Uganda Volunteer Journals

Cell phone service is really better outside the house, so on Monday evening I headed outside and I really couldn’t believe what was going on.
There was a group of girls that live in the same compound as myself, all huddled around a tree, heads down. I thought at first they were Muslim as many people are here and since I don’t know much about the religion I thought they were praying because I do know most Muslims pray many times a day. I asked one of the girls who wasn’t involved what was going on and she said “Satan [...]

Well a lot has happened in the past couple of weeks and now im on my way home. Just had a giant feast with the family and all packed and ready to go. Had a great last day at school, the kids put on a big assembly for me. Our head teacher asked them ‘who wants aunt Rachael to stay?’ and they all put up their hands….then she asked ‘who want to go with aunt Rachael?’ and they got even more excited. One kid said they wanted to come on the bus back home with me later today.
 
Just before I [...]

I’m sorry I haven’t updated in so long, I never had a chance after the Safari on Sunday and when I headed back out to Ntenjeru on Monday morning.
Safari was amazing! I really enjoyed it so much more than I thought I would, the guide let us get out and walk with a heard of 50 giraffes, I counted. We also got out near the river and saw hippos bathing and got really close to elephants, the Ugandan crane which is such a pretty bird and antelope and warthogs and the pictures are just great.
This week in the [...]

I arrived on Tuesday night and was picked up (as promised) by a driver and taken to a youth hostel which was very nice.  Lee picked me up this morning and now I’m getting familiar with the scene around the guest house.  On Saturday I’ll be driven to my assignment.  I haven’t learned the names of everything yet so I’ll not try and write them but will clue you in with my next email which hopefully will be tomorrow.  I need to take advantage of this while I’m where they have emails cause where I’m going they’re ain’t no such [...]

The village is just gorgeous! Its quiet no trucks going by all night and the project I have switched into is just amazing! I live at “The White House” and it is really cute it was built completely by donated money and volunteers. In the same complex there are about 15 sponsored orphans, who are all in high school so they are all really interesting to talk to and a peace core volunteer named Zach He is really cool and it’s nice to have someone from the west to live with way out in the village. There are also some [...]

These last two days have been nice and a good way to finish working with the Youth League. Yesterday I headed out to Seeta (Say-Tah) where Maria lives, I have paid for all the materials in which to finish her latrine and kitchen and as I left the latrine was finished and the roof was all that needed to be put into place. I also brought out some clothes, my sleeping bag and shoes for the family which they were so grateful for. I will be back to visit her I think one more time before I leave. She told [...]

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This weekend was so fun. On Friday, Ara, Sarah and I headed into Kampala for a volleyball match, Mukono vs. Kampala. We really thought it would just be a fun, non-competitive day but we were wrong. It rained really hard right before the game so we were playing in half a [...]

This week has been definitely the busiest since I got here. Today is Independence Day in Uganda though so I have a bit of a chance to relax even though I still have tons to do today and update the journal and what not.
On Monday Ben, Kiierya, and I headed out to an HIV clinic in Nagalama. It was mostly just a meeting we didn’t get to do too much on site. But the Youth League has set up a partnership with the clinic in which they will occupy an extra room at the clinic (which we take control over [...]

Hey all, everything is well here in Uganda….same old same old and then some crazy on top!
Went to Rwanda last week for a couple of days which was alot of fun. It is known as the land of a thousand hills….and u just cant argue with that. for some strange weekend we walked ALOT….and also got lost quite a bit but sure it was all part of the adventure.

After our 10hr bus journey there we stayed in the capital, Kigali, for two nights. On the way in we obviously crossed the border and I was nay impressed to have to [...]

Today I headed out with Julia one of the other volunteers that lives in the guesthouse to the outskirts of Mukono Town to the project she is working at. The Elizabeth House is just the most amazing project. It is a home and school for mentally and physically disabled kids; it was started by David and Val who both came to visit the school today. They I think are from Australia and raised the money to build the run the school through their church.
Each kid has quite the story and I took tons of pictures that I can’t wait to [...]

Yesterday I was home from work early and no one else was home. I really didn’t want to hang out alone so I went down the street a bit from where I live and introduced myself to the ladies who make mats by the road and sell them.
Prossie who is about 25 and been making mats since she was in primary school took a bit of a liking to me and now she is my self-appointed mat-making teacher. I learned the basics and gave them some shillings to buy some materials to make my own mat!
Prossie’s English is surprisingly good [...]

