Off-Script: My Ugandan Vision Quest

No Money, Lukodi, GUSCO, MP, Advising, Disasters,...and Poetry

2012-02-11T23:15:00.000+03:00

Feb 11^th, 2012 Happy Birthday Meg - you are 1 in a Million, Cuz!

No Money in Uganda

I am asked for money daily – usually by strangers –occasionally by co-workers. Often it is for transportation, money to attend afuneral, for a relative with AIDS, for a wife who needs surgery, or to help payschool fees. I always say I can’t helpthem. Which may seem awful, but as soon as I give money to one person, thefloodgates will … and I am here for 2 years. So I empathize, say how sorry I am, and often give them a hug, which isnot a Ugandan custom. I assume theythink it’s a weird American custom for saying something like life is hard.

However a week ago was the most difficult dilemma. OurMatron (lady who oversees the girls’ dormitory) and grinding mill operatormentioned again how sick she was feeling, especially in the chest area, and howit hurt to breathe and spit. She welled up with tears and said “I am dying and haveno money for the hospital”. She was obviously very frightened and really thoughtshe was dying. I have no medical training and had no idea how sick she was, butI could tell she believed she was very sick and dying. She never asked me formoney, she just said she had no money for transportation, hospital fees andmedicines. I believed her, since our staff has not been paid since November.

On top of this her grown daughter was recently severelybeaten by her husband. So she was gone for a few days to nurse her daughter.The husband was arrested. Although it is OK to hit your wife, you are notallowed to almost kill her. I have no idea how old the Matron is, as her lifeof poverty has prematurely aged her. I do know she also has kids in primaryschool and her husband is either dead or “gone”.

So I hugged her and told her I was so sorry and I would prayfor her. I felt so torn. My heart wastalking and my head was talking. I listened to both knowing there are millionsmore stories that are equally horrific and compelling.

So I decided to find things in my home I didn’t need – the packageof incredibly large old lady panties a friend sent (to my horror), some mintleaves and lemon verbena as herbal medicines for her chest, an extra package ofBand-Aids, and 2 extra pillowcases in a brown cloth pouch. Not much, but I toldher she can use or sell any of the items as she feels fit. So I skirted aroundmy “no giving money to Ugandans policy” by giving things she can sell. Funnyhow the heart can out rationalize the head!

The outcome has been she has recovered and is now lookingalmost 100% - I like to think it’s the lemon verbena and mint teas that helpedcure her. Maybe it was just that someone cared and tried to help that liftedher spirits.

Lukodi

On Wednesday Feb 1^st, 2012 I went with a reverendfrom Kampala and representatives from Bright Futures Australia to visit LukodiVillage – 17 Kilometers north of Gulu town. This village was the site of amassacre during the 20 year war with the LRA. The village was attacked becausethe LRA felt someone in the village had given information to the Ugandan army aboutthe LRA’s whereabouts. People were burned inside their homes, cut into piecesand abducted – along with many other atrocities. This is not unusual in thissection of Uganda and I am reminded daily that almost everyone I meet has livedthrough so many horrors. It was a bright,hot day and everyone was smiling as they welcomed us. We interviewed many womenand village leaders to learn how aid provided from Bright Futures is helpingthem recover. We toured homes, inspected agricultural stores, attended aVillage Savings and Loan (VSLA) meeting and inquired what their needs are atthis time.

They have received seeds, oxen, and education on farming tohelp attain more secure food sources. They have been given chickens and goatsto help generate new sources of income. They have received improved watersources and a grinding mill for the community. We were warmly greeted and evenwatched some youth perform cultural dances.

One thing they asked for that I am trying to assist themwith is a mobile HIV/AIDS testing vehiclethat can come to their village. Mostwomen get tested – it is required if they go for treatment during preganancy.However many men do not get tested and say they don’t want to pay to go to townfor testing. So the women want to get their men educated, counseled, and tested.They feel a mobile vehicle is the only way it will get done. I am hoping I canset this up through Peace corps, USAID or another organization.

GUSCO

Gulu Support the Children Organization (GUSCO) http://www.gusco.org/index.php is anNGO that has selected 3 vocational schools to provide 3 month courses to waraffected youth to help them acquire skills to make a living. My school is oneof those selected schools, and I have been registering the potential studentsas they come to register for the subsidized courses. This has been taking placefor the last 2 weeks and we have signed up almost 80 potential students todate. Part of the registration is asking them a series of questions. “Were they abducted by the LRA? Dates ofAbduction? Are they child mothers? Did they drop out of school?” Themajority of registrants were abducted. Many come with papers documenting theirreintegration into the community and detailing the dates they were “in the bush”.

This has been a real front row experience for me. Most can only speak a little Englishand we get through the questions using my infantile Acholi language skills andtheir often better English abilities. The hardest part is when the effects ofthe experiences are still severely debilitating to the young person sittingacross from me. I can see it in their eyes. They look like they may cry at anymoment and will not maintain eye contact. Frequently they stare at the groundand answer in a whisper. I am also encouraged by those who appear to haveovercome the trauma to a large extent and are smiling and communicating with alight in their eyes. They all seem grateful I am there and smile broadly when Itry to speak in Acholi.

Minister ofParliament Visits Koro Abili

On Friday Feb 3, 2012 the Omoro County Minister of Parliament(MP),and Deputy Speaker of Parliament, the Hon. Jacob Oulanyah rolled through KoroAbili to address School and Business Leaders. Since the Director of our schoolwas not there I was selected to go along with our Deputy Director. The meeting place was across KampalaHighway directly across from our school offices. I tagged along to witness theevent and was completely surprised when a man took my arm and led me to thefront of the room and placed me 2 seats over from the MP’s seat. I was thenasked to address the crown of approximately 80 and introduce myself. It’s funnybut if you are white person in a small village you are automatically animportant dignitary. I took a breath and with a translator introduced myselfand the objectives of Peace Corps and said I was excited to work with the communityto help in any way I could.

After the MP addressed the audience in Acholi, he turn to meand spoke in English thanking me and saying he was very familiar with ourschool and will work hard to help us. Who knows, but I am hopeful he will keephis promise.

Business Advising

We just began a new term at school and I put the word outthat I am happy to meet with any students who want business training andadvising support. So presently I have 3 students whom I meet each Wed andSaturday. Since this is a vocational school almost everyone will leave here andtry to support themselves with their skills. I plan to cover some theory, butmostly practical steps to help them get started. I also I am working with theadministration on a speaker series of successful graduates and other local businessmento come talk to the students about their business journeys. This will be veryinteresting to them and to me. Finally when I spoke at the Minister ofParliament Meeting, I met 2 Gulu University Students who are studying businessand they have both asked for mentoring from me.

Dry SeasonDisasters

Yes it is the dry season and I am very well equipped to dealwith the heat and lack of water. However, I did not realize the otherchallenges I would face. The biggest problem for me has been that in Acholiland all animals are released during the dry season to forage for themselves.This has led herds of goats and cows to roam freely onto our campus to eat anygreen thing they find. This means they have finished off our remaining cabbagesand in the process damaged a number of the irrigation pipes on our dripirrigation field. They had also eaten almost everything I painstakingly plantedand watered over the last few months. I am very annoyed with this setback, butI will rebound once the wet season returns. Thanks Mom and Dad for thesunflower seeds!

I wrote last time about Africa Burning and this continues –however last night I found out they don’t always contain the fires. My friend Nancy’scompound caught on fire around 1:30 am and she was awakened to the firecrackling precariously close, just outside her window. She, I and her neighborsfrantically worked to contain it and keep the buildings from catching on fire.This was all done with no running water – just filling jerry cans from thewater source just down the road and carrying it back to the fire. There was nomajor damage but it was a very close call. Read more on her blog...http://atexangoesquesting.blogspot.com/2012/02/and-then-there-was-fire.html

Poetry

Sunscreen Jan 31. 2012

A happymemory to take out

And roll overin my mind

Applyingsunscreen to my sons

A protectivetender ritual

Whilevacationing

Taking timeto pay attention

To the beautiful parts of life

Smiling whileasking to be still

Giggling atthe grimaces

Anointing allmagical surface areas

Lobes, Toes,Neck, Nose

Arms, Legs,Foot tops!

One simplemoment

Encompassingso much of motherhood

Overflowing Eyes Jan 31, 2012

A favoritemovie line

God is in the Rain

Returns to meoften

And Imanipulate it

As the momentrequires

God is in thebreeze

God is in theeffort

God is in theresting

God is in thesunrise, sunset, light & darkness

God is in myheart

God is inyour smile

I keep seeingGod

Andunderstand why

My eyesoverflow

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Yes they overflow and I am so grateful for the life I am living.

Hugs and love to all of you

2012-01-28T18:05:00.001+03:00

Jan 28, 2012 BOG, Graduation,All-VOL, Africa Burning, Matatus, Poetry

Happy Birthday to myone in a million Niece!

Board Inauguration– My school is governed by a board of governors (BOG) and we have just had a changeover to a new board. This requires getting the new members together along withthe Gulu District Education Officer (DEO) who must inaugurate the board. Themeeting was scheduled to start at 10am – this means I was ready to take thenotes at my post at 10am. However the DEO did not arrive until 11:45 and one ofour new members did not arrive until 12:30. Therefore we started 2.5 hourslate. No one seemed concerned about this so I just kept practicing my new Zenlike breathing technique. Something I am mastering over the course of my Peacecorps experience. Everyone who spoke – which is most of the 13 people, startedand ended with a prayer and a bible verse. This is the way it is done in Uganda– and it still feels weird coming from the US where this is against the law inmost business settings. We ended with a meal of rice, goat stew and cabbagewhich we ate with our fingers – something I am still not very adept at - andthe locals frequently laugh at my poor eating talents.

Graduation – I attendedmy Counterpart’s Graduation party on Saturday last week. She graduated fromGulu University with her Bachelors in Business Administration. She is a married,fulltime working mom of three and has fit in going to school on the weekendsfor three years. She is truly the best of African women in my book. Anyway she andher husband hosted a party at her home. I rode there with my supervisor and wearrived at 4:30pm. Upon our arrival we were seated just behind the row of majorfamily important people. There is a serious etiquette to where you sit, and Iwas surprised to be placed so close to the front of the tent. Being the onlyMunu (White Person), I suppose that makes you something of a dignitary! So thenbegan the 5 hours of speeches. Even I was asked to say a few words. (We did geta break to eat after 2 hours.)

There were family members from her home in West Nile and themost senior member of her clan had a long pole with something like a goat tailon the end of it. During the speeches he would jump up and wave the “scepter”and hoot and holler and incite the crowd. At 9:30 the dancing started and I was told we were expected to spend thenight there as is the custom in Acholi land. Luckily my supervisor also wantedto sleep in her own bed and not dance all night so we quietly excusedourselves.

My Counterpart

Senior relative celebrating!

Northern PC VolunteerAll Vol – I went to Kitgum this last week to listen to various PCV’s speakabout projects they have implemented and receive advice on assimilating intoour new positions.We met under a Mango tree near a PCV's Hut. I learned of an NGO here in Uganda implementing alternativeforms of discipline (to discourage caning and other abusive practices) as welluse positive incentives for behavior change. My Director is interested inlearning more about this. I also observed a demonstration on making liquid soap.This soap is for dishes, washing clothes and floors, etc. There is a savingsgroup in my school that is very interested in this skill for an incomegenerating activity – so I have asked the PCV that has been doing this to cometrain my school and possibly a womens group in another village. My counterpartsays she wants to train her mom so she can make soap in west Nile area. I also saw a cool Metal charcoal burning stove that perhaps my school metal working dept can make. So theconference seems to have been very useful. We also learned of several upcomingcamps in the Northern region for young men and women – so I plan to volunteerto work those camps in April. I also returned with Moringa tree seeds that I will plant in the wetseason – it is a veritable magical tree with amazing health & nutritionproperties. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moringa_oleifera

JoAngel-a friend I made!

Africa Burning –it is the Dry Season – it could also be called the burning season. Every daythere is someone nearby burning their fields to clear it for next season. Thisis called bush burning and it is not good for the environment or for my lungs. All day little pieces of ash fall from the skyand collect in my bathing area, latrine, in my house, on my desk etc. There aresmall dark grey smoke columns rising up on the horizon from all directions. Somehow they seem to control these fires and keep them from spreading across thelandscape, however for the life of me I can’t tell how they are doing it.

