May 25, 2007
Total amount raised to date: $1,270 THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
Do I have a plan yet?
Well it has been a crazy couple weeks. My mom and I got the plane ticket on May 9 for Africa, June 12 to August 2. After road tripping with a friend from Wisconsin to Denver, I flew back to Arizona on May 13. When I got to the house I received an email from the orphanage saying they had policy changes and I could only work with them for 2 weeks. This was a problem because I already had my plane ticket for 7 weeks!
I panicked. All sorts of questions flew through my head. Was I supposed to go? If I wasn’t, why would I have my plane ticket? Why would this all fall apart less than a month before I leave? What did I do wrong?
I was at a loss but knew that I needed to pursue all paths and if I truly wasn’t supposed to go, God would close all doors. So I emailed a few contacts I had in Kampala telling them the situation and I called the Global Volunteer Network. I was accepted into their program in January but turned them down for the orphanage. Surprisingly they still had a village placement available for me for the month of July! I was so excited but also realized I was somewhat homeless for the first 3 weeks in Uganda.
The people that run Cornerstone Ministry in Uganda emailed me back within a couple days. They were so helpful and welcoming. Even though I don’t have a lot of time with them they were willing to take me in. It is a little less structured so I won’t know what I will be doing with them until I get there. But it will be amazing to get to see and experience two different organizations while I am there. As I find out more about Cornerstone I will let you know.
As for the Global Volunteer Network… They placed me with a non-profit organization called the Real Uganda. They run a nursery and primary school for orphaned and vulnerable children. I will be teaching English, Social Studies, and Art in the primary school. I have lots of school supplies to get! I will be living in Mukono Village where Luganda is the language primarily spoken. I will be living in a one bedroom house with another volunteer who is working at the same school. We have a living room and electricity, but no running water. Our meals will be provided for us and there is security around the house. This will be such an amazing experience, I can’t even fathom.
I will be writing a lot more frequently with more details on my placements!!! Thanks again for everything!