This past weekend was absolutely amazing! Friday I went to school as usual taught some english and science. Kids were good I taught them the difference between were and was and we did some journal writting. Creative thinking is not really taught in the schools and kids really just copy what the teacher puts on the board. It is really an effort to get them to ask questions when they don’t understand but its getting better.
After school a bunch of volunteers (9 of us actually) headed down to Kampala for a goodbye dinner for Amy. We stayed at a backpackers [...]

Another week is all wrapped up…hard to believe I am two weeks in. Most of you probably know that the original plan was to volunteer for 4weeks and then travel after but I am excited to report I asked my director Betty would she let me extend my volunteering period until I fly home and she said yes, and seems very happy that I am staying. It also means by the time I head home I will have spent almost a full school term with the kids, which is exciting. This doesn’t mean that I’m not traveling at all, Betty [...]

Yesterday’s outreach was quite something. It was only a five minute taxi ride, but then we were on boda bodas (basically dirt bikes) for almost half and hour to get out to the Nyansi village.
            I had thought we were going to actually build the mud-hut kitchen, but we actually had gone to evaluate how much it would cost to build a new latrine (bathroom, but really a hole in the ground) and a basic outdoor kitchen for Maria. Maria is 75 and albino, everyone in the neighbourhood calls her a mzungu (white person) because she is so white. [...]

Yesterday was beautiful. Kierya, the director of my program asked me to update the Youth League’s website which is www.youthleagueorganisation.blogspot.com there are a few pictures and information if you’re interested in exactly what I am doing here. That was a bit of a drag though because the internet was slow and I was originally planning on teaching.
 
            The rest of the day was much better. I went one a walk with Calandra, another volunteer who is working with MACRO (Mukono Aids Control and Recovery Organization, I think) anyways we were planning on walking up this mountain in Mukono that [...]

Hi all, hope everyone is well at home!
Have had a fantastic first week and am getting stuck into week two. So first people may find it entertaining that I made my first Ugandan child cry last week. Walking to school one day we stopped at one of our students house, just to make sure he was going to come to class that day. Usually on our way to school all the kids scream Hi Mzungu to us and this day was no different….until I approched 2of the kids while The other teacher checked their brother would come to school that [...]

I’m sorry it’s almost been a whole week since I updated the journal. Things really haven’t been crazy busy and I should have done it earlier.
This week I started at Divine Mercy Primary, not all the kids were back at school yet, they really all didn’t trickle in until Friday. All the volunteers here joke about Africian and Muzongu timing. Here nothing happens on time. Everyone takes their time doing everything, teachers take long breaks in the middle of lessons, people don’t show up for meetings until late, and it is socially acceptable. No one is in a rush to do anything. [...]

Wow!  The time has flown and I know in 30 days I’ll ponder “where did the time go so quickly.”  I don’t start my volunteer duties until November 1 but I’m arriving two weeks early and I’ll go to my work site early to get a feel for things.  I’ve already talked with the people there who are in charge and it’s okay.  
Last night I started packing the children’s shoes I’ll be taking.  I’ll also take the prescription glasses that my good friend Joe from Philadelphia Eye Works collects for me.  While I know nothing about the eyes and [...]

I am finally here in Uganda! I arrived yesterday at about 2:00 and stayed with another volunteer Calandra at a hostel until Leslie picked me up this morning and we headed for the guest house in Mukono. It is so tropical, very different than home! The roads are red, there are no traffic lights anywhere people are crazy drivers, Everyone takes taxis which are like minivans but the public transit here or boda bodas which are motorcycles you sit on the back of. I can’t wait to ride one!
I am volunteering with the Youth League but I am not [...]

Hey all!
I have arrived safe and sound and everything so far has been fantastic. As I arrived on th weekend I had a niced transition period to get settled in before starting work yesterday. On Friday evening I was picked up and brought to backpackers hostel, not to far from Entebbe airport. I got a bit of ’strictly come dancing’ on BBC in before having a good nights sleep!!
 
My volunteer co-ordinator, Leslie picked me up early on Saturday and brought me to Mukono, the town nearest to the village where I’m staying now.  The Real Uganda guesthouse is in Mukono, [...]

