Final Reflections

Check out my final reflections here!

Enkomerero

If you’re wondering what that means… it’s finale in the Lugandan language.

Regardless of how much money this trip cost, it was absolutely priceless.  With everything included in the $4,500, the trip was entirely WORTH IT.  For 5 weeks, we had a place to stay, we were always fed without hardly ever having to pay extra for more meals (unless we were told about it before the trip), and then on top of that we were able to enjoy many different tourism activities.  I don’t think I’ve ever spent my money in a better way.  With that being said, 5 weeks did not feel long enough and I don’t say that because I wanted to stay longer with all of our new friends.  I think that additional time in our fieldwork would have been beneficial to our overall role of assessing our communities and being able to be apart of the implementation that was supposed to take place.  It’s hard to assess needs, help plan, and then have to leave without knowing if the implementation will be carried out.  I think thus far from my blogs, and from this final video, I would 250% go on this trip over and over again.  I had the a life changing experience, and like I said, to me that is priceless.

I’ve included my final reflection vlog.  What was supposed to be about 15 minutes resulted in 38 minutes of me going on and on… and getting a little emotional along the way.  I have so much to say about this experience, but I don’t think YouTube has the storage capacity for all of my rambling.

7/6… the States

I’m back in the States… it’s all very bittersweet.  I already  miss Uganda more than I would have ever imagined; however, the party I had waiting for me at the airport made the traveling worth it.  The excitement on my family’s face to see me was indescribable.  Being wrapped up in my disappointment of leaving Uganda, I forgot how amazing it was going to be to hug my family after 5 1/2 weeks of being away from them.  As I have said a thousand times, it has been an amazing 5 1/2 weeks that have made me do a lot of thinking about what I want to do with my life.  I have never been so sure about something.. I am excited to say that I am applying for Peace Corps.  I loved Africa and want to spent more time giving back to the world.  The ending of this trip feels like the start of a new beginning. IMG_4847.JPG

7/5… Our last day in Uganda

It was a hard day to accept… our last day in Uganda; however it was filled with some of my favorite things.. my new elephants pants, iced coffee, shopping, laughs, and sunshine! Even though I was feeling sad, I was not going to let it keep me from enjoying my last full day with my newly favorite people in my newly favorite country.  I did my best to soak in every aspect of the day, starting with waking up and blaring music with Mica while we packed our suitcases together for the final time, to enjoying shopping with Arne, Lauren, Bri, Kayla, Katie, and one of our Ugandan friends, to laying in the floor in the hotel room just hanging out, to our final dinner together as a group before leaving for the airport.  OH and I got my first deep tissue massage, so I don’t think that will be happening again.  It was truly a wonderful day even though it had a sad ending.  I can’t believe the final day has already come and I can’t believe I will be saying goodbye to Uganda tonight… well hopefully just see ya later.

7/4… I forgot my hiking shoes

We woke up early this morning and started our day out with a boat ride across Lake Bunyonyi to the Batwa Pygmies community.  This community is located on the top of what feels like the biggest mountain in the world.. it felt that way after walking up the hill but we had children waiting with open arms to help us walk up the hills.  The hike was completely worth it when we got the top.  We were able to see some of their cultural dances, as well as visit the school.  The excitement from the children always makes it worthwhile for me, and their excitement is also one of the most impacting factors that motivates me to want to come back to places like this to help.  I wasn’t looking forward to the long ride to Entebbe, especially since that meant that we would be another step closer to going home : (

The best part of the day was the reaction of the children in the Pygmies community.  My least favorite part of the day was, again, the long van ride to Entebbe.

7/3… My future career of Canoeing

Entebbe! Our final night in Uganda before leaving tomorrow and I cannot believe how quickly the past 5 1/2 weeks have flown by.  I’ve been spending a lot of time reflecting on this trip the past couple of days, and I can’t help but acknowledge the fact that my heart is so incredibly full.

