A Series of Events...

Almost two weeks have passed since a rather eventful weekend. The short story: my camera was stolen, my camera was recovered, and I had malaria.

The slightly longer version...

My camera was stolen on a Friday, though I didn't realise that it was missing until Saturday morning when I wanted to bring it to Town to upload pictures. Most any other place, there would have been little hope of even figuring out what had happened, let alone finding it again. BUT... I live in a small village in rural Uganda... AND, I am the adopted daughter of the Village Chairman. For the sake of privacy, I won't explain the details of what happened or who was involved. By Sunday afternoon, however, after multiple "conferences" in our living room and announcements after mass in multiple villages, my father arrived home triumphantly carrying my camera (trust me, it's easy to distinguish, being that it's one of only a handful of cameras in the surrounding area and the only digital one at that). The batteries were dead, the hand strap was missing, and there were a couple extra (incriminating) photos, but all in all, the camera survived its adventure better than I expected.

Lessons learned: While I may not appreciate all the forms that justice and punishment takes in the village, I am in awe of how well it works. Sometimes I have to step back and silence my independent streak, as well as my "need to know what is going on" nature... for example, when my father and numerous other important villagers are arguing loudly in Luganda about the probable whereabouts of my property.

Mostly, I'm still glad I brought my camera with me. I'll be glad of the visual reminders of so many memories from this part of my life. And it's been really fun to be able to show people their snaps (and the kids love it when I indulge their desires for short videos of them yelling and playing). But I'm also fully aware that the main reason my camera was stolen was because it is such a strange and precious treasure in this place. If it was a commonplace item, it likely wouldn't have disappeared (especially not given the circumstances which surrounded this particular theft). So, in some ways, I am the one responsible for this theft - because I am the one who brought this strange toy here. This is a simple metaphor of one of the bigger questions regarding development which has been plaguing my contemplations so much lately: when we introduce new technology with all its benefits, what responsiblity do we have for the negative effects that inherently accompany it as well?


Then, to make the weekend even more exciting, shortly after getting my camera back, I finally admitted that I was sick and let my younger brother accompany me to the village hospital. I'd been feeling tired, and had a headache and stomachache for about four days, plus a fever and chills that came and went somewhat cyclically (i.e. I felt miserable every afternoon). Despite the fact that I've taken malaria prophylaxis religiously since before arriving in Uganda, the propensity with which I am bitten by mosquitoes made malaria still a possibility. I used a quick-test kit brought from Kampala to test my blood for P. falciparum, the deadliest of the local strains of malaria, but it was negative. However, when I showed it to the nurse (who diagnosed me with malaria based on my symptoms and a rapid heart beat [actually, malaria is synonymous with "fever" around here, so my elevated temperature alone would have gotten me that diagnosis]), she logically explained that I probably had one of the other strains and sold me Coartem for 3000/=. Three days of medicine that I bought for approximately $2, and I was completely better.

So there you have it, my first experience with what was most likely malaria. A few days of feeling absolutely miserable and having some ridiculous fever dreams, then a few handfuls of tablets, and I was back to normal. All in all, slightly anticlimatic. And to whom it may concern: yes, I realise that this most likely disqualifies me from any future voluntary studies on malaria, but please know, I never really desired to disqualify myself in such a manner.

And in case you're worried (Mom), know that I still sleep under my mosquito net and take my prophylaxis every day (with my vitamin). Don't be too concerned... given some of the more exotic fever-inducing diseases which exist in the world, I'm actually glad that it was malaria I seem to have had, as that is what I received quick and good treatment for.