Off to Practicum

Today is our last day in Kampala before heading off to practicum. All groups will be working at food for the Hungry sites around Uganda. I am going to Kitgum, which is in Northern Uganda. My group is the biggest, I will be with Ryan, Tim and Cassie. My official title is "Livelihood Assistant". I am not sure exactly what that means, so I am ready to be flexible. What I have been told is that I will be passing out seeds, teaching people about saving their money, and helping single mothers and rape/war victims start their own businesses or find ways to make a living. I am a little bit nervous. I don't feel qualified to be teaching people older than me how to make a livelihood. I guess I have to remember that I have more education than they probably do, and that I will have somebody giving me guidance. Ryan and Tim will be doing HIV/AIDS prevention. Cassie will be working with rape/trauma victims and listening to and recording their stories.

The other students that are doing their practicums in Uganda are as follows: Susan and Nathan who are going to Mbale. Susan will be doing child development programming , and Nathan will be a junior health and safety officer. Janae and Brittney are going to Piswa, which is up at the top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere. Janae will be working with children, and helping with curriculum in the schools. Brittney will be doing economic research. These are all very vague descriptions because honestly, none of us have been told more than that.

Tomorrow we are leaving Kampala at 6 :30am. The Kitgum group (me) and the Mbale group will be dropped off in Mbale. We are leaving so early so that the Piswa group can get to the top of the mountain before it rains, because otherwise it will be impassable. We will spend the night in Mbale and continue on to Kitgum Wednesday. We will be at practicum until the 29th of this month. Then we will come back to Kampala to debrief and then fly back to the USA! Wow, time sure flies!

This trip has truly passed in the blink of an eye. It feels like only yesterday I was at orientation, not knowing what to expect. Every step of this journey has had its uncertainties. At the same time, every step has been a valuable adventure that has taught me more about myself. Now I really can't imagine what the transition will be like to come home.

Today: We relaxed in the morning. After lunch I went to Garden City with Tim, Ryan and Brittney. We saw How to Tame a Dragon in the movie theater. It was a really fun movie to watch, and the air conditioning was fantastic. Then we went to the casino and played some Black Jack. I think we were a little bit too confident going in. All of us lost our money except for Ryan. Oh well, it was still a lot of fun. We met a nice man from Australia who was working with the UN. That guy sure lost a lot of money. We talked a taxi driver down from 20,000 to 13,000 for the ride home :)

We had delicious sweet and sour meatballs for dinner. Our last American meal before we eat beans, rice and chipote every meal each day. I went to exchange money with Susan and Brittney. Then we walked up to Ciao-Ciaos and the Italian market for ice cream. I bought some cheap packages of movies to watch over practicum. I also bought quite a lot of food. My biggest concern is always that I don't want to be hungry. I bought banana chips, potato chips, peanuts, gnuts, cashews, cookies, chocolate, peanut butter, Nutella, ketchup and hot sauce. Hopefully that will fill in any gaps between meals. We came back, finished laundry, packed and then watched the sixth Star Wars episode. So good! Once again I am the last to finish packing, and the last to go to bed.

I'm not sure how often I will be able to blog over practicum. But hopefully I will. Goodnight and I Love You!