Kilimanjaro Climb Prolouge

From Russia With Love

So before I get into the sordid details of the climb proper, let's talk about the day or so before. No, I'm not going to mention that ridiculous dala dala I saw with the motif 'doggy style' emblazoned on the side in yellow letters..

So we had all our gear and it was time to start taking our Diamox ie a wonder drug that aids faster acclimatisation to altitude. Makes you breath faster or thickens your blood or something...has some side effects (tingling in extremities, a feeling like being drunk etc)so we had our dose a day before we were due to climb.

And man did I feel it. I felt drunk, disorientated. Just had to hope the effects would wear off a bit. In order to relax we decided to check out the new Moshi movie theater that Friday night to see the new Stallone movie 'The Expendables'. The decor of the theater was nice (with animal heads and wrestling playing on the tv by a bar) and the people working there were very earnest...however when the 'film' began it became quickly clear it was a dodgy Russian (as evidenced by Russian subtitles) pirated copy. Poor picture and awful bass heavy sound. Stallone is hard enough to understand at the best of times let alone in this execrable print.

Still the staff were nice, popping in during action sequences to ask me what I thought of the picture and sound...um....simbaya (not bad) At some point it all became quite funny and I laughed gaily at the poorly rendered explosions and Stallone mumblings.

Saturday we met our guide Chunga, who came round to our house to inspect our gear and brief us on the route. He seemed like a good guy, who I could trust my and my wife's life too. Our gear passed muster and he promised to come pick us up Monday morning. Needless to say at Mass that Sunday I offered many grovelling/bargaining prayers to the Man Upstairs asking for a safe return and uneventful climb...we would see.

To be continued...

Just a man and his will to survive...

Fun Facts!- NZ's highest peak, Aoraki/Mt Cook is 12,316 feet high.
Kilimanjaro is 19, 341 feet above sea level. It is the highest free standing mountain in the world.

It’s Friday. Just collected our last bits of gear, poles, jackets and yeti repellent (so weird to have to get cold weather gear this close to the Equator). Meeting the tour company on Saturday to talk strategy. Start climbing on Monday.

The first rule of climbing Kilimanjaro is that the wife returns safe and well. The second rule of climbing Kilimanjaro is...the wife returns safe and well!

Aside from that…I’m gonna give that Mountain hell. Get some hustle behind this muscle. Eye of the Tiger. I can keep up ridiculous 80's movie inspirational references all day. Yes, I'm a bit concerned about physical exhaustion, sleep and oxygen deprivation, asthma, fatal plunges, incompetent guides, high percentages of people who turn back etc etc. Just gotta hold onto my crazy self belief that heart will be just enough to get me through. Let's not talk about how the ankle I twisted a couple of weeks ago is still hurting a bit or that all the bug spray people are spraying around (as a lot of mosquitos at the mo) has brought my asthma back a bit...

Look, seeing panoramic photos of Kili in June 2009 is what sold this Moshi assignment to me in the first place, so now its time to take it bring it full circle. It aint over till its over. Gonna fly now.

Dunno when I’ll next update the blog, maybe sooner, maybe a lot later. Prayers for a successful, safe ascent appreciated.



'Yo Adrian, let's do this thing'

Mke earning her money

Franatee writes:

Last Friday my counterpart and I headed out to deliver food supplements (lishe- a type of nutritious porridge) to children in the village of Tarakea. Many of the children getting the supplements are HIV positive. I'm surprised I haven't been more upset by this. But in many ways you just kind of get on with the job. Something I do have a problem with though is the length of time it took for this trip to happen. Assessments for these children, which included home visits, were carried out back in August and it's been an uphill battle to convince my NGO that the stuff needs to go out. I'm wondering if the reason the delivery finally got the green light was because we were running out of storage space…

On the drive out my counterpart and I saw a few guys running with machetes (there's always something very unnerving about that…We drove on and saw a couple of women beating each other up with a crowd surrounding them. My counterpart stopped to chat to them and I heard things like "mume wangu" (my husband), "alisema nakupenda" (he said I love you) etc etc so soon figured out that the fight was all about some love rat. (Mume interjects-man points!) My counterpart loaded the women into the Land Rover and we dropped them off at the local police station where they could sort things out. Dramas! Who needs Shortland Street?

