Just a quick update - not too much new going on. I'm in Kampala again with some friends for the weekend. We got permission to stay overnight on Saturday so we could have some more time exploring the city. Homestay is fine, training is good. we have 4 more weeks of training. We find out our sites in week 9 (we're entering week 6 right now). We just had our first language practice exam to see how we're doing. At the end of training, we take a final exam and we have to score "intermediate low" on it to pass. I just received "novice high" on the practice one yesterday so I feel I'm doing pretty well - most of us got novice high, I think. But only one more step to go to get that intermediate low - although it's a very large step up to that next level. I love the business/ngo training. We visited an NGO this week, and it was really awesome to see a very well-run organization doing amazing work for kids affected by HIV/AIDS.
Oh, and last Sunday, my friend, Lizzie and I, went to visit my friend Mark (a family friend) at his house in Kampala. It was great meeting him finally and seeing his little baby boy. The house is really nice, and it was fun to get out of our village for a day to see another part of Kampala and to visit another expat. My friends and I definitely plan to go back and visit him again soon. I think that's about all. Hope everyone back home is doing well!
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Back from PCV visit
Today, I'm in Kampala again, just stopping on the way back from our PCV visits. I went to visit a volunteer in the Makono District. Her village is right on Lake Victoria - it was beautiful; I really felt like I was at the ocean...except for the fact that we can't swim in it b/c of a really awful disease called schistomastis (something like that). But it was really nice to see an actual PCV's site, her house, how they live, what the cook, their job, activities, etc. I arrived on Monday afternoon; she showed me around her village, and I met some of her colleagues. On Tuesday, we spent some time relaxing and then attended the women's group meeting. It was really interesting to see how they collect and track loan payments of the women. These women run a fishery, own cows, small stands, make and sell soap, make water purifiers. And then on Wednesday, we visited a couple of the schools where the volunteer is running a sanitation competition with their latrines, drinking water, trash, etc. We then met up with some of the other trainees and volunteers, made dinner and slept at a Catholic convent. The volunteers took really good care of us - making us great food and telling us all about the next 2 years. We're in Kampala today for a little while and then back to training for Friday and Saturday. Only about 5 more weeks of training before we finally get sworn in as PCVs!
Other than that, I'm still doing great - no sickness except a minor cold I had earlier this week, but I am already all better from it. I'm still enjoying it and loving Uganda and am excited to move to site in late April. I honestly don't really miss home/the U.S. yet; I just really miss the news and hearing about Obama daily. The BBC still doesn't do it justice. Hopefully, I will be receiving the Economist soon. Anyways, hope all is well with everyone back home! May be awhile until I post again although I hope to make it to Kampala on Sunday to visit a friend. Give me a call!
Other than that, I'm still doing great - no sickness except a minor cold I had earlier this week, but I am already all better from it. I'm still enjoying it and loving Uganda and am excited to move to site in late April. I honestly don't really miss home/the U.S. yet; I just really miss the news and hearing about Obama daily. The BBC still doesn't do it justice. Hopefully, I will be receiving the Economist soon. Anyways, hope all is well with everyone back home! May be awhile until I post again although I hope to make it to Kampala on Sunday to visit a friend. Give me a call!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Pineapples, Matooke and Bucket Baths!
So I've been here for about 4 weeks now, and I absolutely love it. I really do. Sometimes, it's much harder than I thought it would be, and other times, it's much easier. But either way, I am handling Africa much better than I ever thought I would in the first few weeks. Case in point - the other day, I had a cockroach crawl up my pajama pant as I got out of bed, and I didn't completely freak out and get disgusted as I probably would have 2 or 3 years ago. Bucket baths, using the latrine and living without electricity is really okay.
I apologize in advance for this blog - I'm trying to type it as quickly as possible so I'm sure there will be many errors.
When we first arrived to country, PC staff picked us up at the airport, and then we stayed at this nice compound-type place for the first 5, 6 days to get adjusted to the country. We slept, ate and had our initial meetings there. It was a really great bonding time for our group.
