Home Life

Something I’m learned about myself since I left: I’m not very good at keeping a blog… sorry about that.

My Canadian friends left a couple of weeks ago, which was terribly sad. We had become good friends and it was hard to see them go. Thankfully, another volunteer came a week later, so I wasn’t by myself for too long.

                                 Left to right: Doreen, Melissa, Kristina (holding Beth), me, Jo, and Valence

I’m not sure I’ve written very much about my home life yet. I live in an area of Lugazi called Kikawula. It takes about 10 minutes or so to walk into Lugazi town. We live inside a compound with the family who runs the organization. The family lives in the main house, and then the kitchen and volunteer rooms are across from the main house. It feels like a very safe area, but we do have a guard who comes every night just in case.

We have power at the compound (most of the time) and running water. The shower is really cold, but we're thankful to have running water! Lately I've been going for a run in the evening, then the cold shower feels amazing. The kitchen has an oven, but no refrigerator, and no other appliances. The oven means lots of cakes though : )

Valence and Doreen, the couple who run Youth Focus Africa Foundation (YOFAFO), are great people. They have a huge vision for their organization, and are very passionate and invested in the work they do. Doreen heads the Microfinance project, while Valence takes care of the other projects (Health and Education).

Jo and Beth are their two children, and they are both extremely bright. Jo is only 3 1/2, but the way he speaks you would think he was 5 or 6. Beth (1 ½) is a cutie and follows her big brother around everywhere, wanting to do whatever he is doing. They manage to create quite a bit of mischief together, but their cuteness usually makes up for it.

As the Social Media intern, I update facebook and twitter, work with Amy (media/communications coordinator) on fundraising campaigns, and do whatever else is asked of me. The last couple of weeks I have been helping Doreen enter information for their microfinance program into the computer (she is more than a little busy with the kids). It has mostly been a lot of data entry, but it is still interesting to learn how their Microfinance program works.

That’s all for now, but I’ll try to write more soon about YOFAFO programs, and the organization itself.