin to talk about the images and stories I read today...it is much to difficult. Several people going through the moemorial just broke down and cried.
This subject is so intense that we will find it difficult to bring it to film, and will have to be quite careful.
i leave for kibungo in the morning to a refugee camp.
-ben
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Into Rwanda and the Rainforest
Very quickly,
I am now in Rwanda. It rained all day.
I took a beaten up bus for about 11 hours across the countryside of Uganda to get here.
Crossing the border was quite intense....the Rwanda military was out in force and i dont think they liked me too much.....whats new.
Everything is French, even the keyboard, so typîng is slow.
So far i feel safe enough.... the town i am in, kigali, was the center of the genocide of 1994. if you have ever seen the movie Hotel Rwanda, it takes place here in this town.
I must leave it is very dark out and its rainy and i am not sure where to go now.
I hope to find a bus into the deeper rainforest to the east tomorrow...and we start shooting genocide memoirs in a small town Ntarama.
Cheers,
ben
I am now in Rwanda. It rained all day.
I took a beaten up bus for about 11 hours across the countryside of Uganda to get here.
Crossing the border was quite intense....the Rwanda military was out in force and i dont think they liked me too much.....whats new.
Everything is French, even the keyboard, so typîng is slow.
So far i feel safe enough.... the town i am in, kigali, was the center of the genocide of 1994. if you have ever seen the movie Hotel Rwanda, it takes place here in this town.
I must leave it is very dark out and its rainy and i am not sure where to go now.
I hope to find a bus into the deeper rainforest to the east tomorrow...and we start shooting genocide memoirs in a small town Ntarama.
Cheers,
ben
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Filming Success, Emerson's Genius
Hello.
This could easily be my last day of constant updates, as I leave in the early morning for a remote region of Rwanda, however, it seems as though internet cafes are popping up everywhere.
Today I spent ALL day at the cancer clinic filming and interviewing.....like I said, this is all very hard to take in. The nicest little boy in the world, maybe 8 years old, had Burkitts Lymphoma and his face was the size of a watermelon almost...I mean its just crazy.
But I will give a more thorough update at a later time.
For now I want to share with everyone some notes from my nightly readings of Emerson....(thanks to my good friend Josh Moore for really introducing this guy to me)
These few quotes are some that really hit home over the last week of traveling and, sometimes, just sitting on the edge of a forest knoll thinking about life in general.....
"To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart, is true for all men - that is genius."
"The only reward of virtue, is virtue: the only way to have a friend, is to be one."
"To be great is to be misunderstood"
"In the woods, we return to reason and faith."
"A friend may well be the masterpiece of nature."
Yes, so I had underlined these passages from random collections of Emersons writings (Nature, Friendship, and Self Reliance). I thought I would share them.
Also, I might add that after the very depressing few days here in Uganda, after today I did feel like the was certainly some HOPE for the future of these kids...the film will explain that in greater detail....
Also, hopefully sometime later this evening I will have the chance to change this from an email blog to an actual plog page blog, which will be much easier to access and share.
There is no doubt in my mind that I will be returning to this region to do follow-up work.
Also, just to let you all know, if you've been following international news, you might have heard that in the last week there were some attacks in Ntarama, Rwanda. Yes...this is exactly where I am headed in the next 2 days. Just to give you all some comfort, the contacts I have there, in conjunction with the nearby refugee camps, are VERY WELL INFORMED and have let us know the absolute safest way in to the country. So, i could have just left that all out anyway but I figured some of you might have already heard of those attacks. So dont worry, Ill be fine.
Also, I am very sunburnt...apparently the Malaria medicine I took makes my skin very sensitive...but the good news is that it has all turned a dark brown except for on my upper chest where I wore a wife-beater one day and forgot (stupidly) to put sunblock right under my neck in....So literally my skin there is very nearly purple. Luckily, after seeing children today with softball size lumps growing out of their eye sockets...I realized any pain I feel from this burn is really nothing.
I should have some pictures up soon I hope. so far the internet speed has been unable to support picture sharing.
(Also because I added some people to this list just now this would be the first time you would have read any of this odd-formed email type blog. I promise I will get all the old posts viewable soon.)
Sula Birungi!!! (Tribal Ugandan for Good Bye!)
-ben
This could easily be my last day of constant updates, as I leave in the early morning for a remote region of Rwanda, however, it seems as though internet cafes are popping up everywhere.
