Netcorp IT in Bwindi, Uganda

Laissez-Faire?

2008-10-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

All things must eventually come to an end. Sometimes its in the person's control, and sometimes its out of the individuals hand. As I enter my 11th month in Bwindi and the hardships and challenges continue to mount. Sure, I've certainly made some enemies during my time in Bwindi, some more imaginery than others, but as I close in the annual aniversary, I being to think what else I can do with my life. All my life people have always told me I am smart, determined, and with great potential to do whatever I want in my life. Basically people say I can achieve great things. And yet, I have never really see that in myself. Call a lack of self-confidence or lack of guidance, but as much as I am preceived to be someone to others around me, which I don't see in myself.

I guess I am afraid to take on more responsibility, afraid of how if I was given more power and authority can change me, afraid of failure, and perhaps with an aged old philosophy of isolation and non interference. Yes, before my 20th birthday, I pretty much lived a careful life, no major risk, no social life, no wordly view, and adopted an ideaology of disengagment from much of my surroundings. I had a hard time forming my own opinions or making my own decisions. I was a prisoner in my own mind.

But after the 20th, I decided to venture out..to become the opposite of what I was. I reasoned that to stand idly by and do nothing when good can be done, when difference can be made, was being guilty of complacency. I guess I had come tothe realization that there is more to life. Perhaps it was the realization "that life is worth living" as one Lisa Simpson once said.

Nevertheless, in the past weeks, I have become more diluted and being to question my role in the greater scheme of things. Nevermind work, I never really felt that had much impact here in Bwindi anyways, and for me it would be stupid to think otherwise. I neither possess the impartiality nor audacity to evaluate my own work or life. For that I leave to others. But then this contradicts my "I don't give a &*^(*^ to what others think attitude." I guess I can't have it both ways. To interfere with the lives of others is to care for them. The opposite of love isn't hatred....as I once read, the opposite of love is indifference.

Gorillas and Porn and Big Bro.

2008-09-11T02:07:00.000-07:00

I would like to thank the American folks who so generously and liberately donated to us the very expensive gorilla trekking permits which allow myself and my friends (the four of us) to trek endangered mountain gorilla species in the world famous national park in Bwindi. As any here can atest to, a gorilla permit to go trek starts at around 500$USD for foreigners. I had only wish you folks were abled to come visit and tour our Bwindi Community Hospital and see a true success story in healthcare in Uganda and Africa.

And here is where the gloves come off. Someone out there, supposely with a Harvard PhD, is going around and spreading rumours about our hospital saying as this is an African Hospital in the jungle (which it is), you should stay away at all cost. TB, HIV, MVP are all spread with you touching a doorknob or shaking hands with the infected....Oh but that is total garbage. Not true at all. Or at such as minicues chance that a single visit or two poses no risk. Hell I ve been here at the hospital in Uganda for 10 months and involve in some dubious practices and I m healthy...further more, English pair been here for +2 years and still kicking.

Gorillas and development. The tourists here are wealthy, rich to the filthy rich x 10 and hence loads of money comes to Bwindi. Some money, like that that goes to BCH is well spent, yet others simply go ..well........Lets just say the world is not perfect, neither is Bwindi.

Thing with Gorillas is that they are not unlike humans....I mean, tell it to the same American folks who gave my friends and I free pass. Didn't know that gorillas like giving face to each other. Humans lose face all the time...just that we seldom do it in front of a crowd. I wouldn't be surprise if that video and picture were posted on Youtube.

Speaking of Youtube....it is not blocked in Uganda...but more so blocked at our hospital. After months of trying I have finally created a proxy server...a computer device that can censor and block and monitor internet traffic. It is so cool, the main device that I abhor the most...something I censors the populous and yet I ve created the first one here in Bwindi and for this hospital. Even as I type this, my activites are being monitored....this site, the ads. Yes I am Big Brother and No there is no gorilla porn on this site. But please ..... does it really turn you on when you see gorillas sucking face.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

2008-08-25T01:43:00.000-07:00

zzzzz dzzn it...somezzz is editting and deleting all my outspoken rants and crazy comments about the nurses here have zzzzzz who are more than willing to zzzzzz but no..I can't say anything to the outside world about this zzzzzzzzzz. [Deleted by Right to Censor].

zzzzz you [Deleted by Right to Censor] ....this was the same cult group of WWF (now WWE) wrestlers who goes around censoring the zzzzz that is spoken in zzzz matches...so you don't beable to seee a hot zzzzz mud wrestling with another zzzzzz....wearing only zzzzzz ...ahhh I can't believe zzzzzz.

