December 3, 2007 
Another week has passed. The students have still been working furiously on their projects: practicum project, Developmental Economics paper, and African Literature presentations. Amongst the flurry of classes and papers the students have found time to hit the markets for last minute Christmas shopping.

Dr. Michael Pucci, International Director of Academic Programs, arrived on Saturday to spend some time with the students. On Saturday night he conducted a session to review the semester. He brought up topics of debriefing and evaluation. What was the best part of the semester? What was the most beautiful part of the semester? What surprised you? What about owning poverty struck you? It was incredible to hear the accounts that the students gave. Each student interacted and reflected in their own way, but was brought to grips with the way that the semester has impacted their life.

Sunday night was spent at the Nisley’s house eating crepes and enjoying fellowship. It is hard to believe that the students are on their last week in Kampala. My prayer for them is that they are able to stay strong in their academics and begin to make the necessary preparations to head back the U.S.

November 26, 2007 
Homework. Homework. Homework. Since their return home from practicum their classes at Makerere have resumed and so has the homework. As the semester nears the end the students have been working on projects, papers, and studying for exams.

However, we took a break on Thursday to head out of Kampala to attend a Thanksgiving feast with other American students at Uganda Christian University in Mukono, Uganda. Our Thanksgiving dinner looked probably more like a 4th of July party. The chicken (no turkey!) was roasted over a BBQ grill, we had cold sodas and water, many people played Frisbee and there was a large fruit salad for desert. It was a great opportunity for our students to interact with other Americans. We finished the night off with Charlie Brown’s Christmas movie.

CHOGM (commonwealth heads of government meeting) took place in Kampala from the 22-25 of November. The Queen even came! Uganda has been preparing for this meeting for a long time- the airport was renovated, stop lights were installed, flowers and trees were planted the list goes on. We were anticipating limited mobility around the city but CHOGM was a relief from normal traffic! We are so thankful that CHOGM took place peacefully.

Please continue to pray with the FH staff as we near the end of the semester. I hope for a smooth landing as we prepare to head back to the United States. Pray that projects get completed and that they are able to enjoy their last two weeks!

November 19, 2007 
The students are back safe and sound! I greeted most of them on Thursday however; a delayed flight from Ethiopia meant that four of the students didn’t return until Friday. The girls were all very excited to see one another again. It has been nearly a month since they had seen and heard from each other. Each came home with many different stories and experiences but one group came back with a live chicken! They affectionately named him Henry and he has made his home underneath one of our mango trees.

Much of Friday and Saturday was spent catching up on laundry, sleeping in, emailing/blogging to friends and family, taking advantage of hot water showers, and eating our cook Grace’s wonderful meals. Many of the girls ventured out on Saturday to wrap up (or begin!) Christmas shopping at the local craft markets and stores.

Sunday was spent sleeping in, attending church, and spending the afternoon and evening at the Nisley’s house baking cookies and preparing tacos. The night was spent in fellowship with one another- eating, sharing stories, praying and singing praises. The goal of the evening was to begin to process the practicum experience. Delving into some of the memories- recalling the most funny, the hardest, the most culturally difficult, and how they as an individual were changed. The evening was rewarding for the staff to hear the accounts of their experiences. The students have been working on a practicum project that will act as the main way for them to process their time during practicum. They have various options for the way they complete the project but the goal is to help them understand the emotions and process how this experience has/will affect them.

We are looking forward to Thanksgiving- the Ugandan way on Thursday. We will be celebrating with other Americans studying at Uganda Christian University.

November 12, 2007 
I am greatly anticipating the student's arrival in Kampala on Thursday. I am excited to hear their stories.

Continue to pray for their journeys as they return and their adjustment back to Kampala. It is hard to believe that they have only a month left before they return to the United States!

November 5, 2007 
The students are still on their practicum placement. One and half weeks left before they leave their placement and arrive in Kampala. From what we have heard and visited, the students seem to be doing well. They all are learning about cross-cultural adjustment and how God works in other cultures. It will be interesting to hear their reflections when they return.
Continue to pray for the students as they finish strong!

October 22, 2007 
A break! Ah, a wonderful break! The students had a much needed break from their studies and enjoyed sleeping in, craft shopping, and eating at their favorite restaurants/coffee shops. However, the most exciting part of their break was rafting the Nile River. All of the students participated in the rafting. We were separated in two groups: the mild and the wild. The main difference was that the mild group didn’t want to tip their raft while going over the rapids. In between rapids we were able to jump out of the boat and float/swim. It was pretty amazing!
On Thursday Dr. Dwight Jackson came to Uganda to debrief with the students about their time in Rwanda. The students were able to express how they felt about the class and the impact that it had on their worldview.
On Friday the students departed for their practicums!They will be back in Kampala on the 15 of November. I will try to provide as many updates as possible! However, many of the girls have limited internet/communication ability.

