Week 4: Orientation and Home Stay

"In 10 years, I want to grow up to be just like you." That has to be the quote of the week, coming from fellow intern Jennifer, who is actually only 8 years younger (referring to my having traveled a bit). Speaking of which, things have settled down a bit for now on the travel front, but it was another great week all the same. We finished our 15 hours of language training, visited some local tourist destinations, got to see everyone's host organization, and moved in with our homestays at the end of the week.

I'll start by saying what a great place Jinja is. It has a population of 100,000 but feels like a small town with red dirt roads and few cars.

Some pics of Jinja:
On the horizon is Lake Victoria and just by the town are a ton of adventure activities like bungee jumping, white water rafting, ATVing, etc. It's like the Victoria Falls of East Africa...there is even a waterfall here called Bujagali, which was one of the sites we visited this week -- an amazing place where the Nile River crashes down upon itself amidst a backdrop of lush green hills. It's hard to capture in either pictures or words.

Bujagali Falls: But the real highlight there was in walking to visit one of the other intern's host organizations. As we made our way from the falls to the organization, we were greeted by maybe 30 little kids screaming "Muzungu, muzungu!" ("foreigner, foreigner!") who just wanted to hold our hands, teach us a bit of the language, and walk us to our destination.

Little ones:


Orientation itself was great. A big shout out to Berna, Jenn, and Margaret from FSD for taking such good care of us and adapting the schedules based on how we were feeling. We're now all pretty comfortable getting around, speaking a bit of the language, and knowing who to speak to in case of trouble. I also briefly got to meet my host organization supervisor where I found out I will be helping develop a microfinance system in 8 weeks (!).

At the end of orientation, we went to everyone's homestays and got to see the range of accommodations, from a small farm with no electricity, to a sprawling hillside estate with 360 degree views. I feel very fortunate with my placement -- I am 30 minutes from work in a beautiful home with electricity, running water, internet (couldn't believe that one), TV, and a view of the Nile, which I cross to go to work every day.


My homestay:
And the family is great as well -- I am staying with a doctor who is in his early 30s and knows just about everything. His younger brother Ben also lives at home and is my age and with similar tastes. So we spent the weekend hanging out, checking out some places he was building by the Nile, and just chatting sports and culture. So now, the easy part is over. Next time I write, I will be an official microfinance volunteer!