Anyhoo, headed on to the patient support centre to distribute the food supplements. Met with a volunteer who does a lot of work with people out in the villages and he helped us with the food distributions. It was good to see that those children who turned up with their guardians were looking better than they had back in August. Maybe it was that their animals were providing more eggs, goat milk etc due to the change in weather, or maybe it was because the last time I'd seen them was in their homes, some of which were little mud huts, or perhaps I've just become desensitised the longer I've been here (I hope not).

Not all the children turned up though and it was very concerning to hear that one of the children was in hospital.

Tanzania can be really frustrating at times. Being told by my manager that I'm worrying too much, being inflexible, and that the children already get fed, only to hear that a child has had to go to hospital… yeah. Would it have made a difference to the child's health if the supplement had been delivered earlier? You could drive yourself crazy just dwelling on it. Sometimes it gets really frustrating being a volunteer. I have much less power to compel people to do things than I would like. But I digress…

I was happy to see a newborn baby turn up with his older sister and parents. I'd been in touch with the volunteer in the village a couple of months before to make sure the family knew what to do about preventing parent to child transmission of HIV. He said the child was healthy so was very pleased to hear that. If HIV positive parents get proper training and advice from a health provider, which they follow then they can prevent their unborn child from getting HIV.

We finished up and headed back to Moshi to start the weekend. Happy to have made some progress.

Mke

The day I cracked the system

Its a weekday and I'm in Arusha. Wanted to see the UN Criminal Court again plus get some allowance from my handler here. The bus drove in past a nice view of Kili over plains showing evidence of the recent rains with new green shoots. I read the Tanzanian sections of Paul Theroux's travelogue 'Dark Star Safari' as we tootled along. His tales of apathy, small mindedness, things falling apart, dilapidation, people preying on white people annoyed me with its authenticity. Put me in a bad mood. Some aspects of working /living here I will not miss at all. But, the negativity is only part of the picture but not the whole picture. Happy thoughts, happy thoughts.

Anyway, so in a grumpy mood I taxied to the UN Criminal Court hoping to see a slice of Rwanda war crimes drama. I got to the main gate where a white UN worker was having a drama with the Tanzanian Guards because she had lost her pass. I waited to hand my passport over as visitors are supposed to do and receive a pass badge. I think she thought I was a worker there because she said to me 'you, just go on though'...Um, ok. So I passed through the gate without a pass or metal detect of my person and headed to the Court. Wondered if I would get stopped at all. I had been here before so knew the courtrooms were on the 2nd floor so I jumped in an elevator and headed up there.

No one on the 2nd floor. I wandered along and saw the door to the Courtroom open. What the hey. Wandered into the empty UN courtroom with a goofy grin to see the big blue UN flag on the wall. Wandered into the hall again,laughing in inside my head at how ridiculous this all was. Im wandering aimlessly in me shorts through the complex that is housing one of the biggest war crimes trials since Nuremberg. Opening doors till finally I found a young American legal eagle who told me that trials were postponed until the New Year. Bummer.

He escorted me to a stairwell and left me there. I wandered out the complex and shot back out through a door of the main security check without challenge. Man, will I ever get to actually watch a decent length of these trials.

Manfred 1 UN 0

Now to get my allowance and get back to the Mosh...

Epilogue
Manfred never received his allowance. His handler was delayed dealing with 2 other kiwi volunteers who had recently been attacked by people grazing cattle illegally on their land. Manfred did enjoy an amazing Margarita pizza and beers, before meeting a nice porter named Evance 'raining a lot up there at the moment' and seeing the Prime Minister race through Arusha in a heavily guarded cavalcade.

Hope to see the documentary based on the experience of being a volunteer called 'The Expendables' in the new Moshi movie theatre soon.

Fresh yourself up

For some reason, there's something special about us being together.
Mike Hanlon, Stephen King’s ‘IT’ Miniseries

Our good chum, and fellow kiwi volunteer, Intrepid Kat crashed with us Friday night. We were pleased she liked our Kiwi Bach decor. Saturday morning was pancakes (cheers Mke) before we planned to head out the door to meet with ‘the crew from A-Town’ at the hot spring of Maiji Moto. Would be our absolute last chance to see Nico (of the rooftop party last week) before he was back in NZ.

The wife and I had been to Maiji Moto before, way back in May. It’s a tranquil setting, clear water full of marine life surrounded by palms and foliage. Great for relaxing. At least until dark when crocs are reputed to come out.