Today I spent ALL day at the cancer clinic filming and interviewing.....like I said, this is all very hard to take in. The nicest little boy in the world, maybe 8 years old, had Burkitts Lymphoma and his face was the size of a watermelon almost...I mean its just crazy.
But I will give a more thorough update at a later time.
For now I want to share with everyone some notes from my nightly readings of Emerson....(thanks to my good friend Josh Moore for really introducing this guy to me)
These few quotes are some that really hit home over the last week of traveling and, sometimes, just sitting on the edge of a forest knoll thinking about life in general.....
"To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart, is true for all men - that is genius."
"The only reward of virtue, is virtue: the only way to have a friend, is to be one."
"To be great is to be misunderstood"
"In the woods, we return to reason and faith."
"A friend may well be the masterpiece of nature."
Yes, so I had underlined these passages from random collections of Emersons writings (Nature, Friendship, and Self Reliance). I thought I would share them.
Also, I might add that after the very depressing few days here in Uganda, after today I did feel like the was certainly some HOPE for the future of these kids...the film will explain that in greater detail....
Also, hopefully sometime later this evening I will have the chance to change this from an email blog to an actual plog page blog, which will be much easier to access and share.
There is no doubt in my mind that I will be returning to this region to do follow-up work.
Also, just to let you all know, if you've been following international news, you might have heard that in the last week there were some attacks in Ntarama, Rwanda. Yes...this is exactly where I am headed in the next 2 days. Just to give you all some comfort, the contacts I have there, in conjunction with the nearby refugee camps, are VERY WELL INFORMED and have let us know the absolute safest way in to the country. So, i could have just left that all out anyway but I figured some of you might have already heard of those attacks. So dont worry, Ill be fine.
Also, I am very sunburnt...apparently the Malaria medicine I took makes my skin very sensitive...but the good news is that it has all turned a dark brown except for on my upper chest where I wore a wife-beater one day and forgot (stupidly) to put sunblock right under my neck in....So literally my skin there is very nearly purple. Luckily, after seeing children today with softball size lumps growing out of their eye sockets...I realized any pain I feel from this burn is really nothing.
I should have some pictures up soon I hope. so far the internet speed has been unable to support picture sharing.
(Also because I added some people to this list just now this would be the first time you would have read any of this odd-formed email type blog. I promise I will get all the old posts viewable soon.)
Sula Birungi!!! (Tribal Ugandan for Good Bye!)
-ben
Cancer Institute of Uganda...a Medical Hell. What can we do?
Hello to all.
for those of you receiving my Africa blog for the first time, well, you've only missed a few updates. In short, I've already crossed Kenya and am in Uganda working on a film project.
For the first time on this entire trip I actually have some quality time to sit down and write an in depth email regarding my thoughts on the travels thus far.
This morning Amanda (film producer) Ty (Crazy good Camera Man) and I left our hole in the wall hotel on the slum side streets near the coast and made our way north back into the Capital City of Kampala. This morning I witnessed a fight that was quite scary. I was leaving the bank where I had exchanged for some shillings, and right as I walked outside I saw a car pulled off the side of the road and there were maybe 15 locals beating on the car and trying to pull whoever was inside, out. There was much anger and fist throwing before the local security guards at the bank came over and joined in the fray. I was standing only about 15 feet from the entire fight, and it was pouring rain and lightning very hard. Soon, the Ugandan Militia force drove up and hopped out. these guys have tan military suits, black berets, semi automatic weapons, and hard looks to kill. They literally throw the security guards to the side, pull out the batons, and beat the tar out of several of the people around the car. They immediately fell to the ground and the militia surrounded the car to protect whoever was inside. I suddenly realized that I was very out of place, as the only white guy around, soaking wet, and watching curiously. So I backed away and took a round-about way back to the hotel (which was in an area I would not rather be in for my own safety). So that was interesting.
It was the first time I have seen anything but friendliness and kindness from the Ugandans.
We made our way back to the Mulago Cancer Institute, where we prepared for our film shoot.
I am going to take some time and explain what is really going on here. To be honest, today was one of the hardest days of my entire life, because the entirety of the situation these people are in really really hit home.
The Cancer Institute of Mulago is the only cancer center in the country, a small branch of the main hospital (which, if any of you have ever seen THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND, it was filmed here. In fact several of the nurses were extras in that movie). It a very small institution...imagine maybe your at a baseball game. The first Cancer ward, the pediatric ward, is maybe a bit bigger than a good sized concession stand. It is like a cement prison, and there are people everywhere, mulling about. Inside the ward is just a continuous string of wire framed beds filled with sick children, and their parents.
