May 7, 2005

Dear Friends, 
 
I have so little time to write! Ken keeps us busy from early to late and we're all tired after dinner and ready for bed. I'm going to kee our safari to Murchison Falls very brief. For people thinking of coming to Africa, Murchison Falls National Park is a *must*. The Nile River passes thru it. From 1898 to 1920 there was a Sleeping Sickness epidemic there caused by the TseTse fly, so all the people moved away. In the '30s the whole place was sprayed with DDT so the Sickness disappeared. There was a pristine place with all the animals and beauty, so they made a park. The cruise up the river to Murchison Falls is the highlight of our trip. We had very nice accommodation. "We" is Christine, Chuck, Adelitus, Jimmy (our driver) and me. We went on an animal drive on a safari vehicle and cruised the Nilkes and saw crocs and hippos and many many birds and butterflies. The next day we drove to the top of the Falls and walked to see Uhuru Falls created during the El Nino of 1992 when the flow was too great for the regular falls. 
 
I'd rather write about our time here in Lira. We've had success on a more limited scale. Ken had expected 4,000 bricks to be ready when we arrived and we had none. It took a week to get a batch ready. Hence our trip to Murchison so early. Dennis the brick maker fired the bricks on Monday and they were so hot (over 1000 degrees!) it took three days to cool to where we could take them out. In the mean time, we've been busy in the camps. We've taken seven babies to the hospital so far. Adelitus has been most valuable in assessing the sick people and getting them treatment. We've learned that the government hospital is to be avoided and the PAG (Pentecostal Assemblies of God) hospital requires a $2.50 admission fee that is waived if the Camp Leader writes a letter. We still have to pay for medicine. A course of Cipro costs $2.00! Drugs are cheap and we don't need no stinkin' prescription! Just ask for whatever you want. We have now a child with cataract, a 78 year old woman getting an operation (she just needs transportation) a baby with sexually transmitted diseases, a case of hemorrhoids, and the run of the mill Malaria and parasites. All this seemingly simple stuff takes a long time. 
 
We took the kiln apart Friday and I was disappointed that only a third of the bricks didn't crack. But we got about 400 good bricks. We've been analyzing the process and have made these recommendations. Change the proportion of rice hulls and clay from 20 to 110 to 17 to ten. Find some better clay to mix in, make sure the clay is put in the mold all at once, eliminate the little ledge Ken had for the front most bricks (any angle causes stress when drying), let the bricks dry more, stack the bricks in the kiln more carefully (their own weight may have caused some to bend and crack), and fire them at a lower temperature. The next batch will have the same ingredients, and next week's will have the new improved ingredients. 
 
Anyway, we received another truckload of rice hulls and left some in the truck so that we could load our good bricks without cracking them. We carted them off to Erute camp and unloaded then into an unused hut. Ken was off doing other things, but Mathew was there and he put together one stove. Ken's method is to included *everyone* in the process and explain *everything,* but Mathew just put the stove together. Everyone there got the idea immediately and suddenly the rest of us -- Christine, Chuck, Adelitus, Jimmy -- we supervising the construction. We taught people how to use the brick saws and how to cut the wire with pliers. It was organized chaos! Two hours later we had 42 stoves built. Ken arrived close to the end and was pleased. Ken and I went to the market place in the camp where the women sells food and other small things. We bought posho (corn meal flour), dried peas, salt, seasoning and oil for less than a US$1.00 -- enough to feed about 6 people. Ken asked a woman on crutches if we could make dinner for her at her house. So we carried a stove to her hut and Ken went into "Ken Mode," explaining all about the stove. The firewood we'd bought was wet, though, and it took some time to get the fire going well. but it was a successful demonstration and we went home. 
 
Yesterday, we visited the Racheli Center (Rachel Center) run by a Belgian woman. They receive children rescued from the rebels. I will not tell you here the atrocities put upon these young children. Many are taken when they are too young to have had any values training, so what they learned in the rebel camps is normal. So they don't know how to behave differently. The staff there is very well trained and gives the children a safe place with a routine, group and individual counseling, regular chores, classes, singing, acting. They will draw pictures of what happened to them and then they talk about their experiences. Their communities are likely not to accept them back, so the staff also works in the communities to they know what to expect. 
 
Right across the street from the center, we've started a second brick yard. They should start making bricks on Monday and have a batch ready in about a week. Time is Passing.... 
 
I'm going to church with Chuck tomorrow at the All Nations Christian Care church. Chuck went last week and says it is very much like the Southern Baptist church he attended as a child -- but with an African flavor, of course. We're going to concentrate on teaching the people how to use the stoves. Many have fallen into disrepair in the weather since Ken was here last October. We've mad a couple of design changes, but with time running out, we've made strategic changes to our plan. For the stoves to be useful the women have to have a pan and a ponga (machete). And it appears necessary to cover the stoves to protect them from the rain. So, our new goal is 5,000 stoves with a ponga, pot and cover for each. The cost per stoves is presently well under $1.00. A ponga is about a buck and a large pot upside down can double as a cover. 
 
We are exploring the possibility of keeping the project going for a time after we leave. There are a few well qualified people around. JK is in the Boke camp. He was a mid-level civil servant and a bee keeper (something we have in common!), well educated and a good organizer. His wife, Evaster is a midwife and very bright. Mary attended Ken's stove session last October in Jinga and is motivated to make the stoves a success in the camps, teaching the people their value and how to use and care for them. Here we are surrounded by many bright motivated people. There are no tourists here, but there are lots (!) of white people -- all with NGOs. In Tanzania, most white people are tourists and seen as money sources. Here white people are all working to help, and the people really appreciate it. There are beggars, but they're not the very pushy type. 
 
One of the fun things we geet to do is to take Boda Boda rides. The bicycles have large broad seats on the reat. It's about 40 cents for a ride from the hotel to downtown. Quiet and peaceful. Bicycles are ubiquitous and you have to watch carefully when crossing the street. They drive on the left, so I always look the wrong way. I've learned to look *both* ways. 
 
Gotta go. I'm running out of time. 
 
Love to you all. 
 
Peter