Explaination of the silence

So some people may already know why I've been the biggest blog slacker on the planet. The reason is that I'm now home. I got home on the 7th of April which was a surprise to a lot of people. Since then I've been trying to get back into my old life and it's been easier to do that if I don't think about what I've been up to the past 9 months. I've been catching up with family and friends while trying to figure out what on earth is going on with life in north america.

Plus sides to being home:

• Family and friends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Movies, music etc that I haven't heard of before
• people being able to understand me when I talk
• knowing how to act in different social situations
• being able to relax
• food - glorious food
• blending in to a crowd
• knowing if strangers are talking to me it's not because they see someone who can pay their school fees, sponsor them in someway or get them a 'green card' or whatever
• life is much easier

Things I miss:

• friends and co-workers
• living the good life inexpensively
• bye bye mzungu/muno bye!!!! kids
• the chaos and constant streams of people around
• the mosque waking me up
• being able to hail a boda and get anywhere i want in the city in under 20 minutes total
• I'm sure there's more but as I said I haven't really started to process or even think about my time in Uganda because it's just easier this way at the moment.

I still don't know how this experience has changed me but I'm sure it has and I'm sure it will stand out in my memory forever.

Who am I?

So since my contract is finally over people have begun asking me how this experience has affected me. How I've changed and all that. I honestly have no idea and I've been thinking about it alot. I know that I've changed and everything but I don't think I can know how until I get home. I don't think I'm the same person I was when I left but I dont' know how different me now is from me then or even who me now really is. Is she the girl that is happy in her little life in Victoria with friends from forever just down the street, is she some slightly hippy-ish development worker who is content living in a small african town, or is she both of these people? I don't know though looking more hippy right now as I got my hair plaited as they say so braids halfway down my back. Photos to follow!
I just hope I still fit in at home, my life here is so different from my life at home that I think the transition back may be tough. I really can't say now though - I guess this is something I'll have to figure out when I get back.
Easter long weekend! Normally it's an easter egg hunt (yes I'm over 20 and still have an easter egg hunt with the little sister) where Laura competes against me and I dont' really try that hard. I wonder how that hunt will go this year?

Long Update

So I'm finally almost 100% better which means I can blog away to my heart's content. I have a super busy week to update everyone on.
Last Friday and Saturday was the peace symposium in Gulu. That's an event for 120 youth. We had a stakeholders meeting where four other ngo's came to hear about the project and talk with the youth. We had a day full of football matches (co-ed and all 20 members a side) and music, dance and drama competitions. I have to say I probably will try to avoid organizing similar events in the future as that was a lot of stress and to add to it I was getting sick. It was series of near disasters that somehow got worked out. I think the event went really well, the team that won the football cup was estactic and then their subcounty made a big deal out of it and they toured the cup around the camp etc but I have never been so tired and stressed before.
Saturday night was awful - I woke up with the worst case of fever induced chills I've ever experienced so I knew I had to go to the clinic but the next morning I was moving back to kamapala and taking the 12 youth reps down for the advocacy trip to kampala. That was not a pleasant bus ride, I spent most of the time trying not to sleep on Smart's shoulder (one of the youth - yes his name is Cangura David Smart - we also had Okot Jolly Joe on the trip, Akello Easter Monday stayed behind) . Arrived in kampala and waited around until someone had a car to take me to the clinic. Three hours later it turns out I had malaria (again!! and for real this time) and a severe infection (strep throat) SWEET!!! Bought out most of the drug store and went to bed. Got up to eat dinner at the solidarity dinner that had been organized for the youth with religious leaders unfortunately none of them managed to show. I ended up missing out the next two days of the advocacy trip which may have been a blessing in disguise as the team in kampala (one staff member and this other youth group) who were organizing the event appear to be the worst organizers ever! Besides being close to 120% over budget, there was no budget for meals for the youth, they lost two people for an afternoon, they didn't invite the donor to the cocktail party or to any part of it and guests of honour didn't show up constantly (i had to haul my butt out of bed and fix these problems when i could). If i had been with the group the whole time I may have had a total freak out even worse than I did. I'm pretty sure that team does not like me at all after i switched into butt kicking mode to ensure things got done, but if they had consulted the project officer (me) in charge of the project from the start a number of these problems would not have been issues. I did manage to make it to the last day which was a "mystery tour" (credit to K. Butler) to Entebbe where we went to the airport and the beach, a time shopping in town and then a cocktail party with the Minister for Youth and the Canadian Consulate (managed to fix that one at least). After the cocktail, some of the youth got to come back to the office and have a Canadian dinner (spaghetti and meat sauce) which was much appreciated.
All in all though I think the youth had a good time especially the ones who had never been to kampala before and so it was worth it but man was it unpleasant for me besides the double illness which was absolutely awful. I don't recommend that week to anyone and I now understand why people say malaria is so brutal - this wasn't few malarias this time, this was feel awful, walking up the flight of stairs in the main house tires you out, sweat for no reason then be freezing cold, lie on the couch in the office because you don't want to walk the less than fifty metres to your bed malaria. Thankfully I did everything right, got medical treatment as soon as i could, slept a ton, drank lots of fluids and well having a doctor in the office doesn't hurt either so it wasn't dangerous just unpleasant. I guess it's the price I pay for living next to a swamp or wetland in northern uganda, not getting proper rest for three months and having the kind of blood mosquitos just love despite repellent. Since Thursday when i put the youth on the bus and finished my medication (dont' know which one helped more) I've been much better (I didn't have a nap at all yesterday and I probably won't have one today) and today I've felt almost normal and went to the market to do some clothes shopping - bought a cute strapless white dress for like 7 dollars. It's funny I've been living up country for so long it was a bit of a shock to be out shopping in the market on saturday in kampala, so crowded and busy everywhere.

