Uganda Day 3

Hey everyone!

I just got to an internet cafe to update my blog - today is my third day in Uganda. Wow, so much has happened in the last few days.

We arrived at EBB (Uganda) on Sunday super jet lagged and the students from AIESEC Uganda were waiting for us. They are so sweet - they took our bags and helped us get settled in to one of the AIESECers house where we will be staying this week. Next week we will move into a hostel at a Makerere University for the remaining 2 months of our stay. Makarere University is the best University in East Africa. Students come from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania just to get Masters/PhDs. All of the AIESECers are getting degrees at Makerere - most of them are pretty advanced degrees and they are really smart. This is a very different experience than my experience in Kenya because Im hanging out with very educated students my age isntead of playing with orphans in a rural village. This weekend, however, we will be going on a trip to Western Uganda where the first case of HIV/AIDs was reported and spending time with orphans in the city. I am excited to see a different side of Uganda, even though I know the experience is going to be really intense.

Sunday evening we went to the local supermarket to purchase food for the week and spent about 3 hours buying mattresses and trying to get cell phones. The pace of life is very different in Uganda. Traveling anywhere takes minimum of 1 hour and there is a lot of walking. We often take public transportation which are taxis that fit about 15 people. There isn't a centralized time or location that each taxi goes, so you have to ask the driver. Also, the roads dont have lanes, stoplights, crosswalks or speed limits, so traveling is quite an adventure. Boda bodas (motorcycles) are not the safest means of transportation, but Taxis are very safe - dont worry, we've just been taking taxis.

Sunday night we ate food from the store (peanut butter and jelly sandwiches) and then fell into bed under our mosquito nets around at about midnight. Around 3 in the morning I felt something crawling on my leg, but I thought I was dreaming and brushed it off and feel back asleep. A little while later I woke up with a cockroach crawling around my head – needless to say that started a very small (somewhat traumatic experience) of trying to catch the cockroach that was trapped under the mosquito net with us. We went into the kitchen to try and find cups and bowls to catch it with, but discovered even bigger bugs when we turned on the lights. We were all afraid to sleep on the floor, so the four of us piled into the twin sized bed that was off the ground instead of sleeping on the mattresses. So, the first few nights have not been super restful, but we sprayed for bugs and have learned to tough out the circumstances a little more – we all got a lot of sleep last night.

At least it wasn’t a snake, if there is anything I hate more than cockroaches it is the idea of a snake in my bed.

Although than that hiccup the first night, everything has been incredible. I can’t even begin to explain how welcoming students from Uganda have been. I have had amazing conversations with university students about international development, microfinance, cultural norms, perceptions of America – they are incredible and sooooooo friendly.

This week is orientation and we start our job next week. I met with the boss from Capital MicroCredit (the company I am going to be working with). He is a former member of the AIESEC Uganda group and has a great attitude about incorporating social values and the Millennium Development Goals into his business. We will be working on helping them implement a new lending model as well as shadowing loan officers, working with a new database and meeting with clients. I also expressed interest in the way that microfinance impacts women, and he was really receptive to specialized work in that area.

Thanks for reading this far – there is a ton more that is going on, but my time at the internet café is almost up. I will have more time next week at the job because there is wireless internet and I will upload pictures then!

Take care,

Joan