Sunday, February 15, 2015

Enjoying my stay in Mbale

So much has happened the last months. The things that stand out are my birthday celebration the 6th of december. It was a wonderful night with good friends. During the holidays I got the chance to travel to Kenya and Tanzania. I was there with some of the other norwegian volunteers from my programme in East-Africa. It was really the perfect way to vacation and motivated me to get back to make the most of my remaining time in Uganda.
My father also came down for a few days. It was so nice to show him where I live and where I work. He really enjoyed his time in this beautiful country. At the end of my holiday I managed to fit in a trip to Zimbabwe to visit my uncle who lives there.
A couple weeks ago the norwegian girls stationed in Kampala visited us for the weekend. Sure enough we got invited to a wedding the day they came, so we got to go to our first ever Ugandan wedding! That was truly an unique experience. 
Two days ago I decided to get a goat, so yesterday we had a big goat party! I had no clue that goat was so tasty, I might have to get another goat soon!



The boys preparing food for the birthday party
Our master chef Odeke with finishing touches to the birthday feast



My uncle lives in this beautiful place!


The beautiful Kampala girls ready for the wedding
Me and Ronald visiting the villages

My boys finally starting school with new uniforms
My goat

Roasted goat is very delicious!


Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Mzungu, how are you?

It is crazy how these last eight weeks have been. I am really getting into the job at CRO and after a few weeks with a special orientation program I became a part of the social work department. My job description includes going on street walk in the morning. Here we find children who are living on the streets and we try to find out why they are there and encourage them to receive help from CRO.
In general I am really settling here and getting used to daily life and tasks. I no longer think twice about going to the slum to buy vegetables or eating from a small shed where a couple of old women sit and cook different dishes (beans, cabbage and sweet potato is my favorite!). It is no longer strange when ten small kids start following you and saying “Mzungu(white man), how are you?” with beautiful smiles on their faces.
 My passion for watching football has been reignited after finding that “everyone” here loves it. There is a barbershop not far where some of the guys next door and I watch the Manchester Unite games. The atmosphere there is phenomenal!

We have had some time to get to know the city, but also the mountain that watches over it. A few weeks a go we had a spectacular hike to the top with Sam and Simon. We started early in the morning to avoid rain in the afternoon.
We also got to spend a weekend in Kampala where we visited the lovely act-now girls Eline and Astrid. We had a great time and they showed us around the capitol!


Sam, simon and me.


 Played some cards with some children living at the top of the mountain.


 We had to climb down a "ladder" on the way down



Our house
The view from the roof!

Sunday, October 12, 2014

The pearl of Africa

If you were to tell me a year ago that I would be sitting in a small town in Eastern-Uganda, where the electricity goes on and off each day, with a rooster right outside my door waking me up at around 6 a.m. every morning and going to work as a volunteer at a centre for street children you would be exactly right. This will be the new reality for the next seven months of my life. I have spent the last six weeks at Hald International Centre in Mandal were I am a student at the Act Now programme, before leaving for Uganda.

 I have been so fortunate to represent The Strømme Foundation(http://www.strommestiftelsen.no) and FK(http://www.fredskorpset.no/en/) as a volunteer at the Child Restoration Outreach(CRO) in Mbale, Uganda. This centre mainly provides education by paying the school fees for 400 students and rehabilitation classes for street children. Approximately 70 kids attend a rehabilitation class of one year, where I will be working, before being sent off to school.

I arrived in Uganda ten days ago and am starting to realize why it is said to be the pearl of Africa. With extremely beautiful and lush nature and a friendly people it certainly lives up to its name. I will continuously update this blog with pictures and my experiences in for you to follow.
CRO where I work