June 25, 2002

Dear Family and Friends,
The excitement of the opening ceremonies of the dedication of the clinic and school at Kitairiro have faded and now we are involved in the daily struggle of providing health and education to the pygmies there. One of the difficulties we face is raising awareness among government officials regarding the plight of the pygmies. These officials have expressed little if any interest in these marginalizes people. This became most evident when no government official attended theb dedication ceremony or has even expressed interest in visiting the settlements. We pondered how we could stimulate interest in generating a more broad based support, particularly among people in authority, but all our efforts came to naught.
Help came in a most unexpected way. We received an email from the US ambassador to Uganda, Martin Brennan expressing an interest in visiting us. He asked if he could assist us by meeting with any government official. Our response was that we would also appreciate it if he could visit a pygmy settlement. He seemed to be delighted with the suggestion stating that his daughter who was accompanying him would be excited to see the pygmies. We encouraged him to bring his dancing shoes.
To have an ambassador visit this area was quite a momentous affair as South West Uganda has been closed by most governments to foreign travel for many years due to Congolese rebel activity and the slaughter of the tourist in the Bwindi. There had been no visit by any foreign dignitary here in anyone's memory. A visit by the US ambassador rose quite a bit of interest as one might expect. The LC-5 (equilalent to a govenor), the district commissioner, the district medical officer and lesser official were all eager to meet with the ambassador.
His arrival was greeted with much fanfare. After handshakes and a few speeches we headed out to the local pygmy settlement with all the officials in tow their fine vehicles attempting to negotiate the rutted, steep and narrow road. Upon arrival the pygmies welcomed us with drumming and dancing which the ambassador wholeheartedly participated in, proving that ambassadors can truly dance (see photo). Afterwards the pygmies eagerly showed everyone their classroom and adjacent clinic. After the mandatory photo sessions and complements by the dignitaries we departed to the accompanying beat of the African drums.
We wondered what would be the upshot of this brief visit. The results were not long in coming. The LC-5 commented that she had noticed that the spring was quite a distance from the school and agreed to donate a rainwater collection tank. The district Medical Officer mentioned that there could be another inpatient bed in the clinic and offered to donate one. He also suggested that the clinic be registered with the government so that it could receive government fun s for community outreach, he volunteered to assist in this effort.
The most important result of the ambassador's visit though was that a friendship between us had been forged and for this we were most grateful.
Love,
Scott and Carol