ENTEBBE UGANDA 2018 - 4 - CHIMPANZEES OUR CLOSEST ANCESTORS

Planning starts to go to Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary, one of many islands on Northern Territory of Victoria Lake. My friend calls the number Claire, our hostess provides us to make reservations. The price is $168/person round trip since we are the only two passengers. Hmmm, it feels like it is a bit too much. My friend wears his experienced-in-Africa hat and tells him boldly it is too much and asks him to call us back if they find other customers. Will they dare losing the only two customers, we will see.

On the way to Chimpanzee Sanctuary

They do call us back, the new price is $118/person, we don’t know if they found new customers or simply don’t want to miss the only two available. This is closer to the rate my travel book gives us. My friend tells him “We will think about it, call us back later”. They don’t. We decide to go down to the waterfront to do the bargaining face to face. It will turn out to be the best idea! We walk the 2 miles to the waterfront. Some young man we ask for directions takes us to the “pier” and hands us to the “manager”. We ask him if they have any customers other than us and what the price would be.

The human-occupied part of Ngamba Island, rest enjoyed by chimpanzees

He tells us there is a variety of prices depending on what we want! And starts the biggest scam-show I have seen in all my travels regarding making arrangements for a boat tour... He shows us a medium size boat and tells us we can rent this boat for $400 for the day. He is mumbling other prices for other boats. I am totally lost. We finally come to an even smaller boat, he tells us the man sitting in the boat who turns out to be Oliver from France rent edthis boat privately for $700. Wow, you never know, in whose pocket there is big  money: I could swear he is an ordinary low-end traveler if it weren't for the big camera hanging from his neck. I guess a humble rich man.

My friend, Phillip, guide on the island and Oliver from left to right

My friend asks me whether we should ask the man in the boat to permit us to get on the boat as well. Well, that is a “no, no”, in the US, I shy away from this. Why would a man who paid $700 for his private experience allow us to ruin his solitude? My friend is bolder, I am blown away with Oliver’s kindness: He says “No problem”. My friend tells him “We certainly will contribute to your expense”. Of course we will, but the “manager” and his team mate on the pier jump into the discussion and interfere “No, no, no, you will pay us the $88/person”. Apparently my friend had already brought the bargain price down to that! My first doubts about Oliver having chartered the boat for $700 are beginning to sprout right there and then, but not sure.

What peace and love...

But we don’t have cash to pay, they tell us we can pay on the island via our credit card, fine. We get on the boat, Oliver is already sitting in the middle of the central seat, the seat farthest away from any water splashing: He 's got the right to that seat, he paid big bucks! I am hesitant to say anything to Oliver since this is his private trip to which he graciously allowed us intruders. However, my friend as natural a Turk as one can be, is not that hesitant and strikes up a conversation with him. Hmmm, Oliver is not reacting as if we are intruders at all. What humility... At some point, I dare asking him if he is a professional photographer looking at his huge cameras. To my surprise, he is not, although a treasure is hanging down his neck!

Oliver in action taking a picture of the tree full of nests that the male bird weaves with great patience...

Oliver is an amateur photographer, who is passionate about birds and all animals of our planet. Wow, we are in good company! He is on this trip to document wild life, that's all. A while later, I dare ask him what he does in France apart from photography. He tells me he works in a church as a sactitian “I serve the priest” are his words. Wow, not even a priest, and he can afford renting a boat for $700... There is either something wrong with this picture or with us two doctors, who cannot afford a $700/day rental boat!

Chimpanzee sanctuary is also a bird paradise

Captain Henry is pretty competent, surfs the waves very elegantly. My friend tells me that pretty much everybody here has an English name and an African name if they are Christian. If they are Muslim, they have three names to include their Muslim name in the mixture.  Interestingly, the Muslims introduce themselves with their Muslim name, but Christians do so by their English names. Rarely somebody introduces themselves with their African name. We ask people what their African name is, though, and address them with their African name, considering they would identify themselves as African first and foremost, and it may be true since they seem to like being addressed with their African name.

One of the many islands we passed by on the was to chimpanzee island

We pass by many islands all green and lush with structures buried in the wooded land. Just before landing on Ngamba Island, we pass by one that is barren with barely a couple of trees left on it. The shore is lined with make shift tin shacks. Among them are kids running wild with an occasional woman or two. What happened to this island? We will learn soon that there was a horrible fire that burned everything down. The village is just coming back to life. Life? Even my aorta is constricting with the sight. Little do I know that it will get worse when we glide by its east side on the way back.

The barren island with its cottages, my heart sank as we passed by it and heard their story

I will learn later from Keith, the British tenant of our hostess that the population on the islands of Lake Victoria has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS on the continent. The men living on the islands have a different wife on multiple islands and transmit the virus to multiple islands during their wife-visits! I cannot understand why it is this difficult to educate African men on the importance of the use of a darn condom with every intercourse. How difficult is it to help them understand that what they do is eventually a huge risk for their own lives... Is it their misperception that this is colonialists' interference with their sex life? I can't think of anything else. Even with that, would local trainers have found a way to educate them if only tribes had stopped fighting against one another and focus on their people's well-being... 

