So I finally am posting from Africa....Sorry it has taken me a while. I love Uganda!!!! It's hard to believe I have been here for over a month now. It has been an incredible experience. I get to take cold showers (not as often as I probably should...), only get a few hours of electricity a day, and get the eat the same thing almost everyday. I also got initiated by eating white ants (and got to see Katie finally eat them, hahaha). Miss you Kate! But I have also fulfilled a lifetime dream of visiting Africa, going on safari, and change lives. I have a lot to catch up on, but right now I want to share a couple experiences with you and then I will try to update again this week.
McKay, Lindsey, Marissa, and I decided to teach a series of Empowerment classes to the youth at two secondary schools (basically high schools). This has been my best experience in Africa thus far. Lindsey and Marissa taught the girls at the schools while McKay and I taught the boys. Our classes were: Leadership and Conflict Resolution, Decision making and Goal setting, Stress Management and positive thinking, Health (mental, spiritual, emotional, and physical), and Synergy and teamwork. The five day course was a huge success. At first I was a little nervous about teaching a hundred teenage students about these kind of issues, but they were awesome! The students were great, soaking up the information we presented them and contributing often in discussion. I was really impressed with them. I never thought I would love working with youth this much! It was so awesome at the end of the week when students came up and thanked us and told us we changed their lives. This was what I came here to do.
Today I got back from teaching youth again. This time, it was at a youth conference for youth in my church in Jinja, Uganda. I learned just as much as they did, I am sure. And for the first time in a long time, I enjoyed hearing 'Waka Waka' by Shakira (haha, let's just say it was overplayed before I came to Africa). Seeing the youth dancing and having a good time brought back many memories of Youth Conferences in New York, Ohio, and Washington DC. It was really spiritual and I wish it could have been longer! It was really rewarding, especially after taking public transportation down to Jinja....three hours with my legs crammed in front of me is not too fun. I am much taller than most Ugandans so I just don't fit in those little seats.
I'll write again soon!