Matatus-these arevan sized taxis that have 5 rows of seats. The front seat has the driver and issupposed to seat three across. The remaining seats are also 3 across but inMatatus, the minimum across is four people. This means on any given ride therewill be between 19 and 28 people squeezed into the “taxi”. Recently My friend Nancyand I took a Matatu from Kitgum back to Gulu after attending the Northern Peacecorps All-Volunteer Conference. We were in the 3^rd row and decidedto buy three seats to insure we were not crammed in to the fullest. This is anincredibly spoiled American behavior, but I have some limits on my level ofAfrican integration. Our driver accepted our requirement of no more than 3 acrossour row, but that did not stop him from putting up to 6 people in the rows infront and behind us. We were traveling for 3 hours on an unpaved road. It wasactually a pretty drive past villages with mud huts with chickens, cattle andgoats wandering about for my entertainment!

POETRY

Bone Tired Dec14, 2011

Tired in a way that Sleep won’theal

A boxer depleted on the mat

Trying to will himself back on hisfeet

Though not sure he wants to try

Afraid he will have the windknocked out once again

Yet more afraid to give up

An exhausted spirit

With a small intense flame

Hopes to re-ignite a raging fire

Yet also praying for an illness

To surrender into

To justify not continuing to try

For all he feels is

Bone Tired

Just a Long Walk Jan19^th 2012

I keep reminding myself

It’sjust a long walk

It doesn’t take more than one stepat a time

One foot, then the other

Really that is not hard

If you take it in small pieces

Breaking it up

So that the magnitude does not overwhelm

So my coming to Africa for 2 years

Is like a long walk

And the only way to eat an AfricanElephant

Is one bite at a time J

Magic Jan 19^th,2012

Sing praise for the magical powersit has

Beloved by man, and unable to bedissected by science

All races revere, practice, andcelebrate it

In it, Babies and elders delight

Youth carry it like armor and flingit at the world

Sad and happy people employ it

Milestones, rites of passage, andyears are marked with it

As well as small daily increments

The sun is brighter

The wind softer

The night darker

The run easier

The touch of a lover more loving

All because of the magic of Music

Standing Still Jan19^th, 2012

Standing Still, For longer than youimagined

So still, so you can hear yourbreath, your heartbeat, the world turning

So long that you are off balance,disoriented

So quiet that you might disappear

You stand, still listening, foranswers

Not fully knowing your questions

Hoping both are revealed in time

You left

Searching for clues, signs, smokesignals

To gain perspective, To findmeaning

So you stand still, forgetting tobreathe

Wondering, Waiting, Watching

Not ready to move just yet

Hoping Goodness and Mercy shallfollow

The Stillness

Joy of Running to Water Jan22, 2012

Late afternoon

In the dry season

Tethered to a tree

For hours

Full on Grass

Parched & Dry

Demanding release

Bellowing to anyone

Excitement as a farm attendant arrives

Bringing Freedom

At FULL RUN

Heels kicking

Frolicking with anticipation

Across the football pitch

Over the path

Giddy with happiness

Eyes Singing

Nose plunges into Coolness

Cow Heaven!

2012-01-16T21:16:00.002+03:00

Uganda Routine, Chickens as a sign of Respect &Friendship, Bountiful Blessings from USA

Uganda Routine

I am fully settled in at my site. My 3 room home is really comfortableand I am enjoying so much time with myself. I hope I won’t be too boring afterall this down time. My days are busy – during the week I rise at 6 have a StarbucksVia and am outside turning on the drip irrigation at 6:30 and then watering mylittle vegetable garden – since it’s the dry season there is never any rain andit’s hot and sunny all day. Watering requires me to carry 2 5-gallon wateringcans back & forth for almost 45 minutes each morning and evening. Iestimate I carry 20-24 cans twice a day. So – to my friend Jen, the Goddess ofFitness, my arms are getting very strong.

I try to get to the internet at 7:45 which entails carryingmy computer close to the main road to pick up a signal, and am at work by 8. (Nointernet in my office-BUMMER) Then I work in an office with our accountant andthe school director – mostly giving advice and trying to keep the teamorganized and thinking strategically. I make lots of lists and review them allthe time. I also help them withproposals and grant applications. I share Microsoft Office tips and try to helpthem increase their productivity. I also spend time coaching the Director onleadership skills and management issues. The group is nice and appreciates myinput.

Since I live on the school grounds, I walk home for lunch –almost always a blend of Ugandan Chapati (flat fried bread) – and somethingfrom America. I usually read for ½ and hour and then it’s back to the office. Igenerally leave around 5:30 and get on the internet again and frequently skypethe hubby, and then walk to my house and change into my garden clothes. I againrun the drip irrigation system and water my vegetables. Around 7pm I bath andthen come inside to cook dinner. I have fresh milk every day from our schoolcows. I must boil it and have become quite addicted to my warm milk with cinnamonbefore bedtime. I usually save a little for my coffee in the am.

Weekends are filled with chores: clothes washing, weeding,cleaning house and more rigorous garden work. I also go to town when I need to,but have now enlisted my co-workers into shopping for me, so I can skip thebike ride to Gulu Town most weekends. This does mean I don’t have a lot ofinteraction with non-Ugandans. But so far this has been OK. I do have a week-longtraining in March with my Peace Corps class – and I am looking forward to that.

Chickens

Seems Chickens are a very popular way to tell someone yourespect them and appreciate their friendship. Twice this week I have had toexplain that I really don’t want a live chicken, and I would rather they killit and cook it, and then share the meal with me. One woman said she understandsthat I don’t know what to do with a live chicken, so she wants to give me asack of charcoal. Since I use a gas stove, I also had to turn down this generous gift. SOI am hoping that I have not insulted anyone. I assume they think I am a strangeand weak American and give me some slack for my lack of chicken slaughtering skills.

Bountiful Blessings

So far I have received 25 packages and 28 hand written letterssince October. I doubt there is another person in the history of Peace Corpswho has received more in just 3.5 months at site. I am actually now embarrassedto bring home another package from the post office. The cost of mailing me one package is equalto the monthly salaries of our 3 farm attendants combined. This doesn’t even countthe value of the contents inside. So while I am enjoying tuna, dried fruit,M&Ms, short bread cookies, Crystal Light, iced tea, Almond Roca, etc; myco-workers are eating posho (a white starchy concoction) and beans and drinkingwater. I burn all the packages and wrappers to hide the evidence. To be fair, Ido share some of my gifts – the candies, cookies, drink mixes, etc. but I amstill slightly bothered by my immense food supply. My wealth overwhelms me attimes!

The message to you is please don’t send me anything else….unlessI beg J Ihave more than enough to last a year or two.

The message to me is I am the most blessed and supportedPeace Corps volunteer in the history of the organization.

In Acholi I say –Apwoyo Matek! (Thank you very much!)

Sister Love, New Year Poems, Webmaster (NOT!)

2012-01-01T23:59:00.001+03:00

Happy New Year - I am having a great holiday season and wish you one as well!
My big Sis Gretchen - an international ballet star - turned 50 on 12-27-2011 - so you will get her poems first.

I have been prolific today - So grab a Coffee - or Tea! Send back your radiant love, and I will catch it off the breeze!

Gretchen, Karla, Grace, Kirby

My Sister

Joy & Power entwined with love envelop you when sheenters

Her energy & fitness are palpable

She is the dancer….and the music

There is no separation

Her heart, spirit & body are always on center stage

She is busy creating, designing, choreographing

All the while she is able to encourage, laugh and shine herlight

on all who are blessed to know her

She is my sister, Gretchen!

Gretchen, Kirby, Karla

Karla, Gretchen

Karla top left; Gretchen, Our Dancer, seated right of teacher

Our Dancer, Gretchen

A joyful enthusiastic participant in all she does

A fiery spirit that pierces you with intensity

A protective & gentle mother, lover, wife

A spitfire of movement and grace

A generous heart that shares all

A positive sister & friend

A teacher of dance & life

A rich complex soul

Our Dancer,

Gretchen!

1-1-2012

New Day-New Year- New Decade …..for me

2012 brings my 5^th decade – quite a Surprise tome

When I say it out loud; in my mosquito net, to myself

So what is this year to bring? What does it herald?

None of us ever knows –So, I am resolved to be joyful andopen

Not to fear or fret – it has taken me 50 years to learn thislesson

What comes, will come; regardless of my concerns and worries

So I have sent my worries a’ packing!

I live in the present – for today

Placing my future in my faith in God, in the universe, inthe goodness of my fellow time travelers

I wish peace, happiness, and freedom from suffering to allearths creatures this Year

What a gift to have the perspective from a differentcontinent

The light is clearer from here.

Dolly

The New Year is here – I shared it with Dolly Parton. Africanever ceases to surprise me.

Sitting alone – waiting for New Year’s eve to pass

as I am alone, frequently, with myself, my best friend.

Dolly began singing on a nearby breeze. REALLY – waftingacross the fields to me.

Dolly – from Nashville – Tennessee – USA from 20 years ago –was singing in Uganda

And no one felt the magnitude of it but me

It made my eyes well up with longing for home.

I knew all the words.

She will always love me – in her coat of many colors – fromnine to five!

REALLY an entire Dolly Album brought me home for almost anhour

So after all it is a happy New Year for me!

African Safari

I am on an African Safari – for 27 months – it will changeme forever

I pray, for the better – but there are no guarantees

Safari means Journey – for me, a walk about – a vision quest

A chance to connect, To Myself – To Others – To the Universe

I feel it working – I think

I try to think less and feel more

I feel like an observer

Here, but disconnected

Awaiting the outcome

Unknown

No hints, no cheat sheets

I might as well enjoy the ride

and wait for the results with everyone else

Tree Hugger (Shout out to my Bro Bar-B-Q on this one!)

So be it – you are a tree hugger

Yep – you love trees

You feel them – Alive, Breathing, Strong, Peaceful

They stand their ground

They watch over you …and all who pass

And you are so grateful for their unbending love

You are in awe of their steadfast presence

Their commitment to their place

Their slow and steady personal growth

As Protector and Guardian

They provide shelter, shade, safety ...to so many

You relish their diversity – rough, smooth, tall, dwarf,bushy, spear-shaped

Large leafed, needle leafed, fragrant, sticky – allmagnificent

Of course you cannot help

But hug trees

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Also - if you are interested I have begun work on a website for my school.

I am no expert but I am free and the best they have - so no complaints yet!

www.gcvschool.org There is much work to do but its up and functioning - somehow?

...With Optimism for the coming year - Karla

Birthday Blog, White Christmas, Circumcision(?)

2011-12-18T08:34:00.000+03:00

Birthday Blog

Today I am 49 – Funny, since in my head, I still feel30-ish. I think my mind stoppedaging once I hit my 30s. It can’t deny I am an adult, married, and have 2 greatsons, but it seems very talented at forgetting I have aged beyond thosemilestones! (Unfortunately the mirror seems to know exactly how old I am!)

One of my favorite pics of Me!

A wonderful part of life is that you can never predict whereit will take you. Four years ago I was celebrating my “half-way to 90” birthdaywith my beautiful, fit, and inspiring friend Karen. I could not have guessed in4 years, I would be typing with the aid of a solar lamp, in my house in Ugandawhile serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer. The nice thing is that, somehow, I am feeling very happy and up beat withmy present situation.

For my Birthday I have received lots of well wishes fromnear and far – thanks primarily to Facebook. Closer to home, my supervisor& duplex-mate, gave me a lovely new purse and a wooden plaque for my home.

A lovely sentiment !

My new fashion upgrade!

So I am truly feeling the love that surrounds me. A specialshout out to Lynn & Gretchen for the nice emails; and Lisa for sending metwo separate birthday cards via snail mail – she sent them before thanksgivingto insure they would arrive in time. Obviously she is very organized!

Yesterday I spent 5 hours working in the “garden” (Thinkfields!). Most of you know this makes mevery happy – then I bagged up 4 kilos of rice to give as Christmas presents tomy local buddies here in Koro. I handmade some cards and decorated the plasticbags with “fall leaves” motif Kleenex that some nice person sent in a carepackage a month ago! One must improvisein Uganda!

Bathing

I am growing fond of my outdoor bathing opportunities – Ihave experienced sunrise bathing, sunset bathing, midday full sun bathing andof course night bathing under the moon. Only thing left is rain bathing and I don’tthink that sounds appealing enough to me yet. But who knows?!

Poem in Honor of my Outdoor Bathing Room – written December9, 2011

Bathing
…outside on a Friday night,
….in the soft gentle twilight,
….in the light of the full moon,
….next to fields of papaya and cabbages,
….under peeping starry skies
….beneath the racing wispy clouds
….while listening to distant African music
….and enjoying far away laughter
…. Smiling that I am here,
Bathing

A White Christmason the Bus

Last week I went to Kampala for a Peace Corps VolunteerAdvisory Committee Meeting – I am one of 3 reps from my “class”. We are taskedwith taking praise and complaints from our classmates to the Peace Corps Staffevery 3-4 months. Since we are the freshmen class we basically just attend andshare our info while the Junior and senior class reps lead us newbies. Howeverthe main point of this section of the blog is to talk about the bus ride I tookfrom Gulu to Kampala.

