Pre-Service Training Summary

Where shall I even begin? Africa is, for lack of better words, serendipitous. Everything that has happened and every experience have reinforced my sense of self and purpose. Don’t get me wrong- it has been utterly trying.

An average day in training: (which thank God it is over) August 5th-October 15th 2009

I would wake up at 6:00am; shower, get dressed/ready and eat breakfast. I would then walk an hour to Raco which was our training center. I was one out of the few that lived relatively far from the training center- approximately 5 kilometers one way. Upon arrival, I would get my notes ready then have language class, as I was/am learning Luganda, from 8-10am. The 42 of us were divided into 7 language groups. From 10-10:30am we have tea time (which was my favorite). Then, depending on the day and if we had to get immunizations, we had a block for health, or some type of tech which was from 11:00am- 12:30am. We had lunch from 12:30-1:30pm then another block of health or tech from 1:30-3:30. We would then have a small break then another block of training from 3:45-5:00pm. The training sessions included: cultural communication, a variety of health sessions, HIV/AIDS and malaria education, animal husbandry, IGA (income generating activities), how to build water catchment systems, composting and key hole gardening, NGO indicators, sanitation practices, home based care, safety training, youth and women empowerment and much more. By the end of an average training day, the 42 of us were drained. The majority of us somehow seemed to find our way to a bar to have a beer and unwind. Let me first explain that the town of Wakiso is very small; consisting of about three restaurants, one internet café (which is has very slow connections and depends on whether or not there is electricity). Additionally, there are some clothing and stationary shops along with some food markets. Most importantly, there are also about four bars. Therefore, the only place to go and socialize consisted of one of those four places. After hanging out for an hour or so we would walk back to our home stays. We all lived in different villages (there are three that we inhabited). The sun sets around 7:30pm and we are advised not to be out and about during those hours as being a “muzungu”, the ever endearing term for a white person, is unsafe. There was always a warm welcoming awaiting me when I walked up the driveway. I had a really great home stay. My house mother was wonderful; it was just her, a niece Mary who was 18, her little brother David who was 5 and myself. When I arrived at home stay, I would take my stuff to my room and then bathe (yes, culturally they bathe 2-3 times a day) which for everyone who knows me can imagine my disappointment as I hate showering. After I bathed, dinner would be waiting for me and we would eat as a family and exchange stories from the day and, if there was electricity, we would watch a few soap operas then I went to bed around 9pm and do it all over again.

Oh and no, I have absolutely NOT lost weight being here; all they eat is fried complex carbs! The guys have all lost weight and the girls have gained weight. The staple food here is amootoke (which is mashed up, steamed plantains). So the Ugandans eat amatooke, posho (which is water and cornmeal), chapatti (which is like pita bread-ish made with a lot of oil), sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, plain noodles, yams, beans, rice, and gnut (peanut) sauce. For meat, they have goat, cow, pig, fish and chicken. They eat humongous portions at least 5 times a day. In the big cities, mainly Kampala, they have 'normal' food, so we would pig out when we went to the city. At the end of pre-service training, we had a home stay 'thank you' celebration which included all of the trainers, PCT's and home stay families. It was really nice; each language group got to perform a traditional dance or skit from their region in front of everyone and then we also had to incorporate something "American" as the focus of the celebration was to thank the home stay families and offer a cultural exchange. The ceremony went well and the next day we went to a beautiful hotel in Kampala for swearing in. At this workshop, we met our counterparts and supervisors and were able to have 'bonding' time with them. We officially became volunteers on October 15th and then went our separate ways to different villages across Uganda.