This blog was editted by [Deleted by Right to Censor].

man, machine and pineapple upside down cake

2008-08-24T06:18:00.000-07:00

If you spend the next 25 years of your life trying to figure out the connection between man, machine and pineapple upside down cake...you probably go insane in 25 days. Luckily this didn't happen to me, athough some who know me or have read this blog may have conclude I m not so right for deciding to stay almost 9 months in Uganda. This equatorial country has the same time for sunset and sunrise. It simply never changes unless there are rain clouds in the sky. Hrmmm sunrise and sunset...reminds of a couple movies I really much appreciated watching...call them chick flicks..but nevertheless a well made film. The average Uganda may have a harder time understanding what these films mean (its all in the conversation), but I got one do appreciate the subtle meanings and interludes in life. Not to say that i don't enjoy the occasional action film..re Fifth Element which apparently was a major hit with the local here during our regular weekend film nites.

The shear humanity present was wonderful...well enough to fit a small living room, but hey even if the staff at the hospital don't appreciate the film nights being organized, at the patients in the wards are taking advantage of the occasion for some entertainment. It gets pretty boring at the hospital at night...few lights, no entertainment, no vending machines, no TV, no other places to go to at night. Again the official Uganda bedtime is 10pm. WEll if the patients appreciate a movie night, more than the staff and actually show and behave themselves...then more power to them and I say continue supplying the event.

And patients at BCH should appreciate even more the hospital than just free movie nights, as of a few weeks ago, we got regular X-Ray and Ultrasound services, partly thanks to me of course, and much thanks to a duet of Swedish techicians who came here to train the a hand full of staff on using such advance technology. It use to be BCH only had X-Ray Ultrasound services every Thursday when a technician came, but now with our own staff trained to do basic techniques, we got it everyday. Oh and my part....well I was the one who diagnose and fixed the X-Ray and Ultrasound machines just before the training to allow our staff to be train. Oh yes....a failure in Physic 101 and I was still about to figure out what was wrong with the X-Ray and Ultrasound. Albeit, the solution was simple, and problem easily identified, but it took some ingenuity. I never knew a common paper clip can be use to fix an 5000USD X-Ray machine and 500USD Ultrasound. In the end, I guess I did save the day..but then who am I kidding...if I didn't do it, some1 else would have.

Hey, outta all these events, it was suggested I look into a career in radiography...man and machine....problem solving....technical skills development and teaching. Not a bad idea..certainly something to keep in mind. I really need to get back to school. I simply don't have the refined skills and qualifications needed to move on. But what to study and where to go? Now these questions alone can take the next 25 years to answer...and after what I ve gone through...last five years seraching the world for something to do....and to have another 25 years....it could be too much.

Whch is how I came to this one solution, the solution to everything: Pineapple Upside Down Cake. ALways a hit, unless your allergic to pineapple or wheat or eggs. But caramelized pineapple with sugar and a splash of rum....what can go wrong with tat...oh zzzz...I burnt the pineapple...fzzzzk shizzzzz...[Deleted by Right to Censor].

Why we play the game.

2008-06-24T10:37:00.000-07:00

Oh yes, with the onset of the Euro Cup and the maniac soccer fans in Uganda, it is only prudent we play some soccer. And yes the hospital has it own zzzzz team, a bunch of rag tag zzzz zzzz bend threatening the opponent a zzzzz zzzz zzzz score more than a zzzz or getting more than 3 scores. Well, this sunday I hope to play my first match against the zzzz Boda Boda drivers....if they play anything like they drive...whoa we are in for real showdown.

