I made it!!!!

Posted Thurs Aug 18th....

08/13/2011 - Saturday

 Wow it’s been a strange trip so far and seems so long since I left Philadelphia.  We arrived in Entebbe Uganda on Thursday August 4^th close to midnight after approximately 30 hours of travel – it was exhausting but that was just the beginning. Several people’s bags were broken into somewhere between Brussels, Kigali (Rwanda) and Entebbe and we waited as a group for them to file a police report. We arrived at our temporary quarters around 1 am and our bags were unloaded into the pitch black night – none of us had our flashlights and the 46 of us were trying to identify our 4 bags each totaling 100+ pounds.

Needless to say it was chaotic after our drive from Philly to NY and then 3 flights to arrive in Uganda. The big surprise was 20 females – including me - were placed in one large room with bunk beds and one inside bathroom. Of course our luggage couldn’t fit anywhere except under our beds and around the walls in their closed positions. There were two small fluorescent bulbs to light the room, so we did our best to brush our teeth and find something to sleep in. By the time we were all in bed, it was 2:30am and we were told to be dressed and at breakfast at 7am with training starting at 8:30. There were grumblings, but we all felt sure it was going to get better.

The training overall is top notch. Most weeks we train from 8am until 5 pm – so we are lacking in down time. We have medical training and medical kits with supplies for most any situation. We have learned “Survival Lugandan” the language spoken in Central Uganda. We have had security and safety briefings and have phone numbers for all the local police and the US Embassy. Most useful is the cross cultural training where we learn how most Ugandans bathe – using a bucket – and wash clothes –  how they cook - and how to use the pit latrines. These are useful to be able to make it in-country for 27 months. We have mostly local Ugandan trainers who are well educated and have traveled some outside Uganda. They are very hospitable and caring people, like most people I have met here. We also have some currently serving Peace Corps Volunteers who can tell us how they have navigated the process. We have started several series of shots (Hep A & B, Rabies, Meningitis) and our malaria meds – which we will take until 4 weeks after we leave Uganda.

It has been wonderful in many ways, but the hardest part during the first week was the living conditions. Aside from the married couples who received their own bungalows, most people had 5 roommates in a room approximately 12 x 14 feet, while the lucky ones like me shared a room the size of my living room with 19 other people.  These close quarters created the inability to get to our luggage easily and led to challenging sanitary conditions in a country already fairly challenged in that arena.  Add to all this our serious jet lag and the numerous immunizations we receive every few days and our malaria meds and of course you will have people getting sick.  A virus began in our room of 20 and fairly quickly several people were sick. So after 3 nights they moved 8 people out of the big dorm and I was put in a small hut with 5 others, which at this point felt luxurious – but again the access to our things was difficult. We had to keep everything under the beds and closed against the wall. And remember this is Africa – so no hot water – very little running water – and electricity that works on whim.

Official Group Stats

·         16 Males, 36 Females

·         ½ Econ Development Volunteers & ½ Community Health

·         5 Married Couples

·         19 people 22-26 years old

·         12 people 27-32

·         1 person 33-50 (ME)

·         14 people over 50!

·         3 Returned Peace Corps Volunteers – they came back for more!

We spent the first week in a hotel called Banana Village near Entebbe. During that week we started our 10-week training regimen and toured Kampala in groups of 3-4 accompanied by one of our trainers. This was essential as this is not an easy town to navigate without an introduction. Here we purchased cell phones and any items we needed while getting to see the city.

On Thursday Aug 12^th we moved to a new training facility located in the town of Wakiso. It is in the same district as Kampala so we are still in the Central part of the country. Here we were all sent to host families to live for the remaining training schedule. Mine is a lovely lady named Florence and she has hosted 3 prior Peace Corps trainees like me – though I am her oldest yet!  She is teaching me how to act like a Ugandan including shopping, cooking and washing clothes their way.

Today (Sat Aug 13) is our first free day since arriving in country and I am recovering from Bacillary Dysentery for the last several days. I am not alone in this joyful experience as this is expected while you adjust to the local “flora & fauna”.  The Medical team put me on Cipro and I am now on the upswing.  I spent the afternoon playing soccer with my 3 year old neighbor who has a shy twin. Our ball was a wad of old plastic shopping bags rolled into a roundish object. She kept giggling and calling me Muzungu – the word for white person. This is shouted as we travel the streets by groups of smiling children waving and saying “bye bye” – which I thing they thinks means “Hi”.

Tonight I went to town with Florence and bought some more airtime minutes for my cell phone as well as peanut butter and 2 rolls of toilet paper…my life essentials these days.  I speak to my husband most nights as he has purchased a calling plan through Skype. I also heard from Number 2 son, who is leaving soon to begin his college career.

I now know the region that I will be serving in – Northern Uganda, and my language - Acholi. This means when you visit me after traveling for close to 24 hours, I will still be approximately 5-8 hours away. Look up the city of Gulu – it is the largest city in the north for some info on the area.

The hardest thing is not having internet access. Now that I am settled, I hope to find a way to get my emails and to post to my blog. I love and miss so many people!!  Know you are with me in spirit and in my thoughts frequently. 

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Love K