Laura Leach ‘95 is working as a Peace Corps volunteer in Uganda. She is sending regular updates to KWConnect about her experiences in Africa. Click here to read her story from the beginning.
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Work was another challenge for me out in the village.  I was supposed to be spending time learning about the work at the advice centers, but one counselor at the center was hardly ever around. She was from Tororo town, and apparently village life wasn’t for her either. The other counselor would leave me behind at the center while she went out on case handling. I read quite a few books those first few weeks out in the village.

Soon a solution presented itself. The school Greg was volunteering at didn’t have an English teacher and wanted to know if I would be interested. I went to James Ochola Memorial Secondary School  (JOMSS) the very next day, introduced myself, and informed them that I had never taught in my life, had absolutely no training, and would be delighted to try to teach the kids if they still wanted me. That first term, I taught all four grades, S1-S4.

It was a huge challenge to say the least. I’m not sure what the children learn regarding English in the primary schools, but it isn’t punctuation, parts of speech, grammar, writing or reading. I bought a local grammar book during a visit in Kampala to help me come up with lessons. There weren’t books for the students to use, so the only information they received was what I put on the board.

Another challenge I had besides not knowing what to teach was discipline. Caning children is supposed to be illegal here, but it definitely goes on. I think the children were excited to have two white teachers visiting them. JOMSS is a government school with very few resources, but it was definitely a status booster to have two teachers (and I use that term loosely regarding myself) from the U.S.

I think this excitement coupled with the fact that they knew neither of us would cane them, and also my own inexperience in the classroom, led to challenges with discipline. Classes were also huge, with over 60 kids each in the S1 and S2 classes. I survived the first term somehow and agreed to teach for a second term but only to S2 and S3.

At the end of the school year, S4 students have to take a national exam, and those scores determine whether they would go on to S5 or not. I felt like the S4 students needed a Ugandan who was familiar with the exam to prepare them. As far as S1 goes, there were just far too many students and they were far too undisciplined for me to continue teaching that class.

Something else was happening too…I finally found work with my host organization.

Peace Corps volunteers Mike, Laura, Christine and Hunter with a fellow volunteer's counterpart in the Palissa District.

The big event during pre-service training was our volunteer visit. Usually trainees get a visit with a current volunteer at his or her site to see what life after training is like AND a site visit, but due to budget cuts, we only got the volunteer site visit.

The volunteer I visited lived in Palissa district. She came on board as an education volunteer, but it didn’t take her long at her site to realize she wasn’t really needed where she was assigned to work. Instead she found a new counterpart and organization to work with, and her major project was helping to get a demonstration pig farm built. It was still under construction during our visit, but you could tell it was going to be a very nice facility, and you could see how the community would benefit from it.

The idea was that someone who was HIV+ would receive two pigs and produce a litter. They would return two of the piglets to the piggery to replenish the ones they took, and could raise and sell the rest for income. Because it is a demonstration farm, those receiving pigs could come in and be trained on raising pigs before receiving their piglets. Local area youth could also come and learn about raising pigs. I also got to visit with another volunteer in Palissa who was working with women’s groups.

Our visit with current volunteers was great because it showed us what our living conditions might be like, what kind of activities we would be doing out in the community, and it gave us a break from the routine we had been in for several weeks at the training center. It was also the first time we had traveled anywhere on our own, so it showed us that things weren’t quite as scary in Uganda as the safety trainer had made it sound. It was fun coming back together at Wakiso and hearing about the other volunteer visits. The only downside to the volunteer visit was that it gave us all a little taste of freedom and suddenly made us anxious to be done with training.

The good news was that training wouldn’t last much longer. It was amazing how quickly the last few weeks went by. Most of our attention was focused on language as we geared up for the “test” we would have to pass. We had two simulations where there were different language stations set up, and Ugandans who speak our language were brought in to practice with us. One language station was a supermarket with fresh fruit, cookies, candy, etc. I’m not sure how I did it, but I negotiated the purchase of chocolate biscuits in the local language. If I could procure chocolate on my own, I felt that I might just be okay!

Three people who were friends of our language trainer came for the simulations. One lady I could kind of understand and communicate with and so my confidence was building, but then at the very next station, the lady spoke with such speed, I didn’t understand anything. Leading up to our language test, Esther told us that the man Chombo who would be coming to test us was a very, very big man, so we wouldn’t be surprised and nervous when we met him. I had spent a lot of time studying my flash cards. Esther gave us a whole list of potential questions that Chombo would ask us, and I wrote out answers and practiced them.

When the big day came, I was so nervous. I sat and watched other volunteers go in and come out, some confident they passed and others not so confident. My turn finally came, and when I went in I was so nervous I was shaking. I made it through some general conversation with Chombo, and then he asked me a question, and I couldn’t remember the translation for one of the words he said. I struggled a minute or two trying to come up with a response, but never quite recovered. I left feeling very defeated and certain that I did not achieve the intermediate low score necessary to pass the language requirement.