October 15, 2007 
The student’s presentations went well. They worked very hard and into the wee hours of the night! The travel back to Kampala went well. The bus trip took us about 10 hours from the time we left Kigali to arriving at our home at the guesthouse. The students are anticipating the much needed break that begins today!

October 9, 2007 
On Saturday, October 6th the students and staff left for a weekend trip to visit additional memorials and meet with students of a Rwandan university to discuss the genocide. We made our way through the mountains and valleys appreciating the natural beauty of Rwanda, but still perplexed by the atrocity that occurred just 13 years ago. Our first two stops were churches where many Tutsi’s and moderate Hutu’s had been killed. We spent the night at a hotel on Lake Kivu. While at the hotel we took a boat tour out to bat island, where there are literally thousands of bats! The weekend wrapped up with a panel discussion with university professors regarding the church’s role in peace and reconciliation.
The students have been working very hard on their presentations, which are due on Friday. We are set to take the bus back to Kampala early Saturday morning!

October 1, 2007 
The students have completed their first full week in Rwanda. While in Rwanda they are studying the genocide of 1994 in a Peace and Reconciliation class. The class is taught jointly by Dr. Dwight Jackson, Food for the Hungry Rwanda Country Director; and Pastor Anastase who is the director of a local organization called Peacebuilding Healing Reconciliation Program. “PHARP Rwanda began its activities in 1998. The activities were aimed at bringing about healing and reconciliation by focusing on training leaders from groups of youth , women and pastors, who in turn reach out to many people in their own churches and communities” (www.PHARP.org). The class aims to help the students understand the genocide, but more importantly how Rwanda is recovering. The culmination of the class is a group project. The students divided themselves up into groups: government, international community, and the church according to their specific interests. Each group had a set of criterion that they were expected to meet in their end of class presentation including: what was the role of the group in the genocide? What actions did they/didn’t take? What are they doing post-genocide?
When the students aren’t busying themselves with the class work and reading material they can often be found at a western-style coffee shop with free internet!

September 26,2007 
Lions, waterbucks, and hippos, oh my! The students and I left for safari at Queen Elizabeth National Park early Friday morning. After about 2 hours of driving we arrived at the equator. Did you know that you weigh 3% less on the equator?

The drive to the game park introduced us to the more remote areas of Uganda, including the Rift Valley. Many of the students commented on the immense amount of peace they felt after traveling through the mountains. Kampala can be a bit overwhelming; traffic, lots of people, just general city movement. Queen Elizabeth Park is nestled near the Rwenzori Mountains and surrounded by two of the largest lakes in Uganda. We began game drives early Saturday Morning. We rode a large window filled coaster (bus) along the dusty path of Queen Elizabeth, scouting for game. We were extremely lucky that one of our first finds was a lion and a lioness relaxing in the grass. There are approximately 200 lions in the park; people can be at the park for weeks and still not spot one! Queen Elizabeth National Park is also known for their diverse bird population. We went on game drives at dawn and dusk when the animals are the most active. What a unique way to experience God's creation.

We spend three nights in southwestern Uganda before making the day long drive to Kigali, Rwanda. The students began their Peacebuilding and Reconciliation class on Tuesday with a visit to one of the many genocide memorials in Kigali. Over the next three weeks the students will further interact with the genocide that occurred in Rwanda in the early 1990’s as the class progresses. Their academic schedule is full of field trips, guest speakers, and reading. The class will culminate in a group presentation on a certain sector of the genocide.

** FYI: if you have been having a difficult time connecting with your loved one here in Rwanda, please know that the internet access is very unstable.

September 17, 2007 
The rains have been coming regularly in the afternoon cooling off the day. The weather has been very temperate but can get hot in the afternoon. The students have been buried in their academic work. A large proposal for their Economics class was due today; a group paper is due on Thursday for African Traditional Religion, amongst various readings for their African Literature class. Each student has taken their own pace on completing the work. The notification of their practicum placements was given early in the week.

The week began with a formal tour of the Coca-Cola and finished with church visits around the city. The students, as mentioned in previous posts, have been doing a great job initiating activity within the community. More than half of the students went to a few orphanages on Saturday, a few students went to listen to some local music on Monday evening, and the students chose which community church they attended on Sunday.

We have been continuing to delve into our Owning Poverty study. This past week we took time to debrief their rural visit experience. I felt very privileged to be able to facilitate and listen in on their personal experiences. Some students struggle with how much they have (money, things etc…), other students were having a hard time understanding and accepting African culture, and some students just simply didn’t know quite yet how the experience would affect them and their faith. The second session of Owning Poverty delved into some of the impacts of cultural stress on faith, personality, group relations etc… The students interacted with questions of knowing themselves in a different culture, and knowing their faith in a different culture.

