From Fort Portal: Earthquakes, sunsets, dogs, baby ducks and goats..

As I was laying in bed one night last week, I awoke by a sort of rumbling... it was only for a few seconds, so I remember in my sleepiness that I thought it was either a big truck rumbling down the road, or a small tremor/earthquake. They are not uncommon here as Uganda lies within the borders of the African Plate and there are areas of volcanics nearby. I didn't think much about it, as I had felt a few the last time I was here. And the next day when someone asked me if I had felt a small tremor in the night, so realized it must have been real one. An interesting aspect of this amazing land.

I also saw a beautiful sunset the other night, behind the mountains. I think the rainy season is coming to an end, because we've had less and less rain lately, and hotter, sunny days with clear skies. Usually in the evening, the clouds are too thick to see the sun set behind the mountains, but this night there were some beautiful colours.

Sometimes at night I have trouble sleeping because the dogs in the yard are whining and barking. The people that own the guest house where I stay, have these two dogs as guard dogs. But the poor things are locked in a shed all day and night for days on end. Sometimes they let them out, but they've never been trained, and are quite "wild" when they are out. I kept asking the boys at the house if they could let the dogs out so that they could run around and get some exercise, and then maybe they wouldn't bark so loudly at night. So after a few days, they did let the dogs out and I found them roaming around the yard in the morning. They had broken through the fence that keeps the animal section of the yard blocked from the regular yard. They have some chickens and ducks they keep as well. So they were roaming free, and looked quite intimidating at first, but they wagged their tail at me and I immediately won a place in their hearts when I went inside and brought them a few slices of old bread to eat. They gobbled them up immediately and then every time I walked outside they came running up to me thinking I had more for them... But once they had been corralled back into their shed, I found out that there had been a "problem" with the dogs and one of the hens and one of the ducks (eaten!)... so as you can imagine, the dogs haven't been let out for quite some time now. Generally, Uganda and probably most of Africa is not a place for those who love dogs - they are typically starving and pitifully roaming about. Rabies is a huge problem too. Carol told me that when she was in hospital for a few days due to her bad back, she was in a room where a young boy was dying of rabies, and for those of you who aren't aware, it is typically a horrible sight. She said that even the nurses were afraid of him, and he would convulse and no one would tend to him. So she would limp over to his bed and try to sit on him to hold him from falling off the bed. A few days later he died - rabies is always fatal if not treated immediately - and he likely did not seek treatment quickly after the bite (as sometimes it can be prevented if Rabies Immune Globulin and rabies vaccine is given immediately). He was bitten by a dog. So most people fear dogs, and their sole purpose is to either guard homes or eat garbage.

But to balance the distress I feel from the dog's circumstances, I do enjoy seeing the chickens, ducks and goats. They are usually quite content and well fed, as the fatter they are, the better! And the more meat they will offer hungry mouths!

One of the ducks in the yard had babies, and the three little ducklings waddle around the yard. They are too cute!

The other day I went with David to deliver some school supplies to a family in the village that they help support. At this small home, a grandmother and her blind son care for 23 children. The grandmother had 13 children, and 10 have passed away from HIV/AIDS. She cares for their children and before they received support, they were struggling to survive. Now the children are in school and there are three of them are at the top of their class. They helped fix the house, provide proper beds (they sleep in triple decker bunk beds), and they have enough food now. The also got help to purchase goats they are now raising and they grow some food in their yard. Some donors from the US sent the kids some small toys and things, so we delivered those as well. David had to show them what play-dough was and that they shouldn't eat it! The kids were thrilled with a new soccer ball. Carol sometimes feels frustrated when people want to send toys, because these kids really need help with school fees and supplies, and they can buy good clothes and shoes for them in town as well as farming equipment. So she wanted David and I to take some photos of the kids to show how their shoes wear out quickly and that just small donations of money can buy new shoes and new farming necessities like hoes and seeds. The kids loved modeling for this!

David showing the kids what play-dough is...