Public transportation in Uganda is sweaty, crowded, exhausting,and constantly surreal. People transport live chickens, milk, bananas, multiplebabies in one seat with mom, and a variety of bus food for the journey. Music or talk radio is played the entire 6-hourride, all at the discretion of the driver. Once I watched American music videosfrom the 1980s play over and over again. I now know that Michael Bolton isrevered in Uganda…again who knew? As isCeline Dion, Phil Collins and other soft rock giants of 3 decades ago.

However, this bus ride was on December 11 – and it’sChristmas time in Uganda. (Ugandans are VERY religious. All meetings open andclose with prayer, Really….no law against that here. ) So our driver popped ina 1 hour CD of American Christmas tunes. Imagine barreling down Kampala highway – only white person on the bus - listeningto White Christmas (it is Sunny & 85 degrees), Hark the Herald Angels Sing,and even Felice Navidad! I have to admit I sang the last one out loud, softlyto myself. It was just too funny a situation to remain stoic. I was in themiddle seat between 2 Ugandan men – one sleeping and the other talking to a guyin the seat across the aisle. This CD repeated 5 more times over the course ofour journey. Now, again, I reiterate – surreal. (Refer back to my earlier blog poemon being in a movie/ documentary/ comedy.)

December 16^thwas Circumcision Day in Koro

Friday there was a big celebration occurring across thestreet with loud music, and a public address system. I asked my counterpart ifthis was a Christmas celebration and she said no – there is a big effort toeducate the village about the public health benefits of circumcision and theywere having a major celebration while performing them at a reduced rate. Wewere in the staff room for lunch and this led to a discussion on the pros andcons of getting circumcised. (Refer back to my poem on being in a movie/documentary/ comedy.) One man vehemently said he was not getting circumcised.His wife was familiar with what he had and she did not want something new towork with. Also he stated that God made him that way, and that way he willstay!

Update on the Home

My Home is coming along. After 2 months of having nofurniture in my sitting room. I now havea twin sized bed for guests and am expecting a couch/sofa on Monday. Now I willbe able to read my kindle in multiple locations and am feeling quite wealthywith my new amenities! Once the furniture is in place my Ugandan Wall Hangingscan be hung up and I will be living in high cotton!

Work in Progress

My work is moving along well these days. I have designed abrochure including taking photos of the students & school facilities; I amworking with the accountant on next year’s budget; I helped them email thebrochure and a new course announcement letter to several hundred NGOs(Non-Government Organizations) to solicit student sponsorship monies, and I amresearching potential grants. The school needs to develop other incomegenerating activities because the tuition they charge is approximately 50% ofthe costs they incur. The challenge is that most don’t seem to worry about thisprofit & Loss / cash flow challenge. I think this is partially a result ofhaving Aid for the majority of the schools existence. However with the warending over 5 years ago and the world economy struggling, I don’t think Aidwill be available in the same amounts as they have seen in the past.

PLEASE NOTE - I am not interested in getting any monies frommy friends, family, or blog stalkers. At this point, I don’t want to be seen asthe woman who came with money. I haveexplained that I am here as an advisor and to transfer skills and build theircapacities. Peace Corps Volunteers don’t bring money – money only lengthensdependency. However, if the rightopportunity arises I will send out a call for your support. Remember I am hereuntil Oct 2013.

****************************************

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Joyful Divali, CheerfulKwanza, etc etc

- whatever works for you I send you my loveand support! PEACE - Karla

“There is no Electricity here – Life is HARD in Uganda”

2011-12-03T17:52:00.001+03:00

December 3, 2011

“There is noElectricity here – Life is HARD in Uganda”

I’m Back – Sorry but life here in Africa is non-stop work –as my counterpart said the other day as we sat in our office waiting forelectricity to come…which it never did – “There is no Electricity here – Life isHARD in Uganda”. And it is. I cannot adequately convey the challenges peopleface just to complete the basic tasks of daily life. Nothing can be countedupon, and people have little control over their lives. Water may not beavailable for days; electricity may or may not come on during any given day –imagine trying to run a business without being able to count on the basics ofelectricity and water. Then throw in Disease- malaria, AIDS, along with gender inequality and mal nutrition and you will agree - Life is hard here!

Last week our site was out of electricity due to a lateelectric bill – so even when the power was sporadically available – our schoolwas not able to get on the grid – In addition, salaries here have not been paidsince mid-October, and in a staff meeting yesterday the Director said she doesnot see any hope for funds to pay Nov, Dec and most likely Jan salaries. Fromwhat I know of their cash flow projections, I can’t see how they will meet Febsalaries…but this is too far in advance for them to think about now. Needless to say this adds to the difficulty ofthe already challenging life of our staff. I feel guilty for receiving my PeaceCorps Stipend as they all struggle to feed their families.

Millions Fetching Water – My Observations

There are millions of people fetching water from down theroad, up the hill, across the fields.

Their day begins with outdoor latrines or the bush, thenbathing outside with cold water – if there is enough water for bathing. Theywash dishes, clothes, themselves – all outside in plastic basins, using thesame bar of soap.

They eat one or two staple foods - daily, weekly, monthly,yearly, …for a lifetime…mostly a bland starch with beans. A tomato or carrot isa celebration, a feast to mark a birth or the beginning of the dry season.

Bugs are part of their everyday life – inside, outside,everywhere. They barely notice them unless they are poisonous.

They can’t read, write, drive, or go to a bank.

Disease is everywhere, mal nutrition a given, death part ofevery week. They have lost parents, children and siblings to disease or war orboth. Purchasing a coffin is a common activity.

Justice and fairness are not concepts to reflect on. Theyknow that these notions have no meaning where they live.

They don’t hurry or fret. They are powerless to affect themajority of their lives. If you aren’t born to wealth or privilege it isimpossible to attain. Things are as they are, life is what it is.

Waiting is part of life – life is lived in the waitingperiods. Laughing, storytelling, gossip, news is shared as people wait for theline to move, the electricity to come, the rains to fall, the sun to rise andset.

Thanksgiving inGULU with PCV’s

Given the observations above, I am truly grateful for all the blessings large and small in my life. So turn on your tap in the kitchen and praise God! ...oh and be thankful for a drain too! I wish I had one in my Ugandan house.

Well, I finally had some real American R&R to help shedsome of the stress and drudgery of the above mentioned everyday challenges inUganda. We were given a 4-day weekend for Thanksgiving and being resourcefultalented PCVs we organized quite a fun weekend.

It began with my weekly bike ride to Gulu town.Unfortunately it was drizzling as I left my school and shortly thereafter itpicked up strength. So I had to seek shelter in a Boda Stage (think covered motorcycletaxi stand). It was actually a fun cultural experience as I chatted with one Ugandanman who recognized me from our Open Day with the German Ambassador. I practicedmy pitiful Acholi language with the Boda Drivers (Motorcycle taxi drivers) andthey smiled at my broken 3-year old abilities, but appreciated my effort. Veryfew foreigners make the effort to speak the language.

When the rain let up I forged ahead and arrived in Gulu withMud flying everywhere – from my bike tires, from the truck & car tires, …fromevery direction all I could see was mud – much of it on me. Good thing I had a backpack with achange of clothes. I went to the bank to withdraw my PC stipend for Dec and hadto wait 30 minutes for the machines to come back on. Then off I pedaled to anotherPCV’s house to cook 3 packages of brownies – my contribution to the feast –thanks to all my supporters in the USofA.

Baking is a challenge in Uganda – not many ovens – I havenot seen one yet – though I hear rich people have them in Kampala. SO I madeStove Top Browning Scramble. Imagine brownie mix continuously scrambled in a skilletuntil it turns somewhat solid. I scraped the brownie scramble into a pan andthen molded it into brownie bricks which could be cut into pieces. Yes – I felta great sense of Pride for my accomplishment. It took over 2.5 hours by theway! There were people cooking all over Gulu that day. Iwas with a groupcooking a turkey on an outdoor stove with a huge pot placed over the turkey –it turned out very well and I, like most of us, was very surprised!

We carted our items to an Ethiopian restaurant that lent ustheir facilities for the day – not much biz on Thursday afternoon onThanksgiving in Uganda. I think there were 50-60 people there mostly PCVs butalso other Americans that needed a place to celebrate the American Holiday. Itwas my first away from Family and I missed my parents, sibs, kids, husband andfriends very much but this was a good alternative!

Beer Basting the Turkey! Sorry - No pics of my Brownie Bricks!

Murchison FallsSafari

Friday 12 of us woke at 4am for a 3 hour ride to MurchisonFalls National Park to see Animals and ride a boat to the falls where the Nileriver gets compressed into a narrow gorge and then plummets down over a cliff tocontinue its trek towards Egypt. Unfortunately one of our vehicles broke down1.5 hours into the trip and we sat by the roadside for a couple hours waitingfor a replacement – so we missed the morning game drive and our best chance tosee lions. However the day turned out wonderfully and we all enjoyed seeing thegiraffes, water buffalo, wart hogs, Ugandan Kobs & Crested Cranes,elephants, baboons, monkeys, crocodiles, hippos, and a gazillion birds! The boatride was relaxing and the falls a nice site – though nothing like Niagara. Weall wished we were staying the night a t the Paraa Safari Lodge – it wasluxurious with a pool overlooking the Nile and outdoor bar and lovely rooms anddining facilities – nothing like my home in Koro!

On top of our safari vehicle

Its Mister Baboon to you!

Elephants were all around us near the Nile River

Murchison Falls in the background

Perma-gardeningWorkshop

My site was selected to host the Northern Uganda Peace Corps training for Perma-gardening; which is organic gardening using locally available resources and materials to create long term sustainable family gardens that provide increased yields by planting complimentary plants together and utilizing varying plant heights to get the most out of smaller family plots. The purpose is to help improve nutrition and food security here in Uganda. So 37 people – a volunteer and their counterparts – came to Koro to learn the process over 2 days. We learned some in classroom settings and a whole lot in the fields doing the practical work. (KICKED MY BUTT!) As I love gardening, I really enjoyed it; and now I am caring for the 9 plots and the Keyhole garden constructed near my house over the 2 day workshop!

Making and animal barriers out of local materials

Farmer Karla

my fellow co-workers digging beds

Keyhole garden - cent3er for kitchen compost which leeches nutrients into beds

I love and miss all of you guys - the important things get very real here! So - please treasure your family and friends; and harmony in your homes; as your heart will be with what you treasure!
PEACE - Karla

2011-11-13T17:05:00.001+03:00

Big Sky+ RagingWinds = Rainy Season ….and My night buddy, Kindle!

Rainy Season it is! We had amazing amounts of rain the lastweek – it rains on and off during the day and then in the late afternoon thehigh winds and heavy rains descend –the sky darkens and the temperature dropsto the low 60s, and then it can rain all night. This coupled with lack ofelectricity in the evening s often leads me to skip my evening outdoor bath – therain and the unheated water is too uninviting for me to care about my B.O. I just wash my face in a basin and then covermyself with powder to mask the unpleasant aroma, and I plop right into mymosquito net bed and jump headlong into my Kindle. Rainy Season comes twice ayear I am told. This one began in late September and runs through most of December – though I hear the dust ismore difficult to manage – I will let you know my preference after livingthrough both seasons here in Koro.

YES – this week I am bragging about my relationship with myelectronic buddy who delivers to me the most interesting and excitingadventures – I must also thank my friends the solar lamps that charge all dayand then allow me some light at night. I read Kon Tiki this week along with the FourAgreements (Thanks Chitoka!) I enjoyed them both but the challenges of the 6men who crossed the Pacific on a raft kept me captivated. The book is like ahistory lesson / anthropology detective story / adventure novel. Since it is a true story I found it that much more interesting.

