August 2004

Dear Family and Friends,
Mothers do everything in this society. They nurture the children, prepare them for school, cook, keep the home, and plant and harvest the fields which are, for most families, the only source of food they have. Mothers carry the new babies on their back while they work in the fields. This enables the babies to easily be fed with their mother's milk throughout the day. The slighly older children, just weened, are at high risk for malnutrition. In America we laugh at the antics of the newly displaced child trying to get attention and being jealous of the new baby, but here in Uganda the displacement can have a more sinister consequence. The mother through lack of nutritional education, overwhelmed with too much to do and/or poverty, does not realize that a sweet potato or a serving of matokye (cooked green banana) is an inadequate diet for these children. There are some relatively simple ways to support these mothers and their forgotten children. One is to send out health workers into the community to identify and to watch those children at risk and to educate the mothers. The health workers could urge parents to bring children into the hospital before their child's situation becomes desparate. At the hospital the children would be fed cow's milk mixed with oil and a little sugar until healthy enough to survive at home. Another solution is to introduce new ideas such as setting aside a small portion of cooked beans to be eaten by this child as the mother hoes the garden. Counter to cultural practices we would encourage the mothers to suckle the child, giving a little comfort and nourishment and to hug the child to let it know it is still loved. A nurse from the UK who has been here for 30 years recently educated me about these issues which she has garnered from her experience.
Today I am thinking about cows and milk. I am a little intimidated by the size of cows. What about goats?(I am told they don't give enough milk.) How do we even go about getting cows for the hospital and who will take care of our bovine friends? I know that the hybrid ones are expensive and tricky to take care of with vets few and far between.Two milk cows just died at Kihihi Hospital. An alternative would be to have local farmers deliver milk but we have found this an unreliable option.
There is a knock at the door. It is August, the one who sold us the land our house is built on. He has an amazing proposal. If I will help him with some materials then he will build a shed and a pen for  two milk cows. I am amazed. All my worrying for nothing. God already had the details worked out. August will take care of the feeding, medical care, keeping the stalls clean, grazing and milking. August wants Friesen milk cows; each cow giving 10 liters of milk in the morning and 10 liters in the evening. He will bring milk to the hospital every day. The first twenty liters will be free and if we need more milk we can buy more. Questions crowded into my mind.  Why are you doing this, I ask?  August replies, I want to help the children. Thank you, I reply.  Where will you get the cows, I ask? Can you get them here in Buhoma? Our local cows don't give much milk, but the hybrid ones do, he replies.  I have to go to Kambuga.  There is a man there who raises these cows. How will you get there, I ask  By various local transport, he replies.  Then I will come back and tell you what I find out. How will you get the cows here, I ask. When I go back to pay the farmer in Kambuga I will take several boys with me who will walk back to Buhoma with the cows. How long will this take, I ask? Several days, he replies. Do the cows always give milk...or do you have to keep them pregnant?  Are you getting a bull, too, or will you just bring a bull over when you need one? I am thinking about the dangers of a three day journey with an unfamiliar, borrowed, bull....yikes. August surprises me with the news that he knows artificial insemination.
           Days go by with August popping in now and again to update me. The cows arrive the day before the American Ambassdor. I am too busy to go to August's farm to view them but I am assured the milk cows are fine.  The Ambassador and his family are treking gorillas and he is kind enough to ask how he can support us. Ambassador Kolker says that sometimes his official support and blessing is helpful with local officials and in turn encourages their support. We have planned an event on his promise, an official dedication of the new maternity and child nutrition unit, expectng 500 people to attend. The community is buzzing with excitement and activity. Individuals and schools are loaning tarps, pots and pans, plates, serving utensils, chairs, tables and benches. Instead of the grocery store, we go to a field to see what the local farmers are selling.  We reject one cow that is wobbling and can't stand straight. It takes a while to find the 2 cows, 6 goats and 12 chickens which are the main course for our menu tomorrow. The animals are delived and are now in our back yard. The Muslim butcher will not slaughter these animals until the morning because this day, Friday, is considered a holy day. This leaves a lot to be done the day of the event, but at least the meat will be fresh. I am really dreading the sound of animals being slaughtered but it seems our butcher is really good at what he does. I am very grateful for this. It is Saturday now and thirty cooks are swinging into action. There are mountains of grean bananas for cooking, irish and sweet potatoes, dark purple millet bread (like a hot playdough) and lavendar ground nut sauce. This will be a real feast. The tarps are patched together and cover a large area for shade. Many people are sitting in the shade of the porch of the Out Patient Dept. some on the cement benches and others standing behind.  The yard fills with people wanting to get a glimpse of the Ambassador. There are well over 500 people here, some estimate at least 2,000.
The speeches start with the LC1 (local counselor), the LC3, the RDC, Bishop John, the LC5 (the district Governor) and Ambassador Kolker. The Orphans School performs in costume with music especially created for this event. The Pygmies are the hit of the day and as they dance and sing many from the crowd rush in to join the joyful celebration.  One of the new participants is a pre-med. student from the University of Colorado. Tall and slender, he is already a startling contrast to the Batwa Pygmies, but as he dances, he leaps up in the air like he has springs in his calves, whirling and spinning like a top. The crowd roars with delight. What a pleasure to be here to witness this event, celebrating what we pray will be, and in fact already is, a great blessing to this area.
The next day we go over to view the cows.  August is beaming like a proud father. Stepping into one stall to have our picture taken with August and one of the cows, August informs us we are in the stall with the one who likes to fight. Now he tells us!  The cow is tossing it's head around quite a bit. We move into the stall with the other cow whose nose is running and who has very loose bowels.  This having ones picture taken with animals is not all that it is cracked up to be. I am praying for the cows good health and praise God that through other's generousity we now not only have the hospital unit, but also milk for the program.
Carol and Scott