I’m back! After a month in Uganda and three weeks working from Halifax (to spend some time with my family over the holidays), I am back in Toronto and settling back into the routine of packed lunches, (semi) regular office hours and scheduled meetings that people show up on time for.
It is mildly strange to embrace the routine of life and re-assimilate into Canadian culture. The hardest part of the whole process is answering the question “Welcome back! How was your trip?” Don’t get me wrong I love that people are interested, and that they genuinely want to know more about what we do and how we do it. I am touched by the warm response I have received from staff, volunteers, and other people at CSI yet I find it hard to articulate my answer. Yet, I want to do the sights, sounds and experience justice. I want people to feel connected to the journey I went on but I find that my vocabulary is not expansive enough to really paint the picture of what it is like to work in the remote hard to reach regions of Uganda. In a feeble attempt to describe our trip I try to explain what it was like to walk two hours in the jungle along a slippery washed out footpath to Murole, and the joy I felt when I listened to women in Kanyamahene explaining their challenges and brainstorming solutions to overcome poverty in their village. I can only hope that through it all people get an even slightly clearer picture of what living in Uganda is really like. I am glad I can be part of building the network of Raising The Village and help to build a bridge between Canada and Uganda together with the help of everyone.
That’s all for now,
Krystal
