heeey everyone,
so i'm back in kampala and then off to luweero after my internet time. last night i got in from kumi after staying at my future site for 2 days. crazy!! the past fews days have been a rollarcoaster of excitement then followed by the thought, i can't do this. day by day.
so here's the lowdown on my site:
i'm in the middle of nowhere. seriously, i'm in between villages, off the main road a bit. then you come to the school compound, which is where some of the students live (the orphans) and the 20 teachers and me. i can walk to the classrooms from my house in 30 seconds...their playground is my backyard. there is also a church on the grounds too which is very beautiful. they have daily mass/prayers and i went on thurs. Father Charles (who is my supervisor) dedicated the mass to me and my family in america, which was very nice. He's awesome, I really like what he's doing and he has a great vision for the place. He really wants me to work with the orphans and the children. the orphans that stay on the compound are from the north. father charles worked in the camps in the north for 5 years and then started st. charles borromeo. he brought the orphans here and he said he wants me to work with them because they are traumatized from the wars. so i will be doing counseling and building self confidence and the like with them. he wants that to be my primary focus i think. but then they also want me to be a drama teacher/art teacher/health teacher and apply for grants to get new classrooms and then teach all the teachers there to use computers. so i think i'll be doing a little of everything....oh and he also wants me to travel out to the villages and do family visits and teach the community about sanitation and personal hygiene and hiv/aids. i'm a little overwhelmed right now, to say the least. but the students were adorable...960 of them welcomed me with a song and speech and then i had to give a little speech as well. this much is for certain...i will definitely be fluent in ateso.
my house. i share a "duplex" with my counterpart, who is the headmaster, and his family. he's really nice and so is his wife. i think they will act as my "parents" while i am there...although, he's already mentioned a few times he has a son my age who will be staying with us during the holidays. multiple people have told me that i must get married to an ateso man and stay for at least 4 years....but i'm straying from my house. i do not have water or electricity, which is kind of a bummer. i'll have to take my bike to the bore hole and carry the water back on that. i have a pit latrine that is far enough from my house that a few times i had to literally run there and almost didn't make it. my bathing area is awesome though! except that it doesn't lock. but there is no roof and it's outside...so the first night a took a bucket bath under the stars and there was a storm in the distance so the sky was lit up with lightening...that was awesome. and in the morning i took one while the sun was rising. and if it rains, i can just take my soap out and shower in the rain. so yeah....i'm pretty rural, as rural as we get. oh and there are about 100 cockroaches living in my house....they said they would fix that before i come back...ummm yeah, cause i can't live with that. adam is in the same situation as far as housing goes. the people in soroti (an hour away from us) are running water, a toilet, and electrictiy. i think i'll visit them a lot.
so we have one week left in luweero with our families and then we head to kampala next week to visit the embassy and then we are sworn in as volunteers on thurs, april 10th.
i miss you all like crazy....i'm buying an extra bed for my house for visitors....that means you. so please come.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
"shake your body"
HAPPY EASTER!
I just got back from mass and an easter breakfast (of eggs and chips-french fries) with 6 others. the mass was very beautiful and in english-granted we got up and went to the one at 7 in the morning. but the priest told us today we must all shake our bodies for jesus because he is alive today! it was great. It feels like easter without the chocolate bunnies and eggs...i still wanted to have an easter egg hunt,but that's a no go.
last night i explained to my mom about our family easter traditions...the egg hunts, coloring the easter eggs, and just spending the day with family...i'm excited to get a call from all of you today though...i'm currently charging my phone just for that!
we got done with training early yesterday so i went home and took a nap. it was a rough night 2 nights ago...i woke up at 1 in the morning and had to run for my bucket in the room. going pee is called a short call here, and pooping is called a long call. well, it was my first experience having a long call in a smallll bucket, in my bedroom. you know the movie dumb and dumber...the scene with jeff daniels on the toilet...that was me, except i was on a bucket and probably waking up the whole house. when i left in the morning my mom said "i wish you a fast recovery." oh goodness. but i'm all good now...i'm sure you all wanted to know about my bm stories.
