02/28/2010
No longer in Rwanda. We returned to western Uganda and are staying in a hotel for a couple of days before heading to our rural homestays early Wednesday morning. I cannot waitttttt. It feels good to be back in Uganda. I loved Rwanda, it was beautiful, but it just isn’t Uganda, the pearlllll of Africa.
Today Gracie and Jesse and I went to FURA (Foundation of Urban and Rural Advancement) in Kasase, Uganda. We were assigned to some random NGO within this town to practice our interview and observation methods (which should be done in a different manner in Uganda compared to the US). The staff was so welcoming as soon as we walked up to the building, each staff member wanting to greet us and shake our hands. One of the founders of FURA, Rueban, has been working there for 19 years and he was kind enough to take time out of his hectic day to meet with us. It was amazing to hear the great achievements that this one NGO has done in less than 20 years, yet of course, that coming from the founder of the organization....but nonetheless, the organization seemed to be doing great things for Kasase district. Ugandans are so friendly and nice, yet it’s hard to determine if these NGOs we are visiting are so welcoming and open to us because we’re white, meaning we probably have money..and the fact that we just showed up at their doorstep with no appointment, are we donating? Wanting to volunteer? Nope..sadly just broke American students.
After I told Rueban that I am from Chicago, his face lit up with excitement. Turns out that a Peace Corps volunteer from Lemont, IL has been working for FURA for about 1 ½ years. So Rueban grabbed his phone and called Aaron to see where he was and Aaron comes strolling in Ruedan’s office 2 minutes later. Small worlddddd. I have been interested in applying for the Peace Corps for a long time now, yet as I have been looking more seriously into it, my doubts continue to grow….so randomly being placed to walk into FURA was a blessing in disguise I think. Not only did I get to meet Aaron and see what he has been doing at FURA, but he ended up coming over later this evening for dinner to answer any questions our group had about peace corps.
He was exactly the person I needed to talk with. He didn’t sugarcoat his experience with the PC at all, he was just real and honest. It was refreshing to hear what its really like instead of a PC recruit paid to tell IWU how amazing their experience was. I wanted to hear the good parts, obviously, but I really wanted to hear the downsides from someone who has completed most of it. And after hearing some of Aaron’s challenges throughout his stay, I realized that being a PCV will be very, very difficult…but I still think I want to apply. It is still something that I want to look into…and I think I grew more interested in it after talking with Aaron. Being on your own for 2 years is something he really stressed and said was probably the most challenging part because he gets lonely all the time, yet the positive part about that is being able to research and catch up on the books he’s always wanted to read and never got the chance to, I liked that. I don’t know…I really do enjoy my alone time, I don’t think that would be a bad thing for me. I think I want to keep looking into it.
On another note, this past weekend we went to Queen Elizabeth National park and saw so many animals!!!! Saturday we went on a boat ride all day and I finally saw my elephants that I have been waiting to see for so long! No baby elephants, but many big wrinkly ones, I love how African elephants have ears that kinda look like Africa, while the ones in India are kinda shaped like India. How cool is that?! God totally planned that. I was the happiest. No lions, no tigers, no bears though. Or giraffes or hyenas :( but there’s still time during our 6 week practicum independent study to be able to see more yafantes as well as some other camping and exploring and adventurous outings that our group is trying to plan.
I won’t have internet during my time in the rural homestay. So until next time, whoever is reading this (probably just mims, daddy, and cassie and chrissy, maybe morgan too?) go to chipotle and a movie for me. And enjoy hot showers. And reliable internet connection. And oh yah, SNOW (ha just kidding, not missing the cold weather one bit)
I just posted this long comment and lost it!
ReplyDeleteAnyways, I want to see more pictures of the animals! And so does Jim Gibson! He keeps asking me if you posted any yet!
It sounds like you are having an amazing time! And i think there are lots of people reading your blog besides us! But I will definitely have chipolte for you!
I miss lou and love lou so much!! :)
Can't wait to talk to you and see more pics, we miss you so much. Thanks for the nice long post, looks like you have lots to think about. We will pray for you and all of these decisions you will face. Love you to pieces, say HI to David! :) Love, Mims xoxoxoxoxox
ReplyDeleteI support you 110% being in the peace corps Tarlee! I can totally see you doing that
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