Well, before getting there we had Moshi errands to do first (boring!); I grew more and more antsy as the day drew on. Wanted to swim! Finally, we were in a dala dala and on the 40 minute drive to the village of Boma Ngombe (House of the Cow, it’s a Masai area). After seeing a drama- a guy’s blatant day time attempt to rob the dala dala conductor of the takings- we met up with our friends. We piled into a small car and headed off on the dirty, rocky road to Maiji Moto.

We got to the spring, paid a guy from the local village the exorbitant fee for being there, met another car of chums from Arusha and got down to some serious ‘bro-ing down’ with each other.We are a random bunch for certain, with different strengths, foibles and experiences. But for some reason we all seem to click. Though we have only known each other a short time, we get along famously. Maybe it’s the situation. Or perhaps the bottle of wine I was quaffing...but I dig these crazy kids. Fellowship with others during the year has sustained my emotional strength in some frustrating/tough times.

Some of us swam in the azure water, some sunbathed, some teased others, some of us drunk irresponsibly and became attention seekers. Guess which I was. C'mon a'Fresh yourself up with Freshup' advert imitation with wine-that's gold! There was a ‘thump’ at one point: a medium sized bright green snake fell out of a tree just behind our group sitting on the ground and raced off. Not sure if it was a highly venomous green mamba or not but it was fun to chase it for a bit. In bare feet.

Franatee got swimming and enjoyed the beauty treatment of the fish in the water that eat dead skin. When I was not strutting for the ladies on the bank, I did some swimming and diving myself. Plenty of ‘Ram Jams’ ie flying elbow drops into the water. Though I was too chicken to jump in from high branches as some others did. I was swimming when I saw a huge Monitor Lizard coming down to the water. It’s not what we are drinking, it is the terrible ‘Crocodile Hunter’ imitations we are doing and our attempts to grab the tails of massive reptiles. All fun, but kinda glad in hindsight I couldn’t get to its tail in time as it ducked up a tree.

Time was going fast and soon it was dusk. Beautiful views of snow covered Kili in the distance as the cows ambled off home for the night.


We stayed longer (think I was last out of the pool?) and finally got back to the main road about 730pm. I was still feeling quite merry. The wife and I farewelled our Arusha friends and got on a dala dala heading for Moshi. I think we were the entertainment for the drive. The locals busted a gut at our Swahili attempts and at my mock dancing to the African beat tunes on the bus sound systems. Two people took a secretive stroke of Franatee’s hair. All fun. Got home and pretty much fell into a dead sleep.

Sunday, I did some hill runs with the wife (so unfit still) then we hung out with Bibi Stones and another Kiwi ex-volunteer at the Green Bamboo BBQ pit.

A short swim at the YMCA pool, then it was off home to start trying on random items of gear for Kili we have borrowed off people. I look quite fetching in my pink fleece. Kinda weird planning what gear to take for a minus zero top of a mountain...will my Nintendo work up there?

7 days to go...

'Sleep, Caradhras, be still, lie still, hold your wrath!'

"...(it) rose before them, a mighty peak, tipped with snow like silver, but with sheer naked sides, dull red as if stained by blood."
The Fellowship of the Ring

Wednesday night after work we caught up with our good mate Intrepid Kat and her family in Moshi. Kat and her dad had just come down from Kilimanjaro, having climbed the same route we intend to do. She looked a wee bit tired...Her tales of snow storms, lack of air, exhaustion, people turning back and glaciers were thrilling but also a little terrifying. Mount Kilimanjaro is still a mountain after all. It must be respected. A person died on the mountain during the same period Kat was up there. Pulmonary Odema. Tour companies are a bit quiet about the specifics of those details. I think I heard 10 people die a year? Don’t tell my mum. The wife and I will still give it a go, will support each other the whole way and ensure safety comes first. It’s the people that ignore the warning signs or try to be macho up there that die. That’s not me at all ai? Um...

Thursday December 9th, was a public holiday (Independence Day). Love public holidays. But before the relaxing, I had to do my hour training run for the marathon. The wife and I did a nice early morning jog over a rain swollen river to Karanga with a vista of cloud shrouded Kilimanjaro in the distance. In the breaks in the cloud cover, I saw more snow on Kili than I have ever seen. When it rains heavily in Moshi (as it has the last couple of days), it means it is snowing heavily on the mountain.

I’m so used to seeing Kili all the time and being ‘oh yeah’, somehow as we are 10 days from going up it, its brooding, white shrouded rock face seems a little less benign. And more like, Caradhras the Cruel, the mountain that defeated the Fellowship from the Lord of the Rings. Not that I'm into that geeky stuff.