We then moved to our homestays, which we will stay at for two months. My family consists of a father, mother, 2 boys-14 and 16 and then 2 younger kids-3 and 4. It's the ideal family I would've wanted. The 14 and 16 year olds and the father speak great English and are a lot of help, while the younger kids are fun to play with and the mother, who is only 3 years older than me, is so nice. She doesn't speak much English, but I play UNO w/ her and teach her about 20 English words each night to form some type of connection w/ her. The food in Uganda, overall, isn't that great, to be honest. Lots of matooke and posha - look them up to find out what they are. They eat a lot of starches. But there is also amazing pineapple, avocados, etc here so it balances out, I guess. I don't have electricity currently at my homestay, but I think we are getting it soon. It's a really nice house, and they keep it very clean, which I am thankful for. The worst I have so far is cockroaches.
Training is going well. I am learning the Ateso language, along with 5 other volunteers. Most likely, I will be sent to the Soroti region, which is NE Uganda. At first I was a little disappointed because I was hoping to be closer to Kampala, the capital, and most of my friends are learning Luganda, which is the language of the central region. But now I'm really okay with it, and actually excited to move to site and begin working - although that may be a slow process. There are 6 other Economic Development volunteers in my group - the rest are all secondary teachers or primary teacher trainers. I like the training for the business group; we have small business partners in our community who we meet w/ once/week to discuss things, learn from them, etc, and I really enjoy that part. I also had the chance to visit an MFI in my town this week. It was amazing. I learned so much from the manager, loan officer and the founder of the bank. In fact, they told me they want me to come work for them as their PC volunteer...only problem is that they're not actually signed up to get a PC volunteer so it won't likely happen, but it was great to talk to them and actually visit a real, live MFI in Africa. Oh, and everyone here knows about MF. My homestay father even took out a micro-credit loan before, and people often talk about them. It's great!
So today I'm in Kampala. PC took us all so that we could get a brief tour of the city and use public transportation, i.e. taxi buses. There is internet in my village, but it doesn't really ever work, and if it does, it's extremely, extremely slow so I'm too impatient to even try. We're getting good food here in the city and doing some shopping. Kampala is so nice, much better than I expected, although I had heard it was great. I hope to get back here soon. On Monday, we will be heading off for our "PCV visits" for 4 days, which is where we all go visit a current PCV out in the field somewhere to see their house, job and just learn about what it really be like at site. I'm going to a village, near Kampala so it's not too far, which I'm excited about. I didn't want to travel too far, and maybe I will be able to come back to Kampala this week at some point w/ my PCV.
Anyways, I think that's about all. I really do love it here; it's so beautiful, the people are great, PC staff is great as well - and overall, it's just been wonderful so far! I did have one bad day last weekend when I did wash for the first time (and probably the last time for the next month as long as I'm at homestay). Some of my clothes got ruined in the process, and washing clothes 3 times and only rinsing once and not being able to communicate very well with the mother teaching you made it all very difficult, but it was okay. We all had a rough time w/ it. My friends and I then went out for the afternoon to just relax, and it was all better then!
I will try to update again soon. Call me - 011-256-75-2726219. I would love to hear from you,a nd I can explain much more on the phone! Use pinzoo.com. It's only 12cents/minute to call to a Ugandan cell phone. Thanks for all the e-mails and calls thus far; I look forward to hearing from you!
I apologize in advance for this blog - I'm trying to type it as quickly as possible so I'm sure there will be many errors.
When we first arrived to country, PC staff picked us up at the airport, and then we stayed at this nice compound-type place for the first 5, 6 days to get adjusted to the country. We slept, ate and had our initial meetings there. It was a really great bonding time for our group.
