How to cook grasshoppers in 8 easy steps

Now that we've settled in Uganda we've been able to explore a bit around Mbarara. In the past couple weeks we've been out to a few bars and clubs, spent an afternoon swimming at the local pool, routinely cram six to seven people in "taxis" to get to work, and are way too comfortable while weaving through traffic on boda bodas (and if we're overcharged by $0.20 we let them know).

But one of the most interesting things of traveling anywhere is the chance to try the local food. While eating local food out at restaurants is one thing we did right away, recently we've taken to trying our hand at cooking local food ourselves. The girls have refined their matoke recipe thanks to advice from Vivian, our closest contact at FAOC. We've recently had authentic katogo prepared for us by one of the women from Kahenda. And we had a surprise visitor drop by to make us Ugandan millet porridge. But one thing we hadn't tried yet was grasshopper.

Our first encounter with them was in the market in Entebbe. Tara, not knowing what they were, made the mistake of walking over to a big barrel of fried grasshoppers and pointing. She was offered a scoopful of grasshopper torsos to sample, and caused quite a bit of laughter when she refused. We resolved to try them, we just wanted to wait for "the right time". Well, our hand was recently forced. Grasshopper is seasonal (yes, they have a grasshopper season). And it's ending very soon; the best time of year to get them ends in May and starts up again in November, a couple months after the dry season ends. Realizing that our chance was going to get away from us (we weren't going to settle for imported grasshopper) Katie and I headed to the market this morning in search of grasshoppers.

Step 1: Buy the grasshoppers at your local market

It didn't take long for us to find them. There was a woman selling a basketful at the entrance to the market. It was a bit of an odd sight. They are captured at night using powerful lights to attract them. They are then funneled into barrels where they spend the rest of the night using up their energy trying to escape. In the morning their legs and wings are plucked and they are sent off to the market and sold alive. They are wildly popular and we were assured that no grasshoppers are left by the end of the day.

So Katie and I looked over the basket of wiggling torsos trying our best to look like grasshopper connoisseurs. "Yes, this looks like it will do. Ah, very fresh today". We went with the intention of buying fried grasshopper, but suddenly the chance to cook them ourselves seemed pretty appealing. In for a penny...
We bought one large, overflowing cup for 5000 shillings (about 2 dollars) and walked off with our wiggling plastic bag. We were pretty sure most of them were dead by the time we got home, but the girls voted to throw them in the freezer for a while just in case.
  
Step 2: Rinse the grasshoppers

We've been told this step shouldn't be skipped. So we dumped the bag of almost-certainly-dead grasshoppers into a pot of water and rinsed them several times, eventually working up the nerve to use my hands.

 Cleaning the little guys

 Step 3: Remove the excess water.

This step is less pleasant. Basically, squish the water out of them.

 Wet grasshoppers

Somewhat less wet grasshoppers

Step 4: Throw them in the frying pan.

We've been told several times that you don't need to add oil as they "make their own oil". Yeah.

 Step 5: Add onion, garlic, salt and pepper to taste.

Step 6: When the power in the building goes off, cover and simmer gently.

Step 7: When power returns 45 minutes later, add some olive oil and fry for 5 more minutes. Your grasshoppers will change colour when done.

 Step 8: And this is the most important, always enjoy them with friends...

 Just think of them as little shrimp

Our first bite (taken with the timer on my camera)

 Getting the hang of it

By the end we were actually enjoying them

 
         

Challenges and Success Stories

Our first full week of field work is behind us, and we have a much better appreciation of the many challenges that our partner communities face trying to raise goats and pigs with the limited resources available to them. We made household visits to three more communities since Devon's last update. I'd like to highlight a few of the remarkable women we've met from each of the communities.

Jovia, from Kikokwa

A grandmother and caregiver of two grandchildren, Jovia is a model of hard work and perseverance in the face of many challenges. She was loaned two goats through the pass-on project last year, after building an extremely impressive raised goat pen and planting elephant grass for feed. She had collected the goat droppings and used the manure in her small matoke plantation. She proudly showed us the reward for her hard work - the leaves on her trees were much bigger and fuller than the surrounding plantations. However, as a widowed grandmother she is quite vulnerable, and her two goats were stolen three months ago. We like to approach each challenge our beneficiaries face on a case-by-case basis. Jovia had done everything right, and we wanted to show her that we appreciated her hard work and excellent management skills. However, given that thieves have little fear of a single grandmother, we could not simply loan her more goats to be stolen again. With the help of Joseph, a FAOC extension worker and local farmer (who also acts as our translator) Tara and I discussed the issue her. We came to the conclusion that if she was able to securely lock her goat pen theft would no longer be a concern. Given the cost involved, we told her that if she was able to build a secure door for the pen we would provide the lock and lend her two more goats. We didn't need Joseph to translate her reply; she was so happy, clapping her hands enthusiastically!

