Sean Kingston

Of all the things I expected to do in Kampala, going to a concert for a US-based artist that I was never particularly excited about was not one of them.  However, US hip hop is really big here, so whenever any of the stars (or mini-stars) comes into town, it's quite an event.  R. Kelly was here a couple years ago, Wyclef came at some point, and this year it was Sean Kingston.  My whole office and essentially everyone I have met in Kampala was going, so I figured I had to be there.  Despite it being an objectively pretty crappy concert (SK came with no band, performed about 5 songs, and at one point threatened to get off the stage because people were throwing cups at him... and all this was broken up by on-stage advertisements), we all managed to have a great time and it was fun to see so many of the people I have run into at work events, social occasions, dinners, etc. all in one place.  I was advised before the concert to not bring anything that I didn't want pick-pocketed, so I don't have any photos of my own, but here are a couple (and a somewhat hilarious article) from the newspaper.

  

Karibu Zanzibar

I think that means Welcome to Zanzibar in Swahili, though I speak about 7 words of Swahili so that could easily be wrong.  I went to Zanzibar for a lovely 4-day weekend this last weekend to see my friend Caroline Merin from Credit Suisse.  Caroline was on a 2-week trip in Tanzania with her brother David - they climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro (sounded really painful), went on a safari, and then met me in Zanzibar.  We spent a day in the main city, Stone Town, and then headed to the beautiful quiet beach of Pongwe, and then up to the "fun" beach, Kendwa.  On our last day in Zanzibar, tragedy struck the island when a massively overfull ferry capsized between the two islands of Zanzibar and at least 200 people drowned (article).  We saw a scene of chaos on the beach as rescue boats were coming in - hundreds of people were trying to find out who was coming off the boats and what had happened to their friends and neighbors.  There was a definite melancholy feel on the island and it was hard to see people struggling with such a senseless tragedy.  Despite that sadness, it was a really nice mini-vacation and it was great to see Caroline and to see such an incredibly beautiful place.  Now for the pictures -
From our first night in Stone Town -- the incredible seafood at the night market in Forodhani Gardens and me and Caroline at a beach restaurant

More in Stone Town - the view from the roof of our hotel

 Women walking in the labyrinth of old Stone Town

 The main market

 A beautiful memorial at the old slave market - now an Anglican church

 Me and Caroline on the beach in stone town

 In front of The Dispensary, a cool building from the British colonial era

And from the beach....
A warm welcome for the Spanish version of myself on our adorable little beach bungalow in Pongwe

 Me, David, and Caroline on the beach in Kendwa

 Me and Caroline in Nungwi, next to Kendwa.  Beautiful water, amazing cliffs, and loads and loads of Italian tourists.... I felt a bit like I was in Sicily again

Scene of chaos on the beach in Nungwi as rescue boats came in with people from the capsized ship.  People were trying to get news and see who was coming out on stretchers and who was okay. 

 Sailboat in Kendwa

The saddest part of the week

About once a week or so, I go to the Baylor pediatric HIV/AIDS center for a meeting of some kind.  It's a beautiful facility (pictured below) - far and away the nicest health center I've been to in Uganda.  Even so, every time I walk in and see a hundred or so kids waiting for care, I want to cry.  All of them are HIV-positive and their entire life will be affected by this. Even though they are in one of the best facilities on the continent for receiving the care they need, they are going to face a lifetime of challenges, and they represent only a tiny portion of the HIV+ children in the city and in the country.  It's a good reminder of why I wanted to work in health here - to contribute in some very tiny way to preventing children from becoming infected and to making care better for people who are. 

Okay, that's enough sap for a while....

"Sustainability" in aid

One of the buzzwords one hears very frequently when working in development is the idea of "sustainability."  It's been pretty interesting being here seeing just what that means on the ground.  I have heard over and over again in conversations with health care workers "Oh yes, this organization (some large US public or private aid org) came in and helped us run this program (usually something very good and important - like counseling, follow up, laboratory testing, data management), but then they left and we didn't have the money (always) or expertise (sometimes) to run it anymore." I think there is a vague idea in a lot of organizations that if you start a good program and get it on its feet, it will keep running by itself.  The sad fact is that money is so tight in the health sector, when you take funding away from programs, they die.  Sometimes they continue for a while, but usually only by exploiting volunteers. 

One health center we visited had a volunteer counselor who did all counseling for HIV+ patients and received $25/month while the center was supported by aid.  Now that the aid partner is gone and she is not receiving money, she has continued to come on time every day the clinic is open for six months.  Most stipended volunteers are not able or willing to do the same. 

The amount of money that has gone into starting programs that can't possibly last after the money leaves is staggering and sad.  I think the two models of aid I most admire given this state of affairs are 1) Stay (ie PIH- once they open up shop in an area, they are committed to it) and 2) Work with an organization that will be there forever (ie CHAI working with the Ministries of Health of the countries we work in).  Even with these models, it's important to make sure the plans and programs we undertake are not ones that the running organization (PIH or MoH) will have to give up - we have to think about how to make something a permanent fixture in the health system, rather than one that does good for a few months or years and then just leaves disappointment behind. 

Because I think every post should have a photo, here is the cow hanging out outside my office....

Goat Races

Yesterday was the day of the annual "Royal Ascot Goat Races" in Kampala.  I had never had a desire to go to a goat race before, but one of my co-workers was organizing buses to the races (we were a group of ~30 people) and said it was quite the event, so I decided to go and brought along some of the Global Health Corps folks. One would think a goat-race would be a low-key affair, but this was quite a big deal with corporate sponsorships, a flying display, fireworks, and tons of food and drink.  Part of the event was the costume contest - you'll see a couple dressed in "My Fair Lady" attire below. 

One thing to note:  goats are terrible racers.  In one race I watched, the winning goat turned around and ran in the wrong direction twice during the race.  The "racing" required a lot of prodding from the trainers, and they actually followed the goats with a pusher so that they wouldn't run too far in the wrong direction. 

All in, it was a fun and very amusing day by the water with lots of great people.