Why are their parents there?
In Uganda, you can't just take someone to the hospital and drop them off. There are not enough nurses to provide daily care for the patients so the parents are there to see that the child gets fed. Also, most of these people have left what little they had at home (which was likely no more than a few scraps of tin) and completely re-located to the hospital. The entire family shares the one bed, even all the siblings. If the family is lucky, maybe a relative would offer to house the children. It is at least an hour walk to the city market to get food (trust me, I made the walk), all uphill the way back. Inside this ward there are maybe 20 beds. Thats all. 20 beds. This is the only cancer in the country and their are 20 beds. Did I mention that Uganda has the highest cancer rate IN THE ENTIRE WORLD? Luckily there are tons of specialized doctors to go around and care for these deathly sick children. Oh, wait. There's only one. His name is Jackson Orem, he's a soft spoken little man, and he is the ONLY cancer doctor in the entire country of Uganda. 10,000 children come through this ward a year, and Dr. Orem sees every single one of them. You can imagine, that with such a small facility, in such bad conditions, most of the children just die, so thats how 10,000 even get in. I was lucky enough to meet Amos, the next Cancer doctor, who after this next year studying in the States, will finally be able to assist Dr. Orem. Anyway, the family arrives with their sick child...
Let me go on a tangent here. Most people in Uganda are medically illiterate. They have NO CLUE what cancer is. Say that they live in the north, which is a very dangerous area. Their child is lucky enough not to have been captured by the guerilla militia, but unfortunately a tumor appears on his face the size of a baseball. Alarmed, the parents take the child to the local witch-doctor. Nothing seems to happen. (These early days are so vital) Then they take the child to a local medical center, which is literally a tin room the size of our bathroom, and smells. (On my 2 day walk across the countryside I stopped in on a few of these). Of course they can do nothing, but they do refer the child to the regional medical center. So the parents then take the child there, and that clinic is a few rooms with no running water and no electricity. So then the child is referred to the National clinic. Keep in mind, the parents still have NO CLUE what this problem is. Unfortunately, transportation to the city requires 2 months salary, roughly 15 dollars. When they get to the main hospital, after maybe a week the child is seen by a doctor. The doctor says the child has cancer and is sent to the cancer clinic up the hill. The family goes to the clinic, but since it is full, they sit outside the building. Luckily the heat doesn't go much past 95-110 degrees farenheit. After probably a month (not joking) a spot opens up in the clinic and the family re-locates from outside the building walls to inside the clinic where Dr. Orem can finally treat/visit the patient. Unfortunately, the type of viral cancer that the child has has had enough time to spread through the systems of the boy, and within a few days, he is dead. The family now has to find a way to get back to their village and continue living, all the while mourning their child. Imagine this story on a scale of tens of thousands. And Welcome to Uganda.
This story was told to me by Erica Sessele, the operations Manager of the Cancer Clinic.
The clinic has 4 or five buildings, one for children, a few for adults, and 1 outpatient care unit (which has no electricity or water).
The Ugandan Govt., after years of receiving requests, finally this January came and toured the clinic. So moved, they promised, 1 billion shillings allocated for the clinic this year.
So far.......nothing. And Dr., Orem says they will not receive anything.
How has cancer been so over-looked? There is no doubt that cancer has been over-shadowed by the HIV/AIDS crisis, of which Uganda is one of the few success stories. But it's just crazy to see how little attention this disease gets. Seriously, this is one of the most common diseases in the country, but onlyu a trained specialist can treat it.
1 in 2 Ugandans are victims of a viral cancer strain, and in slightly less than half of those have the virus evolve into cancer.
This is a treatable disease. Here in Uganda the most common strains are Kaposi Sarcoma and Burkitt's Lymphona. You dont see much of this cancer in the USA ever, because Kaposi Sarcoma is linked to HIV/AIDS. So this particular strain is quite deadly (especially combined with the rampant malnutrition) If someone has Kaposi Sarcosa, this indicates the the AIDS virus is quite advanced, but there are still treatment options, and the Burkitts disease is not related to HIV, and with 6 cycles of Chemo it can be cured. How much does that cost? 500 US dollars. Thats all. The prices are cheap. But still that is more money than most people make in a lifetime here. BTW Burkitts is a form of Mononucleosis, the kissing disease, in a more advanced stage. (I will try to stay away from technical jargon if possible, but Ive been so immersed in it the last few days it will be hard.)
