More about the visit!

Yesterday I got back from visiting Julia, a volunteer in her second year here in Uganda. I had SO much fun! Our whole group left early Thursday for Kampala. We got there, made a quick stop at a supermarket, and then headed in separate directions to visit various volunteers. Mostly, two trainees went together to visit a current volunteer. In my case, Brett and I were assigned to go visit Julia, who lives in the (beautiful!) eastern part of the country. Tiffany and Christina were also headed east to visit different volunteers, so we all rode together on the first taxi and went our separate ways a little later. So, eventually Brett and I made it to Julia's site, where she gave us a tour of the health center that she works with! The reason that Brett and I were assigned to go see Julia was that we have both expressed interest in being assigned to a clinic. (We both plan to go to medical school after the Peace Corps!) And, I think this visit definitely increased our desire to work with a clinic, because Julia's site is AWESOME. Julia's job is doing health outreach from the clinic- she goes around and meets with different groups, teaching them life skills and information about HIV/AIDS. She meets with several secondary school groups, a dropout group, several women's groups, etc. On Friday, she had Brett and I plan and teach a lesson to one of her women's groups- it was so much fun! We did a really great exercise to demonstrate the fact that you can't tell if someone has AIDS just by looking at them, and I think the people really enjoyed it! It was a good experience all around- we walked for about 20 minutes to get to this particular village, and it was so refreshing to get a bit of exercise! The east is really lush and mountainous- it's very pretty.

Besides the fact that her site awesome, Julia herself is a really great volunteer! Not only does she do all of this outreach stuff, she also does a lot of really fun stuff for staff morale at the health center, and on top of all that, she applied for a grant, got the money, and has completely overseen the construction of a new health building in the health center compound. This new building is a much-needed space, where the health center is going to carry out a lot of PMTCT outreach activities, as well as counseling services. (PMTCT = Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission) They're having the opening ceremony for the building this Saturday- I'm so happy for Julia and all of the people that are going to benefit from her work! I think it was just really encouraging to see all that she's been able to accomplish- I feel like a lot of Peace Corps volunteers can spend two years in a place and not really do anything, but this girl is definitely doing something, and that's so good to know! (We also briefly met Edwin, a nearby volunteer, who's working on some sort of technology center for his community- he's also doing really great things!)

And, the house. How can I not mention the house? Julia's house is pretty much like an American apartment. I mean, not exactly, but it's about as close as you're going to get in Uganda. She's really worked hard into making it a home, and it shows. Not only does she have hot pink cushions on her couch, she has good smelling soap in the bathroom, shelves of dvds and books, makeshift sinks in her kitchen, really great cookies, and baby wipes (you should see how much dirt you can wipe off your face after taking public transportation!). Brett and I were in awe. We were totally the 12 year old younger sister who gets invited into the 16 year old sister's room and just gapes at how cool it is. I think really we were just both shocked that anyone can live that well in Uganda. Friday night we sat outside her house and watched the sunset over the mountains- gorgeous. And the sky at night (don't shoot me)- it's even better than the Texas night sky. No electricity means no light pollution- I think you can see every single star. Brett and I both agree that if our sites are even half as cool as Julia's, we will be in heaven.

We only got to stay Friday- we had to leave early on Saturday in order to make it back to Luweero before dark. First we had to go from Julia's site to a bigger city in the east, and then from there we went to Kampala, and from Kampala back to Luweero, town of flatness. Our first leg of the trip, from her site to the city, was definitely an adventure. The best way that I can explain it is to tell you to think of the worst wooden roller coaster you've ever been on, and imagine that you're on that for two hours. You're totally squished in your seat (it's 4 people to a bench seat made for 3), it's really hot, and you're driving on a really bumpy dirt road. Instead of the up-and-down of a roller coaster though, it's more of a side-to-side, avoiding particularly bad bumpy dirt, and avoiding the other vehicles who are avoiding particularly bad bumpy dirt too. It's good that it's only two hours, and I can't begin to imagine how you would survive if you had even the slightest feeling of needing to go to the bathroom. But, we made it to the city, and then the rest of the way to Kampala was much smoother! (It was paved!)

Huts along the road:

Overall, a really inspiring trip! I can't wait to get my assignment!!!