We woke up at 6:00 am this morning and drove to the vet school at Kamerere University, the largest university in East Africa (Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi) to met the rest of the team. The drive was a little scary. The roads are partly dirt and the paved ones have no lines. They do have some traffic lights but they are mostly for decoration and no one pays attention to them if they are on. They follow few traffic rules and think nothing of passing three abreast on what looks like a two lane road with pedestrian and motorcyclists on either side. When we got to the University, we me the other Vet, Dr. Jay and his wife Sue and his son Jay. We planned the next 4 days of outreach to distant communities in Uganda and Dr.Val Shean (an OSU graduate who has worked here 20 years with CVM) gave us a crash course in African livestock diseases.
We are splitting into 2 groups tomorrow. One will go 500 KM northwest of here and we will be going 300 KM southwest of here. Our goals in these communities are 3 fold: veterinary care, training in animal husbandry, and Christian evangelism. Of the 800 vets in Uganda I am told about 300 are Christians and interested in being involved with CVM. We will treat animals, veterinary faculty will lecture on animal husbandry, and we will meet with the people to pray, give testimonies, and preach.
The goal of the newly formed AFRISA (not specifically Christian but run by men who are all believers!) is to take veterinary training to the communities, rather than the people having to come to the university. Many are illiterate but still skilled in caring for their animals. AFRISA will offer short courses in animal husbandry such as yogurt making, leather tanning, raising better beef, milk pasteurization, and business skills in how to cooperate as a community to market their goods. AFRISA aims to exchange ideas not only teach those in the rural communities but get their input on what has historically worked for them and combine ideas to make it work in that community. They are interested in forming a more formal partnership with CVM. Sounds like a great combination to us! Dr. Kasiime will be leaving us for 1 day on our outreach to teach the first AFRISA course in a nearby community.
We also got to meet Dr. Val and Heidi's patient, a Chameleon named Trouble. They found her several weeks ago with a broken leg, two broken ribs, and an injured eye. They think she fell off a moving vehicle. She is also pregnant and they are hoping for some baby Chameleons soon!
For Lunch, we ate at the University. We ordered beef, rice, sweet potatoes and a slightly carbonated, very strong ginger drink called Stoney. Liz had had it before but Julia thought it was very potent.
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