We then moved to our homestays, which we will stay at for two months. My family consists of a father, mother, 2 boys-14 and 16 and then 2 younger kids-3 and 4. It's the ideal family I would've wanted. The 14 and 16 year olds and the father speak great English and are a lot of help, while the younger kids are fun to play with and the mother, who is only 3 years older than me, is so nice. She doesn't speak much English, but I play UNO w/ her and teach her about 20 English words each night to form some type of connection w/ her. The food in Uganda, overall, isn't that great, to be honest. Lots of matooke and posha - look them up to find out what they are. They eat a lot of starches. But there is also amazing pineapple, avocados, etc here so it balances out, I guess. I don't have electricity currently at my homestay, but I think we are getting it soon. It's a really nice house, and they keep it very clean, which I am thankful for. The worst I have so far is cockroaches.
Training is going well. I am learning the Ateso language, along with 5 other volunteers. Most likely, I will be sent to the Soroti region, which is NE Uganda. At first I was a little disappointed because I was hoping to be closer to Kampala, the capital, and most of my friends are learning Luganda, which is the language of the central region. But now I'm really okay with it, and actually excited to move to site and begin working - although that may be a slow process. There are 6 other Economic Development volunteers in my group - the rest are all secondary teachers or primary teacher trainers. I like the training for the business group; we have small business partners in our community who we meet w/ once/week to discuss things, learn from them, etc, and I really enjoy that part. I also had the chance to visit an MFI in my town this week. It was amazing. I learned so much from the manager, loan officer and the founder of the bank. In fact, they told me they want me to come work for them as their PC volunteer...only problem is that they're not actually signed up to get a PC volunteer so it won't likely happen, but it was great to talk to them and actually visit a real, live MFI in Africa. Oh, and everyone here knows about MF. My homestay father even took out a micro-credit loan before, and people often talk about them. It's great!
So today I'm in Kampala. PC took us all so that we could get a brief tour of the city and use public transportation, i.e. taxi buses. There is internet in my village, but it doesn't really ever work, and if it does, it's extremely, extremely slow so I'm too impatient to even try. We're getting good food here in the city and doing some shopping. Kampala is so nice, much better than I expected, although I had heard it was great. I hope to get back here soon. On Monday, we will be heading off for our "PCV visits" for 4 days, which is where we all go visit a current PCV out in the field somewhere to see their house, job and just learn about what it really be like at site. I'm going to a village, near Kampala so it's not too far, which I'm excited about. I didn't want to travel too far, and maybe I will be able to come back to Kampala this week at some point w/ my PCV.
Anyways, I think that's about all. I really do love it here; it's so beautiful, the people are great, PC staff is great as well - and overall, it's just been wonderful so far! I did have one bad day last weekend when I did wash for the first time (and probably the last time for the next month as long as I'm at homestay). Some of my clothes got ruined in the process, and washing clothes 3 times and only rinsing once and not being able to communicate very well with the mother teaching you made it all very difficult, but it was okay. We all had a rough time w/ it. My friends and I then went out for the afternoon to just relax, and it was all better then!
I will try to update again soon. Call me - 011-256-75-2726219. I would love to hear from you,a nd I can explain much more on the phone! Use pinzoo.com. It's only 12cents/minute to call to a Ugandan cell phone. Thanks for all the e-mails and calls thus far; I look forward to hearing from you!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Leaving tomorrow!
Welcome to my blog! This blog will detail my 2-year Ugandan adventure! If you're not aware by now, I have joined the Peace Corps and am leaving tomorrow - first orientation and then officially leaving the country on Friday, Feb. 13th. I will serve 2 years, returning in April 2011.
It's been a long process, getting into the Peace Corps (I will always refer to as "PC" from this point forward). I applied back in October 2007, interviewed with a recruiter, received a nomination (originally for October 2008), went through many medical exams and paperwork, waited, waited some more, finally heard from my Placement Officer in late August, who told me I wouldn't be leaving in October for Burkina Faso as I had hoped, but instead would receive an invite for February 2009. At this point, she couldn't tell me the country (they really keep you in suspense until the very last moment). I then received my invite in the mail a few days later...for Uganda and to be a Business Advisor in the Economic Development program. I was happily surprised. Although I had been really hoping for Francophone in order to learn French and in the hopes of having a career in African microfinance ("MF"), I know that Uganda is very involved in microfinance; in fact, it's flooded with MFIs (microfinance institutions). I am not exactly sure what I will be doing as Business Advisor (it's a fairly new program), but I have found some blogs of current PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) who are in the economic development program, and many of them are involved with "income-generating activities" projects, which is microfinance-related. So that's a good sign.