For me, just walking through the ward was quite intense. For the first time, these werent just numbers, they were humans. Some raised their arm in a painful greeting to wave hello, even though I am a MUZUNGO. They know that even though I am a strange visitor, I am a friend.
However, even life inside the hospital with decent treatment is dangerous (as you know the dangers of constant rotting flesh are numerous...and yes, inside the room, thats ALL you smell...rotting flesh.)
Erica and Dr, Orem explained to me the story of a small girl named Olivia. She was a 10 year old orphan who made her way into the clinic with serious cancer, but was treated. Unfortunately, because of the limited staff, and the fact that she had no family with her, she was too weak to get food herself, and was found one day starving and near death, as thin as rails. (This is not negligence on behalf of the staff...trust me, all 5 or so of them work like crazy, non-stop) Luckily, Olivia was found and Erica was able to nurse Olivia back to health with daily cans of ensure and constant care (Erica actually bonded with Olivia in a way she doesnt like to do because of the 90-98 percent death rate of every person that comes through the door) Eventually Olivia was healthy enough to leave the compound and return to her her village where she was adopted. Unfortunately, she died soon after. But the nutrition system at the clinic is horrible as well.
Can you even begin to imagine these type of problems in a US hospital? And trust me, I have left a lot of the gory nasty details out...How can go about our daily lives and not think of the situation here? It was strange, standing there today thinking that these people were just un-lucky not to be born in a developed country and receive proper care...but it certainly wasn;t their fault. And its not like they aren't trying to improve themselves, but its hard when you have dictators like Iddi Amin murdering citizens left and right, corrupt govts, and a British influence that has left a gap between rich and poor the size of the Grand Canyon. It was just crazy today to see al that because the Ugandans are really truly the absolute nicest people I've ever met. Maybe because its the dark brown skin that makes the white teeth shine that much brighter when they smile, or the way they hold themselves even through unreal hardships....that reminds me, the eeriest thing....when I was in the ward today, the childrens ward, I heard not one cry. No a single one. I turned and asked Dr, Orem why that was and he calmly replied "these children are tough. They have had nothing given to them. They have had to work for everything. They know it is not their fault that they are here. The only crying you will hear, son, is when one of them dies."
So...yeah. I know thats a lot but its on my mind.
I will spend tomorrow visiting with the patients, getting to know them, and doing some filming. We have spent a few days without the camera just so the patients get used to us and are not scared to open up.
So Im sure Ill have more to say about that when its all said and done.
Oh, I forgot to mention, to build a new cancer clinic, 2 stories, would cost 3 million dollars. That sounds like a million dollars less than the brand spankin new church being put up down the road...and 500 bucks for one child to receive 6 cycles of comprehensive, curable chemotherapy.
In 3 days we will leave Uganda and focus on a subject that is very hard to deal with....the Rwandan Genocide and Tanzanian refugees. We are meeting with people there near Kubungo who have spent the last 10 - 15 years cleaning up the bloody mess of the 1994 genocide massacre....
Ok I suspect that is enough for now. Know I am safe...I lucked out on lodging tonight!!! Erica generously housed us in a mansion next door to the Ugandan President's house!!! (It was supposed to be occupied but the people didnt show up!! (And we would have stayed in a rat hole downtown...yeah!) Of course, nothing is the same after witnessing the atrocities today. but I am grateful for her hospitality.
Cheers,
-Ben
for those of you receiving my Africa blog for the first time, well, you've only missed a few updates. In short, I've already crossed Kenya and am in Uganda working on a film project.
For the first time on this entire trip I actually have some quality time to sit down and write an in depth email regarding my thoughts on the travels thus far.