One of the most fascinating experiences in Uganda is just starting

We are finally on the wooden pier of the island. It is a beautiful place. A tree to the west growing out of the water is a lovely perching place for black gray flock of birds. Another one to the east for white birds that we will get used to seeing all along Lake Victoria shores. Phillip is our guide on the island. When I ask him at some point to tell us how he got involved with this sanctuary, we learn that he was a teacher by education. However, as he was looking for a job, he had volunteered for the Zoo, where the chimpanzees that were rescued were initially quarantined for 3 months until they got a clean bill of health:

Birds all around on Ngamba Island

Apparently, when rescued chimpanzees are in quarantine, their volunteer caretakers live with them in the same room until they are all cleared. Thus, he fell in love with chimpanzees. When this opening to guide visitors came up, not having found a teaching job, he jumped on the opportunity and is very happy with what he is doing. On the way to the restroom, I see multiple at least two feet long lizards as Phillip mentioned that we might see. Finally we head toward the fence across which they will feed the chimpanzees. On the way to, we learn about traps used by poachers to catch chimpanzees. I can't help but think whether the same might have been used to catch slaves once upon a time.

Phillips ready to show us one od the trap mechanisms used to catch chimpanzees by the poachers

He shows us two different kinds of traps used by poachers to catch chimpanzees. Later I will learn from Andrew Graham, who was on the island making a documentary for BBC on this sanctuary and with whom we will travel back to Entebbe that 25% of chimpanzees in the wild have at least one leg amputated. Those that have both leg amputated develop arms with muscles like Hercules.  The chimpanzees gradually start emerging from the woods. One of the visitors and employees are throwing pineapple, mango, and other vegetable chunks from over the high fence.

Right around 10:30, with no invitation, chimpanzees emerge out of the woods, snack time!

The chimps are catching their share one by one. If one doesn’t get their share in a timely manner, they either grunt and scream, or the patient ones, raise their arm to let the feeder know they are ready for more. The latter is Makada, the leader of the entire pack, the status of which he earned because he is the strongest one in the group is one of those modest and patient ones. Phillip tells us they are extremely smart, being our closest relative in the wild. What he next does blows my mind away:

Makada, the leader of the pack, just raises his hand to ask for more food when the others are running around to catch more food

He shows us a prickly leaf and as he rolls the leaf into a hollow cigarette he tells us “A chimpanzee that has an intestinal worm infestation swallows this leaf. As this roll passes through their intestines the worms get hooked onto the thorns on the leaf.” Since the leaf is indigestible, as the leaf leaves their digestive system, so do the worms!!! Chimpanzees had mastered TREATING their parasitosis. Just like the non-medical medicinal people that used trial-and-error treatment modalities that have been prevalent in many cultures on all continents through history...

One of the chimps upset about not getting more food!

Phillip tells us that the sanctuary started with 19 rescued chimpanzees. They were either found in the wild trapped, or captured from “pethood” when somebody reported an incident. of such. Now they have around 40 chimps by new acquirements, but they do not want the pack to grow since they don’t have enough land and they want the chimpanzees to be returned to the wild when possible. I am impressed to hear from the veterinarian we meet that in the wild, for chimpanzees to survive, 100 hectars of land per animal is necessary! No wonder they don't want the pack to grow on an island.

The sad  part of the island is the behaviorally challenged chimps behind bars, just like human society...

The vet will tell us he was educated in Uganda, at the only veterinarian school in the country. He provides vaccines, casts fractures, implants contraceptives and replaces them every two years. The medicines used are the same as those used for humans. He tells us the animals fight occasionally and bite each other, he stitches their wounds as needed. The story about how the veterinarian becomes aware of the need for stitching is mind-boggling: The wounded chimpanzee will come to the fence and show the wound to an attendant asking for treatment! I am dumb-founded just as my friend is... We learn that four babies were delivered on the island due to implant failure when they used to replace the contraceptive implants every 3 years. The story of chimpanzee named Africa is special: She delivered a baby named Easy. The delivery occurred at night when there was no staff in attendance. Easy fell and had a fracture. Because of that she had to be removed from her mother for treatment at birth, which interfered with their bonding. Apparently, injured infants are not nurtured in the wild...

Circumferentially fenced in section where Africa and Easy, her offspring are being integrated into the pack

That is why Africa and Easy are in a separate fenced-in section adjacent to the woods being integrated with a number of influential chimpanzees including Makada, the leader. The expectation is that when they join the entire pack, the influential ones that she currently lives with will protect Easy. The final set of chimpanzees we visit are three younger ones with “behavioral problems”. These are the ones that constantly fight, bite, and cause aggression when they are with other chimpanzees. If they are so similar to us, why wouldn’t this also be similar? After all, all these animals come from trauma background, some perhaps more than others and understandably with various degrees of resiliency. Just like traumatized human beings, the chimpanzees must also be engaging in high-risk behaviors!

The expression on this behaviorally challenged, caged chimp was heart breaking: a mixture of anger, hopelessness, sadness, and who knows what else...