so it's officially the rainy season..and we don't have water, go figure. and the power has been gone for days. BUT it's COLD!! and by cold i mean it's in the 70s. it's amazing...but i still manage to sweat. my mom is constantly complaining about the cold and that she can feel it in her bones. the baby is wrapped up like it's ready for a winter blizzard. the other night she's telling me that she sleeps in a sweatshirt, blankets and a towel over her head. i'm thinking, woman, it's still freaking hot here! but instead i told her she would not survive in america...she just laughed.
adam and i are the highest in our language class! woot..we're kicking ateso's butt! i leave for my future site visit on wednesday...terrifying.
i'm already nervous about going through muzungu withdrawal...today we talked about how excited we are to plan our parties in different parts of the country and to visit each other. and in the beginning of july we will all be getting together for some more training after three months at site. then someone brought up our site visit this week and actually having to work...looks of terror and nervousness came across our faces but it will be interesting/good to get to site and figure out what work to do!
I just got back from mass and an easter breakfast (of eggs and chips-french fries) with 6 others. the mass was very beautiful and in english-granted we got up and went to the one at 7 in the morning. but the priest told us today we must all shake our bodies for jesus because he is alive today! it was great. It feels like easter without the chocolate bunnies and eggs...i still wanted to have an easter egg hunt,but that's a no go.
last night i explained to my mom about our family easter traditions...the egg hunts, coloring the easter eggs, and just spending the day with family...i'm excited to get a call from all of you today though...i'm currently charging my phone just for that!
we got done with training early yesterday so i went home and took a nap. it was a rough night 2 nights ago...i woke up at 1 in the morning and had to run for my bucket in the room. going pee is called a short call here, and pooping is called a long call. well, it was my first experience having a long call in a smallll bucket, in my bedroom. you know the movie dumb and dumber...the scene with jeff daniels on the toilet...that was me, except i was on a bucket and probably waking up the whole house. when i left in the morning my mom said "i wish you a fast recovery." oh goodness. but i'm all good now...i'm sure you all wanted to know about my bm stories.
so it's officially the rainy season..and we don't have water, go figure. and the power has been gone for days. BUT it's COLD!! and by cold i mean it's in the 70s. it's amazing...but i still manage to sweat. my mom is constantly complaining about the cold and that she can feel it in her bones. the baby is wrapped up like it's ready for a winter blizzard. the other night she's telling me that she sleeps in a sweatshirt, blankets and a towel over her head. i'm thinking, woman, it's still freaking hot here! but instead i told her she would not survive in america...she just laughed.
adam and i are the highest in our language class! woot..we're kicking ateso's butt! i leave for my future site visit on wednesday...terrifying.
i'm already nervous about going through muzungu withdrawal...today we talked about how excited we are to plan our parties in different parts of the country and to visit each other. and in the beginning of july we will all be getting together for some more training after three months at site. then someone brought up our site visit this week and actually having to work...looks of terror and nervousness came across our faces but it will be interesting/good to get to site and figure out what work to do!
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Ateso land it is!
Hey everyone!
I'm in Kampala for the day so I finally have a chance to update this thing!
Okay, I'll start with MY JOB! So in one month I will be done with training, an official volunteer and on my way to Ateso land in the eastern part of the country. Yes, I'm learning Ateso…the only non-bantu language in Uganda. The languages similar to it are Turkish and Russian….which means I need to start studying! I'm working with St. Charles Borromeo Community Development Initiative. They have a primary school, an orphanage (130 students live there), and a life skills center for young girls. Over 900 students and only 20 teachers…my thoughts exactly. So I will be living on the school grounds with the teachers, working with the students. Essentially, I will be a health teacher…I think. So I'm already thinking of some creative ways to teach about hiv/aids, hygiene, and sanitation to the kids. I think this is going to be great…I'm going to be with about 1,000 kids a day, literally. Wow. Oh, and my counterpart said I am also doing community outreach…OH, and it's a catholic org. (which I'm totally excited for) and he said I could potentially do religious counseling/guidance as well. Awesome! I have a future site visit in 2 weeks, so I'll get to see the place and meet everyone. I know I have electricity, but no water…and a pit latrine. Oh well.
