July 23, 2009 - Pader, a town with no electricity…but not for long

Today was the most tiring day so far. It began with a visit to the Health Centre in Mucwini near Kitgum where CPAR is providing midwives, vaccinations, and (today actually) installation of solar panels for the maternity ward.

(Above) Mat Ward Delivery Room 

(Above) Mat Ward Recovery Room

(Above) Mat Ward Stats

While walking through the facility, we thought we heard a child moaning but then we saw it was a young woman in labour. She was sitting on the floor in the back entrance. I felt sorry for her sitting there alone but I guess she was in early stages so didn’t need assistance yet.

The main reason today was so tiring was because it was extremely hot. I don’t even know what the temp was but man it was a steamer. Also, we covered a lot of distance. The projects we visited were pretty remote. Some requiring long walks in from the road.

We went to see an animal traction program (harness for oxen used in plowing). After walking 15 mins. through corn and other fields to reach it, I stood out in the field with the gang for about 10 mins. but then couldn’t take the heat and sun any longer. So, I decided to walk back to the farmer’s hut where his wife and two small children and some SHADE were.

The woman’s name was Rose and she didn’t speak English. The couple of words I’ve learned in Acholi at least allowed us to exchange names and for me to thank her for bringing me a chair to sit on. Other than that, we exchanged a lot of smiles and hung out for about half an hour. At one point I took a picture of her and the kids and showed it to her on the preview screen. She was quite happy about that and excitedly showed the kids. When I get home, I’m going to print off a copy and send it to her thru the CPAR office here. 

(Above) Rose and her children

When I learned the next stop involved another hike through fields, I opted to stay in the car, parked on the road with Henry. I’m glad I did…turns out it was 2kms. By the time the group returned to the car it was getting close to 7pm, much later than expected, and nearing sunset. Because the roads are so poor and the areas so remote it is not good to drive at night. In the event of a breakdown or tire puncture you could be stranded for some time. Luckily we made it back to Pader safe and sound with most of the journey behind us before the darkness set in. On the plus side, we witnessed a beautiful Ugandan sunset from the truck!

Back at the hotel, we enjoyed a nice dinner (chicken stew and rice) with the CPAR staff…Mike, Ema, Charles, Anthony, David, George, and Henry. They are a great bunch of guys and are making us feel so welcome here.

Pader is a very different town since we were here in 2007. If you get a moment, check the Blog Archive and read about it. During the war it was a hot spot for rebel activity and a very dangerous place to be so there were very few businesses operating in the town. Now it is booming. In fact, the hotel where we are staying is new construction. Pader doesn’t have electricity yet but will by October…the poles are up and ready for the lines. In the meantime, businesses use generators. At the hotel the generator is on from 7pm-12am. Unfortunately that means the fan will go off at that time and it is quite hot in here.

Unlike the other areas we’ve visited this week, Pader has had a bit of rain (not nearly enough but at least some). The downside, for us is that mosquitos are more plentiful here.

Postscript added the following morning:
While getting ready for bed, I noticed 3 big (including one HUGE…seriously) spiders on the wall by the window. Dwight got two of them but the huge one got away. All I can say is thank goodness we had good netting over the bed, which was of course we tucked in very tightly all around the mattress.