Before we leave, I purchase from the gift shop a set of beautiful African wooden salad serving utensils, a set of coasters made of marble, and two book marks with African women figurines on to share with my friends. No plan and who will get what for now, they will find their owners, I suspect... Phillip takes us to a tree that is full of hundreds of male black headed swivels, busy with making a nest for the eggs of their females! Such engineering: each nest has an opening that looks down. It is difficult to understand how the eggs will stand gravity. Phillip shows us a fallen nest: The nest is in the shape of a snail’s shell. Not only there is a vertical septum between the opening of the nest and the section of the nest where the eggs will be laid, but that chamber also hangs lower than the opening in horizontal plane: Ingenious! 

Black headed swivels' males are quite the engineers

We are all ready to move back to our boat. There are three people in the boat already, occupying the seat that Oliver had used on the way to the island. Oliver is right in front of us. I assume he will wait for his private charter boat to arrive. But, no. He jumps in the boat and sits some place that is not the best seat on the boat. The still trusting me is wondering if ,after having paid $700 for his trip to the island, he will make a fuss about this, but, no! My suspicions about whether Oliver had a private charter at all surface with great might! It finally downs on me that he is just one of us.  It was all a hoax to make us believe someone could rent a boat for $700, so that we would be excited about the $400 deal. I understand better now why my friend, having lived in Africa for 6 months is so frustrated with “you can’t trust anything” here…

Phillip demonstrating the engineering of the nest

There is such an interesting dynamic here regarding honesty, trust, and ethics. My friend tells me "there is none of that". Corruption and poverty are such huge tumors in almost all countries in Africa he further tells me, there are handfuls of people who thrive in riches because of corruption at the expense of devoiding their people of an economy, of infrastructure, of free public education, of health care, and other basic resources needed in any country. This macro level corruption then trickles down to the entire fabric of the society allowing it become the rule of the land and the tool to solve any and every problem including poverty. 

When tin shacks are all a whole village has, all is considered fine to survive...

The west still has its hands in this, too, even if we forget for a moment their "deeds" of the past, exploitations of this continent for centuries and befriending the worst of Africa to reach their goals consisting of money, riches, diamonds, ivory, ores, slaves, on and on… They still do. As long as monstrous rulers in Africa play along with the west, they are fine. And those leaders play along as long as they get “a bone or two” thrown at them at the mercy of the west. Nobody cares about the man on the street. My friend tells me about an African state's president telling his military “I can’t pay your salary, but all the women are yours”; no wonder rape of women is an endemic phenomenon in many war-torn African countries nowadays.

Internet is replete with news about rape culture in South Africa

On the boat, next to me is Andrew Graham, who is a retiree from BBC after a 15-year tenure as a reporter. He now has his own company and produces documentary films on environmental and habitat protection issues for BBC. His African assistant Mbiri (His English/Christian name is James) speaks Luo. He proudly announces that Luo is the language of the tribe that Obama’s father came from. Andrew comes from a family of intergenerational doctors, he is the only “black sheep” he reports smilingly. He carries all necessary paraphernalia necessary for tea and coffee and serves us all tea, what a bonus!

A typical boat that carries passengers to Ngamba Island

Henry stops the boat on top of Equator, where all GPS devices read 0 latitude! My friend checks his cell phone, right on, verified. When we get back to the waterfront, another trick is waiting for us. Somebody from this enterprise is waiting for us with a credit card machine. However, he tells us that after consulting with his boss, he has to inform us that he will charge us $118 per person instead of the agreed upon $88. My friend is visibly upset, justly so. With his firm protest, the guy backs off, we are back to $88. I can’t believe what is unfolding before our eyes...

This island on the way to Ngamba was burned down last year, now a barren field of tin shacks with a very high HIV prevalence

These people are supposed to be employees of the sanctuary, however there is no registration for documenting how many people visit the island. The prices fluctuating anywhere from $700 to $88, one wonders, how much of it goes to the entrance fees and to supporting the chimps and how much to the pockets of all these young people, the role of whom in this enterprise is all too shady... I wish there had been a way for me to learn more about each one of these young people's lives so that I could cultivate loving kindness and compassion. All I have right now is  just accepting the fact that "I don't know" where they come from and where they have been...

After traveling a whole day to see monkeys, these come across to steal our peanuts right in town...

 

ENTEBBE UGANDA 2018 - 3 - ARRIVING AT PEACE WITH SHARING AFRICA WITH OTHER FORMS OF LIFE

 I never thought a mall could be a place where I'd choose to spend a whole afternoon while visiting a new country! But that's exactly what my friend and I did. After all this visit was planned to be more a gift for my friend and I. And that's exactly what we are doing, regardless of where we spend our time. Here we are on my second day in Entebbe, having a relaxing afternoon at the Victoria Mall! Across from the mall is a set of make-shift shops where young women have on display, full of colors of all kinds, Uganda textiles. I touch them, they are of good quality, at least for a time… I know my daughter will love them. I make a plan to come back here and buy my gifts from these stores for those back home.

Stalls like this is abundant all over Africa I learn

My friend finds a short-cut down to the lake front where the restaurants are and we arrive at the water front much faster.  As we are walking along the waterfront road, a group of young African women surround us. One of them Joy, is wearing a dress with the brightest yellow I have seen and has a baby in her arms named Jason. There is a toddler Terry, and a kindergarten age kid Elvis among them. They would like to have pictures taken with me! Just like in Pakistan, I still haven’t understood what it is they get from a picture with a white haired woman… But I am here to be gifted with human connection and here is an opportunity. I take it...

