What it is

Hello. For anyone who doesn’t know (and if you don’t, why are you here?) I am going to Uganda in September to work with an org called Global Volunteer Network. I have always wanted to go to Africa, not to do the safari thing, but to really get to know first-hand the culture and people. I don’t know why, it’s kind of an odd thing to want to do when you’re in the 6th grade, but then again I’m kind of an odd person, so there you go.

Anyway, during the day I will be teaching in an elementary school somewhere outside Kampala, the capital of Uganda. In the afternoons I’ll be making home visits to help people suffering from AIDs. (Something like 1 in 3 people in East Africa has AIDs). This part has me the most worried. It’s one thing at my job, where the girls have a future to look forward to if they make the right decisions, it’s completely another with those who have no treatment or hope and their lives are reduced to moments left.

On the weekends I’m going to take side trips around Uganda to visit some kids who I help put through school. (For whatever reason, in one of the poorest areas on the planet they have to pay to go to school. Whoever setup the arrangement obviously wasn’t bitten by the logic bug.)

After I volunteer I’ll have a couple extra days to explore Uganda, so I’m going to go on a mini-safari through a national park and see lions and tigers, and… well, there’s no bears. Then I’m going to camp on an island that’s a chimpanzee habitat, where I get to help feed, walk and play with the baby chimps. (Although after someone told me that baby chimps once bit someone’s face off I’m a tad concerned)

I also am going to have two layovers in London, the second one overnight, so I get to see a little bit of the UK.

And along the way, I hope to stop into one of Uganda’s what-I’m-told-are-abundant internet cafes and keep this little page o’ thoughts updated.

So if you feel so inclined, stop by now and then and check in on how I’m doing.

And read carefully, there will be a quiz. 😉

Ta 🙂