May 2011
2 posts
WatchCreated this video for my presentation in Social Entrepreneurship yesterday. It shows my P.7 class reading Charlotte’s Web. Enjoy!
April 2011
1 post
Charlotte's Web
Today my P.7 students finished reading Charlotte’s Web. The term started in the beginning of February and since then every Monday and Wednesday we have slowly made our way through all the chapters until finally today we read the final chapter and got to say “THE END” in unison. Although reading a chapter book may seem like an ordinary accomplishment for students in their last...
February 2011
2 posts
Living in a World of Luganda
Sorry for the double dipping but here is the article I wrote for the Concordy and appeared last week. It is lunchtime at the clinic. The nurses have seen their last patients for the morning, Resty has finished dispensing their meds, and Ritah has completed the last HIV test before lunch. We all head to the picnic tables behind the clinic where Susan, our cook, has laid out the food. Once their...
Rock The Vote
February 18th, 2011: Presidential Election Day in Uganda. The day has finally arrived. Today Ugandan businesses, schools, and farming will pause so that the citizens of Uganda can go to the polls to vote for their president. The ballots are all paper ballots, marked by either a thumb print or tick mark, next to your candidate. On the ballots, there is a picture of each candidate along with the...
January 2011
2 posts
St. Gertrude's Classroom Book Project
“The curriculum in Uganda emphasizes reading as a core component of learning in primary schools, but many pupils complete school without touching a reading book” (Ugandan newspaper New Vision, 06.09.2010)
As many of you know, Elliot and I have been teaching at a local primary school during our time in Uganda. While I have throughly enjoyed the challenge, I was often stumped when it came to what...
Monsters Under the Bed
Last Thursday, the much talked about tree ceremony occurred. We have been hearing about the ceremony for many months now so I was excited when a taxi full of people suddenly showed up signaling that today was the day for the much awaited ceremony. There are two large trees, one to the side of the clinic and another down the road, that are said to have special powers. The trees are considered twins...
November 2010
3 posts
How to Make a Thanksgiving Feast in Uganda
Step 1: Decide on a menu that includes foods found in Uganda but still in line with the Thanksgiving tradition in America. This is what we came up with: Turkey, Stuffing, Gravy, Green Beans (or as they call them here, French Beans), Mashed Potatoes, Pumpkin, Cajun Rice (this tradition was passed on to us but our mzungu friend Amanda who grew up in Louisiana. Plus we figured it’d be good to have...
Taxi Madness
Recently I have been having the worst luck with taxis. I’m not sure if the luck we’ve encountered so far—considering the conditions of roads and/or taxis—has run out or if my bad luck in the transportation department gets saved up for one long stretch and things will go back to normal for another 3 months before I have another week of 2 extremely lost boda bodas, one melted flip flop, and 2 broken...
October 2010
1 post
The Beginning of My Teaching Career
Afternoon Program:
The class on the first day of school (first row: Tina, Mattia, Dan, Peter; Second Row: Newhu, Kato, Babyire, Prossy, Fadah)
Last Tuesday I started the Afternoon Program, which was originally started as the Morning Program by the previous years of Fellows. Since Elliot and I both have an interest in working in the clinic and the morning hours are usually crazy, we decided to...
September 2010
4 posts
Trophy Ceremony Uganda Style
The rainy season has begun. It will now rain for two or three hours every day for the next two months or so. The constant rain results in even more red dirt (well actually it’s now red mud) everywhere you go. My flip flops have become platform shoes as the mud adds about 2 inches of height—which clearly I need since I’m already 5’9”—and there is not much point cleaning them because as soon as you...
August 2010
2 posts
The Doctors From Amerika
The Medical Mission from Chicago has been here for the past two weeks and it has been absolutely crazy around the Clinic. So many patients come every day to see the doctors from Amerika and are willing to wait for most of the day in order to be seen. Rather than being cranky and rude like patients would be in the United States, the majority are happy to have been seen and thank us on their way out...
Electronic Medical Records Powered by the Sun
John got a new modem so now besides having Internet that is compatible with my Mac it is also fast enough to load my Tumblr blog. Looks like I’ll be staying with this blog for the rest of my time in Uganda. Yay!
The design team started to leave yesterday and it is really sad. Even though we only knew them two weeks we have all become very close from sharing a living, working, and eating...
July 2010
4 posts
My Name is Now ‘Mzungu’
So I wrote that first blog post a few days ago but didn’t have a chance to post until now. Since then we have had been busy learning more Luganda and helping out in the clinic. On Sunday we went to visit the secondary school where we may teach and where all the previous fellows have taught. Although Tom describes this journey as a walk in his blogs & presentations I would really classify it as...
Arrival in Uganda
We have arrived in our new home and everything has been going great so far! I’m currently staring out at the gorgeous green, lush countryside (despite it being the dry season currently) while typing up this blog post.
Elliot and I had the best layover we could have hoped for. We had 10 hours in Cairo so we left the airport and explored the Great Pyramids!
It was the perfect way to pass the time...
Preparing to Leave
Hi Everyone! I am part of the 3rd group of Minerva Fellows and am about to spend the next 9 months working at Engeye Health Clinic in Ddegeya, Uganda. I just graduated from Union College with a BA in Sociology and Economics. During my time at Union I swam and worked as an academic mentor and I am hopeful that the skills I learned through these activities will help me over the next year. Elliot and...