Poisoning Attempt

Well cooking this week was less successful. I actually got alittle depressed with some of my attempts to be creative. Seems they were a bittoo creative!!! While I was Thrashing the waist high grassaround my home…thrashing is manually cutting your grass with a machete likeinstrument with its tip sharpened on both sides and the top third bent at a 90degree angle so it cuts as you swing your arm….I saw this vegetable like bush.I though it looked like a veggie hadseem in the market and later asked my supervisor if it was edible. She said yes– its Otula. So that night I picked three little buggers from the bush andminced them up nicely in my Mexican/taco seasoned beans along with the usualsuspects of onions, bell peppers, and okra. Well The new little veggies didn’t tasteso great, but I figured they were good for me and just ate a full plate ofbeans over rice like a good little Peace Corps Volunteer. Thenext day my system was slightly out of sorts but I didn’t think much of it asthis can occur every few days here. However at work I mentioned to mycounterpart that I didn’t like the Otula and she asked where I got it. When I showedher the bush, she said it was a poisonous plant that all parents warn theirchildren about from a young age! She wassurprised I wasn’t sicker. Later at lunch she told the entire staff about mymistake and everyone was incredulous that I was feeling OK. I must not haveeaten enough – or perhaps the Taco Seasoning was an antidote!

I was somewhat successful in roasting my first batch ofGroundnuts. Groundnuts are actually peanuts. They are the small red ones yousometimes see in the states – not the large ball park peanuts we get at the Titansgames. I walked to our local market which is pretty weak in its offerings andsaw that a lady was selling raw groundnuts – so I bought a kilo for about 35cents and took them home and roasted them over my gas flame and then sprinkledthem with salted water – the water evaporated and the nuts were covered in awhite salty film. I felt very proud of my little nuts!

Latrine Lizards

Well I have never had a phobia about reptiles, and kind of likelizards, as I grew up with the bright green ones in NOLA. So when I noticed a couple of them moving intomy latrine, I thought they are my allies in killing mosquitos and spiders andtheir buggy cohorts, so I was not worried. However one night I ventured outaround 9pm in the pitch black, misty, rainy night carrying my solar lamp andwas greeted by 4 lizards in various locations around me in the 3x3 latrine. Idecided not to panic as I talked my way down because I knew they were myallies. However, mid-stream the largest one perched above my head decided toleap to the ground next to my foot, and I must admit this scared the piss outof me! JThere was nothing I could do – as I was in mid-stream and unable to change thedirection of the process, so I just breathed in and out while he scurried underthe door into the night. So we are stillfriends but I am less excited about sharing my latrine with them now that Iknow they can jump like that!

The Road to theCuk Madit

The Cuk Madit (Choook Madeeet) is the large main market inGulu (It literally means big market). Theroad to Gulu is like a never ending trail of people migrating to and from themarket to buy and or sell items, while busses, freight containers on 18wheelers and every other type of motorized and non-motorized vehicle shares theroad. Well my bicycle and I are part ofthis scene and yesterday I headed into town for my weekly shopping trip. It wasa great ride as I left at 8am and enjoyed cool sunny skies the entire way there. I yell out a greeting to all those I pass whichare about every 15 pedals and most people smile and greet me back. We all speaka mixture of bad English and Acholi but the mood is cheery and it makes me feelI am part of the local scene.

My Bike - lettering says "Egg's House" no idea
what this means, but Brand is normal to Ugandans

On arrival I biked to my friend’s home in town and we headedout to shop. It was very productive as I bought some plastic stackable shelvingfor my kitchen as well as a grater for my ginger root. (I am enjoying drinking freshginger in hot water late at night.) Well the Cuk Madit is large - maybe a halfmile deep and wide with sections selling various items. It is a veritableUgandan experience! There is the egg section, beef section, banana section,pepper & onions section, used clothing section, etc. There are also littleDukas (doookas) / Shops selling plastic ware and other household items likebrooms etc. So I loaded up on my usuallist of fresh items. The challenge is always packing my bike for the ride home.I really do look ridiculous – but I think it endears me to the locals who carrymuch greater loads on their heads and backs on a daily basis. I arrived home today by 9am and have washed myclothes and cleaned my kitchen and set up my new shelves with all my newlyacquired vegetable treasures.

My purchases-powdered milk, eggs, plastic shelves, veggies
galore, TP, Napkins, sugar, bread

Green avocado picked from tree at my friend's home

My new plastic shelves with veggies etc
under calendar of favorite photos from home!

My cooking stove and dish washing station - I wash in the
basin and pour dirty water into the bucket on the far right

My Job

GCVS is in National testing mode this week as our studentsundergo their exams on the various vocations they are studying. Out term willend in late Nov and then things should quiet down a little until next termstarts in February 2012. I am still working on the Agriculture Business Planand enjoying the research of pricing and costs related to these endeavors herein Uganda. I hope when the financials are run it will actually be a profitablebusiness plan!

Kisses from Uganda to all my friends, relatives andsupporters! Karla

Open Day, Food Successes, Spa Day Poem

2011-11-06T17:23:00.001+03:00

November 6^th 2011

First of all – Congrats to my husband on completing theMarine Corps Marathon in 3 hours 58 min! …..woo – hoo that’s an accomplishment!------------------------------------------------------

School Sign and some Staff

3 Weeks at Gulu Community Vocational School (GCVS) and eachday gets a little more comfortable as I figure out how to live here in ruralAfrica. It’s definitely a world away from anything I have known in the past.

OPEN DAY

My work is 8-5; 5-days a week – which I hear is differentthan most of my Peace Corps classmates. I share an office with our accountantand primarily have been preparing for the Open Day event that occurredyesterday with a visit by the German Ambassador to Uganda to officially openour new drip irrigation field – funded in large part by the German People. Weare a vocational school that has carpentry, tailoring, brick and block laying,metal working, motor vehicle repair and agriculture. The school’s greatestchallenge is that it cannot sustain itself on its tuition fees. It is hoped thedrip irrigation will serve as both a demonstration/training facility for theregion as well as generate income for crops grown – especially during the dryseason. My next assignment is to write a business plan with the 2 agriculturestaff to get that project jump started. I am also looking for other incomegenerators to help incrementally add cash to the school. I definitely have mywork cut out for me – so say a prayer to send me good ideas.

The event yesterday had approximately 300 invited guests andcatered lunch – including about 150 people from our school as well as localdignitaries and agricultural educators. We also had a brass marching band, a localprimary school perform a traditional local dance, a drama by our students andwe finished the day with a football (soccer) match. Unfortunately GCVS lost. Butthe day was a success!! We also had at least an equal amount of communitymembers – mostly children – come and watch the entire event. There is littleentertainment in Uganda so any event draws a crowd of onlookers. My biggest contribution was a newsletter Iproduced after interviewing several successful graduates of the school. It wasa fun assignment as I traveled to their respective workshops and places ofbusiness to learn about their trade and their business successes.

Marching Band

GCVS Director, German Ambassador, RDC, Bishop

Primary School Dancers

For Uganda, this place is run fairly tightly. I must sign inand out daily and if I ever arrive late, I will have to sign in the “dreadedlate book”. So far I don’t know the consequences of this book, but it is fearedby my co-workers. My other PC classmates frequently arrive at their workplacesaround 8:30 or 9 and may be the only ones there. I hear one friend’s officereads the papers for the first 3 hours of each day. My place on the other handalso works all day Saturday – which I explained right off the bat – that I willnot be working on!

FOOD

I use Saturday to ride into Gulu Town to purchase foodstuffs for my livelihood. The only food items I have located in my village arecabbage, bell peppers, onions, eggplant and okra. Luckily my upbringing in NOLAhas prepared me to love these veggies and know how to cook them. However for variety, I peddle 35-40 minuteson a straight and hilly road to purchase things like eggs, flour, tea, coffee,powdered milk, soap, detergent, fresh ginger, avocado, banana, pasta, rice,beans, potatoes and CHOCOLATE! As Uganda was formerly occupied by the British,we have Cadbury Chocolate here! So far, my favorite it the Mint Chocolatebar!

As you may recall I have no running water, no drain, nofridge and no oven. My kitchen contains a 2-burner LP gas cooking stove withpropane tank, and my new best friend– the electric tea kettle. I use it several times a day when we haveelectricity - to boil water. I do this for all water I drink as well as forheating water for my bucket bath outside in my bathing room. (This is a 3 footx 3 foot cement & brick structure with no roof.) It sits next to my pitlatrine (Same size but with a roof and a small hole in the floor).

My second best friend is my bottle of Heinz Ketchup,purchased in Kampala, which is the thing that reminds me the most of home.Heinz is an American food icon, and for me, also connects me US football, as itbrings memories of seeing the Steelers in Heinz Stadium. The night I madeFrench Fries – called chips here – and opened my bottle of ketchup, I wasreading the bottle and realized I had opened it on the exact date it expired –October 28^th, 2011. What are the chances of that!?? Of course I willcontinue eating it until it really goes bad. Your standards drop a good bithere as your options are severely limited.

Success stories in the food department so far, are thebaking of a poppy seed muffin mix my mother sent me, and the cooking of beef ina sauce similar to one for grillades in NOLA. Baking is an improvised processwhere I place a few small broken brick pieces in the bottom of a larger pot andthen sit a smaller pot inside it. The small pot has the sides greased and isfilled with the said muffin mix. I then cover both pots – with a frying pan –and turn on the gas and heat this set-up until I smell the mixture baking.Surprisingly it turned out pretty well. I also cooked beef I purchased in themarket yesterday. The carcass was hanging in the open air and had fliesenjoying it – I asked for ½ kilo for 5,000 Ugandan Shillings (About $2). I thenpeddled this home and had to cook it immediately as we have no refrigeration.Basically the rule of thumb is you can keep cooked food for 24 hours in a darkcool place. However, you must reheat it before eating it again. So I had thisbeef mixture over rice today for lunch, and will also have it for dinnertonight.

I must admit that my diet is greatly improved by thepackages I have received from the US. Most every day I eat oatmeal and useseasoning and soup mixes shipped here. I found that beans cooked in taco mix isreally quite tasty – give it a try at home – it’s a nice meal of Mexican beans.I also drink my Starbucks Vias almost daily – my French press is great but thehassle of cleaning coffee grinds with no sink or running water limits myenthusiasm!!! The drink mixes also brighten up the boiled drinking water. Soagain thanks to all my support group back in the USofA!

Uganda – Noisepollution

One of the biggest challenges here is the noise pollution.Music is played at the ear splitting levels all day and night. I can handle thedaytime, but the night time sometimes goes until 7am the next day. I haveresorted to wearing earplugs on the nights when the bass beat it so loud I feelthe vibrations in my bed. I still wake up frequently but I get some sleep.Therefore it is a blessing when the electricity is not working. So I often hopefor the power to go out just about my bedtime, so I sleep more soundly.

Poem from lastweekend - Spa Day in Gulu Town Oct 30^th, 2011

3 ladies in a foreign land
Peer expectantly into the box.
A magical Box from 7,000 miles away,
The thrill yet to be seen!

This is my box,
Sent with Love.
Received with grateful awe
& now shared with joy!
Here it is impossible to keep
The glittering prizes to myself!

One item at a time -
We Oooooh, We Aaaaaah!
We nod with approval.
Yes – this was well thought out!
Oh this is frivolous!
This is practical! This is comforting!

Then a green soothing packet
Promises a moment of cool & clean
in the midst of heat & dust.

The smooth crisp cucumber facial wipes- in a packet of 10
are too luxurious to describe!

One lady says – “No, you cannot be that generous – to share;
We can all use the same sheet and extend the miracle”

But I am generous & frivolous
I know that waiting for a better day
To enjoy something is Folly!

The day is now! The moment is perfect!
The cucumber facial wipes will never be a sweet.

So with abandon I pass one to each of us!
I am a magnanimous woman of wealth

Giddy with the thrill!

We caress our faces, necks, arms, hands
we are giggling & smiling

Momentarily transported to our own Spa!
A moment of gratitude for the breath of physical comfort

We realize something has happened that will bind us
Together forever.

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Anyway – right now I am trying to get my bearings and getcomfortable with the new routines and faces in my life. I do feel I am on along personal journey to God only knowswhere – but I think it will make a difference in my life going forward. Itis a real process to become your own best friend and confidant! When you removeall your support structures, you find you must rely on yourself alone. This isboth daunting and exhilarating. So keep sending positive energy to me here inUganda. I do need this kind of support. Visualize me being successful here, andI will continue to try to live up to your visions.

Love your friend and adventurer - Karla

Poetry week of Oct 24, 2011

2011-10-27T18:37:00.002+03:00

Resting Oct 24^th,2011

Resting
Because there is no light, nowhere to go, nothing else to do…
Here in Africa….at night.

The air seems thin…not hot orcold.
Just air resting on my skin
…as I’m resting in the darkness.

I see my sons in their lives;
in their rooms, in restaurants, libraries, clubs & parks.
They are strong & bold,
but still …my beautiful, vulnerable boys….nonetheless.

I reflect on my life…
an unfinished Journey
confidence, joy, confusion, questions, sadness, love & redemption.
I wonder why I am here …alone ….by choice …or are we always alone?

