Nansio. Ukewere Island Tanzania.

The Island of Ukewere is situated in the middle of lake Victoria and is a ferry boat ride of about 31/2 hours north of Mwanza. The ferry boats leave Mwanza harbour and carry everything that goes to or comes from the island the Island. The island does have an airstrip but I spoke to the Kenyan who looks after it and no planes have landed there in a few years. While we were coming in on the ferry there was much excitement because a small float plane had crashed upon an attempted landing at Nansio harbour. No-one was seriously hurt but a it took a few days to salvage and some very sheepish Mzungus were loading it onto a boat to take back to Mwanza. They even duct tapped over the name on the side of the plane when they saw me taking photos!
The fact that is an island gives Ukewere a very special feeling. A safety that because it has geographical boundaries and that everyone knows everyone else's business, that nothing major criminal would happen to us. The same isolation that also made it impossible to get any health care that was not already on the island.
When we arrived everybody knew who we were. I know lots of individual white people had been there but I am not sure if they had seen such a bunch of Mzungus before. Most of all the children were absolutely fascinated by us and they were so happy and full of life that immediately I fell in love with the place. The level of poverty in these children was very apparent and many of them wore torn clothing and had no shoes. However children took care of younger siblings and it wasn't at all uncommon to see girls of 4 or 5 years of age with a baby in a cloth strapped to their back. Most of the children loved to have their pictures taken so that they could see themselves on the camera. This was always followed by a near riot of laughing and shouting.

The bishop and Bugando.

Mwanza is the second Largest city in Tanzania. It doesn't feel it. It doesn't have that urban feeling that dar has or even the slight agressiveness that surrounds you in arusha. The buildings on all the granite cliffs alow the shanty town shacks to blend in with the topography. There are some larger buildings including Bugando Medical Center (BMC) it is on the side of a hill, is nine stories and looks out over mwanza harbour. It is an ugly concrete building and we visited it on the first day with the bishop. Mange Manyama ( a Phd student working at U of C from bugando) had given me an email of introduction to a professor Magori there. O course he was away from Mwanza while I was there. This is only important because next time I come I want to offer my services to do some teaching . Bugando was to become a little bit of a thorn in my side when at Nansio because of the difficulties of getting any referals to them.
The bishop is physically not a big man but almost everything on ukewere circulate around him.
The bishop picked up Warren ( a pharmacist)and me from the airport. We arrived from different directions -me from Dar es salaam and Warren from Nairobi though ironically we both travelled through heathrow on British airways at the same time. We arrived the day before the large contingent from Canada and the bishop put us to political use right away. The first trip was to a convent to meet with the bishop's sister for a medical consult. Which reminds me I must get some support stockings for her. We visited Bugando and also the bottling plant where he made sure we had a supply of bottled water for the whole of the caravan. we then went to mds supplier of the medications for the caravan. This is where I saw Warren in action for the first time. A truly amazing sight. Excessively pharmaceutical anal retentive behaviour. We met up there with Rainer Tan the on the ground coordinator/Cida intern. Warren made sure we had all the drugs and Rainer made sure everything was paid for and loaded on a truck. Pity that, because we weren't leaving on the ferry until the next day and mds was not open on the Saturday and that nothing would be safe on the truck overnight, we had to unload the truck into a local dawa (pharmacy) for overnight storage and reload in the morning! I know that is a long run on sentence but it was a long African run on behaviour. That night Rainer, Warren and I stayed at a very seedy place called the geiter lodge. (12,000 shillings a night--about $9).

Jan 09 Mission arrival

Since I had no Internet for most of my time in Africa I have decided to write a retrospective diary from notes and memories jogged by my photographs.

Arriving in Mwanza alone by plane was eventful. As I landed the heavens opened up to a great African rain. It happened there about once a day at different times of day and caused everything to be put on hold for about 1/2 an hour and just as they come they are over in no time. I waited about 1 hour for warren's plane (Warren is a pharmacist from Nova Scotia on his 8th or 9th mission.) Then we were met by the Bishop. He deserves his own blog entry. Mwanza airfield is amongst paddy fields that are populated by egrets and those ugly looking Maribou storks. The road into town has deep gutters on either side so that the torrential rain flows off. The road is full of commerce. Bikes, carts and anything that moves being taken along for trade. Lots being carried on the head. No wonder the commonest complaint is Neck and back pain.

Mwanza is called the city of rocks because of the amazing granite formations. The metamorphic rock has been stripped of any sedimentary rock around and has left huge sculptures rather like Henry Moore's. They dominate the scenery around the harbour and all the slopes around the town. Large number of water birds and birds of prey circulate in the hot air coming from the sun on these rocks. The power of the updraughts is incredible. winds can pick up very quickly and oh that Dust. Not the same red dust as Kilema but eye irritating and with a taste that is hard to forget. It is still on many of the things I brought back.