Intrepid Kat’s family were keen to see Lake Chala, so together at 10am we went with Bibi Stones (the other Moshi volunteer) and another Kiwi mate, out there. Dark rain clouds coming in from Kenya.

No elephant around this time, they are way off in Kenya. Sigh. I really like the Chala area. Peaceful, yet full of life. Reminds me of the conservation area I worked on in South Africa in ‘08.

Intrepid Kat’s family and I set off to go down to the Lake. My wife was happy to hold the fort at the tented campsite bar. I was happy to have some people to come gingerly down the steep-ish caldera wall of the Crater Lake with me. We got down to the water and found less of a shore and more of a few random rock piles and logs. We could see small fish swimming around in the water. We had joked and talked a bit about the possibility of a croc attack. I had heard the deep waters of Chala was teeming with them. A tourist was taken by a croc swimming (on the Kenyan side of the Lake) in 2002.

(what lies beneath...)
But other people have said it is fine for swimming...hm. It all looked so inviting. So what the heck, I waded in. The bottom drops off pretty fast so I didn’t go out too far. Soon all of us were splashing around, albeit with the odd careful looks around. We stayed near the shore...I dived under water a few times straining to see any big shadows moving my way.

(how to simulate a crocodile attack with a stick)
The water was so warm and nice. Some local fisherman watched and chortled at us swimming especially when I kept asking them if there were crocodiles around or not. They didn’t laugh so much when I swam at them hippo styles, pretending I was going to tip over their flimsy canoe.

It was nice to hang out with a family, made me realise that I am missing my own family back home. We dried off from our swim and chilled out the rest of the afternoon near the bar.

Supposed to be stockpiling gear for Kilimanjaro this weekend. Plus, maybe meeting the A-Town crew at a hot spring. Plus, a small movie theatre is opening in Moshi. It’s a thankless, busy life ;-)

Postscript.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-13/martina-navratilova-leaves-hospital-after-aborted-mount-kilimanjaro-climb.html

There is so much snow up there at the moment...seems like its hard going at the mo...Im sure it will clear up soon gulp

It aint about how hard you hit...

..its about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.
Rocky Balboa

Mid week and I am a ball of fury. Monday I got a mild tut tutting for dressing too casually for a meeting...dude, its freaking boiling hot here I just wanted one day in my floral shirt and shorts combo...how did I know the Kenyan dignitary was turning up...sigh. Toilet was leaking. Dogs barking all night, so no sleep. No power, no wireless, no sodas (its so hot). Managers blatantly claiming sole credit for work I have done. Dodgy answers to straight questions. Of course the king hit was my computer getting fried by a surge after having pleaded with our procurement officer at least 20 times re: the need for a surge protector. I may have lost a ton of documents forever. I was spewing. I felt like strangling someone.

I won't even talk about the ridiculous voting competition at work to send a staff member on a trip anywhere in the world courtesy of a bank windfall due to donor money...please don't ask. Its ridiculous. Its bad enough seeing staff members 'campaigning' at work and only half-joking promising people at work $$ bribes for their votes for the trip.

So Tuesday night, I was pretty wound up. Ankle still impeding my jogging. Gritting my teeth all night in bed and thinking 'I cant do another 10 weeks of this madness'. Didn't sleep well. Wednesday I was going to have to do a long planned/postponed Wills/Inheritance Law presentation...its all complex, I was worried it was going to be a disaster.

But the surprising thing was....people were really engaged during the presentation. Asking questions, giving real life examples, reflecting on key points. They really got it. They were excited about having wills and wanting to tell others to have them. I was so happy. I think my 'How many cows do the male vs female children get under customary law' pie chart was the most meaningful diagram I have ever cobbled together in terms of impact on audience.

I've been asked to give follow up individual Will advice to staff. It's good because as they become more and more familiar with the topic, they can pass on their knowledge (as well as the Swahili Will Resources I crafted) to our HIV/AIDS clients.

Africa. Just when you are ready to scream in frustration and pack the whole bloody thing in, it surprises you with a little win...

Jump off that top rope

Loved the security guard I saw today grooving to an Ipod with an AK-47 hanging loose on his back. I coulda grabbed that gun I think before his Mariah Carey had flicked over to Michael Bolton...