          Jovia with her two grandchildren, Tara and me. Her goat pen is in the background.

Marian, from Kikokwa

Marian benefited a goat in 2011. She is now raising that goat's kid. However, she is also taking care of her son's goat, which had twins, and has two other orphaned goat kids. Altogether, that makes a lot of hungry young goats. However, she happily informed us that she has raised orphaned kids before, supplementing them with cow's milk. Luckily, thanks to Dr. Haines and the Saskatoon Colostrum Company, we received a donation of about two dozen bags of colostrum for lambs and kids. The colostrum will certainly help Marian provide the nutritional needs of the kids as she slowly increases the amount of green feed over the next few weeks. 

Marian with the second generation of the pass-on project

A very busy foster mom

Scovia, from Kikokwa

Scovia is truly one of our success stories. She has one of the most impressive little farms we've seen so far. She was loaned a pig through FAOC's pig pass-on project last year and now has two big sows that have produced seven piglets each. She plans to pass two on to other members of her group to repay her loan, and the remaining piglets and her sows will help her provide for her family. Her management skills are excellent, as evidenced by the healthy piglets, as well as a nice farm of goats, geese, and two very cute puppies that Tara spent a lot of time photographing.
 

The sow that was loaned to Scovia, with her seven piglets

Cute puppies

Meburo, from Briere

Meburo is a widow who received two goats that were passed-on from another beneficiary. She sold one of the goats to pay for her grandchildren's school fees, but now has two offspring from the other goat. She was very amused by the introduction that Ilse, Katie and I attempted in Runyankole. She said "osiibirota, nyabo" (good afternoon, m'am) to Katie and Ilse and "osiibirota, sebo" (good afternoon, sir) to me and burst out laughing when I (correctly?) replied "osiibirota, nyabo". Before even showing us her goats she insisted on picking three sweet potatoes and a pumpkin to take with us. Not being able to offer much in return, the three of us did a physical exam of her goats and trimmed their feet as a thank you.

Meburo with her goats, Ilse with her sweet potatoes.

   

 

 

Hello Dear Blog Readers,

 

Well as my mother reminded me, it’s my turn to let everyone know how things are going with our Global Vets project. Not that this is a hard chore, because we are enjoying Uganda very much and we met with our first parish on Sunday, which made us feel like we are part of something very special.

 

After arriving in Mbarara, we stayed for a few days at a guest house close to the office of the Foundation for Aids orphan children (FAOC). During our first morning we spent a lot of time reading project documents and conversing with the administrator and programs director, Vivian Namale. Vivian is a wonderful and helpful lady and we are very much looking forward to working with her as she will help us get in touch with the parishes and will often act as our translator. We did feel a bit overwhelmed with the task of turning our many goals for the summer into specific tasks and coming up with a schedule; however, after a day of much reading and asking questions, and a good night’s sleep, things quickly became clearer.

 

We currently have a schedule of the parish meetings we hope to attend in June where we will try to get an understanding of their economic and social needs. While in the community we will also visit the homes of many potential beneficiaries to decide who is ready to receive goats or pigs, and give support to those who still have a bit more work to do. We had our first Parish meeting on Monday with Kyenyangi (“Chen-yan-gee”), a group which has been very successful in previous years. The women were very welcoming of us, and we were able to talk about many goat health and production problems. Most of the women sat in the grass shucking eggplant to sell in the market while they related their struggles. I think the meeting gave us more of an understanding of the role we play in the project, and opened our eyes a bit more to the beneficiaries’ way of life.

 

Today we had a staff meeting which lasted all morning at the FAOC office, and we discussed our goals, as well as many other projects they run. We hope to help out with the “Day of the African Child” activities which will take place on June 16, as well as prepare some nutritional demonstrations later in the summer. We spent the rest of the day working on these tasks and looking into the record keeping process for the goat project.

 

Aside from the project, we have also started to get to know Mbarara a bit and have moved to our permanent place at the Mbarara University for Science and Technology (MUST) student accommodations. We are staying in a lovely apartment with a big living area and a kitchen and we have really enjoyed being able to “nest”. Shopping in the markets and riding around town on the “bodas” – motorcycles which many people here use for transportation- is starting to feel quite normal. On a personal note, as I am writing this blog, I am feeling very grateful for my little family here - Katie and Elad are having a rousing game of Backgammon and Ilse and Tara are teaching us how to count in ryankore, the local language.

 

Cheers from Uganda!!

 

Devon  

Escaped piggies at one of our beneficiaries!