This morning Amanda (film producer) Ty (Crazy good Camera Man) and I left our hole in the wall hotel on the slum side streets near the coast and made our way north back into the Capital City of Kampala. This morning I witnessed a fight that was quite scary. I was leaving the bank where I had exchanged for some shillings, and right as I walked outside I saw a car pulled off the side of the road and there were maybe 15 locals beating on the car and trying to pull whoever was inside, out. There was much anger and fist throwing before the local security guards at the bank came over and joined in the fray. I was standing only about 15 feet from the entire fight, and it was pouring rain and lightning very hard. Soon, the Ugandan Militia force drove up and hopped out. these guys have tan military suits, black berets, semi automatic weapons, and hard looks to kill. They literally throw the security guards to the side, pull out the batons, and beat the tar out of several of the people around the car. They immediately fell to the ground and the militia surrounded the car to protect whoever was inside. I suddenly realized that I was very out of place, as the only white guy around, soaking wet, and watching curiously. So I backed away and took a round-about way back to the hotel (which was in an area I would not rather be in for my own safety). So that was interesting.
It was the first time I have seen anything but friendliness and kindness from the Ugandans.
We made our way back to the Mulago Cancer Institute, where we prepared for our film shoot.
I am going to take some time and explain what is really going on here. To be honest, today was one of the hardest days of my entire life, because the entirety of the situation these people are in really really hit home.
The Cancer Institute of Mulago is the only cancer center in the country, a small branch of the main hospital (which, if any of you have ever seen THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND, it was filmed here. In fact several of the nurses were extras in that movie). It a very small institution...imagine maybe your at a baseball game. The first Cancer ward, the pediatric ward, is maybe a bit bigger than a good sized concession stand. It is like a cement prison, and there are people everywhere, mulling about. Inside the ward is just a continuous string of wire framed beds filled with sick children, and their parents.
Why are their parents there?
In Uganda, you can't just take someone to the hospital and drop them off. There are not enough nurses to provide daily care for the patients so the parents are there to see that the child gets fed. Also, most of these people have left what little they had at home (which was likely no more than a few scraps of tin) and completely re-located to the hospital. The entire family shares the one bed, even all the siblings. If the family is lucky, maybe a relative would offer to house the children. It is at least an hour walk to the city market to get food (trust me, I made the walk), all uphill the way back. Inside this ward there are maybe 20 beds. Thats all. 20 beds. This is the only cancer in the country and their are 20 beds. Did I mention that Uganda has the highest cancer rate IN THE ENTIRE WORLD? Luckily there are tons of specialized doctors to go around and care for these deathly sick children. Oh, wait. There's only one. His name is Jackson Orem, he's a soft spoken little man, and he is the ONLY cancer doctor in the entire country of Uganda. 10,000 children come through this ward a year, and Dr. Orem sees every single one of them. You can imagine, that with such a small facility, in such bad conditions, most of the children just die, so thats how 10,000 even get in. I was lucky enough to meet Amos, the next Cancer doctor, who after this next year studying in the States, will finally be able to assist Dr. Orem. Anyway, the family arrives with their sick child...
Let me go on a tangent here. Most people in Uganda are medically illiterate. They have NO CLUE what cancer is. Say that they live in the north, which is a very dangerous area. Their child is lucky enough not to have been captured by the guerilla militia, but unfortunately a tumor appears on his face the size of a baseball. Alarmed, the parents take the child to the local witch-doctor. Nothing seems to happen. (These early days are so vital) Then they take the child to a local medical center, which is literally a tin room the size of our bathroom, and smells. (On my 2 day walk across the countryside I stopped in on a few of these). Of course they can do nothing, but they do refer the child to the regional medical center. So the parents then take the child there, and that clinic is a few rooms with no running water and no electricity. So then the child is referred to the National clinic. Keep in mind, the parents still have NO CLUE what this problem is. Unfortunately, transportation to the city requires 2 months salary, roughly 15 dollars. When they get to the main hospital, after maybe a week the child is seen by a doctor. The doctor says the child has cancer and is sent to the cancer clinic up the hill. The family goes to the clinic, but since it is full, they sit outside the building. Luckily the heat doesn't go much past 95-110 degrees farenheit. After probably a month (not joking) a spot opens up in the clinic and the family re-locates from outside the building walls to inside the clinic where Dr. Orem can finally treat/visit the patient. Unfortunately, the type of viral cancer that the child has has had enough time to spread through the systems of the boy, and within a few days, he is dead. The family now has to find a way to get back to their village and continue living, all the while mourning their child. Imagine this story on a scale of tens of thousands. And Welcome to Uganda.
This story was told to me by Erica Sessele, the operations Manager of the Cancer Clinic.
The clinic has 4 or five buildings, one for children, a few for adults, and 1 outpatient care unit (which has no electricity or water).
The Ugandan Govt., after years of receiving requests, finally this January came and toured the clinic. So moved, they promised, 1 billion shillings allocated for the clinic this year.
