The Uganda Rural Fund

Yes indeed, I've set down in yet another location in Uganda. I'm now volunteering with the Uganda Rural Fund (URF) in the village of Kyetume (pronounced che-toomay). Hopefully I will be able to blog a bit more regularly because we have reasonable internet access here, slow as it may be.

Life in Uganda is....well....very different, and sometimes good, sometimes bad. You probably already realize this if you have read my other posts. It's a major adjustment for pretty much everything that westerners take for granted, time, comfort, food, toilets, privacy, water, bathing, all of it. And although that sort of makes it sound terrible, it's not. It's amazing how quickly you become accustomed to peeing in a cement hole, or sitting in the back of a car with 4 other adults, or washing your hair and body with a gallon of water. But although many things are harder here, they tend to be simpler as well, which provides a sort of balance.

So, what do I do? Good question. As I discovered when I was volunteering in Ghana, and rediscovered during my time here, volunteering in Africa is tough. You come here ready for anything, ready to help out wherever you can, but it turns out, there generally isn't enough infrastructure, much less funding, to accomplish anything. For instance, my first day on this project, 3 of us were asked to mop out a new office and paint part of it. We were happy to do it, but the lack of any tools but for one scrub brush, one basin for water and some soap, we weren't really as useful as we could have been. We did cut an amusing picture as we swept the water off the concrete floor with chunks of wood we found in the bushes. Maybe we are just here to amuse the kids with our ridiculousness, I guess that would be alright.

Back to what I do. I do pretty much whatever someone asks me to. We work at a school here in Kyetume doing construction, cleaning, paperwork and teaching. We also run a number of community programs aimed at women, from basket-weaving and livestock raising, to workshops on everything from domestic violence to using a condom. We ALSO work at an orphanage about 50 mins from here each week. There are about 25 kids living there, 10 of which are under the age of 5, and pretty much just one woman who takes care of them all day, everyday. She's amazing. So we go there and help her in any way that we can, laundry, bathing, playing, dishes, you name it. It's amazing how much dirty laundry that many little kids can make each day, and how long it takes to clean it by hand with minimal water. The kids aren't necessarily always wearing any sort of diaper, so there's also a lot of floor cleaning and soiled clothing. The children at the orphanage are amazingly cheerful despite their circumstances, which just makes it all the more mind-blowing.

When I'm not attempting to help out on these programs, I pretty much have a lot of down time. I live with a family and with the other volunteers so there are always people around and there is always someone greeting me and asking me how I am. Ugandans are extremely friendly and are always ready to have a chat with you about how Uganda is, or whether or not you are in personal contact with Barack Obama. (If only!)

That's my update for now. Stay tuned for more from Ali in Uganda, I'm sure there will be plenty of adventures to report. I hope to have an address soon so that you can all send me letters and care packages filled with candy.