27 hours until take off

The days are going quickly.  All paper work has been sent for.  I’m waiting to receive my VISA for the three months I’ll spend in Uganda.  My days are filled with collecting what I’ll pack.  I told myself I wouldn’t take as many suitcases this year as previous years but I know that promise won’t be kept.  I’ve already started collecting children’s shoes, eye glasses, toys and clothing.  Of course while this is happening I’m still working with Joseph, the Maasai who is visiting here from Maasailand.  Our days are filled with me driving him to the places where he [...]

The neat thing about volunteering is I got to really know the people because I was living right smack in the middle of them.  There is so much more to learn about a culture when you’re participating in the day-to-day things.
While I’m here (yepper, still in the US but on the countdown to my Uganda trip on October 20th) I received a visitor from the last place I volunteered in.  Joseph Tipanko from the Maasailand village came to visit me while he’s moving around the US teaching about his culture to anyone who will listen.  My daughter-in-law “Barbara” will host [...]

There are 55 days until I leave Philadelphia, PA (USA) for my trip to Uganda.  While I don’t officially start until November 1 I will leave the states on October 20th arriving there on the 21st.  For those who are taking the time to read this, you’ll only find what it takes to prepare for such a journey.  I’ve already volunteered for GVN in Vietnam (Cu La Cham which is a very small island 18 k in the China Sea) and Kenya (living with the Maasai in Maasailand).  This time I’ll be headed to a very remote area in Uganda. [...]

Good afternoon to everyone!
Time is quickly passing, I can’t believe I fly home tomorrow. I spent most of the weekend in Kampala at more craft markets and exploring the city. Just when I get the hang of getting myself around the big busy city it is time to say goodbye. Enjoyed a weekend relaxing with the friends I have made here. It is the people and the kindness that I will miss most here. The Ugandans do not doubt themselves when it comes to helping others, and I think that is something that we could all benefit from learning. If [...]

Hello all! Hope you’re having a good Friday. Not too much to update about, I finished my last day of teaching this afternoon. I can’t believe how quickly the time has gone. We spent today making friendship bracelets with some string that I brought from home and using up the remainder of the markers and crayons that survived the month on coloring pages. Gen and I tried to explain to the kids that we wouldn’t be coming back on Monday, but I’m not sure how many understood. It was a typical Friday with children following us down the streets as [...]

Greetings from Kampala! I decided I needed some alone time this afternoon, so after school I hopped on a taxi in to the city. I spent the afternoon walking through the craft markets and enjoying a sunny Wednesday!
So, as I left off yesterday, this past weekend was spent at Murchison Falls on safari. The trip began early Saturday morning with the bumpiest six hour drive I’ve ever experienced. I developed a lump on the top of my head from being tossed up in the air as we went through all the pot holes on the Ugandan dirt roads. Just so [...]

Greetings! Hope everyone had a good weekend, my apologies for a lack of updates. Internet in Kampala was down Saturday, so I wasn’t able to connect before the safari. It’s been a very busy past couple of days, and I only have 20 minutes until I need to leave to get back for dinner, so I’ll try my best to catch you up.
Friday evening Allie, Tama and I all headed in to Kampala for a night out. Tama and I stopped by the Red Chilli Hostel and campgrounds to drop off our stuff for the weekend since we would be [...]

Osiibye otya nno! (Good evening to you)
Hope everyone is doing well. I don’t have too much to update, it has been a fairly uneventful past couple of days. Just wanted to touch base while I was on the net. Classes have been going well at Our Lady. We spent the last two days doing connect the dots with our P2’s and P3’s, and writing short stories with our P4 class. The kids loved the dot to dots, despite some trouble grasping the idea that you had to connect the dots in numerical order to actually make a picture. We had [...]

It’s a pleasant afternoon here in Mukono today, despite the constant smoke from the burning garbage. Gen and I had both of our P-2 and P-3 classes today, so it was a busy morning. We tried to work on interviewing by having the kids draw a picture of the person sitting next to them and asking them four fairly simple questions. We haven’t gone through them all yet, but I think we got a lot of pictures, not a lot of faces, and few answers. You take what you can get. Atleast they’re drawing and using some creativity. I would [...]