Meeting with the Kyenyangi group

Learning from a very knowledgeable FAOC worker called Joseph

One of many "Awkard Family Photos" I hope to share this summer

We have currently raised enough funds to purchase and pass out 40 goats, however our goal is to pass out 80 goats this summer. Here is some additional information for anyone interested in donating a goat to this project:

We are currently in Uganda and will be purchasing and passing out goats within the next few months. Fundraised money goes directly into the project for the purchase of goats to pass out to the communities. This is where you have the chance to purchase a goat for a family in need. The majority of our beneficiaries are women and children who have lost family members to HIV/AIDS. The goats help these women to make a small income which helps send their children to school and feed their family. The beneficiaries are only loaned a goat once they have shown dedication and commitment to the program. Once the goat is bred and has reproduced, the loan is repaid as the offpsring enter the program and are passed on to new members.

 

The cost of a goat in Uganda is $50. With this donation you will receive a picture of a goat with its new family. There are no administration fees and all donations will go directly to the project. Goats will be hand delivered by us and our colleagues. To make a donation please contact Barbara Souther at bsouther@shaw.ca or 250-652-2906 in Canada. Please include your address and number of goats you purchased so we can send you a picture at the end of the summer. Charitable donation tax receipts available through Vets without Borders can be issued. Thanks in advance, your help is greatly appreciated!

This morning we went to Kampala to visit the veterinary college at Makerere University. Driving through Kampala was a bit of an adventure but luckily Frank, whom we've been staying with in Entebbe, is a great driver and knows back roads to avoid traffic. We arrived at the college and were a little lost but met a very nice student Martha who is completing her Bsc in wildlife biology. She introduced us to Dr. John Bosco Nizeyi, Uganda coordinator and director of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, and Dr. Sam Okech. After chatting for a while they invited us back to attend a boma, a meeting where vets and students share experiences and ideas, at a one health veterinary conference they are holding in early July. We will make every attempt to come back to Kampala to attend.

Busy streets in Kampala.

We then went for a walk around the vet college with Martha. She showed us their center for pathogen control and research and introduced us to Dr. Nakanjako Maria Flavia who works at AFRISA, the Africa Institute for Strategic Animal Resource Services and Development, http://www.afrisa-africa.org/. AFRISA offers programs in essential agriculture and livestock skills for farmers and local community members to enhance their knowledge and education. Before leaving the vet college, Andrew, a final year vet student, gave us a brief tour of their small animal clinic.

We had also been given a book from Dr. Jerry Haigh, his most recent, Of Moose and Men, to deliver to his friend Dr. Christine Dranzoa at Makerere University. We discovered she was no longer in Kampala and was currently working at a university in a town further north, but we managed to meet her sister Angela who will pass the book on for us.

Walking around the beautiful Makerere University campus.

Lunch with Martha was the usual delicious chicken or goat stew with matooke (plantain), rice and chapati. After lunch we were fortunate enough to meet with Dr. Ludwig Siefert. Dr. Siefert teaches at the university and has been working in the national parks in Uganda for many years. His work centres on large carnivore research and community-wildlife relationships. We hope to work with him in Queen Elizabeth National Park later this summer.
Our day ended with a 5 hour bus trip to Mbarara where we will be staying until the end of July working on our project.

Global Vets was created to promote international collaboration on animal health and welfare, public health, food safety, agricultural development and disease emergence; advancing the “One World, One Health” concept. This volunteer initiative is carried out by students in their second year of studies at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine. Students travel throughout the developing world and participate in volunteer projects that benefit people in foreign nations, enabling students to foster a better understanding of veterinary medicine, agriculture, disease emergence, and social issues in these countries. With similar programs at the Ontario Veterinary College and the University of Montreal, Global Vets strives to enhance working relationships and the exchange of ideas between Canadian veterinarians and their colleagues in developing regions of the world.

In the summer of 2013 Devon Wilson, Tara Bocking, and Elad Ben-Ezra will be working in Mbarara, Uganda on a Vets Without Borders project with Dr. Claire Card. The project summary can be found at https://www.vetswithoutborders.ca/what-we-do/africa/uganda. Briefly, we will be working in local communities around Mbarara to help in developing sustainable agriculture and income sources for the most vulnerable women. This involves lending goats to the women through the Foundation for Aids Orphaned Children. It is a long-term project, and as kids are born they will be repaid into the project for future beneficiaries. The overall goals of this project are to raise the socioeconomic status of vulnerable women, improve community, animal and environmental health, encourage gender equality and promote long term project sustainability.

We are working alongside two Vets Without Borders students, also from the WCVM, Ilse Dedden and Katie Nicol, their blog can be found at http://blog.vetswithoutborders.ca/.
We are very excited to begin the project and look forward to posting more updates as the project develops.

From left to right: Elad Ben-Ezra, Tara Bocking, Devon Wilson and Katie Nicol.