Back in England!

I am back, safe and sound, and pleased to once again have running water and clean vegetables. Plus, the weather in Oxford is quite lovely - sunny and warmish :)

So sorry for the long delay between posts! Internet access was difficult, to say the least, in Uganda. I spent three and a half weeks in Kabale, in the very southwest of the country, high in the terraced hills that give the area the name 'Switzerland of Africa.' For my research, I interviewed HIV/AIDS NGOs and community members, but my primary focus centered on three secondary schools: a Catholic, a Church of Uganda, and a non-aligned. In each I conducted multiple focus group discussions/interviews with students and teachers, observed classes and assemblies, read textbooks, found myself in fantastic informal conversations, and held a drawing competition under the title 'How do we prevent HIV in our community?' Overall, my aim is to assess the quality, methods, and message of HIV/AIDS education in secondary schools. The research went incredibly smoothly - even better than I'd hoped - and I am excited to begin writing (perhaps in a few days....)!

Thank you all for your prayers for my safety and happiness! It made such an emotional difference living with a family (the headmaster of one of the schools) instead of staying on my own. Plus, being in Uganda for a second time, I was much better prepared for the experience, though nothing will ever make me numb to the poverty. I am also thrilled to say that everything I have learned this year in my courses provided incredible insight - I 'saw' so much more than I did in 2006. What a blessing it is to better understand a country and its communities!

One highlight: I took a day trip into Rwanda with a secondary school from London that was visiting Kabale over their Easter break. Kigali is only about an hour and a half away, though the border check points add about an additional hour. After a driving bus tour through the city, we briefly dropped by the Hotel Mille Colline, from Hotel Rwanda, then spent most of the day in the Kigali Memorial Center, commemorating the genocide. It happened to be the second day of a week-long holiday for the anniversary, so there were many Rwandans at the site visiting their relatives in the mass graves. Truly, this is the part I will never forget - hearing the desperate sobbing of survivors while staring at the skulls and clothing of the victims. For me, too, I had a difficult time looking at anything - a hillside, a clump of trees, the Hotel Mille Colline - and not imagining the violence of those three months in 1994. I'll never know even an ounce of the fear and loss of that time, but I am so grateful to have visited the commemoration center and learned a bit more. This is definitely one day I am still mentally and emotionally processing.

Another highlight - and this one joyous: I spent Easter weekend with Vivian, a friend from my previous stay who has been to Florida to visit my family. We had such a wonderful time catching up, and I also saw Alison, who basically carried me through the first few weeks of my time in the country in 2006. I went back to my little Kampala home, and the shops and streets I remember - it felt like great closure for both this trip and my last. And I spent Easter Sunday in a little village church on the suburbs of Kampala, then helped cook a massive meal for all of Vivian's family. Wonderful!

Now I am back in the UK, ready to work, though tomorrow I think I will go into London for a mini vacation before writing. I hope to get to talk to you all about my trip in more detail. I miss you family!!