Young African mothers and their offspring posing with me

One picture becomes, three, five, ten, then they ask for individual pictures with me and with us, too. We both oblige all smiles... When we say good bye to Joy, Sandra, Susan, and Caro, we are still all smiles. I can’t help but recall Pema Chodron’s “Remember, everybody you cross paths with would like to be happy just like you do.” How true, and easy to do. After walking along the beach for some time, we settle down at another restaurant, but this time at a table right on the beach. My friend decides to read the book “Alchemist” by Paulo Cuelho that I had sent to him as a Christmas gift. I would like to meditate to the melody of the waves. There is a tree trump on the beach nearby. I sit in half lotus position, take a few deep breaths, tears start rolling down my cheeks. I don’t fight back, I cradle my sadness in loving kindness. The tears wetting my cheeks are for what our generation went through in our efforts to help the most needy, I for abused and neglected children and abusive and neglectful families, my friend for victims of torture and atrocities all over the world, specifically in the context of political uprising. These are cleansing tears...

Beautiful site for meditation along Victoria Lake

My meditation is all about feelings. Instead of fighting them to focus on my breath or the waves, I start observing them along with what sensations they arise. I feel the wrinkles on my forehead as tears well up in my eyes and how they first liberate themselves from in-between my eye lids, how each one of them rolls down my cheeks creating an avenue of wetness for the others to follow, how they find their path down onto my neck, some fat ones even down my bosom… And as it always happens, when we allow what needs to come out do so and accept what is without judgement with loving kindness, the feeling is tampered, whatever it is, whatever quality it has. No more tears are coming down, sadness has been taken care of kindly as Tich Nhat Hanh recommends. Now thoughts are flooding my mind, I allow that to happen as well: Thoughts come and go about the vicarious trauma, we both have experienced on top of our personal ones, especially the cultural ones imposed on all of us through Islam, through patriarchal society, lack of democracy, lack of freedom of expression of even the most innocent thoughts and feelings as we waded through adolescence to adulthood.

Wildlife is all around us in Entebbe

Where our lives are heading, how we can we balance the good we are committed to continue doing for the world with our family lives and our loved ones’ and personal needs… What the world is going through, why there is so much malice and atrocity in the world, specifically in Africa.. What will follow our time, whether the elimination of all suffering, to the prevention of which we both have dedicated our professional lives is possible…  They all come and go into the wide open sky. Now I can feel the space. Now I am able to hear the songs of the lake, of the waves, of the birds, of the distant murmurs of fellow humans in multiple languages, of a chuckle here and there, of the breeze shuffling the leaves of the variety of trees the restaurants rest under…

Africans enjoying the lake while we are afraid to touch it because of Billharziasis risk...

Radical acceptance is the only path to joy, of anything and everything; I am becoming more and more convinced of. I salute Tara Brach for writing on radical acceptance and my daughter who introduced me to Tara Brach some 5-6 years ago. Yes, without facing the beast, there is no way to let things dissolve into our past with peace to give way to space, peace, joy, love, and happiness. I finish with loving kindness meditation for myself, for my friend, his wife, his children, and for all beings. Now I am ready to enjoy a Guinness before dinner as I am watching a brother and sister playing with the waves on the shore.

Two little kids playing with the waves of the Lake as I sip on my beer

As we set the sun, it has gotten chillier, we decide to move beyond the plastic tarps into the patio. We order clear vegetable soup again, chicken stew, and chicken pilau: spicy sautéed chicken over rice. As we wait for our dinner to arrive, we DEET ourselves up, yet, once again. My friend having lived in Africa for almost six months now recommends this for people who live in Africa for long periods or come to Africa often: Do not use antimalaria prophylaxis; apparently, if used but malaria is contracted, the symptoms are subdued and diagnosis is established much later increasing the risk of complications and prophylaxis also increases the risk of resistance to medications when treatment is necessary.

Goats share the restaurant space with visitors on Entebbe coast line

How do they protect themselves then? Day time is safe since anopheles roam the land between dusk and dawn, in the dark. Thus, wear long sleeved shirts and long pants after dark the mainstay practice. Apply concentrated DEET to exposed skin including the scalp, the face, cuffs of sleeves, hems of the pants when the "lights are out"! I tuck my pants into my socks every night. Throughout my stay there, only one night, I will hear the buzz of a mosquito, out of all places, in my room! I must have brought it in within the curls of my hair. Luckily, it doesn’t get into my mosquito net, and my friend declares that it hasn’t gotten him, either.

Habitat in Africa is most remarkable and unique

I don’t know that I can live in Africa with all this apprehension about getting sick; all the chemicals you have to leather yourself with to avert mosquitos in fear of malaria; the need to avoid this beautiful expanse of water in fear of bilharziasis; not being able to eat raw vegetables in restaurants in fear of enteritis since the level of hygiene is so poor… I’ve seen hunks of meat hanging in hot noon temperature in the window frame of a make-shift 3x4x6 feet wooden structure that serves as a curb-side store. How long has it been there? I saw our hostess keeping her rice with vegetables in a pot sitting on the kitchen counter from morning till night time without even a lid on it. Fish both on the lake front and downtown on wooden platforms with no ice beneath or around them, sitting under the sun all day long… Most of what I see is simply about education, but of course ongoing civil wars and tribal feuds consume the limited resources to such an extent there is little left for health care, education, and improvement of lives with small interventions...