The last few months have been a whirlwind. I seriously wonder where the last 4 months have gone. I found out at the end of August that I wasn't leaving until February, left my microcredit job in Philly at the beginning of October, moved home to Harrisburg, PA and started a new consulting job (international microfinance, social enterprise, SROI, small business, etc), which I just left a couple weeks ago. I worked from home, for those of you who didn't know, but I was kept busy by the work, which I thoroughly enjoyed (and thank my friend - and microfinance mentor - Drew, for giving me the great job opportunity) and meanwhile, filling up most of my time - which is a good thing - for the four months before I departed. Before I knew it, it was winter, and I hadn't done much to prepare for Uganda, except taken a big trip to REI. In the last two weeks, I've crammed in all the necessary things - packing, shopping, cleaning and organizing my room, throwing out stuff I no longer need, visiting friends, family, doing all the other little things you don't think about until the last minute...and taking the GMATs (only just a week ago)...and attending President Obama's inauguration!
This past weekend, my sister came home, and my family spent the weekend together, which was nice. My friends and I also went out downtown Friday night for a last big get-together; it was the first time in years that all 7 of us girls were home and out together! As for today, I am finishing up packing, going through my room, running out for the very last things I forgot and saying the last goodbyes to my friends. Later today, I will say my goodbye to my mom, which I expect will one of the hardest things I will ever have to do. Tomorrow, my Dad and I will go to my sister's in Philly, go out to a nice dinner and stay over as I then have to be at a hotel in downtown Philly by 1:30 for "staging" (or orientation). There, my entire group meets one another, meets some PC staff, fills out the last of the paperwork and talks about what the first few days of what life will be like in Uganda. We then leave Philly on Friday morning and take a bus to JFK, where our flight leaves around 6 PM on Friday evening. We fly from there to Belgium, to Rwanda and finally to Uganda, arriving there around 11 PM (Ugandan time) on Saturday night.
As for what my life will be like in Uganda, I am not exactly sure. Below, I have answered a series of questions that I am asked quite often by people. Hopefully, it will provide you with more background on the PC and the next two years. I am very excited to leave and am glad it's finally here. It's been hard saying goodbye, but I'm also really ready to move!
Please check back for updates. As I note in my answers below, I don't know yet how often I will have internet, but I hope to update it each time I get to a computer that has internet access. I may send an e-mail from time to time, if something of major significance occurs, but I do hope to stick to the blog as I think constant e-mails are too much, and I don't want to flood your mailboxes. This way, you can check it whenever you think of it or whenever you have time. I apologize in advance if I make grammatical or spelling errors or the otherwise. I may not always be typing on a traditional American keyboard and may not have always have adequate time to proofread and spell check. I will also try to keep this blog as politically correct as possible as I have a wide variety of people I've sent this blog out to - friends, family, acquaintances and professional colleagues and contacts. The PC also keeps a tab on all the volunteers' blog; I've even heard stories about volunteers being kicked out due to situations w/ their blogs so I will be very careful about what I write here.
Please write me letters and/or e-mails - I still want to know what is going on in your life! If you do send me a letter, number it, so I know if one got lost somewhere. And I will always write you a letter back so if I never acknowledge that you sent me one, please send me an e-mail, letting me know that you mailed one awhile back and never heard from me - it really may have gotten lost somewhere in transit. Check to the right of this post for details on how to send letters to achieve the highest success rate of getting to me. I also posted some links about Uganda, Africa and the Peace Corps if anyone wants to learn more. And always feel free to ask me questions in e-mails or comments on the blog postings. I will respond! I hope to also post pictures at some point; however, from hearing from other PCVs' experiences, this is rather difficult to do. Most of the computers in internet cafes in Africa have 1990s-like internet so I may just have to upload them to a CD and send home to my sister to upload to my webshots (for future reference, website is: http://community.webshots.com/user/ElleS1376). This website is only for pictures of my various international travels, starting with my study abroad semester in Denmark. So I will add all future Ugandan pics there. I also posted the link on the right-side of the page, with the other notes.
