Just returned from visiting one of our K’jong employees, Lucy. She went to the Tokura clinic last week, fearing she was having another miscarriage. Instead, to everyone’s surprise, she delivered a healthy baby boy. Pre-natal care in Karamoja is very sporadic compared to that of the States. Though a woman can undergo a pregnancy test at the clinic, I don’t get the impression that this is the standard. It seems that pregnancies are noticed later, meaning that the expected date of birth is absolute guesswork. Lucy did not expect to deliver until much later, and maybe the baby was early, but he was sufficiently developed to survive without modern technology.

We walked to Lucy’s home, which is about half a mile from our own. The locals live in stick-framed mud huts, several of which will be clustered in a yard. These yards are shared by loose households and enclosed by thorn bushes. [The K’jong couldn’t believe the mizungus would build their houses so far (maybe 100m) from one another!] About nine of us, including Lucy and a couple of local women, crowded into the small hut to see the baby. They joked that the child looked like a mizungu when he was born, as it takes some time for their pigment to fully develop. He’s a beautiful child, but the old woman kept criticizing him, stating she did not like him because he was too small, his skin was too pale, etc. We assured her that he would grow. I don’t know if she was being mean, or maybe trying to give the child good “juju” (karma) – the K’jong think a child will get bad juju if someone says that s/he is beautiful. So maybe it was a blessing of sorts? The children were huddled at the door, watching us (not room for them inside). They were afraid that one of our pastors had purchased the baby, and that we had come to take him away. Where they got this from, I have no idea. The K’jong women laughed at this too, recognizing their fears as being as ridiculous as we had thought. The mission women brought a few gifts for the baby and mother, a shirt and hat and some sugar and vitamins. Giving anything here is very challenging, as it causes a lot of jealousy and strife (“I should get one too”, regardless of one’s relationship – or lack thereof – to the giver), but this is apparently one of the few non-contentious occasions and means.

Update to post: Talked with our clinic administrator, and learned I was mistaken: women know right away if they’re pregnant, because they assume that they’re almost always pregnant. If they do have their regular cycle, they think they’re having a miscarriage. The clinic staff estimate that about 85% of the K’jong women are unaware that women have a monthly cycle. For this to have escaped everyone’s notice, it indicates that: a) the women are almost always nursing or pregnant (birth control is available, but apparently not utilized), and b) girls are sexually active even before puberty. Ten-year-olds may be married off to much older men. An employee’s eight-year-old daughter was raped, and her community deems it acceptable. There’s definitely good here too, but some aspects of the culture are really tragic.

Walking back from the clinic today, saw something burning in the distance. As got nearer, realized it was our fields that were in flames. Could see hawks circling above, watching for opportunities to swoop down on the fleeing rats. The hawks had competition – the Karamajong also eat rats, and often start fires in attempt to catch them (which is a bit alarming, as we’ve entered into the dry season, and the dirt road that was flooded a month ago is now so dry that the surface is cracking). Later learned that one of the workers had been burning the rubbish (no trash service or landfills here), and the fire had jumped through the fence into the fields. Oops. Fortunately, the wind was blowing away from the houses, so no real damage done. Maybe it will keep more fires from being started later, as there will be nothing to burn.

Was given prophylaxis for three more things yesterday – on top of the daily malaria routine – which is supposed to prevent elephantiasis and other diseases I wasn’t able to translate (though I did ask). I think elephantiasis is caused by a parasite that enters the body through the feet and causes swelling of the legs, hence the name. I’ve been told that it’s unlikely any of us will contract the parasite, though there have been enough cases in town to warrant the precaution. Sounds nasty. But it is encouraging that preventative measures are being taken and made available to the community – at least in theory. Pray that the medications will reach the people they were intended for, and not be used to line the pockets of the supposed distributors.

Life is going well. For once, I may actually be tanner than at least some people! It doesn’t feel like the holidays, because I’m laying out at the pool instead of wearing sweatshirts. Still doing tea/coffee and hot chocolate, though – heard that drinking hot beverages actually cools you off in warm weather, although I’m not sure I buy it. We’re trying to plan ahead for what Christmas cookies, etc. we may make, as the closest grocery store is more than two hours away and spontaneity is not terribly practical. We’ll be celebrating Christmas with the mission, and Eden is also here without her family. I wish I could be home with everyone for the holidays, but at least I’m not alone, and I’m sure I’ll enjoy them. Martha has been teaching reading, Bible, etc. at one of the local schools regularly (a majority of the schools are incredibly substandard; the students often don’t come to class because they don’t know if the teacher will show up, and vice versa). She asked them what Christmas was, and was met with puzzled expressions. Some of the suggestions given were rice (an extravagance reserved for special occasions), and a dance. Most kids in the States would associate Christmas with the birth of Christ, whether or not they celebrate it themselves. This culture is so isolated! I’m starting in on the Sunday school rotation, and I get to do the Christmas story, which is sweet. There have been about ninety kids attending Sunday school recently, which would be chaotic enough without the addition of crying babies, fire ants, and bawling cows, but it’s awesome, too. The kids get tam-tams (K’jong for “sweets”, in actuality chewable vitamins) if they behave reasonably, which helps combat some of the malnourishment so prevalent here.

Random story: the guards killed a six-foot cobra this week! They saw the snake near the house, and scared it out of the yard. The snake attempted to hide in a woodpile, but the K’jong stood ready, setting their bows and arrows, while one of the men threw the logs off the pile one by one (these guys are fearless!). When they got close, the snake reared up to strike, and one of the guards shot it through the neck. Pretty impressive. They shot the snake several more times, and when it still hadn’t died, they wound it around the arrows and repeatedly beat its head into the ground. I’m usually bothered when I heard about animals dying, but somehow snakes are in a completely separate category.