We arrived in Uganda to awful news. A mudslide on Mt. Elgon--the beautiful mountain overlooking most of our Ugandan project sites--killed 300 people on the morning of our arrival (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8549742.stm). The first lady postponed our meeting as she and President Museveni traveled to the site of the tragedy.
Luckily, none of our projects in the area were impacted--but they could have been. The President explained that mudslides like these happen when there is no tree cover. The rainy season is short, but without the natural barrier that trees provide, strong rains can easily cause tragedies like this one.
When we give our presentations across the US about the importance of providing African villages with an alternative energy source, we show pictures of children chopping down trees. We show women carrying wood on their heads. We talk about the problems of deforestation in Africa. But here it is--proof of the fact that villages need to stop cutting down their trees, proof that we must find a sustainable energy source that doesn't deplete their natural resources and endanger their lives.
We will meet the first lady for breakfast tomorrow morning as we continue on with our trip is planned, thankful that we and our projects are safe, but our thoughts are with those who were not so lucky.