Beautiful, Wonderful, Fabululous Uganda!

First off, I hope this message finds you happy and well! Along with thirty-two others I arrived here in Uganda last Saturday night after a very long trip consisting of stops in Chicago, Philadelphia, Brussels, Kigali, and finally Entebbe! The Peace Corp group is absolutely fabulous and I am so happy to share this experience with them. However, I must say they are very intimidating. These are some of the most accomplished people I have ever met and according to the director we are one of the most talented groups they have ever had. Many have traveled all around the world while others have their doctorate, some have done both. After my journey here in Uganda has ended I hope to posses some of the qualities they do.

The Uganda I have been experiencing is much different than I remembered. I am currently at a compound in Lweza and it is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. It is incredibly tropical, hilly, and filled with monkeys and exotic birds. The only downfall of Lweza is due to its location near Lake Victoria, making it rather humid. Even with its humidity, I am in love already. Tomorrow morning we will be moving to Wakiso where the Peace Corps training sit is located and we will be moving in with our home stay families. I am incredibly excited to meet the family I will be spending the next two weeks with and hoping that I will learn the language much faster once I am fully immersed in it. For the past few days the other volunteers and I have spent our time at the compound trying to combat jetlag, get to know one another, get shots, learn Luganda, and listen to several speakers explain to us what we can expect over the next couple of years.

I have so much more to write, but I must be going. Thank you all for your wonderful comments and constant support! I am sorry I have not had time to respond to each of your comments both on here and facebook, but I will try to as soon as possible!

Peace and love

Autumn

A few reminders...

Please know that while I am away that I will be thinking of each of you often. While I know I will make some incredible friends in the Peace Corps and that I will have a new "family" of sorts, no one can replace you. No matter what it is that I am doing or who I am with, I will wish that you were also there to experience it alongside me. While you are here celebrating birthdays and weddings, I will also be celebrating with you on the other side of the world. Know that I would love nothing more than to share Africa with you and that I will always have a place for your smiling face in my hut if you choose to visit. Please mail me photos of everyone and everything often. Please e-mail me every chance you get and tell me everything; never feel that you are bothering me with your problems or triumphs. Know that I would love to hear from anyone and everyone. Know that I have every intention of returning after the end of my service and that I am safe. And last, but not least, please remember me; I need your more than you know.

My official job duties

For those of you wondering exactly what I will be doing while in Uganda here is what I know so far!  I will depart for orientation that will take place somewhere in the states on February 8th.  On the 10th I will begin my training in Uganda where I will live with a host family for three months, learning an Ugandan language and receiving job training.  After I complete training I will be sworn in as an official Peace Corps Volunteer.  I will then be moving to a new village where I will remain for two years!  My actual service will end on April 17, 2011.  

My primary duties are as follows (summarized from my PC booklet):

As a teacher trainer, you will be posed to a primary school or primary teacher's college in a rural area.  the Ministry of Education will assign you to work with a trained counterpart, a Coordinating Center Tutor or a College Tutor.  If working at a coordinating center, you and your counterpart will work together to develop and implement plans focusing on key areas of school improvement and staff development for the 12-65 (or more) primary schools which surround the coordinating center.  In order to reach and support these schools, YOU WILL BE REQUIRED to ride a bicycle over relatively long distances and rough terrain.  

The work plans you develop with your counterpart may include:

1. Improving the technical skills of primary schools teachers by introducing participatory learning activities for young children aimed at developing basic skills in mathematics, literacy, and life skills.

2. Working with school administrators through on site coaching and group trainings to improve their leadership skills and their ability to support their teachers' ongoing professional development.

3. Strengthening home-school-community connections through joint school improvement activities and projects.  Your community has rich resources that you will help them identify and use to improve children's learning.  

Along with these activities, almost all education volunteers work with their formal counterparts, other informal community counterparts, and teachers to train youth, educators, and communities in life skills that will help them lead more productive, positive, and disease-free lives.

In addition, as with all Peace Corps Volunteers, part of your role is to inform the people with whom you live and work about America and learn about their lives and cultures so that you may better educate Americans about the people of the world with whom you live and work.

"To Never Have To Start Sentences With I Wish I Would Have"

I must say that I'm not much of a blogger, but much of my decision to join the Peace Corps has relied heavily on what I have learned from other Peace Corps members' blogs.  So here I am, another blogger, sharing my stories of what will be my life in Uganda and hopefully helping others decide whether the Peace Corps is right for them or not!  I also feel that it is important for me to keep a record of my adventure in words, but as I found out on my last African trip, I do not enjoy writing by hand.  Therefore, do to the fact that this may be my only record of my trip  and the fact that this may influence someone's descion to join the Peace Corps, I will try to do my best to be honest about my feelings.  

Many people have asked me why I have decided to leave my comfortable life here in America to live in a poverty stricken place such as Africa.  In response, many have received a half answer such as "If I don't do it now, I never will."  While this is certainly true, it doesn't actually answer the question at hand.  My reasons for joining the Peace Corps have to do a lot with the experiences I had during my last trip to Kenya.  The people I met in Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda were some of the most loving and kind people I have ever met.  They reminded me of the importance of slowing down and taking the time to talk with those that surround us each day.  Everyday on my walk to school I was greeted by multiple people and everyone had a smile on their face.  I loved that my students were eager to learn and loved going to Saturday school, not because their teachers made their subjects exciting, most teachers relied on remote memorization, but because they saw the importance of an education.  I loved that despite the hardships that these people face each and everyday they are not hardened by life's hardships, but instead thankful for what they do have.  One day I had asked my students in Kenya to write letters to my students in Indiana; it was only then that I realized the extent of their hardships.  Many students and their families were struggling to pay school fees, many students had lost mothers and fathers to AIDS and other diseases, while others barely had enough to eat each day, but I would have never known it by their attitudes and their outlook on the world.  They believe that America is one of the greatest countries in the world and most have dreams of attending school there one day.  They loved seeing pictures from my home and wanted to know everything about my country and the people that make it what it is today.  

When I returned home I shared my experiences with the 7th graders at Discovery Middle School whom I student taught before my departure.  They were also very curious about my Kenyan adventure, but mostly about my students at Kabula Secondary School.  One of my students was examining a picture of my Kenyan students acting goofy and said, "Hey, they're just like us!"  That one comment has also played a big part in my decision to join the Peace Corps.  I think its important for people to see people for who they are, not where they come from.  While its important for each of us to maintain our culture and be proud of where we come from, I think that it is more important for us to realize that we are all first and foremost human beings with the same basic wants and needs.  It was amazing that by looking at this one picture this student understood this idea. Despite the fact that these two students lived on different sides of the world, that they spoke different languages, etc., they still had a lot in common.

While I tend to make brash decisions, the long application process of the Peace Corps has given me a lot of time to think about my decision. Over the past six months I have gone back and forth a lot on my decision.  While walking to work in Chicago I often times passed an ad for the Peace Corps that read, "To Never Have to Start a Sentence With I Wish I Would Have..."  While I often times go back and forth between the benefits of the Peace Corps and what I would miss here in America, I know that that their ad is right.  If I don't go now, I will one day be saying I wish I would have.