Speaking of boda bodas....my friend is back in Vietnam....oih yes VN...probably one of those country I would considering going back to and living there a while. Great place...cheap stuff...awesome food. Not sure how well the Xoem driver (VN 's equivalent of the bodA boda) would fair in a soccer match.

But back to Uganda...I am approaching my 8 th month of internment in Bwindi, Uganda. And the hospital is developing along peachily. We got new med students from the English land and I got a social life again, although everyone here at the guesthouse left me all alone tonite :(

I wish there was more things interesting to talk about here, unfortunately anything interesting all revolving zzzzzzz [Deleted by Right to Censor] and how we zzzzz and how I zzzzz zzzz zzzz....especially on one nite of pool and zzzzzz chattin when we zzzzz (well I did much of the zzzzz) all the way zzzzz to the ends of the earth. Whoa....I was on zzzz with my zzzzz....saying things I usually say anyways, but in a cooler matter. I wonder if I zzzz zzzz while learning a new language, maybe I can master than language in a matter of weeks rather than months.
Hrm....definitely a experiment to try. Of course I all might well mouth my fucked up zzzzz zzzz off to the wrong person and get beaten up [Deleted by Right to Censor].

But what is life without a little risk. According to the Joker as he holds a razor to Batman's face: "What's a couple of nicks between friends?!"

So in the end, we play the game because it is fun...and I play because I want to know what happens in the end.

ZZZ someone

2008-05-27T09:56:00.000-07:00

No, this is not about some zzzz abuse incident or showing zzzz to my fellow zzzz zzzz. Instead, a zzz achievement here at Bwindi Hospital. Yes apart from the fact BCHC is now officially recognized as a hospital and zzzz for government funding, but I...with much effort finally got the first deskphone to work in the hospital. Soon anyone in the world can call Bwindi Community Hospital. The phone works now, but I m still testing out the reliability and stability of our signal. But once that happens, the hospital will announce to the world in a great marketing and ad campaign that we got a phone. [Deleted by Right to Censor] This is an achievement because inthe past, not so long ago...in fact a few weeks ago, we had to climb a hill or mount or tree to get signal to our mobile phones. Now, I can potentially chat with someone calling from Canada..chatting about french zzzzz and hockey zzzz from the confort of a zzzz zzzz administration building office.

Yes, consider this the first step to BCH finally reaching out and zzzzzz someone. Wonderful news for our marketing and fundraising division. As you can understand, a hospital in Uganda relies heavily on the goodwill of others around the world. We need funding...even with govt. funds, we still need donors to supply running costs. It ain't easy running a hospital in the middle of nowhere...the logistics have hampered us greatly. But the serene nature and beauty of this place is certainly worth me extending my contract for another 6 months.

Yes as said, I staying till zzzzzz and hopefully my second half of my term will be more rewarding and better. Yes, better. Now the next thing to do is prepare for this lecture I am giving in a few days. Electricity and safety and fun childrens science experiments. Remember that fun experiment back in elementary school when you take a lemon and try to light a lightbulb from it. Well, lemons are hard to come by here so....another way.

Well, update in a week how my lecture goes.. This is my first big time teaching session. And I got much to live up to. All the hype I created...I hate to dissappoint. I just hope that touching someone does n't result in a zzzz or zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Yes, there are things worst than zzzzzzzz. :(

Eve of Round 2: The better half.

2008-04-30T11:43:00.000-07:00

Oh yes, I may have been away for a while but I am back and ready for Round 2. VSO, the org. sponsored me to head to Bwindi, Uganda in the first place thinks I should stay in Uganda for another 6 months after my initial 6 months. Many say I am nuts to be headed to Africa in the first place and now I am an official nutter to stay here for so long...upto a year. My mother will zzzzz. Yay!!!...zzzzz.mzzzzzz...oh well. Maybe I'll call home. I so happen to agree with VSO that my work is far from done which is why I am staying put. Thing is I am never great at first impressions so the second half of anything for me is always the better half.

