Asante fuelling up before taking on the world

Asante spoke to the Program Director of the Jane Goodall Institute Uganda about what it means to be a young person taking an interest in the environment. And other things.

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Interview with Dr. Peter Apell

On Monday 30th of April, I got to interview the Country Director of The Jane Goodall Institute Uganda – Dr. Peter Apell. Read on to find out all sorts of cool facts about one of Uganda’s wildlife veterinarians.

Peter Apell is personal doctor to wild lions, and other such things…

That morning, I picked out my favourite blouse and jeans and jumped into the car with my Mama Kubwa. When we arrived at the Jane Goodall Institute Uganda, I was a bundle of nerves and extremely scared.

Four lovely caramel coloured dogs bounced around the compound, as did a few happy chickens. I thought it was a bit odd to see animals at an office, but I was happy to see them. When I went inside, they were many nice people we greeted, and a variety of environmental education posters on the walls that I read as I went up the stairs.

Upstairs, I met one of the managers, Mr. Osman who offered me and my mama a place to sit. Dr. Peter walked in and said hello. I was still shaking, however, he was nice and friendly to me.

Dr. Peter pronounced me to be a member of the Roots and Shoots club, and challenged me to make a Roots and Shoots club at school so my friends could join as well.

Shortly after, people came in for a meeting. They were representatives of 40/40 Foundation and Sooo Many Stories – two organizations that are encouraging young people to read more and challenge the illiteracy levels in Uganda. They were at JGI to receive some generous book donations.

The books contain information about chimpanzees, wildlife and protecting our beautiful Uganda. At the press conference, the Ugandan Roots and Shoots leader Ms. Jemima told everyone about the work Roots and Shoots was doing. She’s quite an interesting woman, who’s advocating for an even more interesting topic! Later in the day, I sat down with Dr. Peter Apell, who told me a bit about himself.

Are you an environment and conservation activist?

Yes, I am. I care for, rescue animals and treat them. All types of stray dogs and cats and such. I also plant trees and try to educate adults and young people alike about the environment, conservation and threats towards our environment.

I know that you are a veterinary doctor, but what inspired you to do so?

My passion for all animals and my childhood. When I was young and any animal, any bird, any dog, any cat went missing they all knew that it would be under my bed. I like animals a lot and I kept bringing them home. So, when I became an adult, I decided to care and look after them. What is your role at the Jane Goodall Institute? I am the country director but I am also a vet, and I treat sick chimpanzees when I go out to the field.

What do you think young people my age can do to help the environment?

Everything! Our entire future is in your hands. You are what makes adults want to do better and leave a good legacy behind for the coming generation. Stand up and ask for your future from adults!

What is your favourite animal?

Hyenas. They are very beautiful and laugh all the time. They are also very important to the environment as they eat bones. If hyenas didn’t exist, there would be bones everywhere! Also, marabou storks because they do the same thing, and clean the environment. Experts often laugh at them and say that they are dirty, but I think they are always smart. Marabou storks always have a nice black suit and white vest on!

Experts say that Budongo Forest shall be gone in the next 20 years, do you believe this?

That’s right, it really will disappear if we do not educate people so that we change our actions. We have to learn and accommodate environmental issues in our life. It’s our role to protect these animals and forests.

Any last words?

Yes, I would like to say to the young people perhaps seek a career in veterinary wildlife. I am one of less than 10 wildlife veterinary doctors, and I’m getting old quickly! And as for chimpanzees we have less than five vets. We need more and more children considering working as vets.

#JaneGoodallinUg

They saw me, they loved me

They call me

By a foreign name they gave

The man that married me

He saw me, he loved me

He calls me

By the ancestral name we share

My father who made me

He sees me, he loves me

He knows me

And my true name

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“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says…To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.” Revelation 2:17

Just sitting here fascinated by the idea that after this temporary life, God will reveal to me my true name. The name he breathed life into my soul with.

