Off to the Equator

It looks like I'll be heading to Uganda, with a quick stopover in DC to pick up the visa, on January 8, assuming all the tickets come through. This should be a very interesting trip. I'm currently in Northern California visiting my sister, and will be coming back to Buda just in time to see the Longhorns take on USC in the Rose Bowl. Rosemary had told me that I could get all the vaccinations when I stop by DC prior to leaving for Kampala, but it turns out that you need to get the Yellow Fever shot at least 10 days before you're there for it to be effective. By shear luck I checked with the San Francisco Dept. of Public Health and was told that. I ended up getting all the shots there -- a total of five (including HepA, HepB, etc.) Should be pretty well set. My friend Richard, who lives in the DC area and recently came back from Liberia, suggested that I take Malorone for malaria instead of the older medication, which has more side effects. So I have that medication and one for typhoid, too.

The Presidents office -- finally -- sent us the invitation to come just a couple weeks ago, and said we had to be there during the time slot of January 10 through 17. (Apparently his time is pretty committed, with the election coming up in a couple months -- they've set up a very interesting website at http://www.nrm.ug.) I told them that that wasn't enough time to get some of the key technical folks there -- especially because of the year-end holidays -- but they said it was important that we come. So I, Rosemary, and Gary Chapman from UT (http://www.utexas.edu/lbj/21cp/bio.html) will be going. Gary was the guy that wrote the editorial in the Austin American-Statesman about how we were spending billions in Africa but, despite of that, conditions there were getting worse.

I've done some reading about Uganda -- from the background stuff the Bishop sent me as well as from the Internet, and know that what Gary said is true. For example, the life expectancy has dropped from about 56 to 42 in just the past 15 years or so (don't quote me on the exact figures), due in large part to AIDS. I guess they need to "just say no" to the Nancy Reagan-like message they're using these days. (I thought quite a bit about why they're saying that, and figure it's because of the heavy Catholic influence there.)

Will we accomplish anything there? I think we will, but who knows what the future holds. (I sure don't.) I've said all along that we just want to have a brainstorming session to see if we can identify some opportunities, and then go from there. Actually, I think our session will be very successful. My neighbor Franklin, the Ph.D. researcher from Ghana, told me about a couple technologies (one from his company AMD) that he thinks could make a difference there. I'm in the process of doing some research on those in preparation for the trip and my presentation. Incidentally, Franklin is excited about going there on the second trip, and I think there will be one.

Anyway, that's the latest. Good luck on your own trip, and be safe.

JW