I just came back from Lake Bunyoni, a magical paradise gulf islands type of place ...similar to the Gulf Islands off western Canada's coast. I am still teaching people computers here but more and more I am proving to be as effective as a troubleshooter and electrician. I got assigned to the upcoming power development project set to revolutionize the power infracstructure here in Bwindi. The hospital hopes to get a 24/7 power available...yahoo..a working fridge and cold beers if I am lucky. Furthermore, I also learnt one of my friends maybe ...highly likely headed to Kenya for work and well....Nairobi is as close to Kampala and Uganda as any of my friends have gotten. Trip to Zanzibar I hear is in the works and I am hoping to see the truth of Indian meets Middle East meets African. Great Beaches I hear in Zanzibar too.

Work wise, I am zzzzz. There doesn't seem to be the same zzzzzfactor to work anymore, but then I just came back from vacation and well my brain is something that I either use it or lose it. Apparently 5 days away from work was enough to fried my brain to it "lose it" state. KNow what I spend my vacation doing? I was in Kabale learning how to use Linux operating system from ym friend and later when to the lake of an island paradise to study physics. And yes I got a Z in first year physics. I need to refocus and get some results at work hence the interest in rereading the physics textbook I so dreaded in university. As I am now the chief person here with any sense and understand of basic electrical knowledge, I am planning a lecture/teaching sesson on electricity and safety. Hey might as well since this hospital and surrounding community will soon get 24/7 power. But knowing Africa, soon could be years down the line. Hopefully this is just months down the line.

We all got two sides to us. Me, it's my lateral side that is better in everyway. My better half for some reason always tends to finish last.
I finally watched the Canadian film Juno. Great film, made in Vancouver too. Yay!!! And of course....GO HABS!!!!

Devil you know; devil in angel costume

2008-04-05T10:45:00.000-07:00

I m sick now and suffering from a terrible zzzz headache. :(
But at least I m getting smarter. Apparently migraine stimulate my creativity and shortens my learning curve. And can make me better at table tennis. Well, maybe it's actually dimming my abilities...with a head hurt like this I really can't tell.

I was suppose to have gone to a backpacker island paradise with friends and chilled out there for a few days. Lake Bunyoni....inside a volcano and very pretty. But inthe end my friends ditched me and I fell sick...ahh..."I m too sick"...my exact words tzzzzze who zzzzzme back to health. But I guess the physical hurt can be treated, but the mental damage is lasting...takes longer to heal...if it heals at all. :S

So this sickness is round 2 of an old game. No fever and no incapacitation either. I can still work and move around quite well. But this time the sickness is lasting longer. Fortunately, I live and work right beside a hospital with 4 very zzzzz doctors and an army of zzzz to call upon. And some of these zzzz are damn right zzzzzz[Deleted by Right to Censor]. I meazzzzzzz up my uniforms and zzzzz. Hrmm...I wonder if zzzz zzzz do that?

It is entering my 5th month in Bwindi and Uganda is starting to look like home, just a twisted interpretation of home. At work I m, as usually, being called upon to take on titles and roles outside my original job description. Of course I ain't a medical student, so my responsibilities merely fall within the non-clinical aspects of the hospital. But enough about work.

Personal life has been a script from the movie dazed and confused instead Izzzzzzzz zzzzz and no lesbians. Then their is the zzzzzz. Yes, zzzzzz. Then their is the nzzzzz. And then active zzzz. Cute zzzz. Mysterious zzzzz. The taken zzzzz. Oh yeah who can forget the one timer zzzz. Then again I got no reason to complain. At least my table tennis games has improved due 2 the zzzz one. And my pool game has been great due to the zzzzzz. [Deleted by Right to Censor]. My appreciation for french zzzz came from the zzzz one. Others...well not sure yet. Still in the zone...I meanzzzzzz [Deleted by Right to Censor].