Those who don’t pass the test are given a second chance at in-service training about three months after you’ve been at site. So it wasn’t the end of the world if I didn’t pass, but I had put a lot of effort into it and had hoped I would pass. The testing took a long time, and after we each finished, our trainer and our tester had to go back and listen to each of our tapes and discuss our scores, which meant we wouldn’t find out our results that day. When Esther finally did give me my results, and I found out I passed (due to some lenient grading on the part of Chombo, who noticed my shaking hands), I started crying out of joy and relief and gave Esther the biggest hug I’m sure any language trainer has ever received!

I had made it past my biggest obstacle, and in a couple days I would be sworn in and heading to site … the next leg of my adventure.

Peace Cops volunteer Wesley with some of the Ugandan children he works with.

 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. Click here to read her story from the beginning.

(Tororo is on the right, just above the box.)

One of the toughest emotional challenges during Peace Corps is losing members of your training class. After that first weekend with our host families, a married couple that we came over with decided to go back to the United States. They had dreamed of being in the Peace Corps back in the early years of the Peace Corps, but they had been discouraged by their parents. All of their kids are now grown, and they had recently retired, and decided to pursue their dream. The wife was an education volunteer, and the husband was an economic development volunteer, and both brought with them a wealth of knowledge and experience.

After that first weekend, they decided they had made a mistake and could not spend two years away from their children and grandchildren. With a bat of an eye, they were gone and there was nothing for the rest of us to do but move forward.

Snacks and Weddings
Things were looking pretty sunny for me at my home stay. I had chosen carrots and cucumbers for my first night snack, and this turned out to be a good move. Ugandans are very warm and welcoming people. They go out of their way for their guests, and as soon as Jane found out I enjoyed carrots and cucumbers, they become a regular part of my diet throughout my stay.

My first weekend at home stay, Jane had a wedding reception she was catering, and I got to tag along. I can’t imagine crashing a wedding reception in the United States and the wedding party being okay with that, but there I was at a wedding reception where I didn’t know anyone and no one knew me, and I was greeted and told that I was “most welcomed.”

I was the only white person there, which means I got a lot of attention, especially from the children. This wedding was a western style wedding being held in Kampala. The main difference between an American wedding reception and this one was that there were many more speeches given at the Ugandan reception, and then the cake was served to the guests by the bridesmaids and groomsmen. I thought that was a nice touch.

Heading East
Pre-service training is all leading to you getting your own site where you will live and work. Although we had to wait until our last week of training to find out the exact community where we would be located, we got a big hint when we were divided into our language groups. I was put in the dhopadhola  group with Mary Beth, Greg and Racheal. Only one district in Uganda speaks dhopadhola, and that is Tororo. I would be heading east.

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At the entrance of Lweza

Our first few days in country were spent at Lweza Training & Conference Center in Entebbe. The pace was slow as we were all recovering from jet lag. We met Shirley, who was our training director, Irene, who was responsible for teaching us about Ugandan culture, and Ruth, who was acting as the safety and security director at that time.

Safety
The safety and security session was the most memorable, but then again most scarring events usually are. Seriously, by the time this session was finished, I was convinced I would never travel anywhere within country during the course of my stay.

They had a current volunteer come and talk to us, and much of her discussion was about riding matatus (passenger vans that are used as taxis). Don’t give them your bag.  Don’t get in until you confirm where they are going. Don’t pay them until you arrive. It might be a good idea to copy down the license number before you get in, and my favorite piece of advice … don’t get into an otherwise empty vehicle with someone you don’t know because of the “human sacrifice problem.” WHAT??? Um, we’re new to this country…everyone is a stranger!

During that training session I also became frightened of walking down the street because it was likely someone would try to steal my bag. I also discovered riding motorcycles was strictly prohibited because so many people are killed or injured from motorcycle accidents in Uganda there is an entire ward devoted to accident victims in the hospital. My means of getting around were looking pretty limited at this point. I later found out that I was not the only volunteer terrified by this session, and I believe they have modified it since our group’s induction.

Shots and Language
During our time at Lweza we met our program directors (APCD). My program director’s name was Jolie. She served as a volunteer in Togo. When we met, she was very relaxed and asked things about our trip there, how things were going so far, how my family felt about me coming to Uganda, and what I was interested in doing regarding my assignment.

We also met with our medical officers who reviewed our files with us, and gave us our malaria prophylaxis. I was really surprised because I thought I would have to get tons of shots before I left for Uganda, but instead we received shots throughout our pre-service training.

We also started our Luganda language training during our time at Lweza. We divided into groups, and my group was led by Irene the cultural trainer. I was really nervous before leaving for Uganda regarding learning a new language. I had taken a little French and a little Spanish in school, and had mastered neither of them. We were given access to some basic training materials online before leaving, but I had not memorized anything yet. I found that most of the volunteers shared the same concerns regarding language.

Volunteers on the grounds at Lweza

The Food
Besides getting inducted to our training, and our culture, we also were introduced to Ugandan cuisine during these first few days. My friends had rightfully made fun of me before leaving for Uganda because one of the main crops in Uganda is bananas, and I HATE bananas. Ugandans pick them while they are still green, boil them, and mash them. They cover the pot with banana leaves while it cooks. The result is a golden mashed food they call matoke. I tried matoke once. I did not hate it, but it definitely is not at the top of my list.