Sneaky blogging

So the peace symposium went pretty well, despite the fact I was overtired, stress and as I now know getting sick. I think the trip to Kampala has been going well but I've been unable to participate in most of it as I've been sick. I'm feeling a bit better now hence the blogging but have been banned from work since sunday afternoon and despite me being bored that was probably a good thing. Have spent my days napping, drinking juice and bumming around the office being told 'don't work'. Had to sneak on to the computer to check emails etc. Currently found someone's computer on and them out of the office so doing some sneaky computer usage....
Did manage get out last night and see the team for a bit at their hotel, they had a good press conference and day in general but only one of the MPs showed up for the meeting with parliamentarians. I think Kampala is a bit of a shock for most especially those from the more remote camps.
I'll write something long and detailed later on about the past week or so but at the moment I should get off the computer to avoid being told to stop working!!!

Update

I'M TIRED!!!

The week hasn't even really got started as the youth start arriving tomorrow for the peace symposium, yet already I'm exhausted.

Update on Collins - the YCFP has selected him to be one of their new members so at least I can organize a training for him next week. Isn't quite what he was hoping for but it's something.
I was seriously hoping they were going to include him in this training and they did.

Pre-apologies

So I probably won't be writing much in the next week or two so I apologize and explain now. Once I am able to post again I will write a ton and put up photos etc. But for the anticipated blog slacking - I'm sorry!
Explanation
This week I have a visit from DFAIT tomorrow afternoon, a whole day with the founder of Guluwalk on Wednesday, a review meeting on thursday afternoon and on thursday evening 100 youth from across the north are coming to town and i think i'm making some pasta for them all, friday is the peace symposium for those 100 youth plus 20 in the town which includes a stakeholders meeting that will involve district officials, people from other ngos etc etc, a football, netball tournament, relay races, art and speaking compeitions and other events then saturday the peace symposium continues, sunday i'm taking 12 youth to kampala for a five day advocacy trip (3 of whom have never been to k'la) which will include a informal dinner with all of the national religious leaders (except the mufti is now out on bail for fraud so dont' know about that one), a press conference, a meeting with parliamentarians, two presentations at schools, one at makerere university, a mystery tour day (trip to entebbe), a fancy cocktail and meanwhile i'll have a training going on back here in gulu which i obviously wont' have control over. Add to all that I've decided to move back to k'la to write my report and all b/c life is so much easier there and well I'd just rather live in Kampala that so when i take these youth down I'm moving too. I haven't even begun to pack up my room though started to give clothes away already, yes Laura that pink zippy is gone already!!!! Many others will be staying here as well because I can afford to buy more (though i am coming home to be unemployed - but partially b/c 10 months of hand washing and line dry is not good for clothes)while most people in the camps can't exactly pick up a bunch of cheap shirts from H and M in london on their way home....
I am rather torn about this whole moving back to kampala thing b/c i do love life up in Gulu, it's just a lot harder than life in kampala and a bit lonelier....

Crushing and Uplifting

So this morning I talked to Collins about not having anything for him to do. I think the conversation was harder on me than on him. Was talking to my dad on line afterwards, his comment was "I guess they get used to disappointment.which is so sad."



This afternoon, Evaline from Lalogi showed up for the workshop which starts tomorrow morning to prepare the team going on the advocacy trip to Kampala, not knowing why she was there. So I was explaining that we were doing this workshop to prepare people for the trip to Kampala when i realized she didn't know we had selected her (there were about 60 youth who wanted to go and we could only pick 12 and she was one of them). Turns out she has never been to Kampala before and now she is going as a spokesperson for her peers to be treated like a minor celebrity, carryout a press conference, have speaking engagements, meet with parliamentarians and religious leaders and be a tourist! The look on her face was priceless.
Pretty much it made the pain of working with this annoying youth network in Kampala to make the trip happen all worth it