Guess what....!!!!!

Hey everyone!

Life these past few weeks in Uganda has been very very busy but also very very exciting!
Last weekend I visited my host family. We went to visit my host sister Leirah (Leila) at her boarding school St. Lawrence. It was my first time seeing her since she went away to school 4 weeks ago…so I really enjoyed seeing her. Her school is really nice it looks like a college campus no-lie. I took a couple of pictures which ill upload at some point in time.

This week (Monday to Wednesday) I was busy with my organization. We traveled to Lira, which is in Northern Uganda for a training-dialogue for women in government. Most of the women who attended the session were district chairwomen – so not involved in parliament but listening to them describe the challenges they face while campaigning and how they circumvent the challenges was so awesome. I really love my organization they are all so friendly and make me feel like I’ve been part of the team forever. For instance on the way up we stopped to buy snacks on the road – and they had me try roasted cassava (which is good), roasted plantain and meat on a stick! Then during the dialogue they had me take the pictures during and man the microphone. This may seem like small things but it’s these little things that make a person feel wanted and needed in a host organization. Anyways it was highly enjoyable and I do have pictures from this amazing workshop. *P.S. the former MP Miria Matembe who started my org. is so nice and listening to her tell stories about her time in parliament is so awesome – hearing her speak is enough to make anyone want to join politics! Lol

In a random case of good-luck?? I bumped into Sharon Stone, the actress, who is here with an organization called Dropinthebucket that digs wells. She has become really interested in poverty in Africa…. Especially how it impacts girls education. She was interesting to meet but I didn’t get a picture because I’m a dork 

Anywho, when I got back to Kampala my organization took me to a meeting with UWOPA (Uganda Women’s parliamentary Association). The meeting was about women in post-conflict situations and how female MPs and NGOs can work together to improve their lives. The meeting was really nice and I used the opportunity to collect the information of some female MPs I hope to interview in the future.

Oh yeah…so yesterday was Easter Sunday and I visited my host family for the day. They rented out a small place and all the family came and ate good food, listened to good music and etc. It was nice  But what was not so nice was the fact that my camera decided to mess up!! Seriously guys why do I have such bad luck with cameras?? Anywho what happened was the lens kept sticking and then the memory card lost all my data and then finally stopped working all together. The good thing is that all my pictures were safely backed up on my computer. I know think it is best that I spend some serious time in an internet café and try to upload all my pics….just in case my computer deciedes it hates me too (Tufiakwa). Anyways I looked up tech support and found out that I had two problems…number one is that my memory card was corrupted and so I had to buy a new one (thankfully the price was reasonable at $20) the second problem is that my lens is messing up. The only way I can fix this one is to send it in when I get home  But the guy who sold me a memory card said it should be okay until I get home…so Ill still be taking pictures.

That’s pretty much all that been happening in my life.

Siiba bulungi (Have a good day)
Cynthia