Training, training, training

 

The past couple of weeks have been full of classes and field visits.  My Lugbara language skills are slowly progressing; I learned a lot about water sanitation (at an individual level and for Uganda as a whole); and we started doing visits to organizations that work for HIV prevention.  It’s great to see community outreach programs – I’m so anxious to find out which organization or health center I’ll be working for!

I feel very fortunate to be in this training group for the Peace Corps.  Our country director has recently modified the training program and we are the one of first groups to:

·      Get assigned to a language region at the beginning of training.  Previous groups would learn the local language, then get their assignments and have to learn a new dialect all over again.  I feel I’ll be well prepared to integrate into the West Nile region.

·      Get trained by current Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs).  We are the first group to get mentored by current PCVs – it’s a TREMENDOUS help!  They help prepare us for what it’s like in the field, what to expect at homestay, how to adjust to living on our own at site, where to buy things, how to cope with culture shock, etc.  I am extremely grateful for having them as a resource.

·      Go on field trips!  After talking to the PCVs, we found out that Peace Corps just started allowing field trips (e.g. to the HIV community organizations, etc.)  It’s so nice to get out of the classroom and do some outreach before going to site.  And the Peace Corps also set up a fun field trip for us – yesterday we went to botanical gardens and the zoo.  (The botanical gardens are very cool, but going to a zoo in Africa is just felt wrong.  Why not go on a safari???)

·      Find out our sites in Week 5 and go to visit in Week 6.  Previously, the Peace Corps announced the sites at the end of the 10-week training.  Now, they already know where we’ll be placed and have incorporated it into our immersion training.  It’s very exciting – we’re all counting down the days until our site visits.  (Only 7 more days!)

Some PCVs say that training is the hardest part of the Peace Corps experience.  I am definitely starting to feel the exhaustion – but I am not taking anything for granted.  I appreciate having the schedule made up for me and keeping me busy; I appreciate having my meals cooked for me; I appreciate my homestay family giving me hot water for my bucket baths!  And it’s great to be with 45 other Peace Corps Trainees.  I know I will miss them after we go to our sites.  

Mmm . . . Food.

To give you an idea of Ugandan cuisine, here is a typical daily menu for me.

6:30am – For breakfast, my host family offers 2 eggs, 2 pieces of bread w/ butter, 2 bananas, and a protein drink mix called Soya.  I usually just eat 1 piece of bread, 1 banana, and the Soya drink.

10:00am – Tea Time.  At the training center, we are served coffee or African tea and a snack – usually samosas.  (Think of a wonton filled with peas & carrots or meat.)

1:00pm – Lunch at the training center is a buffet of bland starches: matoke (cooked bananas), rice, posha, and various potatoes; as well as meat or beans and a vegetable dish.  The most common vegetables are cabbage, carrots, green beans, and peas.  Bananas are for dessert.

5:00pm-6:00pm (whenever I get home from class) – Tea Time #2.  My host family again offers the Soya drink or African tea, bread & butter, and hard-boiled eggs.

8:00pm – Dinner with the host family includes more starches: matoke, rice, potatoes, beans, and a vegetable – same as lunch.  And there is sometimes fruit for dessert (pineapple, passion fruit, bananas, mangoes, etc.)

In the US, I would never eat this much food in one day.  My host family keeps giving me a huge plate of food and then comments how I eat such a little amount.   So, I usually skip the afternoon tea ‘meal’ and take smaller portions at lunch & dinner.  Of course, this menu will all change once I’m at my assignment and have to cook for myself!

D'oh! (internet frustration)

I've been stopping at the internet cafe after training.  On most days, there is no power.  On the days that there is power, the wait for a computer is about an hour - and I have to be home by dark.  So internet access is not as easy as I thought.