Other popular dishes here are rice and beans, posho (which is a starchy food made out of maize and cassava flour), millet bread, several different types of greens, roasted pumpkin, cabbage, fish, goat, beef, pork, chicken, and my favorite, chapatti, which is a flat bread fried and sometimes served rolled with an egg, and called a rolex.

My favorite time of the day is tea time. During training we had breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner. The tea consisted of your option of regular black tea, African tea that was made with milk and a little spicy, coffee, and Cadbury drinking chocolate. This was accompanied by mandazi (fried dough), doughnuts, samosas (small triangular shaped crust filled with either a vegetable mixture or meat mixture and fried), or g-nuts (same thing as peanuts). It was delicious, and I’m convinced if I wasn’t sick so much during my time at training I’d weigh 200 pounds by now. 

Short Calls
After a few days in Entebbe, it was time to be transported to Wakiso town.  Wakiso is where we would be living with host families for the next 10 weeks during training.  If there was anything I feared as much or more than learning a new language, it was the prospect of being a house guest for the next 10 weeks. I am a very private person by nature, and while part of me looked forward to connecting with a local family, the other part of me dreaded having to share living space with strangers for so long.

On our way to Wakiso, we were going to make a quick stop in the Ugandan capitol of Kampala to do some quick shopping. We were told we all needed to buy a little bucket. Why do we need a little bucket? It is in case you need to make a short call at night. Short call? Apparently it would pose a risk to our host families to go outside in the middle of the night to use the restroom, so the bucket was for us to go in during the night. Again I found myself wondering … what have I gotten myself into?

Tune in next time to read about pre-service training and life with a host family.

Find about more about the Peace Corps.

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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 second entry. Click here to read her story from the beginning.

High Cholesterol? Really?
It wasn’t easy getting into the Peace Corps, and as you can imagine, I was pretty excited when the time came to leave. Actually, it took over a year from the time I applied to when I left for my service. The culprit that delayed the process is a little thing called high cholesterol.

I completed the application, got three people to write letters of recommendation for me, went through the interview, and then went in for my medical and dental appointments. When everything was said and done, the U.S. government decided that I needed to lower my cholesterol and sustain it at a lower level for six months before I left for Uganda.

This amuses me in retrospect only because once I arrived and had my medical review with the medical staff here, they said my beloved Crestor pills were not listed on my medical chart, and I haven’t taken one since I arrived in country.

Technology
The fact that there are high medical standards that have to be met before you can leave for service didn’t surprise me, but what did surprise me is that I never had a single face-to-face encounter with anyone from the Peace Corps throughout the entire application process. The interview was via phone. Updates came via email. My acceptance letter came through the US Postal Service, and conversations about placements and delays took place via the phone.

I’m curious what the application process was like back when Peace Corps first started up in the 60s before the World Wide Web came along. One thing that has become increasingly clear throughout this entire experience is that this is NOT the same Peace Corps of the ‘60s. Sure, some of the problems that faced developing countries back then are the same problems we are still working on today, but today’s villagers come equipped with cell phones (at least some of them do) and better access to news and information from around the world.

In fact, one of the initiatives taking place in Peace Corps is called TAP (technology against poverty). The mere fact that I am sitting here in my office in Uganda typing on a laptop is a sign of how things have changed over time since the Peace Corps began 49 years ago.  I would have had to send my blog on an airgram back then. ;)

One of the nice things about technology is that I got to meet some of the fellow volunteers from my volunteer class via Facebook before we met at staging in Philadelphia. There were originally 35 volunteers scheduled to go to Uganda with my group – 10 economic development volunteers and 25 education volunteers. Two volunteers didn’t show up in Philadelphia, and one volunteer got some bad news from home the day before he left for staging and decided to turn around and go home rather than continue on to Uganda.

Staging
Staging is mostly a blur to me now – partly because it is a very short process, and partly because I was teetering between excitement and totally freaking out the entire time. The main event at staging was completing paperwork and making sure all the i’s were dotted and all the t’s were crossed. Staging was also a good glimpse at what to expect during the next 10 weeks of pre-service training…group activities, flipchart paper and magic markers, and skits. I don’t know how someone who was so involved in theater growing up could loathe having to perform skits so much as an adult, but if I ever have to perform another skit again it will be too soon.

After one night in Philadelphia, we were on our way to New York City to catch our flight to Uganda. When we arrived at Entebbe, there was this old guy wearing jeans, and a baseball cap. He looked like he could have easily fit in with the buddies that my Grandpa used to meet for coffee in Hartford, KY. I assumed he was an overly enthusiastic retiree volunteer who was heading up the welcome committee for the new volunteers. Turns out he was Larry Brown, the country director for Peace Corps Uganda. It was at the moment that I discovered that this was our fearless leader that I finally relaxed and decided that I might just fit in okay here.

Tune in next time to read about our first few days in Uganda.

Find about more about the Peace Corps.

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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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