Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Uganda!!!!



Hello again!  I am back from Uganda!!!  The trip was incredible, I can´t quite find the right words to describe it, but it was unforgettable! 
To give a little background on the trip/class… it was officially called Uganda 2012 Engaged Learning class.  LeeAnn, a professor of psychology at my university, and Sister Carla who works in the Campus Ministry department, had previously visited Uganda.  They got the idea of creating this class and through their contacts and much, much generous support from sponsors and individuals they were able to put it together.  They put out an application, I randomly heard about it and thinking that I had nothing to lose and that I was probably not going to get chosen to go on this platonic trip anyway, I applied.  In December I traveled to Uruguay and there, on top of my grandmother´s terrace (the only place where I cold find wi-fi at her house) I checked my email and saw that I had been accepted!
So, since January, the group of ten women selected (Sam, Brittany, Nora, Bryce, Sandy, Lianni, Monica, Nicole, Ashley, and I) met once a month with Sister Carla and LeeAnn to plan what we wanted to do in Uganda.  The best thing about this trip was just that… we planned it all!  We chose what we wanted to do, how to do it, everything!  After some research on what was most needed in Uganda, we broke up into groups and decided to focus on different areas that interested us.  Then, each group came up with a “lesson plan” to present at two fairs that we organized alongside our contact, Father Kizito.  The subjects were varied and included:
                                Animal husbandry and raising chickens (Ashley)
                                Nutrition (Nicole and Brittany)
                                How to start a small business (Sam and Monica)
                                Composting (Sandy and Nora)
                                Feminine Hygiene (Lianni)
                                Clean Water (Sister Carla)
                                Hygiene: Washing hands and brushing teeth (Bryce and I!)
Aside from teaching during the two fairs, which occurred on the 19th and 25th of May (my birthday!), we also visited many villages, parishes and schools around the area of Mityana, about two hours away from the capital Kampala.  From the 22nd to the 24th we took a little break and traveled to the northern area of the country, Murchison Falls, for some touristy glamour, animal watching, and an incredibly immense number of mouth dropping moments!
During the journey I kept a journal, both to obtain units for the class and for my own sake, and I will now be posting it here for you to hopefully vicariously experience some of the magnificent times I had there! Taking pictures, as you will soon see through my diary entries, was a very profound and intense experience, which I am still reflecting on now…. 
I hope you enjoy the journal and the photographs!!  Feedback is very welcome!!
Happy reading!!
-Magda :)

NOTE: unfortunately, on the first day of the trip I lost all my pictures (accidently formatted my card…L) So the first few pictures are not mine, they were taken by my wonderful journey partners!

**Para los que hispanohablantes**  El diario lo tuve que escribir en Inglés para que me den crédito en la facultad, osea, el viaje fue como una clase y mi deber era mantener un diario durante el viaje.  Por eso es que estas entradas van a ser en inglés.  Perdonen por la molestia, pero es que traducir todo me llevaría bastante tiempo!  Si tienen alguna pregunta ó quieren que clarifique algo díganme y con gusto les mando un email! :)




Don´t forget to Like my Facebook page to all of the pictures!
No se olviden de ir a mi página de Facebook, ahí están todas las fotos! 


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