Last
week, the Education Group had their COS (Close of Service) Conference. It’s the time when everyone receives
their departure date to go home. I
was in Kampala for a Girl Tech Director’s meeting and met up with a lot of the
Education PCVs. Everyone was so
excited to be in their final months – many were already booking their flights
home! While I’m happy for people
to finish their service, many of my friends are in the education group and are leaving. The West Nile region
is going to clear out, leaving only 6 of us in Arua. It’s a little depressing to say good-bye – but then the
realization hit me that my group will be the next to go!!! Woo-hoo!! :)
Anyway,
as I mentioned, I had a Girl Tech Director’s meeting last week. There was a bit a scheduling snafu
because of Peace Corps trainings and potentially 4 other camps happening at the
same time. *Camps can only be held
during school term breaks, so camps tend to overlap. But 5 camps and 2 Peace Corps trainings in 3 weeks is
ridiculous. After several
discussions with camp directors and Peace Corps program managers, the decision
was made to move Girl Tech to August (instead of having it in May). This might work out for the best, but
right now I have to redo my entire calendar/timeline for the camp, the nursing
school, and my traveling plans.
There’s also an issue with grant now that the camp will be so close to
my Close of Service date. But at
least Aditi and I have a few extra months to figure things out.
In the
meantime, an opportunity has presented itself, and I’m going back to
Zanzibar!!! Ha ha, yes!!! My friend Ashley and I will be going
for 5 days to relax, lay on the beach, and snorkel. There were a few other tourist-y things
I wanted to do that I missed out on last time. I’ll be gone February 25-March 3. I made a promise to go back . . . and here I go!
Hi Laura, I'm sorry your friends in the education group are leaving soon, but I'm glad you got a chance to see them while you were in Kampala last week. I'm sure they're excited and are making plans for life as RPCV's. I'm also disappointed that Girl Tech got moved to August and all the work you've done so far now has to be redone with the new date in mind. BUT, now you can go back to Zanzibar! Also, you'll have extra time to prepare for Girl Tech at a time when you won't be allowed to travel anymore. And, you'll be busy right up to 2 months before you come home -- a nice distraction. I hope there aren't anymore timing "snafu's" and you're able to get your grant. Can't wait to talk to you soon.
ReplyDeleteLove, Mom
Hi kiddo...sorry you have to redo things, but having camp to look forward to and being in the home stretch...that might really be great after all.It's a downhill slide after your Zanzibar trip! So glad you area talking about coming home..your mom must be in seventh heaven thinking about you coming back......love and miss you!
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome you get to go back to Zanzibar for relaxation and fun time! That's really cool. Have fun!
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