I don’t understand why I had to do this
…all I know is that I was driven here,
by myself to find myself …I pray
….often.

I think of my heros …MLK, Mandela, Gandhi
and I know my struggles are small.
My pain is small. My impact on the earth is small.

However, to me it all looms large.

So it’s one step, one breath, one good thought at a time,
as I wait for the pieces to fall together,
and, at last, I see the picture of this puzzle
I pray

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Enshrined in Light October 24, 2011

So – I realized just now – outloud,
what I have known for a very long time…innately…
That I can breathe only because of my friends.

Friendship has kept my madness at bay.
Who they are …each so unique &precious,
has carried me over rough waters,
& through times of celebration.

One-on-one & in Tag Teams,

my friends mourn, lift, inspire.

I am enshrined in a place that glows with their light.

Can I truly express the magnitude
of the cumulative impact of their deeds,
large & small?
The answer, my friend is No!

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Living in a Movie Oct 24, 2011

As soon as I landed,
it seemed I was in a movie.
….more like a documentary slash comedy.

The scenery is like nothing I knew from home:

loud, dirty, uncensored, raw, free.

The accents are odd
& the English does not resemble the words I hear.
…though they are speaking my language;
…if it’s really mine to claim, …here.

Mostly I am traveling along as an observer.
Pretending this is normal,
…that I am not an actor,
…in this drama slash documentary slash comedy.

I realize I am a side show, a fleeting focal point,
the odd white woman in a sea of various shades of darkness.

But frequently I am lifted.
when there is music
reminding me this is Africa.

There is no guise.
No time for western concepts,
…of sleek, smooth, polished lines.

My movie slash dark comedy slash drama
is powerful because the images are soreal,
A panoramic landscape of jagged & rough outcroppings.

My fellow actors are naturals.
Genuine natives with rich skin tones,
Bright white smiles, hearty laughs & silent eyes.
…and when the music plays the movie continues.

2011-10-16T17:30:00.004+03:00

Karla the PCV at Swearing In Ceremony

October 16, 2011

Yessirreee - I passedmy language exam! OK I am now settled where I will live for the next two years.Wow what a long strange trip it’s been! …and this is only the beginning.

Swearing In

I am in my half of a 30 foot round brick & cement housewith 3 rooms, a kitchen, a sitting room and a bedroom. I arrived on Friday Oct14^th after being sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer on ThursdayOctober 13^th at the home of the Deputy Ambassador to Uganda,Virginia Blaser. She shared with us that she applied to the Peace Corps justafter college and was rejected for not having enough skills. So instead sheentered the Foreign Service and has spent her career serving there. Given heropulent house in Uganda and then looking at mine, I think she has done verywell for herself despite the rejection from Peace Corps!! In preparation of Swearing In I shaved my legs and colored my hair for the first time since leaving the States as we were staying in a hotel with toilets and real showers! It was nice to see my legs looking like mine and not like my brothers legs!! (No offense Kirby, Bronson & Robert but I want to be more feminine than you guys!)

Deputy Ambassador Virginia Blaser

Swearing in was very moving and I didn't expect it to be…butin true Karla form, I cried several times. They read parts of JFK’s speechcreating the Peace Corps in 1961 and they talked about the friends, family andcareers we put on hold to come here. This really got to me because I feel somuch support across the ocean over here in Africa. I really do appreciate allof you who are cheering for me and touching me across the world. Several of the young and inspiring PCVs(Peace Corps Volunteers) gave speeches and I was glad to be in the present of ayounger and committed group. I think Ihave gravitated towards these young adults here and in the US because theyremind me of my idealistic side that can get a little jaded over the course ofa lifetime.

Host Organization Supervisors-mine is the lady in blue

Well as you know I had an African Kitenge (traditionaldress) made with fabric from my host mom. She designed the outfit which hastrousers worn under a tunic. I wore this to swearing in and felt really good inmy ensemble. It really seemed to reflect my style. There were several of us whowore traditional African attire and we enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Me and the other PCVs in African attire

Modeling - my next career?

Leaving Homestayin Wakiso

Leaving my host mom and brother was very hard for me. I thinkthey were the only reason Pre-Service Training didn’t beat me; there were timeI was just hanging on. Their home was my sanctuary – I am a little apprehensiveabout making it on my own here in Gulu District. Hopefully my new home willalso deliver some wonderful people to support me in the process. I think mysupervisor and my counterpart have great potential. We really enjoyed the lastfew days together. I learned how to cook pork like my host mom and I taught herhow to make spaghetti American style. We also killed and plucked a chicken(actually I just watched) – I decided I won’t be able to do this on my own – soI will buy chickens already prepped & cleaned when I get the courage tocook meat.

I gave my host mom a gas cook stove as a thank you gift soshe won’t have to cook over charcoal. The gas stove is actually less expensive,but many Ugandans can never save enough for the stove (approximately $42). Shefell on her knees and thanked Jesus when I presented her with it.

The chicken after plucking and cleaning!

My wonderful host brother!

The best was to come, when I told her I had found a schoolsponsor for my 6 year old host brother. A wonderful and generous family inNashville has offered to sponsor his school fees for the next 3 years. Thetotal is approximately $75/ year with another $25/year for books, uniforms andmiscellaneous supplies. Because I have lived there, I know this family’s valuesand the importance they place on education. Since my brother was born“disabled”, he was given up by his mom at 3 months. My bother has now fullyrecovered except for a stutter. This difference will cause him much trouble inAfrica where any abnormality is treated as a curse and often results inostracism. I know his education, whichhe is working on very hard for a little 6 year old, is his chance at a betterlife. This is one reason I am here – to make a small difference one person at atime.

Traveling to GCVS

So because I had 10 large bags by now – having bought aportable gas stove, pots, pans, a set of dishes, utensils, numerous foodstuffs, and African Crafts for gifts and for decorating my home; I chose not to commute to Northern Uganda onPublic Transport per Peace Corps recommendation. It would have involved severalvehicle changes and would have taken all day – where in the confusion andstress I either would have lost some items or been robbed. This cost me andanother volunteer who was sharing the ride $116 each ($232 total). This is morethan most Ugandans make in a month. The Peace Corps supposedly only reimbursesus for the cost of public transport which is approximately $17 each even if webought two bus tickets each. I have a real bone to pick over this issue. LuckilyI had the means to access my US account and withdraw some of my resources.After 10 weeks of physical and emotional boot camp where we were all at ourwits end, it feels like abuse to have to make that journey alone on publictransport which is notorious for pick pockets and baggage thieves. (Seems inconsistent with the Peace Corpsstatement of placing our safety and security first.)

So we left at 7am and arrived at my site at 1pm to drop mybags. Then we went to drop my travel mate’s items off and headed out with ourdriver to located mattresses and an LP gas canister to power my stove. I alsolocated a used mountain bike that I asked the shopkeeper to hold for me untilthe next day. We also bought jerry cans to carry our water and some plasticbasins for washing clothes and dishes. Then we each were dropped at our sites.Hers is in Gulu Town, and mine is 8 kilometers south in a more rural villagesetting.

Village Savings& Loans

I arrived at Gulu Community Vocational School at exactly thetime the staff Village Savings & Loan (VSL) meeting was beginning – and mysupervisor ferried me in to watch the process. This is a system that we havebeen trained on that is used in developing countries to help people save andreceive loans. Most people have no access to traditional banking systems, sothis new process has slowly gained traction here in Uganda. Many of us PCVswill work at establishing these while at our sites. The concept is that even ifthey cannot read or write, small groups of people can meet in public and eachput in whatever amount they have saved that week - all under the watchful eyesof the members - and the totals are tallied in a ledger by a secretary that canread. Several people must agree on the total amount per person and for thegroup as a whole. Then from the monies that are collected, people can receiveloans that are due in 2-3 months. These loans can help with medical bills,school fees for kids, or help them get pigs or bee hives etc. These VS&Lscan really be the difference between raising ones standard of living andfalling further into poverty.

Saturday 10-15-2011Home Set Up Day

I forgot to mention it, but my supervisor is supposed tohave the other side of my circular structure as her home. Of course it’s notready yet, so she has been staying with me on my sitting room floor to makesure I am comfortable and taken care of in my new surroundings. It might soundawkward but it’s been nice, as I would otherwise have very few people to talkto since arrival. So yesterday I got up and rode my counterparts bicycle toGulu Town. There are 3-4 big hills that are hard to climb and fun to coast downbetween here and there. It took me just over 30 minutes going at it prettyhard. I went immediately to the place where I had reserved my own bicycle andhad them affix a basket and a mud flap to my bike. It seems there is more mud here than all ofthe rest of the world!!

I left my counterpart’s bike with the shopkeeper man sinceshe can take a Boda-Boda (AKA motorcycle taxi) to retrieve it. I am forbiddento ride Boda-Bodas by Peace Corps which aside from a bicycle, is the onlypublic means of transport to my site. I then went to visit the Peace CorpsVolunteer in charge of the Gulu PO Box and she invited me in for tea…Verycivilized. She is a German born woman who married an American (shout out to Eva& Jim!) and has lived stateside for many years. This is her second trip toUganda as a PCV. She is working in a teacher’s college. We then went for lunchand I purchased some nails, a hammer, some produce and climbed on my bike with6 packages and all the aforementioned items. Needless to say the trip back wasmuch harder. It was hot, I was carrying an extra 25-30 pounds and I was tiredfrom the morning ride in. My new bike was great but I was running out of steamso I ended up walking the uphill parts. This was not unusual as 95% of Ugandanswalk their bike up hills. So I didn’t feel like a total loser. Upon my returnhome I drank lots of water and began hanging my mosquito net and curtains. Iunpacked all my things and cleaned and set up house. I went to bed with mysupervisor in the next room and slept from 9:30pm until 7:45am – whew that feltgreat!!!

Sunday Afternoon10-16-2011 Relaxing in My Home

So here I am – catching up on my blog and thinking of allthose at home. I heard from my youngestson just before Swearing In. He is doing well and seems to be enjoying hisfreshman year. He just finished mid-term exams and spent his fall break in DCwith his brother. I hear from my husband– whom I talk to almost daily – that my oldest son is also enjoying his junioryear and doing well socially and academically. I love & miss my sons sovery much and know they are becoming the great men they are destined tobe. My husband, who is still trainingfor the Marine Corps Marathon at the end of October despite a hip injury, isskydiving this weekend with a friend from Louisville KY. Seems not much canhold him back. I am proud of him and of how he is handling this challenge ofseparation. He has an amazing internal core strength that assures me thingswill be fine. When we talk via Skype I also get to see my dogs. Cayenne is lookingas beautiful as ever and I hear is enjoying running at the river campus. Shewill be 2 in December and is feeling strong.

I also think of my parents, sibs, in-laws and all mygirlfriends and their husbands who are so important to my mental health. The amazingladies of my life have sent me packages that were here when I arrived. Theyhave also gotten together and sent packages to my sons at college since Icannot be there to do that myself. I cryhappy tears when I think of you all. I am even more thrilled that my friendsare planning Easter in New Orleans with my Family. This means so much to methat all my special connections are carrying on as a big family - even when Iam not on the same continent.

It’s a wonderful feeling to finally unpack my things andfind the small surprises that awaited me in my luggage. I located my IPhone andhooked it up to my speakers and am listening to music from America for thefirst time in 3 months. It’s amazing what memories music can trigger. I havealso used my REI French press for the first time today – THANKS to Meg for thatparting gift!!! NOTHING like real coffee. Though the Starbucks Vias are mucheasier to clean up after, given I have to haul water for all washing andbathing. Speaking of living a differentlife – my pit latrine and bathing area are still under construction. Theyshould be ready in a day or two, so I have been using the Girls dormitoryfacilities. Good thing my house wasready, along with my full size bed (waiting on you Hubby), and my wardrobe(though the bed and wardrobe was still sticky from the varnish). I also received a kitchen table that won’tfit through my kitchen door…a little Ugandan planning challenge! I am still waiting to receive my kitchencupboard, my peg boards for hanging things and my pit latrine chair!! Yes, Iasked the carpentry dept. to make me a chair that I can set over my latrine soI can feel like an American when I am taking care of business!! Some things agirl just can’t give up!!!