And of course, if you ever want to take a big trip and experience something new, you're more than welcome to visit me in Uganda! I really hope some of you do. As of now, I'm almost certain my father and sister will make it there. Also, my good friend, Steph, may be attending a wedding in South Africa next summer, which will hopefully mean a stop in Uganda! I have another friend who will be doing some work in Rwanda, which is right next door to Uganda, so hopefully I will be able to see them as well.
Fortunately, besides potential family/friend visits, I do also have a fair amount of contacts in Uganda. For one, about four months ago, I found out that a friend of a friend of my uncle has been living in Uganda for the last ten years, working at an HIV/AIDS organization in Kampala. Even more ironic, he was in the PC years ago, and he now works closely with the PCD (Peace Corps Director - each country has one) and has two PCVs working for him currently. We've communicated via e-mail a few times thus far, and I hope to meet up with him when we arrive in the capital for the first few days. He also just had a son, not too long ago, so I look forward to meeting the baby as well! I also have some microfinance contacts in Uganda, thanks to some colleagues and also the Grameen Foundation, where I used to work. I'm not sure when, or even if, I'll be able to meet with any of them, but I hope to definitely try to do so at some point in the next two years! It's not that large of a country so I think I'll be able to visit some.
I apologize for this posting being so long. Congrats if you actually got through it all! But it's more of a post of the last five to six months; future ones will not be this long!
*One last note: I am trying to keep this blog as protected as possible. I will not use my last name anywhere on this site. So please never write my last name, and if you do have the same last name as me, and decide to write a comment, please do not use your last name. I am trying to prevent this from showing up in Google searches under my name. Thank you.
Common Questions Asked to Me (in no particular order):
*What will I miss the most while being gone? - Besides the norm of family and friends, I think I will really miss (as stupid as this may sound) having a large, comfy bed in a big, clean house. As most of you know, I am a clean freak and don't like touching things that are dirty, but I have been really working on not worrying so much about things like that. But I will certainly miss having a big clean bed, free of bugs and what other else may be climbing through my bed. Other than that, I will really miss having a real, clean bathroom. I've used latrines and squatting holes before in Nicaragua and Egypt, but I was never a pro at them. Also, I will really, really miss reading/watching/hearing the news everyday! Most of you know that I check cnn.com at least 20x/day (that is no exaggeration). I read Economist weekly and love watching NBC evening news. I will really miss all of that. But overall, the experience of living in Africa for an extended amount of time and gaining experience towards my microfinance career is much more important to me.
*What will I be doing in Uganda? - My title is "Business Adivsor" in the Economic Development Program. In my training group, there are the Economic Development Program Volunteers (Business Advising and NGO Development) and the teachers. Most of the other volunteers in Uganda are health (AIDS projects) volunteers. I don't know exactly what I will be doing yet. I will find out my job assignment about half-way through training (about a month after I arrive there). I hope that it is microfinance related since that's what I've been working in and will be my career.
*How long will I be there? - 26 months: 2 months of training and 24 months of actual service.
*What will I learn in training? - language skills, how to take care of ourselves health-wise, how to prepare food safely there...and far more, I'm sure!
*What language will I learn? - Not sure. English and Luganda are the 2 official languages in Uganda. But Swahili and many other tribal languages are spoken there, as well. I will find out in training regarding which language group I'm in. Which language I learn in training is most likely the language I will be speaking for the next two years (so I will able to narrow down the part of the country I will be living in once I know which language I'll be learning).
