By a wide margin, my last post about Jan provoked more responses than any other post so far. So gratifying to know how loved Jan was, and to share with other readers who were not acquainted with her. Our story provides needed context for my current adventure, and provided me with some catharsis. Some of you took the opportunity to tell me that you have enjoyed my other posts too, and I appreciate that. I am always happy to hear from you and will always try to respond to your comments and questions. I never dreamed I would post so much, but it’s all so interesting to me! When I come home, I will have a heck of journal about this part of my life. The post about Jan was written two weeks ago, so it feels like eight days between posts for me.
This week, with local volunteer Ashley as our guide, we have stayed in Kibaale District, next to the town of Karuguuza. These little towns all remind me of the Old West I have seen in movies, with the dirt streets, the town market, and small businesses lining the main street. Only thing missing is the saloon and hitching posts. Boda bodas instead of horses. You would be hard pressed to differentiate among most small towns throughout Uganda.
Ashley teaching about VSLAs. See the passbooks?
Pit Latrine made from clay and bamboo
The first day, we went to a very rural village where Ashley taught them how to keep records for their Village Savings and Loan (VSLA). It was fantastic to watch, since I will likely do this in my time here. VSLAs are getting very popular and Peace Corps is helping Uganda increase a culture of saving. Each member has to put in an agreed weekly minimum amount or they get fined. They use ledgers and passbooks, just like when I was a kid with a church credit union account. Also a lockbox for the money with three separately controlled locks and two other money counters. Dusting off my accounting education about internal controls.
We also got more experience in teaching. This time we used translators, so it was good to learn to get into a rhythm while talking and pausing for the translator. On Thursday, Will and I spoke to a group of Boda Boda drivers about budgeting and saving. We did an exercise in which they tried to figure out how much their monthly income and expenses were, (a rare exercise for Americans too- hence our massive credit card debt).
Reviewing the budgets with the boda drivers. Our translator is in blue.
They all estimated lots of money left over to save, but couldn’t explain where it went. (A few snickered that women and booze is a good guess 😉 ) Ashley actually thinks I motivated them to keep track of their money for a least a few weeks. They also say they want her to help them form a VSLA.
We also learned about filing quarterly reports with the Peace Corps. I have not escaped the need to keep track of my time! Dave and I also spoke to a school youth group about saving without a translator.
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Uncle Roy, do they have this breed in the USA?
Ashley, an agri-business volunteer, was serving with her husband Matt, a health volunteer. They started in June 2014. (The third type in Uganda, Education volunteers, arrive every November). A couple of months ago, Matt had a seizure and fell, damaging both arms. He can’t remember the incident, and the doctors can’t determine if the seizure or fall happened first. Still a lot of mystery. Matt is back in the USA, and because he can’t finish therapy for his arms and be back at his site within 45 days, he got early termination yesterday. Pretty sure Ashley will stick it out though, until August, 2016, because Peace Corps was her dream. Anyway, Matt is one of four ETs from their class this month, bringing it down to 29 out of their original cohort of 40 from last year, an usually high number of ETs.
Finally my first monkey sighting! White tuft on the tail.
Sadly, we had our first ET leave yesterday, one of the Colorado girls too. She was raised in Colorado Springs and a recent CSU grad (had a good friend in common with my son Clark). She was agri-business and knew more than almost everyone at training about agriculture. I would have never predicted this. I had reached out to her a few weeks ago when I heard she had issues through the grapevine (I am jokingly referred by some of these kids as their in-country “dad”- I give my advice freely of course- just ask my kids’ friends at home! The rest of the kids here generally mock me :-)). She was kind enough to call me from the Entebbe airport yesterday. She said since early on “it just didn’t feel right” and during each phase it just wouldn’t click in. She will look for a job in the Denver area, so I hope to see her again someday. I understand how a physical ailment could cause me to ET, but otherwise I knew from the beginning I would be horribly embarrassed if I didn’t stick it out. So far, it’s not even a thought.
Day off today before going to Entebbe for Supervisors workshop and then swearing in at Kampala next week. The hike down was scarier than than the hike up. Will, Nick, Katie, Carson, me, and James. I picked up a cool feather on the way and stuck it in the back velcro of my cap.
The adventure vacation continues for me. Next week I will be officially a PCV instead of a PCT.
PS- I just can’t let go of current events back home. I use my phone for as a hotspot for internet access. This constant ability to communicate didn’t exist for PCVs just a few years ago. So sad about the Las Animus river. I would miss Jon Stewart, but Donald Trump- Wow! Karmic balance! I also can’t resist reading about Broncos training camp and I hope Tulo leads Toronto to glory.