So yeah....I got two more months here in Bwindi. Then I got no clue where to go. Of course I may not be going anywhere if things fall as such. Tat is I may well be zzzzz. But I got a better chance of going to France this year than having dinner with Mr. zzzzzz. I wonder if the devil ever attends church...hrm

Keep filling my prescription

2008-03-14T12:03:00.000-07:00

No, your pal zzzz is not on anti-psychotic drugs, but on anti depressants. And he's not even popping pills. There are things more effective than pills...like beer....although that presents a host of other problems....mainly drinking and driving. ALthough zzzzz doesn't drive anything at the moment. According to his doctor (therapist) a time dilation field marked by a black hole in the space time continuum can sonicfy the amplication of endorfic molecules in the portal lobe of the cortex.

Yeah as if I would know what I means. Another week and another conquest. This time a conquest of the metal variety. I managed to trash 2, possibly 3, good working computers this week when I try to make them faster and better and more efficient. Apparently trying to replace the intel core chip of computers is more difficult than I thought. For those who are clueless, the chip core intel is the processor of the computer. In laptops, this little device makes all the calculations needed for the system to run. I thought if I can replace one with a faster one, then why not. But of course I neglected to research the how to online. So I took out the chips and now I can replace them, either I don't know how to put them back or I ve damaged the pin board when I tried to install them. Anyways, I use to have 2 good laptops, now they are nothing more than 3kg paper weights. :(

Think before you make up your mind, I realized perfectly well I was woefully inadaquate for the task and I went ahead anyways. Good thing they didn't put me in surgery when doctors here had to drain an bacteria infection abcess from the shoulder of a 1 month old child. Arthritis Abcess....infection of the bone.....possibly the kid is autoimmune...but a bad thing nonetheless. Bone infections are deep, making it hard to treat and especially in a 1 month old. Surgery would have to be drastic....no choice....if not then the infect spreads and kills.

On a lighter note, zzzzz is making great progress on the western front. Tzzzzzzzzzzzzke [Deleted by Right to Censorship] the zzzzzz pill and zzzz yourself at the same time. One or both will zzz you.

Yeah I am still trying to get over the mess. Apparently forget is harding than memorizing....at least for me. :S

Before it happened

2008-03-08T04:33:00.000-08:00

No point digging into the past, it may turn out I was link to a serial killer or cult leader. The week was certainly a difficult one for me. First the chest pain, then the ichy feet, then the szzzzzzzz, then the zzzzz, then the adrenaline rush. But before all this, there was ping point. Yes, ping pong, I have played it before but I was never sure about the rules. Now I got this zzzzzouching me about ping pong and I m getting better everyday. Can't tell if its just natural talent or natural selection....natural selection in that her zzzzz her is motivating me to be better to impress zzzzzzzzz. LOLOL

This week I was in ward round every morning. Of course I am not a medical student, I am just a zzzzzz, although to be fair I have taken some lower level undergrad pre med courses. Wow.....ward rounds. Kids who are crazy, kids who are malnourish, and adults with gapping wound infections in her foot. A technique that I have never seem done before and now I can claim to have seem it in action. We had a diabetic woman with a foot infection. The foot stank, and not just cause it s a foot. It was necrotic...rotting tissue. Antibiotics and bandaging didn't halt the infection. So a young doc suggested using sugar..yes granulated sugar (sucrose) to pack the wound and the sugar will kill the bacteria and heal the wound. The idea behind this is osmotic action, sugar being ionic in high concentrations will dehydrate the bacteria cells, killing them.

Of course only in Uganda will you find this or not. Look, in a developing world hospital, western medicine can't be practice fully. So more creative and resourceful approaches must be sought. Sugar in a wound...in a diabetic patient of all peoples. Well it could folk lore or a pipe dream of really works...but I don't know. Well, the injury was located inthe foot and it was already oedemic and getting poor circulation, no way the sugar would have affected the diabeties. So yeah, again I got to observe a minor sugar as it going on. Although no cutting this time...just plenty of poking and protting and stuffing.

