So, I wanted to write an update after being in Uganda 6 months, but I lost track of time and now it is almost 7 months with 5 months at site! Wow, has the time flown. I have so many different projects and ideas for my community I am hoping I can do them all in the 19 months I have left.

The first 7 months have been a definite learning experience. I feel like my patience and creativity have been challenged and that I have grown as a person. I have a very different view of development than when I started and can see some of the damage well-intentioned NGOs have done by not doing development in a sustainable, empowering way. My Luganda has improved a lot since leaving training, partly because of my great tutor and partly because I try to use it as much as possible in my community.

We have done a number of community meetings and are working on a variety of projects including several water projects, a maize mill, and a health fair. I am going to start teaching 2 knitting classes every Monday and in the future will teach English and basic book-keeping to adults. Now that school is back in session, I will get back in the classroom and start teaching lifeskills and crafts in the secondary school (high school) as well as health and other topics at the local primary school. We are also working on starting a craft club and health club at the secondary school.

As always, I like to put pictures on here more than words, so here they go:

Here is a picture of Mityana from a hill next to it. Mityana is the biggest town nearby and has a couple of small supermarkets, a big fresh food market, the bank, post office, and internet cafes. It is about 9 km away and a 45 min bike ride. I am on another hill so I get some good hill practice going both directions.



Bubbles. I got some bubbles from another volunteer and they have been a hit! Some kids are so scared of them, but within minutes they are chasing them as I yell kwata! (catch). Here are a couple of girls who were having a blast trying to catch them.



Mango Season. Mango season has passed but it was a pretty amazing time. Mango trees are huge meaning lots of fresh, delicious mangos to eat for free! Kids climb high in the tree and as I walk down to the dirt road to nearby villages, I hear them giggling from high above. Here is one high tree with a boy high up in there. I circled him as it is hard to see him. There is a close-up pics as well. Apparently the branches of the mango tree are not that strong which is scary as they are HIGH!






Here is the view from behind my house. It is pretty much beautiful! Sometimes there is a random cow or pig back there too



Went down to Rakai for some engineer consulting for a PCV friend of mine. There are some major water and drainage issues in his area. While we were there, we went to the top of one of the mountains to a stone reservoir. It was natural rock on the bottom which a stone wall around it. In my broken Luganda, I found out that kids were drinking water directly from the well which has some obvious health consequences. The PCV and his org are going to do some more water education in the area. The hill also gave a great view of Rakai District. The first case of AIDS was found in Rakai in one of the fishing villages and it has definitely gotten hit hard by HIV/AIDS.