Four month up-date...!
on Postcard from Uganda (Uganda), 12/May/2010 04:45, 34 days ago
Did I mention before that I wasn't very good at keeping a diary, on-line or otherwise....... hhmmm! Well the lack of blog up-dates of late probably confirms that I think....Life continues to go well here in Uganda and there are still lots of things that surprise, dumbfound, shock me and of course make me smile..... I'm just not very good at recording them here!I'm feeling very settled in Uganda now, I've been here 16 months and whereas the first 12 months seemed to go by quite slowly, the last 4 months have flown by and naturally thoughts and conversations are tending to focus on 'what I do next'. It feels way to early to be thinking about it at the moment, but I know I need to start thinking about it in the months to come, but I don't want to start 'count down' just yet. There are many things about life in Uganda that can frustrate me beyond belief (traffic congestions, lack of order, the more or less non-existence of customer care, time keeping, a language that is totally incomprehensible to me...to name a few) but there are also many, many things that I love, most especially the people, the friends I've made, the simplicity of life, the weather (wet season being the exception), the availability of fresh fruit and vegetables, not having to worry about council tax, raod tax, car insurance etc.... My work here is best described as 'so-so' - I, like most volunteers at various points in their placements doubt the effectiveness of what they are doing and if they are achieving anything. My work in community development/nutrition training is interesting and yes, I've had some successes and I know I've helped to improve some peoples lives, but unfortunately it just doesn't feel like it's my 'thing'. By that I mean that it's not an area of work that I have a great deal of, if any experience of doing, and at times that feels very frustrating. I enjoy working with the local communities, but unfortunately I've been mainly office-based for the last 6 months, in an office that doesn't really promote 'social interaction', where the management style is that once you're at work, you're there to work and it's no place for chit chat.....and I haven't been out in the 'field' much. At times I wish I was involved more in work that within my professional area, where I feel I could be more effective.......But overall it's ok, and life outside of work is good and enjoyable. I keep reminding myself that I'm basically on an 'extended adult gap year' and to just enjoy the experience, as I'm sure I'll have to return to 'real' life at some point!If you scroll down after this reading this up-date you'll see a mainly pictorial overview of what I've been doing since December......