Got an email from someone worried my heart (I had a slight heart murmur as a baby, corrected long, long ago) may not survive a climb of Mt Kilimanjaro (we start the climb in 14 days). To be honest, I was more worried about the lack of air at 18 000 feet than a heart attack. I could write a long blog entry on the actual risks of climbing Kili, the value of calculated risk-taking to happiness etc etc but meh.

Instead, go watch 'The Wrestler'. That movie sums up my philosophy about life being: Do what you love doing to the bitter end; even if you look faintly ridiculous to others doing it.

RAM JAM. Off to buy a wrestling costume for the climb.


Post Script
Thank Mungu it rained last night, dropping the temperature. I went out in the stubbies and stood in the downpour. Like I said, faintly ridiculous.

No Country For Old Men

It is so hot at the moment. Like this is insane, and I'm used to the sun and heat by now. But this is getting nuts. Where did the 'short rains' go? Short indeed. And I think we are not at the hottest months yet (ie Jan/Feb.) Power cuts are constant now(I'm writing this on generator power) the Tanzanian electricity supplier is rationing power due to either lake levels low or poor maintenance or maybe both...

We got some bummer news on Friday, that some friends of ours in Moshi are calling it quits, cutting plans short and heading home. I think it just got too much for them; the apathy, the work politics, the constant feeling of being an 'outsider' etc etc. I am reflecting on how blessed we have been in our time here with friends, treats sent over from home, trips, quality time with the locals and crazy fun that has balanced out the not so good bits. It coulda all gone differently...

You gotta follow your bliss, no point staying somewhere if you are miserable. Safe travels, peeps.

Saturday, I did the first run since spraining my ankle. Its holding up okay, though lost a bti of strength. Can't complain about running past hornbills and a vista of Kili, listening to James Brown.

After the run the wife and I headed to Arusha to farewell Nico, a fellow kiwi volunteer and all round stellar bro. He is finishing his assignment and heading home. His mix of energy and laid back kiwi-ness will be much missed. After a sweltering bus ride, we met up with other kiwi volunteers at the Blue Heron for a luncheon. Good to have the brief times that we all get to catch up. My volunteer handler just shook his head to see my moustache and Hawaiian shirt combo.

After lunch, I popped with the wife to Njiro Mall to see whatever movie was playing...it turned out to be 'Eat, Pray, Love' with Julia Roberts. Shudder. The odd thing, was leaving aside it was a horrific car wreck of a chick flick, both the wife and I felt reverse culture shock watching the rich white characters on screen doing indulgent rich white things. Hm.

It was dusk and leaving the cinema-dodging the juxtaposition of a Muslim woman in a burqha next to a scantily dressed tourist,we headed to a rooftop party to farewell not only Nico but a host of Australasians who are heading home for Xmas. Stunning views of Mt Meru and the city by sunset. Good to meet a whole of host of the Arusha volunteer scene. They can certainly handle their liquor. I jumped on the sound system at various points in the night playing Michael Jackson, Crowded House and other timelost ditties. I blame my sore ankle for the poor dancing I did that night. People did love listening 'Killing in the name of' by Rage Against the Machine at least twice. Had a good yak to a South African ex-pat and not so good yak to a local hotel manager 'we will mandate our employees test and disclose their HIV status to us. AIDS is expensive!' cough unlawful cough.

The party went on and on into the wee hours taxing even my considerable stamina. Around 3am, I nestled down on the roof to sleep. Then the wife appeared 'I've got us a room in the hotel, c'mon' Choice. So we settled into our double room but I thought, I'll just go to the toilet one time before bed. Big mistake. Somehow trying to flush the toilet in the dark I (with my Kryptonian strength) ripped the toilet water pipe out of the toilet. Water jetted out in a hose everywhere. I started screeching like a drowned rat as (clean) water went everywhere. As my furious and exhausted wife went looking for help, I vainly tried to stop the room filling with water. I began humming 'Nearer My God My to Thee' as the toilet floor started to disappear under the waves.

The wife reappeared with an ancient security guard and a half asleep manager. Somehow they stopped the flow of the water and put us in a different room. The staff looked less than impressed with me...I can't help my strength!

We slept till 10am, went back to the roof to see the hardcore Australasians up and about. Grabbed a bite for brekkie, hugged Nico goodbye and headed back to the Mosh.

Sunday, seemed even hotter than Saturday. I was sweating buckets as our packed bus raced past the brown expanse between Arusha and Moshi. Where do the cattle get any grass to eat? 'Dust devils' ie whirlwinds of dust were everywhere on the dry plain. Got into Mosh and headed to the Keys Hotel for a dip in the pool. The wife instructed some locals there in the art of backstroke-classic. Proud the wife has gained swimming confidence in Africa.