The week wrapped up with another wonderful evening at Bruce and Sonja Nisley’s. The students made their own pizzas and baked cookies. It was wonderful!

Looking ahead, the students, along with me and my husband, are traveling overland to Rwanda. The Rwanda portion of their trip begins with a safari in Uganda for 2 days!
I hope to be able to give an update on Monday, but if delayed please know that I may have intermittent internet access.

September 12, 2007 

My apologies for not posting on Monday.  As I have mentioned before the days seem to pass by so quickly! Today is Wednesday, and the students only had 1 class in the morning. This is the first afternoon they have had off in awhile. All have taken advantage of the free time to roam about Kampala. One group has chosen to refresh themselves at a western style coffee shop, and another group just left for a walk.  The week started off with Economics class and a tour of the Coca-Cola bottling plant. 

The students returned from their rural visits on Sunday evening exhausted and excited. The students went out in small groups with their field assistants (also referred to as Cornerstone assistants) to the assistant’s home village (with the exception of one group who went to their assistant’s friend’s village).  Each group had a story of their own filled with humor and cultural adjustments.  Even though the students were briefed on what to expect on their village stay- to bring mosquito nets and bug spray, pit latrines, and other social graces, they still were confronted with the differences between American and Ugandan culture.  One group traveled over 6 hours the village! The rides to and from their place of stay were unique- one of the groups found that there were chickens aboard their bus and a few of those chickens took liberty to roost on their feet for a large portion of the trip!  Overall, I think that the experience allowed them to integrate themselves further into Ugandan culture.

I am pleasantly surprised at how quickly the students are adjusting to life in Africa. Each has accommodated and given grace to things that may stir frustration.  I look forward to interacting with them throughout the semester as they process and integrate the things they are learning while on the Go-Ed. Semester abroad.

September 3, 2007 

Another week has gone by and it is hard to believe.  The week was filled with new classes, a field trip to Kasubi Tombs, Taco Night at the Nisley’s, and a visit to a local orphanage to name a few.  The students began African Traditional Religions (ATR) and Post Colonial African Literature.  ATR and Post Colonial African Literature are taught by Ugandan professors in the guesthouse.  Today they begin an Economics course at Makerere University and have a field trip to the informal business sector of Kampala.

The students are increasingly becoming comfortable with the public (taxi/Matatu) transportation system and have begun to venture out on their own to local markets and restaurants. Some of the students even attended a wedding on Saturday!  I think that they are learning to “think more African.”  They have done very well adjusting to little or no hot water in their showers, Luganda greetings, Ugandan food, and how much time simple tasks seem to take.  Some of the students experienced a wedding integrated with the Sunday church service! 

This week we introduced the devotional study that has been written specifically for the Go Ed program.  The study looks at various struggles that the students face while studying in a developing nation context.  We will meet twice weekly to process their academics, experiences, and struggles.

They are anticipating their rural visits with their assistants which begin on Friday.   

August 27, 2007 

The students arrived on Thursday morning a bit sleepy but nonetheless excited to be in Uganda. After an hour drive to the Go ED. guesthouse the students were given room assignments and allowed time to settle in before a bus tour of Kampala. The girls had varying reactions to their new accommodations, but overall I think they were impressed with the cleanliness and modernity of their new home. They quickly made it their home by unpacking suitcases, claiming beds, and testing the water heater for showers.

The rest of the day to them, I am sure, was much of a blur as I saw many tired faces. We took a bus tour of Kampala and ended up at Garden City, the most westernized mall in Uganda. The students were able to exchange money and pickup and forgotten items.

Part of the orientation process is for the students to be paired up with Ugandan assistants, from a local organization, to show them the ropes of the city- good places to eat, shop etc…With their assistants they were able to learn the public transportation system (Matatus), introduced to Luganda (the local dialect) and attended church. Later in the semester these assistants will be taking the students to their home village for a rural experience. It is the hope that these assistants will not only be gateways to the culture of Uganda, but also friends. Also included in the orientation is an introduction to their practicum options. On Saturday we hosted a practicum fair. Representatives from Uganda, Ethiopia, and Rwanda came to share about Food for the Hungry in their respective countries and introduce the students to possible practicum options. The students will later “apply” for the practicum that they feel fits them the best.

The weekend was wrapped up with a cultural dance and dinner an Ndere Cultural Center. At the end of the dance the students were called forward (as representatives of the United States) to dance and mingle with the Ugandan performers.
Classes started on Monday!

**I wanted to introduce myself I am Julia Miller, the resident director of the Go ED. Africa program. My husband, Kenny, and I are living in the guesthouse with the students. We are here to answer questions, help them process, connect them with local organizations/ministries that they are interested in, and facilitate worship/devotion time. I will be updating this blog weekly with information about the week and photographs to accompany.