So what does this have to do with IT and computers and Netcorp and network. Well, as I said, I am not a smart med student yet, so I needed to play to my strength. Armed with a laptop during the ward round, and with internet connection, I can literally access anything I didn'
t understand and read up on things. Yes, the laptop was my textbook and the world wide web my library. Now I can actually have a chance to keep up with new words and definitions and diseases and other medical stuff right on the fly.

Once I get network coverage to everywhere in the hospital, time to learn medicine and fulfill my secondary objectives for my placement in Bwindi, Uganda. Now if only I can stop this chest pain. Apparently the metaphor is not just a metaphor. Think I can zzzzzzzzzzzzin the end?

Happy Happy Sugar Land

2008-02-29T09:02:00.000-08:00

Yes, Der again, back from the dead. Although I am don't think Iw as so dead to begin with. Now, what has happened to me sincelast report. WEll, Sugar, heartbreak, road trip, acid trip and Epithaini, and yes revolution. WE all hail to Castro for sticking it to the Americans and surviving all these years.

Last week I attend the annual VSO volunteer conference. 5 Star hotel, and place where prez Clinton stay when he was in Uganda. I didn't get the suite though. Conference was a bust, apart from the R and R time with swimming and good food and gym workout.

Afer the VSO conference, I and some friends embark on this road trip on VSO tab. We visited the city of Hoima and Masindi. Great group of people I was with for 6 days. In Hoima, we greeted the king and primiere , yes UGanda has some 21 Primieres, district governor basically. The king, wow....I got to shake his hand,..too bad I was dressed like some zzzzzzzzuppie, torn pants, dirty shirt and bad hair day style. hmmm, I should have worn the sweat pants. At least they weren't torn.

Hoima is a quint little city. Next we visited Masindi. The sugar plantation gave birth to a sugar refinary factory. The Kinyara sugar factory was like going on a school field, we even got to wear hard hats.!!!

This was suppose to be a Education trip on Development in Uganda. The schools we bvisited were, wel some were good and some bad. bad ones had teachers there with their students but the profs weren't teaching or teaching very little. Hell, at this one school, the head teacher, I guess principle figure wasn't even at work.

SOme good schools were good, they had committed teachers and some not so committed ones. BUt at least the students were learning something. At the bad school, I had to take over a class cause the teacher was called out to a meeting with the evaluators, who were critizing his methods. I taught the students, equivalent to grade 7 the 5 Ws. Who, What When , and Where....

BUt like I said before, Wat is the most important question.???? How many time your can stick your....zzzzzzzzzzzz????

Anycase, I got to go now....appointment, make or break.

Later..

Not so not Serious stuff

2008-01-25T21:41:00.000-08:00

Apparently, when I signed up for this job, the job discription didn't say anything about me participating in zzzzzzzzzzzor working as an electrician, or working as a design engineer or getting involve with business deals or acting as a PR person. All it say was teach the staff computer skills. Well, I am about 3 weeks into my lessons and tings are going well....ok. I am getting complains that I am moving too fast with the pace of these lessons. but c'mon one 45mins lesson a week. and I got some 40 people who want to learn. OH yeah the thing about Africans and Ugandans are they can;'t take much initiative to learn or practice things themselves. GUess that the oppressive educ ation system they have all grew up with. There are some who are curious and will take it upon themselves but the majority would attend class and learn for that lesson but even put their new skills in practice which means that no matter how much I teach it will be a futile attempt at education. I need to find some thing to teach that they can use...hmmmm

Well, some good news for once...I guess someone heard my cries for sending a donation. I just got news that some good kind soul donated 100$ to my fundrasing efforts for VSO Canada. I hate the idea of personal fundraising, even if its for a third party organization and not myself personally, my name is still be ing use. Oh well, I guess I ;ll just be donating my end of services grant to the fundraising. Then again, the Stipend they VSO are paying me here is just collecting interest. LIving inthe forest and away from civilization means I got not way of blowing my money and my accomodation and meal are all paid for here so I am practically seating on the money they give me. Oh yeah 250$CDN a month....whooppeee....but here in Uganda, a medical officier gets paid more than t...at...i think so lucky for me.

