Monday 22 January 2018

Here, Right, Now! Spring 2018

It is a new year and we have had an exciting start to the spring semester!
The group arrived with forward-looking charisma, ready to experience a new context; Uganda Christian University (UCU), Mukono and Uganda at large.
This semester, the program has 25 students from 12 universities including Kuyper College, Anderson University, Messiah College, Olivet Nazaren, Wheaton College, Pointy Loma Nazarene, Taylor University, Gordon College, Cairn University, Dallas Baptist University, Asbury College, and Biola University. 
Seventeen of the students reside at the University campus and are having a full experience of Ugandan campus life; whereas eight of them have chosen to stay off campus with Ugandan host families for the full semester. 
The students are two weeks into the semester and have undergone orientation, started classes, and are a few days into their practicum experiences. 
Last weekend the 17 on-campus students were taken to their host families within Mukono, to get a two week urban family experience. The students have opened up to the living experience, as well as appreciated the assortment of cultures and food which Uganda has to offer.
Some snapshots of the start of our Spring 2018 semester:
Morgan, the USP Program Assistant posing with the first students to arrive at Entebbe Airport in Uganda.
The Faith & Action retreat at Vision for Africa



Having a meal at the UCU Dining Hall

The students ready to climb Monkey Hill


Our 8 homestay students ready to set off to meet their Ugandan host families


Becky, our Ugandan PA teaching the students how to hand wash

The Social Work students meet their supervisors for the first time


The on-campus students are half way through their two-week homestays, where they too, are getting a taste of what it feels like living with a Ugandan family in an urban context. There was mutual excitement between the students and their host families as they met for the first time:



Chesa meeting her new family 

Janelle and Mama Odetta


Abby with her new Mukono host parents!