In a strange way, I have never been particularly attached to my name. It’s pretty basic, as far as names go – functional. I like that it is short and to the point. I have never been able to fill up the NAME space in any form. The Husband is always telling me my name is also a brand. That amuses me. What does not amuse me, however, is when my name is misspelt. But that has more to do with the rules of grammar, common sense and good manners than it has to do with any personal attachment to the name.

I remember school and how we all had ‘hip’ nicknames. Some people even changed their names permanently because they decided the classification given by their parents was too botanical. I’ve always been the sort of person who is great at coining nicknames, but for some reason, no one could give me a good nickname that sticks.

So I am Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mother. Angie, Mama, Sis…

I have also realised that when God speaks to me, I cannot recall ever hearing him address me by my name. He just sort of speaks like we are having a never-ending conversation – which we are anyway. And so I have become curious what He will call me when we do meet. What will it feel like to be reconnected to my real name? Will it be all cliche-like? Like coming home? Hand in glove? Cinderella slipper?

I guess I will just have to wait and see.

Isaiah 43:1

Isaiah 49:1-2

Jeremiah 1:5

John 10:3

First of all, although I may have quite a few negative things to say about school, it most definitely made me better. Right now, a few pieces of paper are the difference between me and a whole lot of people. They are the difference between my quality of life and that of the bulk of Uganda. They are the reason many MPs (I still cannot believe the Pirra Sematsimba debacle) are not MPs any more. Evidence of schooling is important, ergo, schooling is important. You cannot completely eliminate it.

Nursery school was a blur of biscuits. I loved to eat the serrated edges off the Nice biscuits or scrape the cream off the cream biscuits. I remember that. Somehow I came out of that level with the ability to read. And that, for me, was the most valuable contribution of school to my life. THE ABILITY TO READ. The subsequent seven years were also a blur. Class time mostly interfered with the time I wished to set aside to read story books.

During the next seven years I learnt the following:

1. That child mobs can be just as cruel, if not more so, than adult ones. Being ridiculed for my accent taught me to become a silent observer of life and human nature from quite an early age.
2. That one did not correct or contradict one’s teacher. EVER. In primary school you were the ignorant worms and the teacher was the infallible instructor pouring golden knowledge down your unworthy throat. And very often through your burning buttocks.  This knowledge served to kill what should have been a university experience during the three years I wasted at Makerere. By the time Ugandans get to that level, the ability to question anything has been completely erased from their repertoire of skills. Therefore what I thought would be an illuminating period turned out to be more notes-copying (or photocopying) and faux adoration of instructors I secretly believed to be incapable of moulding my mind.
3. That the grading system Uganda generally employs in school does not encourage healthy competition. It only sets the winners up to be hated by those who erroneously perceive themselves as losers. I recall girls sidling up to see what end of term prizes I had been awarded for being among the top 3 in class. They were my ‘best friends’, and the same girls who mocked me viciously the one term I came 4th. I see the same behaviour carried on into Ugandan adulthood. People admire your success and when they fail to figure it out they plot your downfall. The local terminology for it is “abantu tebagaliza banaabwe”. Translate at will. It all starts in primary school.
4. The art of being what the prevailing authority figure wanted me to be at that material time. To the insecure teacher, I was an unquestioning parrot, even when she said woo-mbrella instead of umbrella. To the teacher who valued spies, I was a snitch. To the one who was obviously soliciting extra ‘coaching’ money from parents, I was a child in need of holiday help with subjects I had long conquered. It borders on psychotic, I know, but look back and see that so many of you were doing that dance all the time. Twisting yourself into knots for approval, or just to avoid punishment. It taught you how to pretend to your parents that you wanted to be doctors and engineers and lawyers when you still have no idea who you are to this day. This chameleonising also births the habit of telling white lies, and it is only when you feel truly loved that you can shake that particular habit.
5. That the brain is a wonderful thing. There were three streams of kids per class. I knew all of them at the time, now I remember only a handful. Similarly, my brain has wiped clean so much of the wolokoso I was taught in class. I shudder to think how I’d be malfunctioning if I was still holding onto the Ruhr region, Sundiata Keita and a pair of Vernier Callipers. Go and watch Inside Out and then allow your brain to do its erasing work in peace.
6. That calling, desire and training must be a part of whatever you choose to do with your life. 99.99% of Ugandan teachers have no business moulding young minds. I know this because in all my many years of schooling, I only met ONE teacher who was called to teach. And I had the pleasure of shaking his hand and telling him so a few weeks ago. Mr. Ouma, my P.5 Science teacher was a blazing beacon of light in my world. He was the only teacher who not only did not display impatience with questions, but encouraged and even answered them. Having once been beaten in my underpants in the staff room because the English teacher decided that I had copied my original composition from a storybook, it is no wonder that I idolise the one teacher who called me aside after class to ask why I had a different answer in my test to the rest of the class. And then proceeded to explain to me why my answer would have been correct at a higher level, but not for P5. If you are not doing what God gifted you to do, you are a weapon in the hands of the devil, plain and simple. And so many teachers are weapons aimed right at your children.
7. That God works all things together for our good. Even shitty things like a Ugandan education. My gorgeous husband for instance was in the same primary school. No, we’re not long-time-ago sweethearts, but our shared experiences of that hellhole and the subsequent ‘good’ schools we went to form a very solid foundation for our marriage. My ability to observe people and communicate those observations has put food on my table for years. I met my maid of honour in school. The job advert that launched my career was posted on a notice board at Makerere. It has not been all bad – not by the longest stretch of the imagination.

