Wednesday, March 5, 2008

How is the going?

How is the going, I think i get asked this question by my Ugandan friends at least 20 times a day. But, the going is busy here in Busia. Last week I had the stakeholder meeting to discuss the future of the youth centre project and girl's empowerment camp that Natalie and I have been working on for months now. It went quite well. It seems that many community members and organizations were very willing to pledge support or funds. We just got word that we will be able to pick up 200 books from the west of Kampala to place in the centre. We've also had an organization pledge to supply bookshelves and another to help with environmental outreaches. So, work is crazy busy.
I had a current PC trainee stay with me from Thursday through Sunday of last week. It was interesting in that we had very different motivations for joining the Peace Corps. It was also nice to have someone else around and talk about the issues that have come up during this first year of service as well as the wonderful things that have happened. The visit was exhausting though, we did a lot, travelled a lot, and the simple act of reflecting on the last year and answering questions was also tiring. But it was all great.
This week marks my one year anniversary in Uganda. One year since I have seen my family and friends, but one more year until I get to see you all again!! I hope I don't come back with leathery, way too much Equator sun skin. We'll see what the next year brings.