Now that I am living on 20 acres in the rural Ugandancountry side I am receiving fresh milk each day from the cows located at theschool. A half liter a day is approximately 18 cents! So I will have some in mycoffee in the am and a cup of hot chocolate in the evening. The men arrived thisafternoon with my first delivery. They said they will be by to deliver it dailyat 8 am. Of Course I have to boil it and drink it within a 24 hour periodbecause of no refrigeration – but I still feel luxurious with this amenity!!Not to mention I have electricity in every room of my home – so I can keep myPC and electronics charged as long as the service is working. J

I also unpacked my American Flag – courtesy of Wal-Mart. Itis hanging on my door to my kitchen and I feel my home is my little Americanoutpost. I have boiled my water and have a pitcher with drinking water and athermos for hot water or milk. Ironically my thermos was made by a company inNashville TN called Megatrade International Inc. They sell thermoses in 84countries. See http://www.megavacuumflask.com/ their zip code is 37204 – same as my housein Nashville – WEIRD as my Worlds Collide!!!

Note on Packages& Gifts

I no longer need feminine products, rubber bands, taco mix,brownies, or coffee – so please hold off on them and only send things that youfeel I might need. (A letter is nice too!) I don’t think I will need anythingelse for a long time. I also have deodorant, sunscreen, pens, soup andoatmeal/grits to last me a long while…and I am pretty sure there are still morein transit. Thanks to Lisa, Mary and Margo for the ones waiting for me when Iarrived in Gulu. I have to admit it’snice to know I have a team that can mobilize in a minute when I call on youall!!! I will definitely let you know when I receive your packages…so don’tfret – one PCV waited over a year for his package to get to him in Uganda. Ithink it went to Asia first! So that’s all for now – My next challenge isgetting into my new work environment. I am ready to start doing things insteadof training. Keep me in your thoughts and prayers! Love Karla

2011-10-03T23:27:00.002+03:00

Technical Immersion, Final Training Weeks, AfricanObservations

On Tech Immersion in Kasese District

OK I am convinced Peace Corps has a hidden agenda to maketraining so grueling and so stressful that by the time you find yourself alonein a remote village you think its bliss. My 10-week Training has alternatelybeen exhausting (we go all day Mon-Sat, walk an hour each way to get to class, livein Ugandan homes without indoor plumbing, and are expected to do homework andhand-wash our clothes in buckets, - basically borderline abusive) and then exhilarating. The exhilarating parts come in fits andspurts and mostly it’s a grind to attend hour after hour of classes. I admitthe classes have me prepared to live here for 2 years. If I had been placed inthe field without training, I would have never made it. So yes the content isvaluable – I just think it could be consolidated and delivered more efficientlyso as to get both Saturday and Sunday off. Maybe it’s an age thing…but in mydefense the 20-somethings look tired too!

TechnicalImmersion

Kids & Coffee Beans

So the exhilarating parts come when we actually get tointeract with Ugandans in the field. I have visited really interesting placesand love getting to see the real deal. Classroom theory can only hold yourattention so long. I returned last Fridayfrom western Uganda where a group of 10 of us visited a coffee cooperative inthe highlands outside of Kasese…not far from the Congo border. The most amazing thing is that in this remotearea that has no electric power and only 2% of the people can read, the entireculture is being changed by a coffee cooperative. The cooperative does typicalthings like educating farmers on ways to improve their crop yield, but theyalso deliver comprehensive social services by sending trainers up into themountains to talk about gender equality, rights of women and children, domesticviolence, and addiction. They teach all people to draw their vision of a betterlife and then draw the steps they need to take to get there. They also drawpictures of the opportunities and threats that might arise along the way. Itwas phenomenal to see every peasant we met take out their notebooks to show ustheir drawings. The cooperative has3,500 farmers and its own micro finance organization. (http://bukonzocoop.com/index.html)

Highlands of Western Uganda

Ok, did I mention that the western region of Uganda is thearea with more tourist attractions like game preserves and also one of the mostpicturesque! We passed through Fort Portal which is known for its tea estates –we saw miles of green tea fields – it was something to see. http://pearlsofuganda.org/ http://www.visituganda.com/

Final Training Weeks

Alright – On to my final weeks of training – We had a mocklanguage proficiency interview to prepare us for the actual test coming at theend of this week. I am not going to win any awards in speaking Acholi, but I planto pass by the skin of my teeth. So keep your fingers crossed for me!!! We alsohad a round robin verbal exam where we moved from one table to anotheranswering question regarding things such as safety, community development, HIVAids, malaria, cross cultural issues, personal medical topics, economicdevelopment principles, etc - basicallyall we learned over the last 9 weeks. It was empowering to see how much we havecovered, and that I have retained a great deal of it.

This week we will say goodbye to our host families with anevent on Saturday Oct 8^th. We will have American picnic games forthe kids as well as a demonstration on how to make American Pizza. We will alsohave a lunch with traditional Ugandan and American meals. Vegetable Spaghettiwill be the American fare. I helped do the research on locating tomato paste –like almost everything here it comes from China!!! African Fare will be Matooke(green bananas steamed or boiled and then mashed) Posho (some kind of cornbased starch with the consistency of very hard mashed potatoes), G-nut sauce (apeanut sauce they put over the Matooke and Posho), meat cooked in a sauce toput over rice, and most likely avocados and pineapple which grow everywherehere.

Me carrying water for bathing, cooking, washing

I of course will greatly miss my host sister and brother. Wehave become a close family. They have taken care of me and I have tried toreciprocate in ways that I can. Today Florence surprised me with a bolt of Congolesemade Kitende fabric and then escorted me to a tailor to have a custom African dressmade for me. I plan to wear it on Saturday to the host family thank you event. I will post pictures later of my incrediblefashion moment!

My Brother filling water at spring nearby

On Tuesday Oct 11, we will move to Kampala for 3 days of PCpolicy and safety training. We will be joined by our assigned organizationsupervisors and we will jointly plan what each Peace Corps Volunteer will focuson over the next couple of years. Basically this is to help educate our hostorganizations on what they can expect from us and to reiterate what is requiredfrom them. On Thursday Oct 13, we will sworn-in as official Peace Corps Volunteersand will drop the word “trainee” from our titles. Basically its graduation frombootcamp! Then there is a celebration before we leave the next am for ourvarious sites. Each person now has allthe luggage they flew over with plus what they accumulated from 10 weeks of variousUgandan shopping experiences. Imagine the Beverly Hill Billies moving out acrossUganda.

AfricanObservations

Yes it sounds like Africa here. There are more exotic birds squawkingeverywhere you go, than you would imagine. There are hug storks and large yellingbirds and gentle lovely little songbirds. Some birds make you think you are ina Jurassic Park movie – they resemble pterodactyls. There are roosters, hens, pigs, cows and goatseverywhere. In my homestay we have 10 plus chickens, roosters and chicks thatare kept inside at night next to our kitchen. We also have 5 piglets that arerapidly becoming fat pigs. They shriek when it’s feeding time. You would beamazed at the ruckus they create. Muchof the sounds of Africa are man-made. Ugandans like all media played on highvolume. So you can hear everyone’s TVs, radios, church service etc. If theelectricity is on, the entire neighborhood is competing to burst youreardrums!! Makes it a blessing when the electricity goes out!!

Whats really surprising to me is how well dressed manyUgandans are every day. The ladies wear skirts and professional blouses and themen wear trousers and nice shirts. Whereas we Americans often look like hippiesor just barely presentable in comparison.

What is also amusing is that all the used clothing from theUS and Europe ends up here. I even saw a Tennessee Titans sweatshirt walkingdown the streets of Wakiso a couple weeks back. All our t-shirts for familyreunions and bank openings are alive and well in a Ugandan home. My host mom uses a 3XL Penn State NittanyLion t-shirt as our bathing room floor mat. I am sure my in-laws would besurprised at this situation. (Yes its typical to use old clothing as an arearug or door mat.) My host brother broke out a European Ski team jacket yesrdaywhen the temperature fell to about 60 degrees. That’s really cold here andtherefore necessitates a parka! However fairly often you can see an Africanwoman wearing a shiny sequined prom dress or ball gown; and though we think it’srather funny, they are considered very stylish and smart looking.

Boys with homemade pool table

Another Ugandan custom is that men can have multiple wivesand have even more mistresses on the side…they are called side-dishes. MostAmerican men I know would not want that many women, but maybe it’s because USwomen have rights and opinions. Here itis very unusual for women to own property and men can divorce you if you become“stubborn”. I am pretty sure I would not have made it to my 1^st yearanniversary if I had married a Ugandan. WhereI come from “stubborn women” are revered J. Also if a Ugandan man divorces his wife, hekeeps the children. They are considered his property. This makes it very hard for women to complainor to fight back against mental or physical abuse. Needless to say this is notKansas anymore Toto!!

A BIG Thanks

So that’s my latest update on my Ugandan Vision Quest. I amstill glad to be here and happy to report my husband is still very supportiveof my journey to Africa to find myself. We talk every other day and areenjoying learning of the other’s daily activities. I hear my sons and dogs arealso well, so I am secure in knowing we are all growing into ourselves very nicely.

Finally thanks to my friends and family for the numerous packagesthat are waiting for me when I leave the comfort of my training class andventure out alone to my 3 room hut at Gulu Community Vocational School in KoroAbili in Gulu District. Feel free to sendyour own list of items, as surprises are also fun. Also keep sending me emailsand letters – I don’t want to be forgotten while I am scampering across Uganda. Peace to you all - Karla

Packages, Immersion, Site Visit, Embassy Party

2011-09-17T17:34:00.000+03:00

Me in My Wakiso Home Front Yard

Yes! You can send me Stuff

Sister Karla Diehl,
Peace Corps Volunteer-Uganda
PO Box 914
Gulu Town, UGANDA - AFRICA

You might want to write God Bless this Package and put a cross or religious icon on it to help insure it gets to me. If you have religious stickers I hear those work well. Send padded envelopes or small boxes, I hear it’s expensive, so pick a few items from the list below and be prepared to pay Mr. Postman! Remove things from boxes and put them in Ziploc bags – this reduces size and weight and I will reuse the Ziplocs J

Items I would like are: Brownie Mix, Individual Oatmeal Packets, Taco Seasoning, Kool Aid/Crystal Light, McCormick Seasonings, Cheese Packets from Mac n Cheese (remove the macaroni – I can get that here), rubber bands, TAMPONS – not one in the whole country (I think it’s due to religious beliefs), Starbucks Via instant coffee, hand sanitizer, pens…and a personal note and a surprise or two! I will send you an email once it arrives!

Language Immersion

Whew – what a busy and sometimes exhausting week and a half!13 of us left at 6:15 am on Thursday Sept 8^th with our 3 language instructorsto travel to Gulu for our 3 Days of language immersion. The trip involved a 45minute van ride to Kampala and then a 5.5 hour bus ride to Gulu via the PostOffice Bus. This bus is considered safer and doesn’t require one to go to the busierbus parks. (Bus Parks and Taxi Parks are where you go to get a ride via bus ortaxi). However the Post Bus is the vehicle transporting mail and ….as it turnsout ….milk! So it takes a longer time but it doesn’t travel at the same deathlyspeeds as other buses travel.

We arrived in Gulu around 2 pm and were met by several PCVs(Peace Corps Volunteers) already stationed in the surrounding areas. We wentimmediately to an American style coffee house and I had good coffee for thefirst time in 6 weeks. All I can get in Wakiso is instant coffee. Yes this isthe first major drawback of being in the Peace Corps! We also ordered cheeseburgers and chicken avocado croissants – these are also not available in 99.9%of Uganda!

We traveled by 4-wheel SUV to the Golden Peace Hotel andwere delighted we each had our own private bedrooms and better yet – private indoorflush toilet and shower. Things were looking up! How nice to have some privacy and amenitiesafter the last month and a half. Thatnight it was great fun to share a beverage, eat pizza and talk about ourexperiences into the night without worrying about being home before dark.

On Friday we went to the USAID (US Agency for InternationalDevelopment) Northern Uganda Field office and were educated on their operationsand initiatives in the region. We then visited the Gulu Local Council 5 (LC5)District Chairman’s office and were updated on their plans for the GuluDistrict. This is the highest level Official in the Gulu District. I wasinterested in their plans for recovery and reconciliation after the 20+ yearwas with the LRA. One thing Gulu has going for it is the town’s location. Itsproximity to South Sudan, the Congo and the West Nile Region of Uganda means itwill continue growing as a regional distribution hub. Any goods traveling tothese areas must past through Gulu. There are no other paved roads. While atthe LC5’s office we shared the names of the organizations where we will beserving. The LC5’s technical advisor invited me to sit in on the Entrepreneur andIGA (Income Generating Activities) meetings once I am back to Gulu and workingat the Vocational School.