The riots in Kenya are subsiding, not sure how much fuel is now, but again, living a forest and not much to do, I have cut myself from the outside. Apart from popping my head out at the online chat world on occasions.

OH yeah....about my extra circucular activities. I was so lucky to have joined a few zzzzzzzzzz the guidance of one Dr . Scott Kellermann. Minor stuff, but for someone who wishes to make a crack at med. school or a career in the medical field, so awesome. Many in med school already would say that surgery gets boring after awhile, but me....nay!!!...I can do that for a career. It's like fixing machine, a blend of art and engineering and mechanics and medicine. right up my alley.!!!

For donations to my VSO fundraising effort visit:

http://www.vsocan.org/display.aspx?pid=499&cid=837

Trouble with the Neighbors

2008-01-02T10:14:00.000-08:00

Reporting still from Bwindi National Park...or at least from the edge of it. There is trouble in Kenya. Upto 300 dead in the last 3 days, the latest, a group of cowarding school children were torched alive while hiding in a church. All this stems from the recent controversial election in Kenya which has now spread into accusations of ethnic cleansing between tribal groups. Personally I think it s just an excuse for mayhem and anarchy. Revenge is a human characteristic that can intoxicate anyone, and brings out the worst in humanity.

As a result in Uganda and a few other neighboring countries have closed their borders to Kenya as the Kenyans duc it out in a spiral of violence that can go into civil war. Not likely, but when you got the fear ozzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Imagine, two fairly developed nations or on their way to developmenthood, but politics, tribal friction and suicide bombers bringing these nations to their knees and making them failed states. Oh yeah, history tells just thzzzzzzzzz as attacked the US embassy before in yes...Kenya.

Anycase..wat do these have to do with you and me ? WEll, if you are in North Americn, then nothing much. I doubt the western media cares or even bother to report on African matters. As for me, the conflict in Kenya has resulted in neigboring countries closing their borders to Kenya. Uganda is landlocked and relies on Kenyan roads for shipments of food, supplies, goods, and off course fuel. With borders now close, fuel prices have skyrocketed ...or will if the conflict goes on. Already there are reports of hording, people buying loads of fuel to resell for inflated profit.

Add to thi conflict, the threat of Ebola and raiding rebels from the Congo and mayhem in Pakistan and probably more in the Mid East...I am screwed...:(

Further communications maybe difficult...

Christmas in Bwindi

2007-12-29T23:15:00.000-08:00

Yes the holiday hit this peaceful countryside county and all was silent for the most part. Why the hell am I bothering with this blogging thing....its not like anyone actually keeps reading my posts on a regular basis.

Anycase...Christmas here was a bit of a downer, partly cause of the bad food and mostly cause I was stuck here. The nites were awesome....so many stars and a full moon...clear skies and lots and lots and lots of drumming. Guess that the tradition here in Africana...drumming throughout the nite and day til what....the second coming? And guess what I had for christmas dinner...oh yes avocado soup and fried rice and some sauteed cabbages. Yew!!!

Sadly it was my own creation, or lack of inspiration.

It's Dec. 30 th today ...my B-day...the sun is out and bright which means plenty of power to run the computers and internet.

I was busy yesterday, making preparation to start my computer skills training courses which will start in the new year. I think the first lesson will to be teach people what a mouse it or in the case of a laptop, how to use a touchpad. Yes, I got my work cut out for me. But hey...I am going to try to get everyone to refer to me as the "professor." The "pro" makes it sound cooler. Much better than the "teacher"title students kept calling me in Vietnam.

Think I should bother to teach the participants how to use photoshop? I mean there is an embargo on downloading or viewing porn...or as the volcabulary here is call "indecent materials" so there will be a demand for it. Hmmmm paste herthis on tat and on t...... WHoA!!!

Speaking of zzzzzzzzI got the chance to observe mzzzzzzzzzzzzzzpeople!!!
Man...tzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz??? hmmm

Finally, yesterday I was hoping to be in on the observation of a live birth. Yes the blood and gore and screaming, too bad I midwivies wouldn't let me as I wasn't a medical personel..oh well...but one day..hmmmm
Maybe get one of the dcoctors to give me permission or slip on a white coat and pass myself off as a med student. EXACTLY!!!