So, training. Looooong days, some are good, some not so good. It's from 8-5 everyday. We usually end up getting a beer after it, but we've started doing other things as well, like yoga. There are a few people I already can't live without here, they're great, and we make the best of it.
My host family is awesome. It's a mom and 6 kids, the oldest is 18, then we have a 4 week old baby. My mom is always worrying about me and won't be happy until I eat 20 pounds of food a night, which is never going to happen, but she still tries every night. The other night I made my oldest sister go to the latrine with me, by latrine I mean hole in the ground. We have a slight problem with rats. They are everywhere, I have a stand off with one just about every other day. My mom laughs at me and says, ahh you are fearing, but you must get used to them. No, I can get used to a hole for the bathroom and lots of cockroaches, but I refuse to get used to rats. That's where I draw the line!
I miss everyone bunches…and food…and a toilet. But it's good here, I think I'll have my work cut out for me. By mailing address will change in a month, but I expect some mail from some of you!
OH and my sister is coming to visit in July!!!!! I'm sooo excited. That will be amazing.
Love you all, or in ateso, amino eong ijo kere.
Awanyunos bobo! I will see you again.
Oh, and this is how to say I am a community health worker in ateso: essisiankini eong itunga luk'atutubet aijar najokan kede aila kede itunga nuikamunitos esilim. you're jealous, i know.
I'm in Kampala for the day so I finally have a chance to update this thing!
Okay, I'll start with MY JOB! So in one month I will be done with training, an official volunteer and on my way to Ateso land in the eastern part of the country. Yes, I'm learning Ateso…the only non-bantu language in Uganda. The languages similar to it are Turkish and Russian….which means I need to start studying! I'm working with St. Charles Borromeo Community Development Initiative. They have a primary school, an orphanage (130 students live there), and a life skills center for young girls. Over 900 students and only 20 teachers…my thoughts exactly. So I will be living on the school grounds with the teachers, working with the students. Essentially, I will be a health teacher…I think. So I'm already thinking of some creative ways to teach about hiv/aids, hygiene, and sanitation to the kids. I think this is going to be great…I'm going to be with about 1,000 kids a day, literally. Wow. Oh, and my counterpart said I am also doing community outreach…OH, and it's a catholic org. (which I'm totally excited for) and he said I could potentially do religious counseling/guidance as well. Awesome! I have a future site visit in 2 weeks, so I'll get to see the place and meet everyone. I know I have electricity, but no water…and a pit latrine. Oh well.
So, training. Looooong days, some are good, some not so good. It's from 8-5 everyday. We usually end up getting a beer after it, but we've started doing other things as well, like yoga. There are a few people I already can't live without here, they're great, and we make the best of it.
My host family is awesome. It's a mom and 6 kids, the oldest is 18, then we have a 4 week old baby. My mom is always worrying about me and won't be happy until I eat 20 pounds of food a night, which is never going to happen, but she still tries every night. The other night I made my oldest sister go to the latrine with me, by latrine I mean hole in the ground. We have a slight problem with rats. They are everywhere, I have a stand off with one just about every other day. My mom laughs at me and says, ahh you are fearing, but you must get used to them. No, I can get used to a hole for the bathroom and lots of cockroaches, but I refuse to get used to rats. That's where I draw the line!
I miss everyone bunches…and food…and a toilet. But it's good here, I think I'll have my work cut out for me. By mailing address will change in a month, but I expect some mail from some of you!
OH and my sister is coming to visit in July!!!!! I'm sooo excited. That will be amazing.
Love you all, or in ateso, amino eong ijo kere.
Awanyunos bobo! I will see you again.
Oh, and this is how to say I am a community health worker in ateso: essisiankini eong itunga luk'atutubet aijar najokan kede aila kede itunga nuikamunitos esilim. you're jealous, i know.
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