Beauty, legends & challenges in Uganda‘s highlands
And a tour of reproductive rights
After a couple of weeks in dry and dusty Mbarara, we felt we needed to taste the fresh air of the highlands of southern Uganda. We drove for three hours to Kabale, and stayed at Lake Bunyonyi (second deepest lake in Africa) for three nights. Lake Bunyonyi is a crater lake at almost 2,000m altitude, and was created less than 20,000 years ago during a volcanic eruption. Free from hippos, crocodiles, and Bilharzia (a not so enjoyable parasite), you can also swim there - uncommon in African lakes. It was such a perfect and peaceful place, we even pulled out the tent and camped by the water.
The peace didn‘t last too long… After a few obnoxious Ghanaians (the only other guests at the hostel) kicked up a fuss about their „missing chicken“, the „marine police“ turned up sirens ablaze on the one and only police boat of Lake Bunyonyi. The funniest of all was when one of them threatened to call their embassy to report the stolen chicken, which they accused the hostel staff of eating. In the end the police took them away to the police station on the mainland, and we had the place to ourselves. We couldn‘t have wished for better entertainment while enjoying our local brew by the campfire.
The local brew „Omuramba“, made from „Sorghum“ flour, is the alcoholic beverage of choice around the lake. One is skeptical at first, which is probably a good thing, as the brew is a murky dark brown color with floating bits of ash in it. In addition, we were told that although it is alcoholic, the alcohol content is usually unknown - were we about to get extremely tipsy and fall into the lake? Would we perhaps turn into angry Ghanaians? In the end the bitter and fermented taste grew on us, and for seasoned drinkers like ourselves, we could easily handle the Omuramba.
There are 29 islands scattered around the lake, and nearly all of the islands have a story attached to it. „Punishment Island“ is probably the most creepy, and is a stark introduction into the reproductive rights of women in this region of Uganda up until the 1940’s. Punishment island is a tiny patch of grass with one tall tree, where women were taken when they fell pregnant outside of marriage. Being pregnant outside of marriage meant shame to the girl’s family, and a loss of „bride price“, which was only paid for virgin girls. Families brought these „shameful and worthless“ girls to Punishment Island to die of hunger, or to drown while attempting to swim away. Most people at the time, especially girls, did not know how to swim and therefore could not escape. Some girls were rescued by poor fishermen, who couldn‘t „afford“ a virgin wife. „Were the men also punished?“, we asked. Can you guess the answer? Of COURSE the men were not punished. Here‘s a good article from BBC about Punishment Island: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-39576510
In 1921 Bwama island was given to a Scottish missionary doctor by the name of Dr. Sharp, where he started a leprosy hospital with a church, some housing, and other health facilities. Today it houses a health centre (with a resident goat) that provides vaccinations, treatment for malaria, HIV care, „safe medical male circumcisions“(!), and a maternity hospital. Since there were no patients on the day, we were kindly offered a tour of the labour ward and post-natal unit. While it was probably one of the nicest views imaginable from a hospital (Zürich Gold Coast eat your heart out), it offered ZERO comfort. Trust us, as capable as the lone midwife seemed, you do not want to fart out your baby there. The maternity unit, which delivers an average of 20 babies per month, consisted of a small office with a blood pressure machine, a weighing scales, some simple fetal monitors, and a birthing chair with a built in bucket. The maternity hospital is only accessible by either a dugout canoe, or the ambulance boat that sits at the small jetty. In fact, it was only recently that the government „donated“ this ambulance boat to the island, after it was finally recognized that a dugout canoe on choppy waters might not be the best way to transport a laboring woman. „But that‘s great that they now have the ambulance boat“, you might be thinking. It would be great if the government also „donated“ fuel for the boat. Fuel is expensive, and the government only supply fuel sporadically - namely when medicine is being delivered. Sometimes the hospital staff need to dig into their own pockets to fuel the boat. Imagine being in labour on an ambulance boat and it runs out of fuel in the middle of a lake! It might be 80 years since Punishment Island was a thing, but it seems that pregnant women here are still not treated with enough dignity or respect, nor are their needs taken seriously by society. But at least the police boat used to attend „stolen chicken incidents“ always has a tank full of fuel.
