Mount Elgon

With thanks to David Dowdy for pictures and information.

These pictures were all taken on Mount Elgon . It is the area where there has been the greatest interest in the goat programme. That is because on the mountain it is difficult to keep cows, meaning that there is a shortage of milk. But the dairy goats do very well there.

Kapchorwa is on the dryer (northern) side of the mountain. The “view from Kapchorwa” is not just spectacular scenery, but illustrates how hard people work to gain a living. The brighter green vegetation is banana plants. The darker green clumps are eucalyptus trees that have been deliberately planted. Not easy on slopes like that! And when it comes to harvesting them, getting the logs safely down the side of the mountain will be a real challenge

The little white pickup in the “goat delivery interrupted…” picture couldn’t carry the goats any further because the road was being used to dry coffee! The coffee grown on Mount Elgon is top-quality Arabica. (The cup sitting in front of me at the moment contains just the dregs from my morning cup of Mount Elgon coffee!) Fortunately we were very close to our destination, and the goats could easily be walked the last little bit.

The picture “School Children in Mbale District” shows just how green most of the mountain is. We didn’t plan to take a picture of the children. I had stopped the car so that my visitor could admire the view, and we just attracted a crowd!

When I am in the village teaching about dairy goats, we use whatever venue is available – churches & schools are ideal, but often we meet under the shade of a mango tree. In the final picture, there were no such facilities, and I was teaching in the open air. But the weather was ideal – cloudy but no rain. Once again, we attracted the attention of some school children, who joined the audience. The man beside me was translating for me. There are around 35 languages in Uganda , so wherever we go we need a local translator – even my Ugandan Field Officers often need a translator when they move outside their home area

(Photos and text by David Dowdy)