We had canoeing on our agenda today, which I have no pictures of and that is not a bad thing.  Public health is in my future but canoeing definitely is NOT!  No matter how much I followed instruction on what to do, I seemed to be very good at paddling our canoe in circles.  I had a lot of mixed emotions from being frustrated, to laughing at myself, then to almost crying cause I couldn’t do it.. LOL like I said canoeing is not in my future.  I’m still very thankful that I can now say I have canoed before… but I cannot say I did it successfully.  Despite my poor skills, it was fun to do it alongside everyone.  I wasn’t the only one that wasn’t good at it.  Lake Bunyonyi is the deepest lake in Uganda.. practicing my canoe skills on it seems kind of overwhelming now that I think about it.  Being on the lake made all of the beauty of the mountains around us more visible and it was truly a very peaceful feeling.  The best part about today was all of the laughter during the canoeing.  The least favorite part of the day was again the long van ride.

7/2… into the Wild

Today was quite the experience… amazing but also terrifying.  We walked through the forest looking for REAL WILD CHIMPANZEES.  To start the experience off, there were baboons frolicking around the bathrooms only spiking the anxiety that I was soon to have.  Our tour guides were awesome and very helpful, we were able to spot chimps within the first twenty minutes whereas the day before it took 4 hours.  Like I mentioned about the hippos, it’s different to see an animal in the zoo than to see an animal in the wild.  Wow, it was wonderful.  I was terrified at first don’t get wrong… especially when Dr. Cathorall let me know that the chimps will circle the smallest one in a group….which I happened to be the shortest….sooooo you can only imagine.  BUT it was absolutely worth the fear to see these intelligent animals in their natural habitat, especially one mothering her child.  Our game drive in the evening was so fun.. Sitting on top of the vans was fun…we rode on the top all the way back to the lodge (which we shouldn’t have done).  After being away from Ndejje for a few days, my mood was starting to improve and I was being more present in the activities we did today.  I loved seeing more of Uganda.. I can’t believe this time next week I will be back in the States.  The best part of the day was seeing the chimps! The worst part of the day was cleaning all the dust off my face after our game drives.

7/1… ELEPHANTS!!!!

 

Anyone who knows me knows how obsessed I am with elephants.. I mean I have a tattoo of one on my foot! There’s nothing like a little elephant therapy to cheer someone up.  On our boat ride today we saw lots and lots and lots of elephants, and my heart was so happy all day.  It was so relaxing to sit on the boat and just observe as we rode by them.  I  am still feeling sad today after leaving Ndejje yesterday, but I need to start focusing on how happy I should be that I have made all these new friends that I can continue to keep in touch with in the future.  Our scenery at our lodge is also beautiful… however, lots of lizards everywhere so I’ll probably have weird dreams about lizards.  The best part of the day was bonding with everyone and getting to see elephants, while my least favorite part (which will probably be the same for the next couple of days) was waking up so early.  I am tired!!

6/30… Two Places @ Once

Waking up at 5 AM to finish packing and saying final goodbyes…for now…was by no means easy.  The number of people that woke up early to say their goodbyes to all of us was extremely heartwarming, also making it more difficult than I would have ever imagined.  How lucky all of us are to have all of these people to make it so hard to say goodbye to.  The following 6-7 hour car ride was a sad one, but our first stop at the equator started to help brighten the day.  Whoever said you can never be in two places at once has never experienced the equator!  Along with stopping at the equator, we kicked off our week of touring Uganda with a boat ride.  Seeing hippos in their natural habitat is a lot different than seeing hippos at the STL Zoo.  The best part of the day was spotting the first elephant in the wild, while the worst part of the day was starting the day with final goodbyes.

6/29… Final Day @ Ndejje

From the moment I woke up, to the moment I went to bed, I wanted to soak in everything that I possibly could this day without accepting I would be saying final goodbyes the following morning.  Since it was our final full day at Ndejje, we finally made a trip over to the center where the German students have been working to use corn cobs to make charcoal, which was very interesting to see.  This was interesting to us, especially being Public Health majors, because it is more efficient for the environment.  After a day of packing and catching up on laundry, we had a going away party to attend with our professors and fellow Ndejje friends at one of our hangout spots at the Trading Center aka the market.  We all shared a lot of laughs and took the opportunity to take as many pictures as we could.  It was one of the best times I have had since being here, which says a lot because almost everyday here has been amazing.  My heart was so full the entire day.  To take advantage of the time together, I stayed up late saying my goodbyes because I did not want the day to end… however, I did regret it the next morning when I was very tired.  I am hoping that I was only saying “see ya later” to everyone, rather than saying goodbye.  It was a day that I will forever remember.