So far.......nothing. And Dr., Orem says they will not receive anything.
How has cancer been so over-looked? There is no doubt that cancer has been over-shadowed by the HIV/AIDS crisis, of which Uganda is one of the few success stories. But it's just crazy to see how little attention this disease gets. Seriously, this is one of the most common diseases in the country, but onlyu a trained specialist can treat it.
1 in 2 Ugandans are victims of a viral cancer strain, and in slightly less than half of those have the virus evolve into cancer.
This is a treatable disease. Here in Uganda the most common strains are Kaposi Sarcoma and Burkitt's Lymphona. You dont see much of this cancer in the USA ever, because Kaposi Sarcoma is linked to HIV/AIDS. So this particular strain is quite deadly (especially combined with the rampant malnutrition) If someone has Kaposi Sarcosa, this indicates the the AIDS virus is quite advanced, but there are still treatment options, and the Burkitts disease is not related to HIV, and with 6 cycles of Chemo it can be cured. How much does that cost? 500 US dollars. Thats all. The prices are cheap. But still that is more money than most people make in a lifetime here. BTW Burkitts is a form of Mononucleosis, the kissing disease, in a more advanced stage. (I will try to stay away from technical jargon if possible, but Ive been so immersed in it the last few days it will be hard.)
For me, just walking through the ward was quite intense. For the first time, these werent just numbers, they were humans. Some raised their arm in a painful greeting to wave hello, even though I am a MUZUNGO. They know that even though I am a strange visitor, I am a friend.
However, even life inside the hospital with decent treatment is dangerous (as you know the dangers of constant rotting flesh are numerous...and yes, inside the room, thats ALL you smell...rotting flesh.)
Erica and Dr, Orem explained to me the story of a small girl named Olivia. She was a 10 year old orphan who made her way into the clinic with serious cancer, but was treated. Unfortunately, because of the limited staff, and the fact that she had no family with her, she was too weak to get food herself, and was found one day starving and near death, as thin as rails. (This is not negligence on behalf of the staff...trust me, all 5 or so of them work like crazy, non-stop) Luckily, Olivia was found and Erica was able to nurse Olivia back to health with daily cans of ensure and constant care (Erica actually bonded with Olivia in a way she doesnt like to do because of the 90-98 percent death rate of every person that comes through the door) Eventually Olivia was healthy enough to leave the compound and return to her her village where she was adopted. Unfortunately, she died soon after. But the nutrition system at the clinic is horrible as well.
Can you even begin to imagine these type of problems in a US hospital? And trust me, I have left a lot of the gory nasty details out...How can go about our daily lives and not think of the situation here? It was strange, standing there today thinking that these people were just un-lucky not to be born in a developed country and receive proper care...but it certainly wasn;t their fault. And its not like they aren't trying to improve themselves, but its hard when you have dictators like Iddi Amin murdering citizens left and right, corrupt govts, and a British influence that has left a gap between rich and poor the size of the Grand Canyon. It was just crazy today to see al that because the Ugandans are really truly the absolute nicest people I've ever met. Maybe because its the dark brown skin that makes the white teeth shine that much brighter when they smile, or the way they hold themselves even through unreal hardships....that reminds me, the eeriest thing....when I was in the ward today, the childrens ward, I heard not one cry. No a single one. I turned and asked Dr, Orem why that was and he calmly replied "these children are tough. They have had nothing given to them. They have had to work for everything. They know it is not their fault that they are here. The only crying you will hear, son, is when one of them dies."
So...yeah. I know thats a lot but its on my mind.
I will spend tomorrow visiting with the patients, getting to know them, and doing some filming. We have spent a few days without the camera just so the patients get used to us and are not scared to open up.
So Im sure Ill have more to say about that when its all said and done.
Oh, I forgot to mention, to build a new cancer clinic, 2 stories, would cost 3 million dollars. That sounds like a million dollars less than the brand spankin new church being put up down the road...and 500 bucks for one child to receive 6 cycles of comprehensive, curable chemotherapy.
In 3 days we will leave Uganda and focus on a subject that is very hard to deal with....the Rwandan Genocide and Tanzanian refugees. We are meeting with people there near Kubungo who have spent the last 10 - 15 years cleaning up the bloody mess of the 1994 genocide massacre....