Roadside store that sells everything

I am grateful that our hostess Claire stocks the refrigerator with bottled water. Keith, Claire's British long term tenant will later tell me he never drinks anything out of the bottle not knowing what the bottle head touched on the way to his hands. However, the water bottles are sealed with a plastic wrap at the head which covers the neck of the bottle that touches my mouth. I feel comfortable that drinking out of a water bottle at least, is safe. Tomorrow will be our last full day together. My friend and I are making plans on how to spend it. It seems like going to Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary is the best option: I am a bit skeptical about this with my cynicism; why are 40 some monkeys kept on an isolated island and not returned to the wild once they are treated for whatever ailments they are there for. But being on the water safely for two hours may bring sweet memories of all the boat tours I have done in the Aegean and the Mediterranean in Turkey, Greece, and Lago Atitlan in Guatemala among others… I submit, Ngamba Island is where we will go tomorrow.

Typical Entebbe neighborhood on the way to the coast

 

ENTEBBE UGANDA 2018 - 2 - AFRICA A COMPLEX LAND...

On my way to Entebbe I was reading Pema Chodron's "The places that scare you". Beautiful book inviting us all to compassion. This is what she says: "In order to understand and embrace, we need to know, where the behavior is coming from, what makes the person make the choices that they do. When somebody triggers blame and judgment in us, we need to look into ourselves, where we will usually discover vulnerability deep within that is hurting. Recognizing this, if we may offer compassion to ourselves and what is hurting, we may halt the rising blame, other-ing of the other. This elimination of the need to judge and blame and other-ing may then help us see the vulnerability in their own heart and catch the goodness in the other. Little do I know that this teaching will be tested many many times while in Uganda.

Whatever puts us off has a place within that hurts that it touches...

My friend arrives around 4 pm. It must have been more than ten years we haven't seen each other, although wee remained connected by e-mail and work related projects around human rights. Old friendships have this beauty: However long it might be that you haven't seen each other, you pick up wherever you have left off as if time and space between you have never existed. That's exactly what happens with my dear friend: We catch up over tea and walk down to the waterfront. It is a cute little bay the north side of which is lined with small, boutique hotels on the land side of the promenade, and little beach restaurants on the water side of it. Then a paucity of buildings along 1/3 of the coast, where green prevails, turns out to be the botanical garden, which I will visit on my last day here.

Notice the tip of the bay with a monstrous hotel being built right next to Botanical Garden

At the very west end of the bay is an ugly tall and wide construction, I will find out on day three will be a hotel, totally unfit for this tropical heaven, but I doubt Uganda government is much into environmental issues... Just like ours is becoming very steadfastly...The waterfront promenade we are strolling on starts with a make-shift fish market that is open every day. Women have brought tilapia, all on display in piles on a wooden platform. They are darker than the tilapia I get in the US, these come out of the lake, Lake Victoria, that is. I will learn later on from Keith, a British gentleman and a tenant of our hostess Claire that British colonialists introduced Tilapia to Lake Victoria, which killed all native fish in it!

Fish market along Lake Victoria in Entebbe

As we walk along the promenade, on the land side of the road is side-by side hotels and guesthouses, all on Airb&b. On the water side of the road are the restaurants and bars. One of those happens to have a local dance show as we walk by. I watch it for a while with delight as I also move to the rhythm, mesmerized how these young dancers can move all of their joints elegantly in all directions. We finally settle down on a restaurant by the water. My friend recommends the clear vegetable soup, I am all for it. We also order vegetable spring rolls, meat samosas, and goat skewers. They are delicious.

The lake flies that swarm to the lights on the shore once all is dark: They leave in about an hour as they came

My friend warns me about the lake flies as the locals call it in English: These are bugs as big as a wasp with wings similar to fish fins. When it gets pitch dark, they are attracted specifically to white light. To reduce the severity of the "attack" most restaurants use colored lights. Around 8:30 or so when it is really very dark, a wave of millions of lake flies hits the restaurant. The plastic barriers the waiters let down already is beat up by this wave. A wall of them fly through the breezeway. When I go to the restroom I discover the entire street being covered by them, it is impossible to not step on them, scores of them die under my feet. The restroom floor and the sink are also covered by them. In about an hour, when we leave the restaurant, they are all gone, until tomorrow.  

Paul, our hostess' son and his loyal dog in the beautiful back yard of our Air B&B colonial guesthouse

When we wake up in the morning, rather around noon, we both had sleep catch up to do; Claire, our hostess is not home I will learn later that there is a regional farmer’s market on Saturdays. Too bad, I find out about this at the end of the day and miss the opportunity to see a Uganda farmer’s market. Oh well... Just before we leave, a gentleman arrives, whose name is Keith, his accent reveals he is from UK. It turns out that he has been Claire’s tenant for the last 3 months and a good friend of the family, an Africa aficionado. I am curious about what is beyond what hits the eye about this man and what bonds him so much to Africa. He takes his leave as elegantly as you would expect from any British man to go on his daily walk.