On Wednesday, the wait was only 1/2 hour, so my friend and I decided to stick around.  We both got on a computer (there are only 3 computers in each cafe) and I was able to send out a few emails.  I also worked on a blog and uploaded a picture - which takes about 15-20 minutes per picture!!!  The internet is extremely slow here.  Just as I was about to post my blog, the power went out.  Aaahhh!!!  It was lost.  :(

As I talk to other volunteers, I realized just how "plugged in" the world is.  Every volunteer brought a computer (one guy brought two!).  And I think almost everyone bought a modem here in Uganda, so they can access the internet whenever they want.  (The modems are connected through the cell phone towers, so it's wireless.)  The Peace Corps experience has become high-tech.  And I think I will end up buying a modem soon - if only to email and blog and stay in touch with family and friends.  It seems to be the best option.

Did I mention that I have a cell phone too?!?!  Ha ha.  :)

West Nile

I’ve been in Uganda for 10 days now and I finally made it to an internet cafe!  It would be impossible for me to write about everything that’s going on – so let me start with the big news.  The program managers had our assignments before training even began!  (I was under the impression that our assignments were going to be based on our training skills.)  They asked for our site preferences but it did not change what they had already scheduled for us.

The Peace Corps has decided to place me in the West Nile region of Uganda – it is in the northwest corner, on the border of South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.  It was definitely not my first choice to go to this area, but I will make the best of it.  I won’t get my actual job assignment until Week 5 of training, but the managers wanted to get us started on our regional dialects for language training.  The West Nile region is a 12-hour bus ride from Kampala (the capital) and is basically in the middle of nowhere.  Needless to say, I will not be doing many weekend trips or safaris.

I’ll be going to the West Nile region with 6 other volunteers, and there are currently 10 volunteers teaching English there.  My group will be the first to work on public health, since the Peace Corps just reopened the area.  With that being said, anything I do will make a difference in public health there.  :)

In the meantime, I’ve got a full schedule (8:00am-5:00pm, Mon-Sat) of classes:

• Cross cultural adjustment
• Language (Lugbara is regional dialect that I’ll be speaking)
• Public Health training: HIV/AIDS education, malaria prevention, nutrition, water sanitation, and health management information systems
• Basic survival skills (bucket baths, charcoal stoves, pit latrines, etc.)

We will also be taking weekend trips to different regions for field research.  I have a couple of research projects to present at the end of training.  And I have to pass my language proficiency test.

This is clearly going to be the biggest challenge of my life.  I will be in the most remote volunteer location in Uganda.  I expect the harshest living conditions and limited communication.  I know you all think I’m crazy, but I’m totally loving it so far.  :)

P.S. I am living my host family now and I pass the internet cafe on my home from class everyday.  I hope to blog and email more frequently during the next 9 weeks (of training). 

A little more information . . .

The Peace Corps Staging Event was a wonderful introduction to the rest of the volunteers in my group (there's 46 of us!).  We did a lot of team-building exercises and learned more about the Peace Corps policies and procedures.  This group is all Community Health and Economic Development volunteers (no English teachers).  We also found out about the logistics of the 10-week orientation in Uganda.  Apparently there is a 6-page document that has all of the answers to our questions . . . and we were supposed to get it a month ago, but someone forgot to include it in our email.  D'oh!!!  Anyway, we have the info now.  Here are some details:

• The group is taking a bus from Philadelphia to NYC for our flight to Uganda.  We'll land in Uganda around 10:00pm on August 4th.
• For the first week of orientation, we'll be in Kampala and have a crash course in Ugandan culture (language basics, tour of the city, etc.) and get our medical clearance (more shots & malaria meds).
• The second week is when we move in with our host families.  We'll be in a town called Wakiso, just outside of Kampala.
• After the 10-week training (and assuming we pass all of the proficiency tests), we will be sworn in as Peace Corps Volunteers on October 13th.  I'll have my assignment before that date.

They say that I won't have internet access for the first 2 or 3 weeks in Uganda.  Please be patient with my blog and expect that I can only write once a month.  I'll be sure to post lots of pictures next time!!!

It's time to go.

Well, the day has arrived.  I'm off to the Peace Corps to work in Uganda for the next 27 months.  First stop: Philadelphia