Masaka Site Team Interview

On Wednesday, I finally had my interview with the Masaka site team. These are the people who will be supporting me during my time in Uganda and are in charge of my placement (both NGO and homestay). After five minutes of being continuously cut off (two countries with terrible internet do not make for a smooth Skype call), I finally called their office and we spoke via phone which went much more smoothly.

  They inquired about the usual information (medical issues, food preferences, motivations, etc) and I think it went quite well. They asked me to explain what challenges I anticipate, how I'll feel working in a new cultural environment, what I know about development, and what skills I bring to the table. They were good questions and really made me think about the answers. 

 The next step now is for them to match my interests and skills and responses to a host organization. I'm hoping for The AIDS Support Organization (TASO). It's one of the larger NGOs they work with and the organization has a lot of different avenues that it covers regarding AIDS. I'm not so interested in the 'health' side (taking blood samples, etc); rather I'd love to be involved in AIDS education and awareness, community development helping orphans or families affected, and outreach programs. Once an organization has been selected for me, they will also pair me with a host family close to where I'll work. I'm very excited to find out where I'll be and who my 'new family' will be!

Book/DVD Sale

Yesterday was the big day of my book sale that turned into a DVD sale as well. A lot of my coworkers and friends donated some great items and I had a large selection to sell. There was less turn-out than I had hoped, even with the help of Aaron trying to advertise outside, but it was still quite successful. After the full day sale, I came out with over 2000RMB (about $350) and I still have two boxes worth of books, some promised future sales, and over 200 DVDs. Because of the high excess, I may hold another one; on the other hand I don't know if I should bother because the turn-out for this one was quite low despite frequent reminders and encouragement to come and check it out. 

  A generous friend of a friend who recently opened a book shop has offered to set me up with my own table, set my prices, and come up with a poster description of my cause and he'll put the remaining books into his shop. I left the DVDs at one of the schools with a sign so hopefully people will look through those and buy a few more if they're interested as well. 

  A couple more ideas that have been floating around have been: bake sale, BBQ, Fourth of July/Canada Day party, and pancake/pool party. Hopefully I can get everything (and everyone) into gear and get these going. Summer will be quite busy as we will only have one day off per week so I'll have to plan well. For now, I'm happy with the moderate success of my book sale and encouraged about my next fundraising event!