After these meetings we broke into small groups and went toeat some local foods and practice our Acholi. I have learned a great number ofnouns and verbs, but still struggle putting sentences together and getting thetenses out correctly. I can communicate – just at a 4 year old level. We were tasked with asking directions andfinding our way to several landmarks, grocery stores and the main market. By5pm we were beat and headed back to our hotel for dinner there. Most of us hadfish & chips and it was very good. The next day we were sent back to Gulufor more interaction with the locals. I did a little shopping and practiced mylanguage, but we find most people in Gulu can communicate in English at somelevel – so we could always get by. Inthe afternoon we went to an American style restaurant owned by a couple from Minnesota.I had a coffee milkshake and a burger and was very happy. Then it was off tosee an Acholi Dance performance by a youth group that a PCV has worked with forthe last 2 years. It was great fun and I think I made many new friends with my enthusiasticattempts to learn parts of the dance! We finished the night at an EthiopianRestaurant that the local PCVs use as a gathering place every Saturday night.

GCVS Staff Hut and Admin Bldgs

Future Assignment SiteVisit

Sunday September 11, 2011 – exactly ten years after the Sept11^th terrorist attacks – I set off to visit my host Organization,the Gulu Community Vocational School. I was met by my Counterpart Beatrice –the GCVS accountant, and we traveled to the school. GCVS is located 8kilometers south of Gulu on 20 acres and was started by a Reverend (now aBishop) over 20 years ago, shortly after the war began in Northern Uganda. Ithas received aid money from the Danish, Germans and Australians (and others) tobuild dormitories, livestock pens, areas for vocational workshops, andclassrooms. It also has working agricultural fields and a mill for grinding grainsand maize. Presently they teach tailoring, brick making and concrete work, carpentry& joinery, motor vehicle repair & metal working, and agriculture.

GCVS Administrative Bldgs

Everyone learns the agricultural skills asalmost every Ugandan has small gardens/farms for feeding themselves. The schoolis in process of building an irrigation system to irrigate ¼ acre to insureproduction through the dry season. In addition to agriculture, all students arerequired to study English and Entrepreneurial Skills courses. Presently theenrollment is down to 118 from a high of 300 students. This is due to thedownturn in the global economy reducing aid budgets as well as funding leavingthe area since the war ended. Most students are trying to pay their school feesfrom their family & friends or from some work they do on the side. Giventhe desperate nature of this population of youths, many will not attend orfinish if they start.

GCVS Mission Statement:To provide quality practical skills to orphans,the destitute, formerly abducted youth and school dropouts caught in theinsurgency in the Acholi sub-region as well as those affected by the HIV/AIDSscourge to become economically self-supporting and employed.

After touringthe school and learning about it from Beatrice, I was taken to a roadside guesthouse across the main highway for my next 3 nights’ accommodations. This consisted of several concrete block roomsbuilt in a U-shape that created a concrete courtyard in the center. The people were very friendly and I felt safeand welcomed. I was informed the next day that I was the first white person toever stay in their hotel.

My Future Home - I get the Left Side!

I wasdisappointed my home was not ready but was glad to see construction was inprogress. They have commandeered a former student reading room and are makingit into 2 small apartments; one for me, and one for our School Director, Diana.It is a round structure approximately 30 feet in diameter. We will each havehalf of the circular building, each half has 3 rooms, 3 glass windows with decorativemetal security bars, and large entry double-doors made of glass with decorativemetal security bars. Outside we will share a garden; a pit latrine and a bathingstructure….all 3 outside structures are yet to be built. I hope it will beready by October 14^th when I arrive. The good news is there are several mango and Guava Trees on the path to my home!!!

Staff Break Hut

On Monday mysupervisor arrived back from her niece’s wedding in Kampala and we hit theground running at 8am. She reviewed the org history, structure and staff. Shealso stayed with me the next two nights at the guest house to insure I feltsafe and was taken care of properly. We ate our meals there together in the amand pm and enjoyed the chance to get to know each other.

So I nowknow where I will live and to some extent what I will be working on for the next2 years. I am excited and a little anxious. I have so many ideas going throughmy head and hope they will settle into a plan once I start working with my colleagues. I placed an order for furniture with theCarpentry shop so I hope to have the basics when I arrive. The biggestchallenges I see off the bat is that I can only get to Gulu via bicycle, so Iwill have to purchase one when I arrive; and there is no market or store in mylittle town of Koro Abili so I will need to go to Gulu often to fetch supplieson my bike. One upside is I think I will have fresh cow’s milk daily since thereare milk cows on the school grounds.

50^th Anniversary Party for USAID& Peace Corps

Program & Flowers

I am sureyou are all wondering how the big embassy party for the 50^thAnniversary of USAID and Peace Corps turned out. Well it was absolutelywonderful on many levels. My fashion-inability did not keep me from having a magnificenttime. (I think I looked swell in my Hudson’s Treasure hunt skirt and shirts.)So the embassy is a huge concrete structure covering a large area surrounded byhigh walls, barbed wire, German shepherds and guards. The guards outside looklike Ugandan natives and inside the guards are Marines. So it was like enteringa fortress - including metal detectors and security checks. We had to show ourPeace Corps IDs and our Printed Invitations with our names on them along withour passports. Getting in was a big deal, no average US pedestrian was gettingaccess to this gala event!

Our crew ofapproximately 50 people arrived over an hour early – you have to count on badtraffic in order to be assured you make an event in Kampala. Luckily trafficwas not too bad and we made really good time. So when we arrived the set up wasin its final stages – three large tents had 3 large bars preparing to servebeer & wine and soft drinks. Each tent had numerous tables with beautifulred, white & blue floral arrangements with Ugandan and US flags in them.(At the end of the night I was allowed to take one home to my homestay sisterFlorence!) There were also many potters showing USAID programs and old PeaceCorps recruiting posters. I took a million pictures during the event. So beingearly we went to the bar on the back grounds of the embassy where Marines wereserving hot dogs and there was a bar with – can you imagine my delight – Real USBourbon and safe ICE. So being starvedfor anything from home, we all began eating and drinking the taste of the goodold USA. There were people from other Peace Corps Uganda classes and manypeople from USAID, as well as many Ugandans.

Me in front of PC Recruiting Advertisement

Cultural Dancer

The eventhad Ugandan drummers and native dancing by girls from an orphanage where aPeace Corps Volunteers is assigned (childrenofuganda.org). The Ambassador JerryP Lanier (a UNC grad) spoke 1^st followed by the Ugandan NationalAnthem and the US National Anthem. Then Professor Ephraim Kamuntu, the Ministerof Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities spoke. He was a perfect person to talk aboutthe impact USAID and Peace Corps has had on Uganda, as he had a Chemistryteacher from Peace corps and won a scholarship to study in the US from USAID. Afterwardstwo cakes were cut – one by the Peace Corps Country Director and one by theUSAID Mission Director in Uganda.

Well – our groupwas having a great time. It was nice to hear how appreciative Uganda is for theUS support from our 2 organizations and we were all reminded why we joined thePeace Corps in the first place. So when a great band started playing US,Ugandan, and Hispanic tunes, everyone began to dance – including the ambassadorand his wife, the Peace Corps country director and many of the volunteers, our trainersand other Ugandans in attendance.

Hot Peace Corps Babes at the Embassy!

PC Country Director Lucine and Laura Cutting Cake

So now I amin my bed in Wakiso town after just eating a late lunch of fried fish, fried potatoes,fruit salad and sautéed cabbage with vegetables feeling glad to be where I’mat!

Gulu Town or Bust!

2011-09-07T21:09:00.000+03:00

Woo-Hoo I am going to the outskirts of a fairly large town..dare I say city...here in Uganda. I will be 4 hours north of Kampala in the area that until just 5 years ago was ravaged by a 20+ year war and reign of terror. I will be working as a business adviser to the Gulu Community Vocational School. I am very excited as this ties in many of my loves. Working with young adults, growing business ideas and income generating activities, working with my hands, and having variety in my daily activities. I hear they have carpentry, electrical, plumbing, brick making, agriculture, animal husbandry etc.... Yes - I will most likely be able to have a garden as they have a program in agriculture :).

Tomorrow I leave for 3 days of language immersion in Gulu Town. There are 13 Acholi speaking language students and we are all being immersed in Gulu Town, a bonus for me and the other 5 volunteers being placed in the Gulu area. On Sunday I travel a few kilometers to my actual site and will meet my supervisor and local counterpart. Both are women so I am excited to meet these ladies. I spend 3 nights there...cant wait to see where I will be living for the next 2 years. Then I travel back solo to my home-stay in Wakiso for my last 4 weeks in training.

A fun event is scheduled for Thursday Sept 15th; our entire class of 46 is invited to the US Embassy for the 50th anniversary celebration of the Peace Corps. I need to find something fancy enough to wear. My Merrill Boots and Chacos wont cut it. I wish my sister Adele could come and dress me up pretty!!! Adele is amazing with fashion, style and class. Guess the Ambassador will have to settle for my fashion-in-ability!

Sorry to make this short - I will write more when I return in a week with lots more info.
Eat a hamburger, a chocolate bar and have a coke over ice for me!!!! Love K

Yes Indeed - Africa is Different from Nashville

2011-08-28T19:29:00.001+03:00

Overall my assimilation into Uganda has gone smoothly since being placed in my Homestay Family in Wakiso Town for the 10\-week Peace Corps Training. I live with a lovely lady and her 6 year old nephew. My host sister is the first person to take great care of me since I was a child. She heats water twice a day for me to take a bucket bath - which is actually a very sensual and personal experience. I have not spent such quiet relaxing time with myself in a long while. I get home from class - which is an hour hike each way - and I come into my home where there is frequently a fresh Mango waiting for me. I then may go with my 6 year old to the nearby well to haul water to the house. He is a very strong boy because, like most Ugandan children, he must carry approximately 15 liters of water per person to the house each day. I help when I can but this young man does the lion's share for our home of 3 people.

My host family in front of our home

My sister speaks English very well, so I am lucky to have good communication during my stay. Not everyone is so lucky. She is also a good cook. All drinking water must be boiled and all vegetables cooked or blanched in boiling water and she cooks over charcoal or kerosene. Just getting this all done requires her to rise early and work all day. She is a gracious host and I am very fond of her. Ugandans are also very clean. They bathe twice a day and iron all their clothes - frequently using a charcoal iron...if you can imagine that!!

What is very different in Uganda is the general lack of easy access to water, electricity, and waste disposal. Water is available, but most people must carry it home. Rain collection is very big but usually must be subsidized with carrying from the well in the dry season. Electricity is somewhat available in the towns - my home is wired for it and we receive it about 3-5 hours per day...but it is inconsistent and not easily predictable, so you can never count on it.

The worst situation is the waste disposal. There is no collection of waste in almost all locations. My city of Wakiso Town (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wakiso_Town) has a population of 21,000 has no trash disposal. Thus people burn or bury their trash....and in the poorer places they leave it on the roadside in front of their homes and stores. There is also no removal of waste water and this facilitates the high disease rates in this country. Peace Corps does a good job at teaching us how to handle these hygiene challenges and, with diligence, one can navigate through the challenges and remain healthy. My home has a pit latrine ...that is a hole in the ground covered by a cement floor and raised above the "Pit". It is covered when not being used in order to reduce access by flies - this one precaution reduces the incidence of disease by a great percentage. Lucky for me my Yoga teacher Jen helped me get in Pit Latrine shape before I arrived. Thanks Jen for all the squats!!

Another big change is the road system - or lack there of!!. There are a few paved roads in Uganda - only the main roads from the capital to the other large cities are paved - all the rest are dirt/mud roads. Trucks get stuck daily as the rains create flash floods and gullies and trenches form in the middles of the roads. Thus transportation is unpredictable and traveling 200 miles can easily take 8 or more hours.

So the big difference is LACK OF INFRASTRUCTURE. Americans are so spoiled with all our public works and systems that we take for granted. Please be thankful for our roads, water, sanitation, electricity and gas. Our level of convenience is unfathomable to the average Ugandan.

In 2 weeks I get to travel to Gulu town for language immersion and the week after that, I get to tour the site I will be assigned to for the next 2 years. Once I know where I am going to live and what organization I will be assigned to, I think it will really get exciting.

Yesterday we had a recreational day and toured the Entebbe Zoo and Botanical gardens - Robert you would have loved the tropical forests at the botanical gardens!!!!

Karla at the Botanical Gardens! Loved-Loved-Loved it!!!

Our group of 46 is developing strong friendships and we will be great support for one another over the next 2 years. Stay in touch!!!
Love you all tons! Karla

I made it!!!!

2011-08-18T13:31:00.001+03:00

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.

________________________________________

Love K

Musings on the Eve of Departure

2011-08-03T06:54:00.000+03:00

Like Elvis - I have left the building....the city of Nashville....and tomorrow the USA. I have been saying goodbye since March and I frankly am tired of my story and saying goodbye. How wonderful to finally say "HELLO UGANDA"!

