The Training Begins

Oli Otya! (Hello!)
This past Saturday marks the first day of training. I went through 9 (long, but interesting) hours of training. The first set was Program Planning and Implementation and the second was Orphanage and Recreational Therapy Training. I learned quite a few things that really got me excited, some that got be nervous, and some that really just touched my heart. The school that I will most likely be working in in Lugazi, Uganda houses over 900 children, orphans, AIDs victims, and disabled individuals of any age. This was a situation I was not prepared for and am glad that I learned about before I got in country. Hearing the stories of some of the children there was so touching and broke my heart.

We aren't able to really plan our projects until we get in country. Once we get to Uganda we will spend the first week going into the villages of Lugazi and other surrounding villages and doing problem assesments and just talking to the people as well as our partners there in an attempt to find out what we can best do to help the people in the short 4 months that we are there. While that 4 months seems like a long time to us, it is not long enough. I hope that we will be able to a great work there that will really help the people be more independent and that what we do is what the people really want, not just what we think they need. That is exactly why we really get to TALK to the people and have them help us with the projects and work side by side.

The rest of this month is full of training sessions and meetings in attempts to prepare for the trip of a lifetime. Along with all of that I still have to balance school and attempt to mantain a semi-normal life. We'll see how that goes. But I can't wait for the chance to be with the people of Uganda.

Mweraba! (Goodbye!)