Of Ebola and HIV/AIDS

Drs. Matthew, Lucille, and Piero

Gulu has a famous hospital called St. Mary's Hospital Lacor (pronounced as Lachor). The mural in the driveway shows 3 doctors and the inscription was so touching.  Doctors Lucille Teasdale-Corti (a Canadian) and her husband Piero Corti (an Italian) were the first surgeons at the hospital in 1961.  Dr. Lucille later died in 1996 of the AIDS she had contracted from a patient while performing surgery.  Dr. Piero stayed on until he died in 2003, I think.  Dr. Matthew Lukwiya, a Ugandan, was instrumental in containing the year 2000 outbreak of Ebola, and later dying from the disease itself.

Kitchen area for patients and watchers

Dr. Lucille's memory is immortalized by naming after her one of the better and named streets in Gulu.  Such stories made up the heroes of my childhood.  Back then, I wanted to become a doctor until I learned that it took

Laundry area

a lot of money and many years before becoming one.  The hospital was founded by Comboni missionaries and is now run by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gulu.  It is a bit out of town but it is the hospital where the masses go.

Overflowing with patients

Christmas in the wilderness

Imagine:  Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer

I had always associated Christmas with lavish decorations, beautifully wrapped gifts, Christmas carols, abundant food, parties with friends and family.  Last Christmas 2011, none of those was

Our safari vehicle   

forthcoming for me so I decided to numb my longings by going to the Murchison Falls National Park - Uganda's biggest NP.  I joined a game drive around the park and my biggest thrill was seeing a family of giraffes.  In the boat cruise along the River

Photo ops with hippos

Nile, the trees and reeds looked decorated with birds of different colors and restless baboons.  Christmas eve at the camp site was

Christmas eve in the wild

illuminated by a campfire and we spent the early evening watching the warthogs.  I slept in a spacious

Co-existence 

tent that I securely zipped, lest the baboons come marching in.  December 25, we walked as close as we could get to

My tent at the camp site

the majestic falls and we finished at midday.  I still felt the joyless Christmas day so I traveled 6 hours on the road to reach Kampala - hoping to merrily end the day.  Now I know why overseas Filipinos go the great lengths to be home for the holidays.

I will be home next Christmas.

Imagine:  The star atop the Christmas tree

Intoxicating drunkeness

Waragi (local gin), 40% alcohol proof

It is quite an experience to have occasional encounters with drunks.  I was told that alcoholism has been a problem in Gulu.  It is not that it is a new occurrence.  It is simply because some of those who lived in the camps had taken on the habit as a past time and continued with it after they left the camps. When I was first exposed to the peculiar smell one bright sunny morning in the office, I thought it was a masculine brand of cologne, until I noticed that those splashing that cologne had the same dreamy gaze, reluctant smile and bloodshot eyes. 

Even with pineapple, it still burns

A few come to work in disheveled appearance and their trick is to continuously chew gum to camouflage the stench.  One drunk sat beside me in church and he came too close for comfort.  Another one accosted me on the road and I ran as fast as an impala.  Sometimes there is no distinction between a drunk and an insane person, as the drunk can be temporarily insane.

Gin on sachet

The manufacturers and retailers ride on this addiction by selling the popular gin in sachets (or saket, as the locals pronounce it).  At 600 Ugx or USD 25 cents, the gin becomes very affordable and the addiction thrives.

My Mama-sans

Mama-san #5 in her kitchen

What to eat for lunch during workdays is unexciting.  At first, there were 5 eateries that I alternately patronized, but the 1st one I

Mama-san #4

Outdoor kitchen #4

 

Kitchen  #4

canceled out because the new girl they hired always bills me for soda that I don't order.  The 2nd one, was the cleanest because it was attached to a hospital but the food was awful.  When the two nice servers left the place, I also stopped going.  The 3rd one, serves good fresh fish but I go there only once a week because it is a bit pricey at USD2 for a meal without soda.

Jerry jugs welcome you to #5

Eatery No. 4 serves the best beef stew among them, and with rice.  Her dining tables though have a good view of a public toilet and her main menu is just beef.  Eatery No. 5 is called

Mama-san #5

California Hotel.  The main menu is smoked fish or beef.  No rice, so I learned to eat sweet potatoes instead.  No. 5 is frequented by blue-collared workers and despite my endorsements, my white-collared colleagues decline to try it.

I love the ambiance of this Stone Age setting of #5

These 2 eateries are holes-in-wall and I remember fondly how I and my colleagues from Citibank Juan Luna branch would trek to such places in Chinatown many decades ago.  

Again it's going back.... deja vu.