Muzungu In Taxi Park…

So I promised everyone that’d I share my site information but I’d like to first give a shout out to our program managers and the involved Peace Corps staff because they definitely paired us up with organizations that fit our interests.  Without further adieu…

I will be working for Mazzoldi Vocational Training Community College, which is an NGO under the Catholic Church, located in Western Uganda in Kirihura District.  Their main goal is on the development and empowerment of young Ugandan women.  I am expected to design and provide health education to the girls at the vocational school and to those in the secondary schools around the campus in addition to developing new ideas to empower the girls to succeed.  The town also has an active Village Health Team (VHT), which will allow me to reach out into the deeper community and work with those affected with HIV/AIDS in addition to other illnesses.  I couldn’t be more pumped.

Here is where the title of the blog fits in.  Muzungu is the name that Ugandans will call white foreigners.  When Michelle and I would walk to class during satellite, children would line the streets and would follow us shouting, “Mu-zun-gu!  Mu-zun-gu!  Mu-zun-gu!”  It is cute and warms a spot in your heart.  That is until you are alone in the taxi park trying to get to site with a backpack full of stuff.  So my organization planned for me to take a certain matatu (taxi) and in true Ugandan fashion it was late.  Needless to say, I finally made it on by 11:30a and was ready to leave.  Well matatus don’t leave until they are full, which is 14 passengers.  At 3:00p, I was still the only one.  After four hours of being bombarded with Ugandans trying to sell me everything from torches (flashlights) to chapatti and being stared at, and watching fights go down, I called one of my counterparts and explained the situation.  She was incredibly apologetic and called Cotious, the fabulous health program specialist.  Between many calls with Cotious and Fred, our awesome PC Safety and Security Officer (SSO), I was told that I would be staying in Kampala for the evening at the Peace Corps Guesthouse.  I finally left the taxi park and waited for the Peace Corps Driver to pick me up.  The car had air conditioning and to my excitement the guesthouse has 3G+ Internet.  No complaints.

I should be leaving Kampala this morning and actually heading out to site to see my house :D and meet my counterparts.  I’m anxious and am praying that this trip works out better than the last!