Ali, Claire's guard and gardener trimming banana trees while Paul plays with his dogs

We need local cash, and are told we will find ATMs at the Victoria Mall on Berkeley Road. It is an easy walk, although we take the long route. My friend is constantly warning me about the motorcyclists, who use the left shoulder and are like “bullet” trains of Europe. Motorcycles are a means of public transportation here in Entebbe and I hear in all of Uganda. The bikers are mandated to wear a helmet but the passengers are not!? In this crazy traffic, my friend constantly guides us to cross streets, no traffic lights, no marked pedestrian crossing lanes… Crossing the road anywhere is legal, but it is the pedestrians’ responsibility not to get hit! On the last day, when my friend leaves, whenever I have to cross a main road, I will find a local and sail across in their shadow… It works.

Pedestrians and vehicles share the streets in Uganda, but motor vehicles rule!

My friend proposes to have coffee at Café Javas, which he has tried in his past trips to Entebbe. The mall is small. There are probably a dozen shops at the most, one being a bank. It is attached to a hotel and its restaurant. There are two ATM machines apart from the bank’s ATM. When we withdraw money from each of the ATM, I pay $3 service fee, my friend pays $9, and on the last day, I will pay nothing at the bank’s ATM!!! Land of no rules and regulations, anything goes as my friend tells me is crystallizing in my mind, too.

Café Javas at the mall in Entebbe: As white and as western as it gets...

I have a tropical dream yogurt drink with tropical fruits, it is lovely. My friend’s chocolate fudge/cake is very British style, heavy and extremely sweet, one bite for me is more than enough.

Sun is setting over Lake Victoria by the time we get back to the waterfront on day 2

We spend most of the afternoon chilling and catching up from an over 10-year hiatus in our encounters. So much has happened in our lives that brought easy joy and happiness and some we had to work hard to find joy in… There is such a cleansing effect on the soul, of sharing one’s life experiences and associated processes with a trusted friend. I feel it is all about mindfulness. When trust is there, there is no worry about how the words will be heard, how the tears or chuckles will be interpreted, and the narrative comes out. I am glad I came here, I am happy that we are in this deep sharing and give and take experience.

My friend and I posing for young women and kids from Entebbe upon their sweet request

People enjoying this western atmosphere are visiting Westerners and some upper class Africans, one can tell from their attire and attitudes, even from the way they carry their bodies. Servers are clean, respectful, and somewhat shy, all African young men and women. I will learn later on that their job is quite good in Uganda standards. As we leave the café and the mall, it is getting close to sunset. We haven’t seen much of Entebbe, but we have seen much deeper into each other, and we both feel it was time spent well.  

Who wouldn't love to meditate on this beach to the melody of the waves of Lake Victoria?

Before dinner, I meditate on the beach. I let thoughts flow through my awareness mostly ideas I heard from Tara Brach's recent pod-cast: Beliefs shape our thoughts. Our thoughts lead to feelings. Our feelings shape our behaviors. Behaviors build our character, and finally a person's character leads them to their destiny. She is losing me a bit here. I wonder where circumstances like poverty, violence the world is being bathed in, childhood adversity among other things play a role in this sequence of interactions...

If everybody could believe that we world citizens are all in this together, certainly that belief would prevent much pain on earth

On the other hand, I certainly believe what she conveys in the following statements "The beginning of love is to love those that we love to be perfectly themselves. The moment we want them to change for us to love them, we don’t love them, but we love the reflection of ourselves in them.“ What great wisdom fills this statement. I recall a time, I had come to this thinking especially in close relationships. Doing otherwise in fact is arrogance and disrespect toward others.

The male bird that weaves this nest for his female to lay eggs for the children and family they plan to build together must have such commitment to each other...

 

 

 

ENTEBBE-UGANDA 2018 - 1 - CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES ON THE WAY TO UGANDA

             Tara Brach tells us in one of her podcasts https://www.tarabrach.com/:

             “Our heart and world are as big as who we include in them. Any aversive judgment separates and confines our hearts from others. Aversive judgment causes unwise thinking, speech and suffering in both us and others. When we feel there are obstacles to our needs being met or to our sense of safety, it causes an unpleasant feeling. Even if it is a person that we love who presents what is sensed as an obstacle to our needs, our evolutionary mechanisms kick in and we judge and blame the other forgetting who this person actually is as a whole beyond this one situation. We also forget who we are: Judging and blaming contract our heart. Seeing the person as a whole, understanding and embracing them expand it."

            https://www.tarabrach.com/freedom-from-othering/ Tara beautifully presents an engaged Buddhist perspective that sheds light to why we live in a world full of injustice and war.

Little do I know that who open my heart is to others will be tested big time when I open my eyes at 3:25 am in the morning of my flight to Uganda. Good I have one more hour to sleep before I start my 45-hour long saga of connecting flights until I reach my destination, this time Entebbe, Uganda! Since I am a solo traveler, not quite suitable for tours, I never had the guts to travel to Africa out of safety concerns… One of my best childhood friends being located in South Sudan via a United Nations Mission was a good opportunity to wet my feet in Africa when he invited me to go to Lake Victoria.

Lake Victoria from Entebbe "Bay" If you forget it is a risk for Bilharziasis, it is pretty romantic.

