a year in Uganda

Hi, Rachel here, I'm an intern from New Zealand. I arrived in Uganda in March and have been volunteering with Wrap up Africa and UCCF since. It's been a pretty amazing 7 months. I've had my ups and downs, my joys and my frustrations (oh the frustrations!) But it is an experience I will certainly never forget...

The Frustartions...
My daily “matatou” commute into work. - Matatous are essentially mini vans that work in a vaugely (very vaguley) similar fashion to buses. They are very cheap, many of them aren't particularly road worthy and they cram them to the brim with people (and the occasional chicken or goat).

It is common for the seats and/or doors to not be properly attached – makes for a fun journey. And as it is rainy season at the moment, they are permanently caked in red mud – and apon exiting, I also am caked with red mud!

The really fun part (note sarcasim) of the journey is the change-over. It is vaguely (very vaugely) based on a bus terminal principle. All mataous in Kampala come through this “Taxi Park”. But there really is no rhyme or reason to how it works- hence much of the time it doesn't. There are no allocated parking spaces, so the mini vans enter, and then get stuck in the mass of vehicles criss crossing eachother, and can't get out. It is possible to sit here for hours (growing ever more pleasant as you discover the gentleman next to you isn't wearing deodorant). At such times I have to laugh, otherwise I would likely cry!(I have been informed there are some quite comical videos about this very taxi park on “You Tube” for your continued education)


The Joys...
Working with the teams involved in Wrap up Africa and UCCF has been a pretty inspiring experience. These are people who are devoted to the cause of child cancer. Many of them are volunteers, but the dedication and compassion they have for these kids is astounding!

The other great thing is of course working with the kids. Despite facing some huge challenges, these kids are amazing. They are incredibly bright, lively,creative and a ton of fun!

I couldn't not mention the great work Wrap Up Africa is doing... I've been fortuate to see this baby start to walk. Going from a great idea and a lot of hard work to getting it up and running and really seeing the huge benefit it is to people. I totally believe in this kind of micro-enterprise approach, not just hand-outs, but really enabling and challenging people to work for a better tomorrow.

I urge you to get behind Wrap up Africa, go on... buy something!
Or if you're feeling even more adventerous, come and volunteer to join our team, short or longer term, I tell you it's an experience you'll never forget!