Sunday, June 21, 2009

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Mweya Safari Lodge

Our day of rest…. we gave thanks to God for our safe journey and asked for his continued Grace in raising these people out of war, disease and poverty. God’s hand is apparent with every smile and warm handshake, with the hard work we see being done by the MTI-Uganda staff, and by the volunteers. This is a beautiful country but the enormous population leaves few opportunities for employment that would sustain the large families. Vincent, a Ugandan we met at the Mweya Safari Lodge in Queen Elizabeth National Park shared that he has 3 children and is trying to save money for them to be able to go to University but how difficult this was.

Mweya Safari Lodge is beautiful… built in 1952 it is owned by Canadians who divide their time between Canada and Uganda. You can see the Congo shore across Lake Edward. From this vantage everything seems so serene and peaceful – hard to image that we are able to see the shore of the country whose internal turmoil has sent so many of it’s citizens to seek refuge in Uganda. Tomorrow we will meet these refugees but today we are enjoying God’s natural beauty. Tourism and end resorts like this could employ many Ugandans. The staff was efficient, well trained and seemed interested to hear about MTI and our work here in Uganda. This was a quality resort that was equal to any in a first world country. Another stark contrast in the depths of Uganda!

A game drive! 6 a.m. – a Land Rover, our guide and Frank, Scott, Deb, Dana, Peter & Anthony loaded up to see what new sites Uganda might hold for us. On the drive from the Lodge we immediately spotted a leopard but since it was still dark she was hard to see clearly. Wart hogs, water buck, cape buffalo, leopard, herds of elephants, 2 lions, plovers, egrets, palm nut vulture, Egyptian geese, hippos, yellow weavers, large herds of kob (like our deer) were all spotted during our 3 hour drive. A flat tire made us miss our 10 a.m.. boat tour of the Kazinga Channel but gave us time to sit on the terrace and enjoy the panoramic views of East Africa.

As we were leaving Sue spotted a tree that was filled with hanging nests (it looked like a Christmas tree filled with ornaments). Our favorite little yellow birds, “Weavers” have obviously been given their name for these amazing structures. Yellow birds were flying in and out of these upside down nests by the 100’s – we stood in awe of another of God’s wonders.

Back to Mbarara through the rural and pastoral Rift Valley. Frank rides with Deb, Sue & Dana who were singing “oldies but goodies”… when we apologized for only knowing the chorus to many of the tunes Frank replied “snippets of terror”. Joe, Scott, David, Patrick and Megan attended a meeting with the UNHCR Director for the Nakavale region, Veronique Gentaille, followed by a dinner given by the 3 medical volunteers who are here serving for a month. The dinner was to thank the MTI staff for all the support and help given to them. honoring the volunteers. Scott has written below about this experience.

“David Alula, Joe, Patrick, Megan, and I (Scott) met with UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Mbarara. Joe introduced Megan and myself as volunteer fundraisers. The UNHCR for Nakavale was Veronique Gentaille. She wanted MTI to put together a proposal to take over and operate all four medical clinics in the Nakavale area. This responsibility is currently divided up among three NGO groups. The UNHCR representative wanted MTI’s proposal to cover four areas of need. 1. Capability 2. Competency 3. Capacity 4. Funding UNHCR has been impressed with MTI’s performance in operating the Nakivale Congolese Refugee Camp Medical Clinic.

After the meeting the group was invited to attend the Volunteer Team’s party for MTI Nakivale Medical Team staff to be held in Mbarara at the Hotel Classic. Twenty of the staff were in attendance. The volunteer team headed by Dr. Leo Criep from Houston, nurse Shaton Tissell from Portland and nurse Chris from Calagary, Canada. Volunteer teams normally serve for a period of one month. This team will leave next weekend. After filling our plates from the Ugandan food buffet we listened to speeches of thanks from the volunteer medical team. A trivia question game was played for small prizes.

One of the Nakavale staff, Davis (who is fluent in 5 languages), spoke as representing the entire staff in thanking the volunteers for their work and for the great party. The Nakavale staff then lead the group in three Ugandan songs backed up by an Ugandan instrument called a Dungu (looked like a miniature harp). The volunteer Medical Staff was visibly moved by this party and of course, this experience. Our team expressed the same gratefulness.”

Megan expressed in her beautiful prose thoughts that she agreed to share:

“Can I offer you any services?” he asks me. Unassuming, just helpful on this serene, dream-filled veranda, restfully overlooking Uganda’s vast sprawl in all directions, particularly south and west. If your vision was good enough you could see the Congo, sitting peacefully right there. No war, no refugees, just forests and birds and flowers and green…if your vision was really, really good. Butterflies flit and flirt with the birds and sunbeams, a mid-morning serenade exclusive of no one. The lakes reach out their fingers, thirsty for more land and lush, green marsh. The breeze lifts the ripples from a crocodile’s tail, the same breeze that’s gently mingling the scents of all of Africa: the raw, feeling smells of rock and earth and water and sweat and life all brought together. The primal, natural things about which we always forget. Foreign words in strange voices mélange with life, and the services, sir?
Please bring me this, forever.
Mw