This past week has been a combination of lovely and sometimes comical happenings that have been unexpected but welcomed. I left the lovely town of Gula for Kampala after splashing through the dark and the rain to catch the 7 AM Post Bus last Monday. It was a decent ride and I sat by a … Read more
Following a late return from the workshop in Kampala, I had just enough time to do hand laundry and pack for another few days at All Volunteer meetup (known as AllVol) in Kitgum at the Y.Y. Okot school for Girls, where both students and staff, families included, live. Therefore there was always a gaggle of … Read more
There’s always dirt here – never have gotten so dirty so quickly – and that’s just walking to work. But today was real dirt and we were up ears in it. Still picking clumps out of my hair from digging and being in the wrong place when others lobbed shovels of dirt through the air. … Read more
We are back from Technical Training – i.e. spending a few days immersed in the types of activities we may be encountering with our own NGO (non profits). It was a 6 hour ride in a bus filled with mostly Ugandans and live chickens. Yes – after a lunch break where, lusting after anything … Read more
Today felt a bit like turning a corner. We have 24 days of training left and have had both our personal assessments by trainers and a mock language test. The assessment was excellent and they even want 10 copies of my book (Moving Your Aging Parents) to begin looking at the aging population in Uganda. … Read more
I’m sitting here listening to the sound of soft rain falling on the tin roof as the storm which has been rumbling for the last hour moves away. Muddy red rivulets of water are rushing toward the road, Pinky – the ever faithful dog who has adopted me as part of his tribe and follows me … Read more
OK – are you sitting down? Not eating or drinking anything you may choke on when you finish gasping or laughing? Then you’re ready. Today we learned to castrate piglets. Well, to be honest I can’t say we really LEARNED it – that would imply that we had opportunity to practice it and that … Read more
Ah – rain. As a Texan who has often prayed for rain – I say ENOUGH! I like rain – the sound of it on a tin roof – it’s comforting. Today, however, I have had enough comfort. Laundry – done by hand in tubs of rainwater was hung with care and just as it … Read more
Hello from the middle of Africa! And in case you’re wondering, “Muzungu” is what white people or foreigners are called, both with affection by children and not-so-much by the Boda-Boda drivers. Boda-bodas are screaming-wild motorcycle taxi’s that Peace Corps Muzungus are not allow to ride for fear of death or being termindated from PC – … Read more
Already feeling disconnected. That gasping sound you heard last night was my cell phone breathing its last breaths before AT&T cut service at midnight. I felt immediate panic, but got in a few last minute calls. Oh nooooooo! Deep breathing was required. The umbilical is thinning…… Still have e-mail for another day. Let’s get … Read more