*Will I have e-mail access? - Yes, but I don't know how often. For the first two months, I will be in training and will probably have e-mail access. After that, it all depends on where I am placed for the next two years. I know some volunteers who have internet in their town and others who have to travel hours for it. I will update as soon as I know!
*Will I have a cell phone? - Yes. From the recent correspondence we received from the PC, it sounds like we get a cell phone within the first week. Once I know my number, I will post it on here.
*Will I have running water, indoor plumbing, electricity? - I don't know. Again, I know volunteers who have all of the aforementioned amenities and others who have none. I'll tell you all about it when I find out what my housing situation will be like for the two years!
*What will my housing be like? - Again, I'm not sure. Maybe a hut, but more likely, a cement (slightly larger) house.
*Will I be living in a rural or more urban area? - Once again, not sure. Probably rural, however.
*Will I be able to come home at all? - Yes. From what I understand, I have 2 days of vacation per month of service, but they can be used ahead of time, i.e. I don't have to take off two days each month. So essentially, I have 48 days of vacation. And the term, "vacation," in the PC is used loosely, I believe. Visiting a fellow PCV doesn't have to count as "vacation" - it can be considered PC "business" so I think most vacation time is out-of-country travel and if I have family/friends come for extended amounts of time, where I can't work. A lot of PCVs do come home for a couple (or few) weeks about half-way through the two years. But I'm not sure I will. Many also travel to Europe to meet up with family or friends. I think I prefer that. I'm almost certain that I will want to leave the continent of Africa at some point during the two years, but flights to Europe are cheaper (and shorter), and I will be home in the U.S. in two years for a long time, probably (although I do think I want to live abroad for at least some of my career) so I'm not sure I see the need to come home during the two years as long as I can go somewhere else and visit with family and/or friends.
It's been a long process, getting into the Peace Corps (I will always refer to as "PC" from this point forward). I applied back in October 2007, interviewed with a recruiter, received a nomination (originally for October 2008), went through many medical exams and paperwork, waited, waited some more, finally heard from my Placement Officer in late August, who told me I wouldn't be leaving in October for Burkina Faso as I had hoped, but instead would receive an invite for February 2009. At this point, she couldn't tell me the country (they really keep you in suspense until the very last moment). I then received my invite in the mail a few days later...for Uganda and to be a Business Advisor in the Economic Development program. I was happily surprised. Although I had been really hoping for Francophone in order to learn French and in the hopes of having a career in African microfinance ("MF"), I know that Uganda is very involved in microfinance; in fact, it's flooded with MFIs (microfinance institutions). I am not exactly sure what I will be doing as Business Advisor (it's a fairly new program), but I have found some blogs of current PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) who are in the economic development program, and many of them are involved with "income-generating activities" projects, which is microfinance-related. So that's a good sign.
The last few months have been a whirlwind. I seriously wonder where the last 4 months have gone. I found out at the end of August that I wasn't leaving until February, left my microcredit job in Philly at the beginning of October, moved home to Harrisburg, PA and started a new consulting job (international microfinance, social enterprise, SROI, small business, etc), which I just left a couple weeks ago. I worked from home, for those of you who didn't know, but I was kept busy by the work, which I thoroughly enjoyed (and thank my friend - and microfinance mentor - Drew, for giving me the great job opportunity) and meanwhile, filling up most of my time - which is a good thing - for the four months before I departed. Before I knew it, it was winter, and I hadn't done much to prepare for Uganda, except taken a big trip to REI. In the last two weeks, I've crammed in all the necessary things - packing, shopping, cleaning and organizing my room, throwing out stuff I no longer need, visiting friends, family, doing all the other little things you don't think about until the last minute...and taking the GMATs (only just a week ago)...and attending President Obama's inauguration!