All things have worked together and I’m not one to whine about the broken road that led me here. I’m not Christianly allowed to whine anyway (in ALL things give thanks…). Are there better ways to get children from point A to B? Heck yes! Are we ever going to perfect them? Probably not. But we’d be fools if we didn’t try to do better for them than what we went through. There is nothing I can do about my schooling but ask the Holy Spirit to help me let go of the things and people that scarred me the most, and to forgive me for the negative impact I had on other children who were trying to muddle through school. The goal is to change things for our kids.

For instance, there will be no 5:30am to 8:00pm schooling days for my offspring. No matter how much the idea of them falling behind other students scares me as a parent. I know I enjoyed play time and sports time and music time and just reading a book, and if I am the one paying the bills I will try and get the best possible education for them. Do the structured education alongside the soft skills. Take responsibility for the upbringing of your children. Be flexible about education. Be informed about your options.

As a child I often wondered why my parents had chosen to pluck me out of oblivion and shove me into this confusing, painful existence. I’ve often wondered what school was for and why I had to learn all the useless shit I did. If we can keep our offspring from those ruminations, we will have put our education to good use.

Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness.

Amantine Aurore Lucile Dupin, novelist (1804-1876)  

So, thoughts on Kindness, because it will never become irrelevant or go out of fashion.

Sadly, I’ve caught myself being kinder to a lost puppy than to my own son sometimes. Are you kinder to your OGs than you are to the woman you married? Who you gat time and love for, huh? Who? Axe yourself.

Kindness is a do and a don’t. Do give. Don’t get a big head about it. Do give. Don’t make people feel like shit with your manner of giving. Do give. Don’t expect something from the givee. Do give. Don’t whine or boast about it. Do give. Don’t give your worst and useless bits only.

Be kind with your time, your stuff, your love. Be kind to yourself. Kwegamba, eat and breathe KINDNESS just.

I’m supposed to do a whole lot of things in this 3 day quote challenge, but then, I’m also supposed to stop eating bacon. And that ain’t gonna happen, is it?

So, here’s to a week of random quotes randomly selected by myself.

“Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.”

Ecclesiastes 7:9

I’m gonna do like primary school and add: Discuss.