I made it!
After my last post, I met up with the other international volunteers in Heathrow. Together we flew to Nairobi and then to Entebbe. We landed in Uganda in the morning, cleared customs and were met by Restless Development staff, who drove us to a supermarket where we bought cellphones and some fruit. We then drove straight to where we will be living for the next month, which is the Kasenge Riverford Organic Training Centre near Mbalala. Normally the facility hosts people who come to learn about sustainable organic farming techniques, and there is a large garden. Some of the food we eat comes from there. This month, however, they are hosting 70 Restless Development volunteers as we train for our placement.
The training started right away. We arrived on Monday mid-day and started our sessions on Tuesday morning. We train 5 and a half days a week with only Saturday afternoons and Sundays off. There are 14 international volunteers (from Canada, the US, the UK, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand), and the rest are Ugandan. We are all roughly the same age and education level. The sessions have been a learning experience. On top of trying to get a hang of all the material we need to know to do good work in placement, we are learning more and more about Ugandan culture and the way that things work over here. The time not spent in session still involves learning, as I have to find out what the food is called (I am new to matoke and posho among other things), how to haggle over prices in the market down the road, and even how to wash my laundry (including sheets!) by hand!
My first impressions of Uganda are good. The countryside is green and beautiful, and yesterday we even took a trip to see the source of the Nile. There are a lot of things which are much more difficult than in Canada - the power regularly goes out where we are staying so you have to plan when to charge your phone, for instance. Showers are very cold! However, I knew when I signed up for this program that I would be in for a challenge, and I am here to learn as much as I am to help.
Stay tuned for another update. Internet access is sparing and slow, but I am going to try to get to a cafe every couple weeks or so.
I hope you are all doing well. Thank you so much again for supporting me in this journey, and I miss you all!
Here are some pictures to give you an idea of what I am up to:
Love, L
After my last post, I met up with the other international volunteers in Heathrow. Together we flew to Nairobi and then to Entebbe. We landed in Uganda in the morning, cleared customs and were met by Restless Development staff, who drove us to a supermarket where we bought cellphones and some fruit. We then drove straight to where we will be living for the next month, which is the Kasenge Riverford Organic Training Centre near Mbalala. Normally the facility hosts people who come to learn about sustainable organic farming techniques, and there is a large garden. Some of the food we eat comes from there. This month, however, they are hosting 70 Restless Development volunteers as we train for our placement.
The training started right away. We arrived on Monday mid-day and started our sessions on Tuesday morning. We train 5 and a half days a week with only Saturday afternoons and Sundays off. There are 14 international volunteers (from Canada, the US, the UK, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand), and the rest are Ugandan. We are all roughly the same age and education level. The sessions have been a learning experience. On top of trying to get a hang of all the material we need to know to do good work in placement, we are learning more and more about Ugandan culture and the way that things work over here. The time not spent in session still involves learning, as I have to find out what the food is called (I am new to matoke and posho among other things), how to haggle over prices in the market down the road, and even how to wash my laundry (including sheets!) by hand!
My first impressions of Uganda are good. The countryside is green and beautiful, and yesterday we even took a trip to see the source of the Nile. There are a lot of things which are much more difficult than in Canada - the power regularly goes out where we are staying so you have to plan when to charge your phone, for instance. Showers are very cold! However, I knew when I signed up for this program that I would be in for a challenge, and I am here to learn as much as I am to help.
Stay tuned for another update. Internet access is sparing and slow, but I am going to try to get to a cafe every couple weeks or so.
I hope you are all doing well. Thank you so much again for supporting me in this journey, and I miss you all!
Here are some pictures to give you an idea of what I am up to:
 |
| The training centre. |
 |
| The market down the road from the training centre. |
 |
| Some of the other volunteers at the market. |
 |
| At the source of the Nile... (that's me on the left). |
Love, L
Thanks for the post! The pictures look great :) Good luck with all of the training!!!
ReplyDeleteAmazing photos. Can't wait for the next post!
ReplyDelete