This past weekend, my sister came home, and my family spent the weekend together, which was nice. My friends and I also went out downtown Friday night for a last big get-together; it was the first time in years that all 7 of us girls were home and out together! As for today, I am finishing up packing, going through my room, running out for the very last things I forgot and saying the last goodbyes to my friends. Later today, I will say my goodbye to my mom, which I expect will one of the hardest things I will ever have to do. Tomorrow, my Dad and I will go to my sister's in Philly, go out to a nice dinner and stay over as I then have to be at a hotel in downtown Philly by 1:30 for "staging" (or orientation). There, my entire group meets one another, meets some PC staff, fills out the last of the paperwork and talks about what the first few days of what life will be like in Uganda. We then leave Philly on Friday morning and take a bus to JFK, where our flight leaves around 6 PM on Friday evening. We fly from there to Belgium, to Rwanda and finally to Uganda, arriving there around 11 PM (Ugandan time) on Saturday night.
As for what my life will be like in Uganda, I am not exactly sure. Below, I have answered a series of questions that I am asked quite often by people. Hopefully, it will provide you with more background on the PC and the next two years. I am very excited to leave and am glad it's finally here. It's been hard saying goodbye, but I'm also really ready to move!
Please check back for updates. As I note in my answers below, I don't know yet how often I will have internet, but I hope to update it each time I get to a computer that has internet access. I may send an e-mail from time to time, if something of major significance occurs, but I do hope to stick to the blog as I think constant e-mails are too much, and I don't want to flood your mailboxes. This way, you can check it whenever you think of it or whenever you have time. I apologize in advance if I make grammatical or spelling errors or the otherwise. I may not always be typing on a traditional American keyboard and may not have always have adequate time to proofread and spell check. I will also try to keep this blog as politically correct as possible as I have a wide variety of people I've sent this blog out to - friends, family, acquaintances and professional colleagues and contacts. The PC also keeps a tab on all the volunteers' blog; I've even heard stories about volunteers being kicked out due to situations w/ their blogs so I will be very careful about what I write here.
Please write me letters and/or e-mails - I still want to know what is going on in your life! If you do send me a letter, number it, so I know if one got lost somewhere. And I will always write you a letter back so if I never acknowledge that you sent me one, please send me an e-mail, letting me know that you mailed one awhile back and never heard from me - it really may have gotten lost somewhere in transit. Check to the right of this post for details on how to send letters to achieve the highest success rate of getting to me. I also posted some links about Uganda, Africa and the Peace Corps if anyone wants to learn more. And always feel free to ask me questions in e-mails or comments on the blog postings. I will respond! I hope to also post pictures at some point; however, from hearing from other PCVs' experiences, this is rather difficult to do. Most of the computers in internet cafes in Africa have 1990s-like internet so I may just have to upload them to a CD and send home to my sister to upload to my webshots (for future reference, website is: http://community.webshots.com/user/ElleS1376). This website is only for pictures of my various international travels, starting with my study abroad semester in Denmark. So I will add all future Ugandan pics there. I also posted the link on the right-side of the page, with the other notes.
And of course, if you ever want to take a big trip and experience something new, you're more than welcome to visit me in Uganda! I really hope some of you do. As of now, I'm almost certain my father and sister will make it there. Also, my good friend, Steph, may be attending a wedding in South Africa next summer, which will hopefully mean a stop in Uganda! I have another friend who will be doing some work in Rwanda, which is right next door to Uganda, so hopefully I will be able to see them as well.
Fortunately, besides potential family/friend visits, I do also have a fair amount of contacts in Uganda. For one, about four months ago, I found out that a friend of a friend of my uncle has been living in Uganda for the last ten years, working at an HIV/AIDS organization in Kampala. Even more ironic, he was in the PC years ago, and he now works closely with the PCD (Peace Corps Director - each country has one) and has two PCVs working for him currently. We've communicated via e-mail a few times thus far, and I hope to meet up with him when we arrive in the capital for the first few days. He also just had a son, not too long ago, so I look forward to meeting the baby as well! I also have some microfinance contacts in Uganda, thanks to some colleagues and also the Grameen Foundation, where I used to work. I'm not sure when, or even if, I'll be able to meet with any of them, but I hope to definitely try to do so at some point in the next two years! It's not that large of a country so I think I'll be able to visit some.
