Sunday August 9: Church and Community Walk

Today was a very exciting day! We started out by attending a Protestant Church service on Sunday. It was quite the experience, there was a baptism and then the main prayers. What was a practically empty room with bare walls and a dirt floor any other day of the week, was a joyful and energy filled hall on Sundays. People were dressed up in what ever western style dresses they could find along with the children. Many of the prayers began with a traditional African call and response, but once everybody responded the women rushed to the front to dance! They also collected money donations where they would march in from the back of the hall and once they payed their dues they all danced together up front. This church was also unique because if a member could not pay cash, they brought something from their home (sugar cane, a rooster, potatoes, a jack fruit, nuts, etc) and at the end of the service they auctioned them off. It was very exciting, Hillary and Sam got up and danced, but the rest of us just danced in our seats!

We had our pizza pie Uganda style for lunch at the Silverback Gorilla Camp while the service continued. Kakandy drove us to where the Community Walk began. Our first stop was at a woman's craft shop where she showed us how to make baskets and what they used. As we were walking toward the Traditional healer, Daniel explained to us about how to pick tea leaves and the process and how to know when coffee seeds are ready. Then the healer explained most of his plants and how to prepare them to help people with their ailments. If his method does not work he sends them to the hospital.

There were big drums over 3 rocks and heat that was distilling banana juice into banana gin (40% alcohol). We also learned the process of how to make banana juice and banana wine and had a tasting. After that we visited the Pygmy community where they showed us some dances, songs and sold some crafts.

Steve gave us a very informative tour of the hospital that is near where we are staying. Most of the children that come there are treated for malnutrition so they teach them how to grow green vegetables like beans and to cook with it using the leaves. There is a kitchen area for the people staying there visiting so that they can cook their own food (no cafeteria). It is not a full hospital but they do treat for HIV/AIDs Maternity which has their own building, Malaria, teach about Family Planning, etc ... They do about 3 Caesarians a week. Those women would have died otherwise. In July they had 100 births at the hospital per month, which was their goal. In the past there were 30 births per month at the hospital. Most women are too far away to make it to the hospital so they have a building for expectant women to wait. The hospital services 41,000 people.