The Going Gets Rough

Buhoma is a smally, lively town with a bustling thoroughfare that leads straight into Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. A constant whir of people, animals, and motorbikes crisscross the winding road, making this tiny locale feel more like a humming engine than a pastoral agricultural backwater. Gorilla Conservation Camp, my temporary home, sits on a hill overlooking Buhoma and the national park. About one kilometer to the west, beginning just on the other side of the mountain, is the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The DRC has been synonymous with unrest for much of its history. In recent years this unrest has intensified, as a threat that has terrorized Africa for decades reemerges, Ebola. 

I was in the middle of a wonderful excursion to visit the Batwa people, an endangered pygmy tribe that once lived throughout the national park, when I first heard about the bad news. Ebola “jumped” the border from the DRC to Uganda when a family crossed into Uganda desperately seeking out a medical clinic. The repercussions of this migration were felt at an international level. The World Health Organization (WHO), a United Nations body tasked with determining whether this was indeed a global crisis, would deliberate for days before issuing their answer. In the meantime, for us researchers on the ground, there was much to be uncertain about. Rumors of families from the DRC entering the health clinics of Kanungu emerged in the days following the first confirmed case. A lack of dependable news sources created further confusion. Several universities pulled their students out immediately. After conferring with USC and local health workers, I decided that the best course of action would be to leave Uganda and finish my research in a nearby country. Sometimes to minimize risk, the best option is also the toughest. With a heavy heart, I packed my bag and ventured north to Ethiopia to finish my data analysis. It was a bittersweet end to an incredible journey. Everyday in Uganda was a new adventure bristling with opportunity for self-growth, making new friends, and overcoming challenging obstacles. This lesson at the end is merely another solemn reminder of the importance of global health work.