I apologize for this posting being so long. Congrats if you actually got through it all! But it's more of a post of the last five to six months; future ones will not be this long!
*One last note: I am trying to keep this blog as protected as possible. I will not use my last name anywhere on this site. So please never write my last name, and if you do have the same last name as me, and decide to write a comment, please do not use your last name. I am trying to prevent this from showing up in Google searches under my name. Thank you.
Common Questions Asked to Me (in no particular order):
*What will I miss the most while being gone? - Besides the norm of family and friends, I think I will really miss (as stupid as this may sound) having a large, comfy bed in a big, clean house. As most of you know, I am a clean freak and don't like touching things that are dirty, but I have been really working on not worrying so much about things like that. But I will certainly miss having a big clean bed, free of bugs and what other else may be climbing through my bed. Other than that, I will really miss having a real, clean bathroom. I've used latrines and squatting holes before in Nicaragua and Egypt, but I was never a pro at them. Also, I will really, really miss reading/watching/hearing the news everyday! Most of you know that I check cnn.com at least 20x/day (that is no exaggeration). I read Economist weekly and love watching NBC evening news. I will really miss all of that. But overall, the experience of living in Africa for an extended amount of time and gaining experience towards my microfinance career is much more important to me.
*What will I be doing in Uganda? - My title is "Business Adivsor" in the Economic Development Program. In my training group, there are the Economic Development Program Volunteers (Business Advising and NGO Development) and the teachers. Most of the other volunteers in Uganda are health (AIDS projects) volunteers. I don't know exactly what I will be doing yet. I will find out my job assignment about half-way through training (about a month after I arrive there). I hope that it is microfinance related since that's what I've been working in and will be my career.
*How long will I be there? - 26 months: 2 months of training and 24 months of actual service.
*What will I learn in training? - language skills, how to take care of ourselves health-wise, how to prepare food safely there...and far more, I'm sure!
*What language will I learn? - Not sure. English and Luganda are the 2 official languages in Uganda. But Swahili and many other tribal languages are spoken there, as well. I will find out in training regarding which language group I'm in. Which language I learn in training is most likely the language I will be speaking for the next two years (so I will able to narrow down the part of the country I will be living in once I know which language I'll be learning).
*Will I have e-mail access? - Yes, but I don't know how often. For the first two months, I will be in training and will probably have e-mail access. After that, it all depends on where I am placed for the next two years. I know some volunteers who have internet in their town and others who have to travel hours for it. I will update as soon as I know!
*Will I have a cell phone? - Yes. From the recent correspondence we received from the PC, it sounds like we get a cell phone within the first week. Once I know my number, I will post it on here.
*Will I have running water, indoor plumbing, electricity? - I don't know. Again, I know volunteers who have all of the aforementioned amenities and others who have none. I'll tell you all about it when I find out what my housing situation will be like for the two years!
*What will my housing be like? - Again, I'm not sure. Maybe a hut, but more likely, a cement (slightly larger) house.
*Will I be living in a rural or more urban area? - Once again, not sure. Probably rural, however.
*Will I be able to come home at all? - Yes. From what I understand, I have 2 days of vacation per month of service, but they can be used ahead of time, i.e. I don't have to take off two days each month. So essentially, I have 48 days of vacation. And the term, "vacation," in the PC is used loosely, I believe. Visiting a fellow PCV doesn't have to count as "vacation" - it can be considered PC "business" so I think most vacation time is out-of-country travel and if I have family/friends come for extended amounts of time, where I can't work. A lot of PCVs do come home for a couple (or few) weeks about half-way through the two years. But I'm not sure I will. Many also travel to Europe to meet up with family or friends. I think I prefer that. I'm almost certain that I will want to leave the continent of Africa at some point during the two years, but flights to Europe are cheaper (and shorter), and I will be home in the U.S. in two years for a long time, probably (although I do think I want to live abroad for at least some of my career) so I'm not sure I see the need to come home during the two years as long as I can go somewhere else and visit with family and/or friends.
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