Tuesday, trip to Boga.

Tuesday morning 9th. A call to worship from the local mosque wakes me up. Another beautiful 80 day in Bunia. We're leaving at 8 a.m. for Boga. A 60 mile drive that will take us 4-5 hours on unpaved and rutted roads, sometimes only a trail. Breakfast of bread, peanut butter and honey, an omelette and bananas. mmm.
John Zaba, (left) archdeacon of the diocese, arrives to make the journey with Mugisa and me. We take the road to Kasenyi and turn off towards Gety, about halfway there.
We slow down through the villages and the children run towards the Land Cruiser yelling "Byeee! Byeee!" with big smiles on their faces. THe kids are the best! As with the adults, all you have to say is "Jambo!" or "Habari!" and instant smiles appear! Some folks have never seen white people before.
In Gety last night a man was beaten by the militias and is now in hospital. The UN and Congo forces are present. Someone suggested that they cause more problems than they solve. There's a brand-new camp of MONUC near Bukiringi. At the parish there, people came out singing and waving palms -- many more children than women. I love catching the eyes of the girls and watching them giggle. (Sorry about the pics, will wait to download more)
Visited the school and the infirmary there. They said that if you go there, you can catch whatever the others have.
The Mothers' Union erected a solid building on top of the hill... and soldiers took it over. The
building was the infirmary, with separate rooms for TB, malaria patients. No longer. Its not like you can serve an eviction notice on the soldiers...We didn't actually see them.
Visited the infirmary and L & D which looked better than in 2008.
We had a good lunch, rice, beans and cooked plantains. A friend told me what I could eat and what to stay away from. Did I mention it is very very very HOT?
Arrive Boga mid-afternoon. Isingoma and Mugisa's house is big and beautiful, w/ a big porch that looks over the valley at the Rwenzori Mountains... in Uganda. I begin to hear the tribal history between Lendu and Hema. It's cooler now. TBTG.
Q of the day: What's the best thing you can find in your bedroom on an overnight? Your very own, brand-new, never-used, made-in-China roll of toilet paper.
btw, MSF (Medecins Sans Frontiers) are very present here. A BIG ray of hope.
Boga visit to be continued...