Week 2 and the Boredom gets &^*%$@

2007-12-17T07:00:00.000-08:00

Sure, working in the development field has the reward of knowing that if you ve done the work well then people who you set upon to train will carry on your techniques and skills thereby giving you the sense of leaving behind a lasting legacy. The work side of my IT VSO Netcorp internship is great, if not stressful at times. Daily I get bombarded by the questions of Der, can you teach me to transfer music to my mp3 player; Der, how to I close this application; Der, I can't access the server; or Der, why are my pictures downloading so slowly?

The plan here is to set up a work station/training centre for the staff at Bwindi Community Health Centre. I have already fixed up 4 laptops with a 5th on it way here tommorow. When I say fix, I mean the harddrives have been erased and only replaced with specific program designated by yours truely. Sufficit to say, I hope these laptops will form the backbone of a row of workstation computers to be used by the staff at Bwindi Hospital for their research, communications and entertainment pleasure. No Porn or Video downloads!!!! ALthought....nah!!!

Which brings me to my next point, pornography and abuse of internet rights. I just spent today researching on some microsoft program which will allow me to restrict access to certain programs and functions on these computers. Yes much of my day is spend in front of a computer. Quite unfortunate as it I am surrounded by some of the most awesome scenery in the world. I guess Churchill was right when he said Uganda to be the pearl of Africa. Or was it the Switzerland of Africa. Maybe New Zealand? In anycase, living in the hospital guest house situated beside the forest has advantages. I have made friends with some wayward monkeys around my tent (yes I live in a tent not the guesthouse) and we were getting along fine. I mean, I frequently handed out bananas and how do they repay me? They heisted an avocado from me. Grrrrr. I should remind them that in Vietnam people eat monkey brains there.

Apart from work, my off hours are quite boring. Blogging to people around the world just doesn't seem to be exciting anymore. I am little sick now, so not going for the physical activity of jogging or biking. And I don't have anyone to go with to the bar to get wasted. Hmmmm, just waiting for the next ..... to come my way. :(

OH yeah, I am still looking for a way to post my pictures on line. I am not using flickr nor facebook, and they seem to be the easiest sites available for upload. Fuck Facebook!!! and yahoo.

Well next post...

First Week in Bwindi Impenatrable Forest

2007-12-08T10:06:00.001-08:00

Hello, I am Der, yet another Canadian yuppie who just can't bear the thought of staying home. Which is why for the second year in a row I have decided to go work abroad. The first time around I was posted to the "not so war torn country afterall" location of Hanoi, Vietnam. Now I am writing from the misty mountain forests of Bwindi National Park in southwestern Uganda.

About my work?

I am a what the Canadian government calls a young professional, someone whose graduated from university and looking for work experience. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) funds volunteer placements around the globe where young talented Canadians like your truly are dispatched. The Netcorp program sends young IT (information technology) dudes and gals to help NGOs in host countries establish their computer systems and train people on basic function. This is a mouse, double click to open an application. Upload pictures on to harddrive. This is the stuff the average Canadian kid takes for granted. In anycase, I am under the auspieces of VSO Canada (Voluntary Service Overseas) an NGO hell bend of providing human resources in the form of actual humans and their knowledge rather than material resources. So instead of getting 15 new laptop computers, a NGO in Uganda can expect 1 Canadian yuppie (me) to train their staff and lecture them on what antiviruses and USB sticks are.

I am Der....reporting from the edge of the Bwindi National Park near the Impenatrable forest..home to half the worlds gorilla population. In the coming months, I hope to share my experiences and views and pictures and anything else that can transmitted via satelite internet from the middle of a remote, isolate valley to you. I hope to enlighten people about Africa, share tips on managing a computer class in the middle of no where, and above all inspire people to go out and see the world. But at least, you should be made aware of what goes on in places not so close to your backyard. So damn right, your lucky that internet doesn't transmit STDs.