Well, it has been a week with my host organization, the Organization for the Good Life of the Marginalized, two weeks since I set foot in Uganda, and I finally have a grasp on what my work is going to be for the next seven.
This past Monday was my first day, and I spent it mostly learning names and positions of everyone at my organization. My organization is very multifaceted. They have everything from a microfinance program to AIDS information sessions. The staff is very knowledgeable, and the founder, who is also the boss, is quite serious about his work.
To be honest, my workplace is a nice change of pace from the African work ethic that many of my friends will have to deal with. It is not that the work ethic here is deficient; it is just slightly different. Whereas in America we focus on individual effort and efficiency, Africans focus on working together and prioritize quality over quantity. OGLM seems to blend the two approaches together to an optimal mix.
Ironically, Tuesday was a public holiday, Martyr’s Day, which meant no work! Wednesday, we went to a rural village called Buwaiswa, which is where most of the people with which I will be working live. There is a boarding school there that OGLM runs among other things.
I met some of the people I will be helping. My project is focused on victims of AIDS. More precisely, the grandmothers of children orphaned by AIDS. These “grannies” are the backbone of the lives of these children. Many are only subsistence farmers, left at the mercy of the weather, so I will be developing a microfinance program aimed at bringing them business training and capital to start small income-generating activities.
Thursday and Friday were slow days at the office where I just sat in front of the computer and typed up some reports on the current needs of the organization. Slow, but necessary. Soon enough, I will be on the front-line very often, and work will move much faster.
[Matt's article continues after the jump - including some really stunning photos. - Shawn]