I am tremendously excited for my upcoming trip both to see a new land and its people, but also to see my friend after a hiatus of over 10 years. With these thoughts I slip into another short nap before the clock goes off. My shuttle arrives a bit early, but that’s fine. He is a sweet man. I am surprised to see at 5 am, another passenger, a middle aged woman in the front seat. I learn later on that she is heading to Seattle to visit her sister. She is quite chatty at this hour of the morning, telling the driver her entire story.

I am determined to catch myself when my heart feels small with biases...

What is annoying (for a short period of time when my heart is small at this hour of the morning) is that she ends every single sentence with a pronounced chuckle, at times even a laughter, that is totally out of place based on what she is uttering. When I learn that she has been living on her own for 20 years as she shares this with the driver in the context of how she declined her sister’s invitation to live together, my mind shifts… My heart expands, now there is room for her in it. 20 years of living alone may empower one since one has to master everything needed for a comfortable life, but at the same time, especially, if one doesn’t have a strong supportive friendship circle, it may sprinkle layers of loneliness year after year.

There are many opportunities to feel compassion for others in our daily lives... 

Is this why, this woman rushes into her life story to connect with someone? My heart softens, I remind myself “she, too, wants to be happy; she, too, needs to be connected; she, too, has a soft, warm, vulnerable, and perhaps wise core nature” as Pema Chodron would instruct to come back to in day-to-day opportunities of mindfulness. I send her my loving kindness wishes, I admire the driver, who responds to her small talk very graciously allowing her to vent everything that is in her mind. I close my eyes, and her chat becomes a soft murmur like a cat’s… Annoyance is long gone, all there is left is softness, understanding, letting be… I go back to Pema's "Life presents us with numerous opportunities to practice mindfulness and meditation" one more time. I appreciate this one presented to me at 5 am in the morning...

Winter storm Inga with its snow, freezing rain and frigid temperatures in southern states that cancelled my flight from Cedar Rapids

I have two sets of tickets for my entire trip this time: One set is from the US to Frankfurt, Germany. The other is from Frankfurt to and from Entebbe, Uganda. Since my layover is a safe 5-6 hours, I feel comfortable with the planning. In fact, it never occurred to me something could go wrong until, at 6 am as we are getting ready to board, it is announced that the Cedar Rapids-Charlotte flight was cancelled due to weather in the south! My body reacts to the news much faster than my feelings: My hand goes to my mouth as I murmur “Oh, my gosh”. The receptionist recommends us to get in line to rebook…

It is truly possible to relax in uncertainty if we consider the worst outcome and accept it

I do as I am told, but I also notice how tense my body has gotten in a split moment. I stop and take several deep breaths. Just as my dear Bill would do, I consider the worst outcome. I may miss my flight to Uganda tomorrow and may have to purchase another one way ticket to get there the day after. That will reduce my time in Uganda and with my friend, but, better than nothing… Now I can relax, continue focusing on my breath. Muscles relax one by one, and in that space of stillness, the knowing mind whispers “would you consider calling American Airlines Customer Service?” I do, and with the calm of that brief meditation I connect with the customer representative, an African American woman, I can tell from her accent, beautifully. In ten minutes, I am transferred to a package of United flights to Frankfurt. I will get there almost exactly at the same time the American flight out of Charlotte would have… All is well. I smile and invisibly bow in gratitude to people, who have convinced me to the value of mindfulness and meditation through their teachings in writing or spoken words. I hope everybody finds themselves on this path. Life becomes much easier my friends, trust me (do I sound like Trump? at least I didn't say "Believe me!"), try it….

Embracing difficulty without disdain has its rewards... 

I exit the gate area one more time to check in. The check-in lady tells me she can’s assign an aisle seat on my connecting flight, the longer one of the two flights to Frankfurt. I submit without protest hoping her fellow in Chicago will be understanding and give me an aisle seat. However, when I get to the gate, where I find a sweet-looking man to board us, I decide to try my luck with him with no expectation, just as a dear friend of mine had suggested one time wisely. The man is indeed very sweet, it turns out he can! He moves me several rows back, who cares, once in Frankfurt, I will be in no rush; and he tells me there is nobody assigned to any of the other two seats next to mine.

Although it is difficult to believe people who are starving to death can find happiness inside, in most situations, we make ourselves more miserable than any circumstance does.

I don’t want to grasp on the fantasy of being able to lie down on a three-seat row. Guess what, the dream comes true! Although the plane to Frankfurt is pretty full, nobody claims any of the other two seats next to mine, and I sleep like a baby for at least 2-3 hours across Atlantic… Is that what the universe does as my daughter claims, when you don’t expect, you don’t grasp or crave, all falls into place? With all my delay and layover, each 6 hours, I arrive in Istanbul 29 hours after leaving my bed. I have another 3 hour layover in Istanbul. I take it easy, and walk to my gate doing walking meditation.

Sunset across Istanbul Ataturk Airport

By the time I arrive at the gate, there is a beautiful sunset, albeit interrupted by the mechanical artifacts of the airport. Still, I drink up the colors moving behind the airport and under a thick blanket of clouds covering  Istanbul.  I find a seat next to the glass wall toward the sunset to continue my meditation visually. At an airport, any meditation ends up integrating sounds into the field of awareness, inevitable… That’s when I notice that the gentleman, whose name I will find out to be Marian later on, is speaking a language that sounds like a Slavic language with the other two gentlemen that joined him since I closed my eyes.