Ok I suspect that is enough for now. Know I am safe...I lucked out on lodging tonight!!! Erica generously housed us in a mansion next door to the Ugandan President's house!!! (It was supposed to be occupied but the people didnt show up!! (And we would have stayed in a rat hole downtown...yeah!) Of course, nothing is the same after witnessing the atrocities today. but I am grateful for her hospitality.
Cheers,
-Ben
A 2 DAY WALK ACROSS THE UGANDAN COAST
SUN SUN SUN SUN SUN SUN
RAIN RAIN RAIN RAIN RAIN RAIN
The last 2 days have been crazy. Right now I am in a small coastal town about 5 kilometers north of Ggaba on Lake Victoria.
After visiting Mulago Hospital Cancer Center it took awhile to adjust. Although we havent done any filming there yet, that starts today, I did visit the cancer ward for children, which looks kinda like a ratty bathroom stall in a new york suburb.
Uganda has one of the highest cancer rates in the entire world...and there is only ONE practicing cancer professional
in the entire country, his name is Dr. Orem, and we met with him on Saturday.
in the entire country, his name is Dr. Orem, and we met with him on Saturday.
I almost couldnt take the horrible sights inside the ward. One little boy was laying down and the entire bottom half of his body was one huge open flesh wound. And so on and so on.....So this will be rough few days.
On saturday we WALKED from center Kampala to the hospital which took several hours, and then walked ALL THE WAY to Ggaba. I dont know how far that was but I think maybe 14 kilometers or so, with our packs, in the bazilli9on degree sun......It was crazy.
And yesterday we did the same things, all day, walk walk walk walk....all around....needless to say I am not as white as I was when I left.
The Ugandan word for White Person is MUZUNGO!!!!! So everywhere I walkI hear people shouting that out.
This morning it is a pouring mess of monsoon like rain...
On the way to the bank this morning I witnessed a terrible fight involving the militia and locals...
I only have like 1 minute left to type!!
Um.....I will send a better update in the next few days.
Love you all!!!!!!!
-ben
Into Uganda
Greetings from Uganda!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow!!! All I can say is that so far this entire experience has been mind blowing. Yesterday we flew from Nairobi to Entebbe Uganda - right over Lake Victoria, the biigest lake in Africa!!
We found a taxi from Entebbe to the capital city, Kampala. On our way there (50 kilometers) it was one of the most beautiful regions I have ever seen in my life. The forest is SOO green, and we drove along the coastal lake side, which is the same as an ocean coast beause the lake is so big. The tropical biodiversity was just astounding :0
As we drove, our taxi driver o\pointed out a very nice looking estate...perhaps some of you have heard of the Dictator named AMIN (from the movie LAST KING OF SCOTLAND) he was a cruel man, but wow, his palace was quite beautiful. It was so strange to be at its footsteps.
The city of Kampala really is small, definately smaller than wichita in size, much much smaller. However, there are 6-7 MILLION people there, it is the most congested city Ihave ever been in. There are small peddlers and shops every inch of the sidewalks and millions of little buses the size of minivans and a gazillion little mini motorcycles. The motocyles are personal taxis, for a small charge you hop on the back of one he'll speed you through town.
I DO NOT LIE....there are NO, NONE, ZILCH traffic rules in the city. No lights, no signs, NOTHING!!! No street POLICE!! So imagine how the driving is with a million people crossing the streets at every part, and the cars not even slowing down....its crazy.
Last night we witnessed a lady crossing the street and a motocycle taxi mowed her down, in a busy city square (in a very poor part of the city) the driver continued on, and only a few old ladies ran out on to the streets to help move the woman, who was hurt badly. There were literally thousands of onlookers.....it must be a common thing. This was the first time I have ever witnessed a traffic accident like that.
We found a small hotel called the Le Hotel Fiancee. It was very cheap and ratty, just the way I like it :) In probably the worst part of town, as well. I find it much more of an experience to avoid all the expensive parts of town and really throw myself as much as I can into the REAL culture of the city.
To give you an idea of the exchange rate here in Uganda, 1600 Ugandan shillings equals 1 US dollar.
Prices:
Single bed hotel room: 20,000 shillings
Single Beer : 1,000 shillings
Dinner of Chicken Curry and Rice: 3,500 shillings
A cell phone (I got one for emergencies - u cant call me tho) : 39,000
A nice back pack from a street vendor: 4000 shillings.