Today I left my home, my dogs, my husband and my sons and flew to Philly for 24 hours of "staging" - a nice word for are you sure you want to do this and do you understand what's expected of you.

Here are the Core Expectations For Peace Corps Volunteers

In working toward fulfilling the Peace Corps Mission of promoting world peace
and friendship, as a trainee and Volunteer, you are expected to:
1. Prepare your personal and professional life to make a commitment to serve abroad for a full term of 27 months
2. Commit to improving the quality of life of the people with whom you live and work; and, in doing so, share your skills, adapt them, and learn new skills as needed
3. Serve where the Peace Corps asks you to go, under conditions of hardship, if necessary, and with the flexibility needed for effective
service
4. Recognize that your successful and sustainable development work is based on the local trust and confidence you build by living in,
and respectfully integrating yourself into, your host community and culture
5. Recognize that you are responsible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for your personal conduct and professional performance
6. Engage with host country partners in a spirit of cooperation, mutual learning, and respect
7. Work within the rules and regulations of the Peace Corps and the local and national laws of the country where you serve
8. Exercise judgment and personal responsibility to protect your health, safety, and well-being and that of others
9. Recognize that you will be perceived, in your host country and community, as a representative of the people, cultures, values, and
traditions of the United States of America
10. Represent responsibly the people, cultures, values, and traditions of your host country and community to people in the United States both during and following your service

It was overall a wonderful day. I was accompanied to Philadelphia by my eldest son who was on his way to DC. We left 2 teary eyed men at security in Nashville, and headed out for the final goodbye in the Philadelphia airport. I cried on the plane several times and smiled to myself as I let the emotions flow through me. I know I am ready, but it is hard to peel yourself out of your life for 27 months.

What I learned Over the last several months

Some friends and family readily support you when you choose to do something that scares most people ....and some just don't get it. Some eventually come around and some most likely never will. That's OK - everyone can only go to places where they know how to get to. I love everyone who has tried to embrace my adventure solely because its important to me. My husband wins the biggest prize for understanding why I need to do this....he said "go for it" the first time I told him about it. He has made the last several weeks wonderful by understanding my stresses and my excitement and helping me navigate the myriad of parties, dinners and lunches. 2nd runner up is a tie for my sons who have found a way to make me feel cherished as a Mom....It hasn't felt this good since they were 8 & 9 and thought I was the most amazing woman ever.

I learned I really need and adore my girl friends.....thanks for the gifts you share so generously.

I also learned I like change - I have missed it and love not knowing whats coming over the next several months.

A dear friend shared a poem with me that helps express why I am in the Peace Corps...

...I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering; what is it going to be like?And therefore I look upon everything as a brotherhood and a sisterhood, and I look upon time as no more than an idea, and I consider eternity as another possibility, and I think of each life as a flower, as common as a field daisy, and as singular, and each name a comfortable music in the mouth tending as all music does, toward silence,

and each body a lion of courage, and something precious to the earth.When it's over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement.

I was a bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.When it's over, I don't want to wonder have made of my life something particular, and real. I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened or full of argument.

I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.

~ Mary Oliver ~

Just the Facts Mam

My "class" has 46 people. There are at least 16 people over 40 - I was at a table of 8 and I was the youngest person.

There are 5 married couples - 3 mature Marriages and 2 younger ones. There are only 2 from the Southeast - including me. Chicago sent the most volunteers.I have a roommate in the hotel in Philly from Missouri - she is such a nice soul and reminds me of my niece.

We are being bused to NYC in the am and leave JFK at 6:30 for Brussels. We have a 3 hour layover and then fly to Kigali Rwanda and then finish in Entebbe Uganda at 9:45pm local time (1:45pm CST). We will spend 6 days in a conference center with dormitory housing to get the basics on Uganda survival and get all our shots and malaria meds. Then we go to a training facility near Wakisi where we will be sent to live with host families who do not speak English. We will live there for 9 weeks while we attend classes and assuming we pass the language classes we will be sworn in as Peace Corps Volunteers and will be sent to our assigned site.

We were told that we will not have access to communication for at least the first 2 weeks - so don't expect to hear anything from me for a while.

Peace

Karla

Staging for Uganda - 8/2-8/3 in Philadelphia! Gifts....Anyone????

2011-06-30T21:44:00.001+03:00

STAGING Yesterday I received the email stating I will depart for my Ugandan Vision Quest out of Philly - The City of Brotherly Love - Seems very appropriate!!!

I have completed most of my 1st round of packing and now have the task of weeding down piles to the real essentials - it will be fun to see if my box of Preference Hair Color makes the cut!!! Note: It is further up the line than a short wave radio, which I have elected to purchase in Uganda.

I can bring 2 pieces of luggage (weighing no more than 80 lbs) and 2 carryons - So this will test my engineering skills!!! I am enjoying the challenge immensely!!!

I am approximately 30 days from leaving the comfort of warm showers, air conditioning and flushing toilets. I am excited for the change - I am a believer in getting uncomfortable in order to continue growing....I suppose this means I will be growing bacteria along with the other types of personal growth!!!!

The Little Red House has turned out to be a wonderful place to spend the last few months with my husband and dogs - and we have been lucky to have our 2 big, handsome and smart sons here for the weeks before I leave. I may sound like I am bragging but its true!!! See them below...

Me with my awesome sons - whom I love with all my heart!

They are on their own adventures and I enjoy knowing we are all connected across the universe by our family bond. Here is a picture of me and my husband - he is even better looking than the picture gives him credit for!!

Note his T-shirt from the Crescent City Classic 10K Race!

Yes - I am excited - anxious - a little scared and a little sad - moving away for 2 1/4 years has my mood transitioning from one to the other every 5 seconds!! I am enjoying the exhilaration of it!!!

GIFTS OK - if you've made it this far I suppose you are my friend and really care - so if you want to give me something before I leave I have a Wish List on Amazon.com. Just go to Amazon and look to the top right where there is a shopping cart - next to it are the words "Wish List" - select the drop down and click"Wish List" - mid screen there will be a search box that has "Find Someone's Wish List" and enter my name or email.

Most items on my list are Kindle books that I want to load on my Kindle before I leave. I consider this a 2 year study on Africa from an internal perspective - So there are a lot of books on Africa on my list! In addition - if you want to give me a Kindle book, that you love, that is not on my list - that's even better - as I will be able to think of you while reading it in a far away sweaty place!

There are also some "non-digital / hard items" I want - mostly maps and travel guides - So if you are afraid to figure out how to give a Kindle book, you can send me a traditional solid gift. I am flexible that way! For these you need to ship to my new Red House address - If you don't have it just call me or email me. I will need the "non-digital / hard items" in the next couple weeks in order to make sure they are here and get in my suitcase.

Thanks for reading ...stay tuned - LOVE Karla

This sums it up for me - Quote by Mark Jenkins

2011-06-01T20:25:00.000+03:00

“Adventure is a path. Real adventure - self-determined, self-motivated, often risky - forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind - and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.” -Mark Jenkins
Mark Jenkins Author

The Invitation to Serve as an Economic Development Volunteer in Uganda

2011-05-29T18:30:00.000+03:00

It was so exciting to finally receive my official invitation packet. It came on March 21st, 2011 in a big white Tyvek envelope delivered by UPS...not the USPS, which I found ironic. Even the government doesn't trust the US Mail.

The Invitation Packet of Material

There are lots of instructions and steps to take - some within 7 days. I had to formally accept the invite. I had to complete several forms to get a New Peace Corps Passport. I had to complete several forms for Visas to enter Uganda as well as Kenya....still not sure why I need a Kenyan visa...there is no real back & forth communication. I had to tailor my resume to my new assignment in Uganda and complete several questions to submit as my Aspiration Statement. I also was directed to an online resource - the Uganda Welcome Book. This is 100 pages and gives a great overview of serving in the Peace Corps in Uganda.

I leave August 3rd, 2011 for 2 days of Staging & Orientation - either in Philadelphia or Washington DC. I then go to Uganda for 10 weeks of Pre-Service Training. During this time I will be assigned one of the 40+ native languages to learn and be oriented to the cultural norms of Ugandan society. I will also have intensive training on safety & security procedures. My assignment will formally begin October 15, 2011 and will end 2 years later on October 15, 2013.

Uganda Econ Development Assignment Booklet

I have worked my way through the first major tasks and now I am focused on the Folders on Finance, Insurance and Staging. I am also starting to get my packing list together. I can bring 2 suitcases weighing 80 pounds total and a carry-on.

Coming to the Decision

2011-05-28T15:57:00.002+03:00

Deciding to apply to the Peace Corps is a big decision. It requires a person to commit to stepping away from their everyday life for 27 months. Also you have no control on where you will be assigned - so there is a big faith component that is required throughout the process.

For some years I have not felt I was doing my life's work. The role I had enjoyed the most was winding down. I loved raising my sons - but the oldest left for college in 2009 and my baby would graduate high school in 2010. Though I would always be their mom, my work was mostly done. It was their turn to fly and create their own life paths.

My marriage is filled with love and respect for each other. But after 22 years, we had fallen into patterns of behavior that were less than joyful and frequently left the other feeling under valued and unseen. This was not the way we wanted to spend the rest of our lives but, we were unable to change the dynamics.

Then we had our careers - our work was not feeding our passions and this impacted both of us and surely frustrated our efforts to renew our relationship.

SO WHAT COULD BE DONE TO CHANGE THIS?

After much soul searching and weighing of options, I decided on the Peace Corps. My husband and I felt the 2 years apart could help us find our way back together. It would free him up to discover his second career and focus on training for his first half iron man. We would definitely become more interesting to each other and not take each other for granted. Military couples do this all the time. So why not us??

I had considered the Peace Corps in college after traveling around the world on Semester-at-Sea, but somehow grad-school, marriage, career and kids took over my life. The Peace Corps has been around for 50 years, has the best training programs and is well respected by many governments and their people. Also -once you complete your service, volunteers are eligible for the Peace Corps Fellows Program (a graduate school fellowship program that offers financial assistance to returned Peace Corps Volunteers at more than 60 participating universities). Other benefits are a job placement service for returned volunteers and one year of noncompetitive eligibility for employment in the federal government. As I don't have a clue what I will want to do upon completion of my service, I like having multiple options. School is appealing, but I also love working when the position aligns my talents with my moral compass.

So in Sept 2010 I applied to the Peace Corps. It is a long, intensive process and truly tests your resolve and patience. During the course of the application process, I was told I may go to South or Central America, or Eastern Europe, then finally Africa.I was told to be ready for fast track placement that would ship out in Mid March 2011 and to teach myself college level Spanish between November and January. I was subjected to dental, medical, ophthalmic, and mental evaluations and numerous vaccinations. I also endured a false positive test result for a blood deficiency (G6PD deficient) which would have limited my placement to countries that have no history of malaria and consequently have very harsh winters. For those that know me cold weather is not my favorite kind of weather. I LOVE THE HEAT. I was very worried about the stress cold weather would put on me...so I refused to accept the test and got a re-test....which luckily showed I did not have the deficiency. What-Ever!

The biggest challenge I had with the process is that it is mostly a 1-way conversation. You answer all their questions and they make all the decisions on the Peace Corps time frame. If you express a preference for a geographic location you are told you might not be "Peace Corps Material" if you are not willing to serve where you are placed. It definitely is a government agency and the adage"hurry up and wait" rings true in this process. This may be their process of weeding out those who have not mastered patience or flexibility because the more I learn, the more I realize these skills are necessary to survive and flourish in your Peace Corps role.

So after preparing my family for a speedy departure in Mid-March, I was informed I had missed that opportunity and would be put on regular track...So in Mid March I received my official invitation to serve in Uganda as an Economic Development Volunteer leaving in Early August 2011. Very Cool and Very Exciting!!!

The great news is I was given more time to get things in order. Matt and I rented out our large home. We sorted through 20+ years of family life and purged a great deal, stored more than we should have and moved the essentials to a lovely small rental home in Nashville.

Our New Little Red House!

Our Backyard Pond with Waterfall!

We are having fun "Setting-up House" and really enjoy the Greenway paths just down the block from our backdoor. We run and walk it almost everyday. There is a large creek with bridges and a lot of shaded pathways. Ideal on a hot summer day! The dogs are adjusting to losing their 3 acres but are enjoying the outings with us.

The Greenway paths connect us to several other neighborhoods and we can walk to many restaurants. It feels as European as my sisters home in Zurich....well almost.

Anyway, we are beginning to get settled and I am now preparing in earnest for my departure August 3rd.