This is where my airport friends from Slovenia are heading when I am going to be by Lake Victoria in the south

The other two have straw hats on their heads with a carnation and a twig of rosemary, attached to their hats. Marian leaves for a while only to return a little later. By that time, his friends have occupied his seat. Seeing that he now has to stand to be with his friends, I move to my left to allow them to have three seats next to one another. The one in the middle, whose name turns out to be Ivo, thanks me. I dare asking them what language they speak when there is this appropriate "space". It turns out they are from Slovenia....

Internally displaced people in Northern Uganda: Kids carrying laundry baskets

Ivo is very talkative, an animated conversation starts with their (rather Ivo’s) limited English and my non-existent Slovenian. But I am a veteran of communicating with people with no knowledge of the preferred language of either party! I recall a time when I was traveling with my ex-husband and my cousin and her husband. Within our group, I spoke English and a little Greek as well as knowing some Latin words from my medical education.

One of the many beautiful beaches in Marmaris, Turkey, where 6 young willing people became friends with no common language 40 years ago

My cousin was fluent in German and that was it. We met an Italian couple in Marmaris, a beautiful vacation destination in southwestern Turkey, who only spoke Italian! The six of us not only vacationed together with lots of lively conversations with vocabulary from Latin, German, English, Italian, and Greek, all mumbled jumbled into a soup of an unidentifiable language; but also I was able to help the Italian woman who had rheumatic fever and an exacerbation during her vacation find a doctor and get treated! It was an unforgettable connection, if only people desire to connect.

Gulu seems to be a pretty big town, however, I didn't find anything on the internet on ATEDA

Mankind did connect one more time, beautifully. Ivo, Marian and Mirko are three Catholic workmen, who have been going to ATEDA Parish in Northern Uganda. They have helped the locals build a school and now they are heading to Gulu, Uganda one more time to help renovate and expand the parochial elementary school built on the premises of the parish church. Ivo shares with me all the photos he has taken on previous trips. It is very clear that Ivo is proud of their work, and justly so. Such humanity, such humility and kindness reflected on the pictures. How can I not embrace these good human beings, and how in the world am I going to be able to harbor positive feelings toward the monster in the White House who calls countries like Uganda “shithole” countries… How low can a person get in regards to how they regard other human beings… Is he redeemable at all?

How can this man represent one of the most influential countries in the world?

And I get on my plane that will take me to Entebbe at last. I have an aisle seat all right, but my row is full and it is the last row: No comfy sleep on this leg of my chain of flights. Sitting next to me is a couple from Ireland, but originally, one is from Italy and the other from England. They are heading toward Northern Uganda to do volunteer work for a Jehovah’s Witness Parish! I swallow the question “Why do you oppose blood transfusion when somebody might desperately need it?" They will both teach bible to locals and help the church with anything else that may be needed. They work online, so their work is portable and thus, they will be able to stay in Uganda for three months! Has Christianity done more good than bad in Africa or the other way around, can't help but think silently...

A book that creatively tell us how Christianity in fact worked with slave traders in Africa way back in a historical fiction context, a must read...

The border control staff is friendly, checks all my paperwork and all is well. I observe a young man adjusting the luggage on the belt to make it easy for us to pick them up. I smile at him as I murmur “your job is not easy”, he smiles back with a beautiful smile as he responds “Thank you mama”! I will learn later from my friend that Ugandans address all women older than them as Mama just like they do in Turkey with “auntie”. And my white hair deserves being called Mama by this 20 some year old adorable man. Ismail, my driver arranged by Claire, my hostess, is right there outside the baggage claim area waiting for me with a sign in his hand with my name on it. When I wave to him, he is one big smile. As soon as we meet he grabs my luggage with a shy “Welcome to Uganda Madam” and a smile with downcast looks. Is this a multigenerational, taught reserve, imposed on them by the colonialists? By the slavery experience? He leaves me at the sidewalk, pays for his parking ticket and picks me up. I discover that they drive on the left side of the road, in Uganda. The main road out of the airport is a divided asphalt highway 2 lanes each way, traffic is light and smooth at 5:30 in the morning.

Although there are asphalt highways in Uganda, most reads are dirt roads and sometimes with sizeable holes on them.

Shortly, the road becomes a two lane regular “county” road, and finally as we pass by Victoria Mall, the main shopping center in town, it turns into red dirt road. Dirt roads are the mainstay. Claire and her on-site guard, I will l earn later, Ali are up and awake, waiting for us.

Entrance to our Colonial guesthouse, the door of which is locked at all times 

Everybody is tired, Claire graciously shows my way into my room; relief, the beds are indeed covered by a long double layer net to prevent mosquitos. After taking a shower and washing all my travel clothes, I collapse to bed around 6:30 after this 45 hour long chain of flights and airports. I will not wake up until 2:30 pm! Total sleep time goes up to 12 hours in 53 hours, not terrible. I am refreshed although a bit fuzzy… I am excited to get to know Entebbe and its people, learn how they perceive happiness, how they go about their business day to day, how they connect with their visitors and each other, whether I will be able to see the good in them in this brief period of time... I will try, that's all I can do...

Connections come find me with these beautiful African women