A Thatch-Roofed House
Laura Leach ’95 is working as a Peace Corps volunteer in Uganda. She will be sending regular updates to KWConnect about her experiences in Africa. This is her first entry.
How in the world did I end up here? It seems like a fair question these days. Here is Tororo, Uganda. I am an economic development U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer just underway in my second year of service. To understand how I got from point A (Owensboro, KY) to point B (Tororo, Uganda) you have to go back to my college time spent at Kentucky Wesleyan College.
It was there that I met Rebecca Tincher (class of ’94) who joined the Peace Corps immediately following college. Rebecca served in Thailand, and she’s the one who sowed the seed, so to speak.
Back when I was still in college, I had never traveled abroad. In fact, no one in my family had, and I was certain that this was something “other people” do, and certainly not meant for me. It took me a while to debunk that myth, so here I am at age 37, living in a thatch-roofed house in Tororo, Uganda.
Joining the Peace Corps a little bit later than the average volunteer creates some unique challenges. I had been working for Follett Higher Education Group for ten years before I left. Try telling your boss that you are leaving your job because you are going to Africa. It sounded like a horribly fabricated story even to me, and I was the one going.
Aside from wrapping things up at work, I had to figure out what to do with my stuff. Look around you – Americans can accumulate a lot of stuff in a 13-year span, which is how long it had been since I’d been away from home. My parents agreed to take care of the love of my life, Koko the cat, while I was away, so now I just needed to find a home for my furniture and lots and lots of cardboard boxes.
I found a clean, reasonably-priced storage unit in Reo, IN, so after a four-hour U-Haul trip from Jackson, TN, where I was working and living, to my parents’ home in Owensboro, KY, followed by a short jaunt across the river, my life was neatly packed away – okay, precariously crammed away – for the next two years.
I made that trip in December 2008, right before Christmas. I spent the next month selling my car, visiting friends and family, writing a will (just in case Dad was right and I died over here) and figuring out what I absolutely needed to survive during two years in Africa.
Finally the big day arrived in February 2009. My parents took me, my carry-on and two over-stuffed suitcases (one of them literally taped shut with duct tape because none of us could get the zipper to close) to the Evansville airport. I was off to Philadelphia, PA, for my staging event.
In my next entry, I will share with you about staging and my first two months of training in Uganda.
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Looking forward to following your journey!
Laura,
Katy and your mother have kept me informed of your great adventure. I enjoyed reading your blog and look forward to others! Take care of yourself!
Joyce Ann
Hello Laura,
I am so glad for you that you joined the Peace Corps. Your deciding to leave and the endless preparations resonate with me. I joined the Peace Corps in 1993 and served in the West Indies. I hope you are enjoying your time. I can only imagine what you are learning, especially aboout yourself, eh? And, too, about the cultures you are living in and about America through comparison eyes.
All the best. If you return to Owensboro, and need anyone to debrief with, or need any help getting a job, I am here for you. (I teach Developmental Studies at KWC)
Be safe.
I enjoy a cliff hanger! Looking forward to future entries!
Kaylen, KWC ’11