Handover notes
This week we have started preparing our handover notes for the next cycle. These are notes explaining the events we did, people we worked with and our suggestions for the next cycle of volunteers. We’re trying to make them as detailed as possible and provide all the information we wish we had known so the next cycle can get working straight away and be as effective as possible.
It’s weird to think we’re going home in a week. In some ways I’m ready for it: I want to see my family, rediscover the things I love about Brighton and the UK, and enjoy Christmas. On the other hand I feel there is so much more we could do here in Hoima and I’d love to be given the chance to continue working. The debate of Hoima vs. Home is playing in my mind (I guess it would be ideal if I could pop home for the weekend and then come back!), but at least I know what we’ve done is worthwhile and I’ve learnt new skills and made new friends that will stay with me long after Uganda is disappearing in the plane window.
Careers fair
The other thing we’ve been working on this week is planning a careers fair for next Monday. Our project is focused on resilient livelihoods, and unemployment (particularly among the youth) is a big issue in Hoima and Uganda in general. To combat this we’re organising a fair with talks about skills needed to apply for jobs, financial literacy, interview training, and stalls for companies to explain their work and discuss employment opportunities with the young people in attendance.
I’ve been visiting company offices to officially invite them and coordinating the logistics for Monday. I’m looking forward to running our final event and giving the community a good send-off.
VSO club launch
On Wednesday the whole team attended the launch of the VSO Club initiative arranged by a group of our volunteers. We took the executive members of the club from St Marks to a demonstration garden in Kasasa where they learnt about how to grow cabbages and watermelons. They seemed very excited and will implement these skills by creating their own vegetable patch at school. As well as learning new skills the club aims to foment inter-school relations, stimulate debate and altruism and provide a point of contact for the next group of volunteers when they wish to run activities in schools.
We mean business
This week also saw the end of the business plan we have been running with two groups. On Tuesday I went to see the business plan pitching by Kinogozi youth group and, although it was mainly in Runyoro, I could tell the speakers were passionate about their ideas. I felt like a judge on Dragon’s Den (except I have no business know-how and couldn’t understand what was being said!).
Then on Saturday I attended the awarding of the prize in Kykaboga (the community displaced by oil companies). The group who won pitched the idea to buy second-hand clothes in bulk and sell them on and they were delighted with having won. The other groups inevitably wanted support as well, but said they were pleased with the training and will participate in the competition run by the next cycle.
Kampala
As we prepared to head home we spent a few days in Kampala at Graceland Hotel. We had to get our work permits (I’m still not sure why we got them at the end of the trip) so got to experience Ugandan bureaucracy!
We were also really lucky to experience a performance of acrobatics and traditional Baganda dancing (the largest region of Uganda). There were some Dutch tourists staying in the hotel who had booked the performance and kindly let us watch. It’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. First there were musicians and drummers to accompany the Baganda dance in which the performers wear big feather skirts to accentuate their bum shaking. Then some acrobats did flips, tricks and contortions, which were insane. And lastly a youth group from the slums did a narrative dance involving, contortions, fire and human towers. It was so beautiful and they were such impressive performers, even though they were very young. I’m so glad we got to see it and it made a lovely last night in Uganda.
Home sweet home
The following day we all got in a bus and headed to the airport. We said our tearful goodbyes and hopped on a plane. Coming home was an odd experience and my first meal was a full English breakfast (which I had been dreaming of for 2 months!). It was nice to be back with my family for Christmas and I enjoyed being back in Brighton and going for a nice country walk and pub lunch. It was sad to say goodbye to Uganda and the Hoima team, but I have learnt so much and will always carry the memories of the placement with me. I am so grateful to VSO for giving me this amazing opportunity and I would encourage anyone who is interested in volunteering to apply for ICS.
1st December 2018
Ella's blog 