Rest of the day, we tried to avoid moving in the heat of our house and I said goodbye to my Moustache, to my long suffering wife's delight.

A weekend of farewells...

World AIDS Day 2010, Hedaru, Same District

December 1st is International World AIDS Day. The theme for the Day this year is ‘Universal Access (to treatment) and Human Rights’. It is the people who are most vulnerable to infection that need the greatest education in and protection of their rights.

As there was an obvious link to my work, I went with a couple of staff on the two hour drive out to the village of Hedaru, one of the areas we work in, to participate in celebrations of the Day. Yes, I know I said earlier I was going to climb Kili for World AIDS Day...I’ll do it later this month okay? Anyway my ankle is still swollen..

It was a nice, if speedy drive past the Pare' Mountains. Nice to get out of the office and my efforts to craft various arcane training materials. The landscape was looking so much greener since the last time I was on this road (on the way to Pangani mid year ). The flame trees (Tanzania’s version of our Pohutakawa) are in full pre Christmas bloom. We stopped briefly in the town of Same’ to eat what looked suspiciously like cow’s hoof soup.

We got to Hedaru...the open air venue was a little um deserted. ‘There is no hurry in Africa’ intoned a colleague. Really? Hadn’t noticed..

(tumbleweed blows past)

We met up with local health providers who would be making up the contingent for our NGO and slowly people started arriving. Dignitaries waddled themselves into shaded seats on a stage. Tons of children appeared from nowhere, singing, drumming and waving placards and it was all on.

The day was a mix of the inspirational, the sad and the plain surreal. It was great to hear people talking, singing, putting on dramas openly about real issues that affect them such as child labour, rape, AIDS testing, transmission of AIDS to children from parents etc Sobering how children have to grow up so fast here, kids are singing about ‘don’t accept candy and chipsi from that man he will give you AIDS’. Men preying on underage kids walking long distances to school is a huge issue here. I’ve worked with AIDS for 7 months now but the whole thing still creeps me out sometimes.

(kids doing a spirited dance)

I did note a dearth of people unaffiliated with HIV/AIDS groups (i.e the public at large) at the event. But the people and children who were here were enjoying the pageantry and the chance to hang out with each other. Our NGO contingent did us proud with singing. Quite moving. It got less moving as I tried to join in (briefly) for a bit of gyrating.

(me and my home based care supervising peeps)

It was late afternoon and save for the dignitaries in the shade, the sun was beating down on everyone else. No water anywhere for the people. Kids sheltering under kanga from the sun. Maybe it was the heat but things started get a bit weird for me. A woman put on a bawdy pageant about giving birth (in graphic detail) to a child with AIDS. It had people in hysterics. People in matching tee-shirts from sponsors were handing out condoms everywhere with gusto like lollies at a Santa Parade. I noted a co-worker chatting up some of the more attractive looking females there and pilfering a large swag of condoms for himself.

I also had an interesting convo with a workmate about what the ‘tribes’ were like in New Zealand. He asked if they were like ‘Red Indians’. Maybe it was the heat or the effects of the cow hoof soup or talking about Native Americans but my mind starting wandering oddly to thinking about the Ghost Dance movement of the Sioux of the 1890’s (yes, I am weird). Basically, the Sioux and others dispossessed of their lands, devastated by European epidemics and despairing of their future turned to a mass form of ritual dance, which they hoped would bring back the buffalo and usher in a new golden age. Some adherents thought the Ghost Dance would protect them from the bullets of the white man or even bring their dead friends back to life. I won’t go on but suffice it to say the movement had very mixed, if not tragic, results.

It just struck me watching people singing and dancing that people-especially in rural areas like Hedaru- lack a lot of the ‘weapons’ to fight AIDS, such as capacity, education, energy, enforcement etc. What they can do is dance and sing and hope their enthusiasm alters their environment for the better. Hm.

The day went on and people started drifting off as the ‘Guest of Honor’ from some Health Sub-Department read (droning) a speech off a piece of paper. Less entertainment value there for locals. We busted a move as well.

World AIDS Day. Does it change the world? Nah...but it gives some people who are affected by a disease a fun day out with friends. Some good messages. Plus the rate of infection is down in Hedaru, that’s always a good thing. Right?