Thanks, Iceflower.
And today's BB report from Uganda.
I'm delighted to see that it's Trine Larsen who is covering our Marie in Uganda. Then we can rest assured the coverage will be good.
https://www.billedbladet.dk/kongelige/danmark/prinsesse-marie-maatte-undvaere-stroem-og-vand
As you know from Iceflower's post Marie is today in north-western Uganda, not that far from the border to Congo - and close enough to the border to Southern Sudan...!
But things started out as you may expect in rural Africa. There was no electricity nor warm water at the hotel where Marie stayed (and presumably the press as well) so no warm shower this morning for Marie and no charging the phone either. But Marie soldiered on anyway.
That however are luxury-problems in comparison to the problems some of the people Marie met today are facing. Mainly female refugees from Southern Sudan, where you are pretty exposed if you are a woman and in particular if you are a woman on your own. Rape and other forms of abuse - not to mention blackmail and robbery are a very real risk for any woman or girl who is fleeing across the border to Uganda.
The situation in Congo right now, that is in the regions close to Uganda, is pretty tolerable but sometimes unrest flare up, or a decease break out. Outbreaks of Ebola are not uncommon in Congo and it's difficult to contain, simply because of local ignorance, misinformation, tribal predjudice and especially superstition. Often medical staff at what hospitals and clinics there are, are attacked by locals, because someone told them that the treatment is lethal, that vaccinations are dangerous (you don't have to live in Congo to believe that one, though! Sadly enough.) and so on. I once read a thought-provoking account of a serious outbreak of Ebola in Congo, some years back. (You may remember the world-wide Ebola-scare.) The decease was scary enough for the locals, but what really freaked them out was when the white relief-workers started to die as well.
Ironically the best protection people in Congo have against epidemics, is that everything, not least the infrastructure, is so primitive.
So it was not just to demonstrate the decease-control system in Uganda for a visiting VIP, when Marie was checked for signs of fever yesterday. It's deadly serious for the Ugandans!
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And an update from BT:
https://www.bt.dk/royale/prinsesse-marie-paa-vild-tur-i-uganda-det-her-er-et-ingefaerblad
Nice photos.
It was a very bumpy drive Marie went on today! Well at least for the journalists who was part of the cortege.
![Big grin :D :D](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
The suspension in their car, combined with the road made it feel like the bottom and the windows were on the verge of falling out.
But Marie was shown around in the fields the female refugees from Southern Sudan cultivate.
Now, what about the menfolks, you ask? The teenage boys too?
Why don't they go with the women?
Very simple: While women are in serious risk of being raped and robbed while on the run - also being killed - men caught by the warring factions in Southern Sudan will more likely than not be killed on the spot.
In many cases the men of a tribe or village in Southern Sudan will send the women and children ahead, escort them a part of the way, but otherwise send them on on their own, because the men stay back to fight. But just as much the men stay back to protect their cattle and fields - the whole basis of not only their personal economy but also their status in society. They can't vanish into the bush with both their cattle
and their families.
And there is one more reason for men not joining their women: Uganda.
Men won't be welcomed with open arms in Uganda, because if there is one thing Uganda is
not interested in, it's the conflicts spilling over their borders, or Uganda becoming the base for hit and run raids in Congo and Southern Sudan across the border.
It's not only a political conflict in Southern Sudan. It's also a tribal, ethnic and religious conflict. - The "Sahara-tribes" to the north against the "central-African" tribes in the south. In fact that's pretty much the whole reason for Sudan splitting up in a northern and southern part.
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Additional update from BT, this time including a video og Marie dancing.
https://www.bt.dk/royale/se-prinsesse-marie-danse-stammedans-der-har-vaeret-mange-store-oplevelser
But the visit is of course serious enough.
DanChurchAid is teaching the local Ugandans in how to grow new types of crops in this pretty poor part of Uganda.
Because the current climate-changes are of course also, and very much so, affecting Africa. And traditional crops and traditional methods don't work anymore. (*)
So now they are being advised and supported in growing new crops that can better cope with the increasingly arid climate. And this is mainly directed at women who take care of the "kitchen-garden" while the men take care of the fields and larger livestock. (**) That is if there is a husband around. Because many men work far away, perhaps in the cities or even in another country or they have simply vanished - for all sorts of reasons. So it left to the women to grow and support the family inbetween their husbands coming back with money (if they ever come back).
For many families the change to new crops have meant the difference between eating once a day to, eating several meals a day.
(*) Not least cattle. Even though African cattle are tough breeds, the drier climate and more arid landscape means it's ever more difficult to maintain cattle. They need space and something to eat, and that takes up place, which again leads to territorial disputes because the population is growing. There have previously been attempts to introduce camels into east and central Africa, because they can cope and they provide milk. But cattle is deeply ingrained in the local cultures. A man's whole status is based on how much cattle he owns. Not how many sheep or chicken or pigs he owns, cattle. There is even a local greeting that roughly translates to: "How is your cattle?"
But the realities are harsh and there seems to be less reluctance in switching into more adaptable livestock like camels. I guess money outranks cattle.
(**) Nothing special about that. Also here in DK it's far from uncommon that it's only the wife and children who look after the kitchen garden and poultry on family farms.