So yeah things are quite cheap here. the taxi from entebbe to Kamapala ran us 48,000 shillings (which was too high) that has been our biggest expense.
However, as you all know, I travel on an EXTREMELY cheap budget, and other than the initial VISA (50 bucks) and that long taxi, I will try to stay under 10 US bucks a day...
For food, the best thing to do is stop at a street vendor and purchase a mango or avocado and some bread, maybe a fresh tomato. Quite cheap and you can eat them throughout the day.
Last night, Ty, Amanda, and I (for those who dont know by the way, Ty and Amanda are videographers from Seattle accompanying me on this trip, they are both very nice) went on a long walk across almost the whole city. I feel safe other than crossing the street, but still I have to always be on my guard because there are a lot of thieves and thugs here, and very little police. Not to mention the police are quite corrupt. However, my personality is give EVERYONE the benefit of the doubt and treat strangers as kindly as I can. To get the most of my experience here, I often stop and talk to strangers on the street, vendors, security guards, random passerby's, etc. Just to ask questions and become as familiar with my environment as I can. I feel like Ireally want to avoid being the "tourist" person. I want to blend in and fell at one withthe community. However, we have some serious camera gear, and hauling that around does bring attention to ourselves.
In Kenya most people spoke Swahili, that is not the case here in Uganda, the languages are various Tribal languages, all different and much harder to speak than Swahili. It's funny, all the signs and EVERYTHING in the city is written in English, but the people actually have a very hard time speaking English wqith us, its apparent they usually speak to each other in their common tongue.
As for our plans -
We are on our way to the Mulago Hospital to meet with a lady named Ericea Sessele, who I actually met while I was in Seattle. I told here my plans and she graciously invited the crew and I out to her hospital (a Cancer Clinic) to meet and film and interview and really get a good grasp on the situation here. The hospital is on the outskirts of the city. In the nex \t week we will be traveling to rural jungle areas for more footage of pediatric health problems (there will be no internet out there, and that is where we will be in the most danger)
Just so everyone knows, we are filming and following 3 main storylines
1.) Pediatric Health Crisis
2.) The refugee influx along the Rwandan Tanzania Border
3.) The development of a soda ash plant on Lake Natron, Tanzania, which is where 80 percent of the Lesser flamingos in the entire world breed, and if the plant is built, all the flamingos will disappear from there. 80 PERCENT!!!!!!
So this has been great so far.
In the next week we plan to take a one day break from filming and go to a small village called Jinja, and there we will hike to the SOURCE OF THE NILE RIVER. (Dad I wish you here for that trek.....)
I love you all and miss you all and know I am doing everything to stay safe, but, at the same time, my adventurous spirit is always looking for a crazy adventure.......thats just me though.
PS - Josh Moore - I get back in the states around June 1st so if you have already left for Morrocco - good luck man.
Good bye!!!!!
-Ben
Nairobi day 2 - Animal Orphanage
HIBARI!!! (Swahili for hi)
Well right now I am in an internet cafe in nairobi.
Today, the family that i am staying with us (The Omido's) have been very grateful.
Amanda, Ty, and I started off the day in the Nairobi Nature Orphange and I was allowed into a cage and had some great one on one time with a CHEETAH!!! They were quite nice. Dad - tell Abby that I had a baby zebra walk right up to me :) This was a refuge for orphaned animals from the wild, Lions, Monkeys, heyenas, etc.
this afternoon we went to the Birdlife Foundation and interviewed/filmed the leader of the Lake Natron Flamingo project / Soda AsH plant. That went well. Google Flamingos and Lake Natron and u will find out the story.
Tomorrow we fly to Entebbe Uganda to meet with the health clinics in the region, and from there we will trek around Lake Victoria and across the serenghetti - ending in Dar Es Salaam.
Ok i must go now,
Nairobi landing
OK!!
I landed in AFrica....I woke up on the plane and looked out the window
and we were flying clear skies over the Sahara Desert!!!
I met a family in Nairobi and they have generously played host. I
wandered all around town today...it is very very very very crowded and
the drivers are crazy.
Im going back to the airport to welcome in Ty and AManda, they were a day behind me.
I landed in AFrica....I woke up on the plane and looked out the window
and we were flying clear skies over the Sahara Desert!!!
I met a family in Nairobi and they have generously played host. I
wandered all around town today...it is very very very very crowded and
the drivers are crazy.
Im going back to the airport to welcome in Ty and AManda, they were a day behind me.
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