USP goes north

While the bulk of the USP experience happens in the southern region of Uganda, we also take a couple trips each semester to explore different areas of the country. Last week we went to the town of Gulu in Uganda’s far north.

The land and people of northern Uganda are still recovering from a long war with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). An entire generation was wounded and robbed – materially, physically, emotionally and spiritually. What’s been left behind is a fragmented society of broken families, former child soldiers, and now the children of these ex-soldiers who are largely neglected and unwanted by their communities.

But at the heart of this brokenness and despair, there are groups of people coming together to restore dignity and prosperity to the beautiful people of the north. We spent our weekend in Gulu visiting three different organizations that are working towards rebuilding their communities.

Our first visit was to Amani Uganda, a small business organization working with women who were formerly abducted by the LRA. Amani gives these women opportunities to support their families through sewing beautiful handmade products and selling them to tourists and people around the world. During our visit, the women took a break from sitting at their sewing machines to give us a warm welcome and share their stories with us. Afterwards we got to chat with them, play with their kids, and buy some of the beautiful works of art that these women create!

The group with Grace, the director of Amani Uganda. 

Rachel chats with one of the staff members at Amani

We started off our next day with a visit to The Recreation Project (TRP), an adventure-based therapy organization located in a quiet grove of beautiful eucalyptus trees. TRP works primarily with Gulu’s youth, using recreational means such as team building games and a ropes course to help young people build friendships with peers and find healing after trauma. We had the honor of hearing Ben Porter, the founder of TRP, share his story about building this organization and the ups and downs of what he’s observed during his work in northern Uganda. And, of course, we couldn’t leave without getting a taste of the TRP experience ourselves!

Bethany, Katie, Karissa and Esther help Sarah
through the Spider's Web at TRP

Danielle crosses the river with the help of a few friends

They all made it across!

Our final visit was with a grassroots organization called the Women’s Advocacy Network (WAN). This organization specifically addresses the obstacles that the women and children returning from the LRA face.  Five women from WAN, all formerly abducted by the LRA as children, met with us to share their stories, answer our questions and explain their work of reunifying families and reintegrating women like themselves into their communities. It was truly a privilege to hear them share and to be inspired by their willingness to help the women around them with whatever resources they have.

It was a short but definitely thought-provoking weekend, as the the stories we heard raised lots of questions about the state of our broken world. But being able to dance and laugh with the people we met brings some sort of hope - hope that can't always be put into words but is perhaps best articulated by the smiles on the faces of those who were once victims and are now powerful change-makers. 

Kenedy, Kylie, Anna and Amy with one of the 
inspiring leaders of the Women's Advocacy Network

Rural Homestays- Kapchorwa

Every semester we take our students to a village in rural Uganda and drop them off with host families to experience life in a rural Ugandan village for one week. This semester we went back to Kapchorwa in eastern Uganda. Every family is different, so each student has a unique experience, but here are some of the common threads throughout the week and our debrief retreat afterwards.

Rural homestays is... A time to meet new people...

Amy meets her new host mama

A time to practice hospitality...

Kelsey learns to carry a baby on her back!

A time to work hard...

Anna hard at work on the family farm

A time to be present...

Ella with her little brother Ephraim 

A time to appreciate a very different way of life...

Karissa and Esther do laundry together

A time to enjoy simplicity...

Bethany grinds coffee beans by hand

A time to experience the vastness of God’s creation...

One of Kapchorwa's incredible views

A time to reunite...

Roommates Cassandra and Karissa
reunited at the debrief retreat at Sipi Falls

A time to be thankful...

Sarah reads a chapter from Isaiah
during our Sunday service at debrief

Meet the Newest USP Staff Members!

Gilbert Nuwagira

Gilbert, originally from Mbarara in southwestern Uganda, was a student at Uganda Christian University from 2012 to 2015. While beginning his studies in Economics and Management, he quickly became interested in UCU’s Honours College program, becoming a member in his second year. It was in the Honours College that Gilbert first got connected with USP, becoming good friends with USP students and facilitating opportunities for them to have a richer experience in the Ugandan culture. When he became President of the Honours College, Gilbert began working more closely with USP staff in planning events and continuing to facilitate the cross-cultural friendships happening around him.

Gilbert graduated from UCU in October of 2015. Realizing how much he liked working with people and understanding the value of rich cross-cultural relationships, he decided to continue his partnership with USP by becoming our newest Program Assistant! So far, he has found his first weeks on the job “exhilarating” and “informative," and he has settled very nicely into the everyday excitement of the USP office, where no two days are ever the same. Among the students, Gilbert has already built up a reputation of being exceptionally thoughtful and caring, as well as being a good go-to person for insights on Ugandan culture and cross-cultural interactions.

Gilbert and fellow PAs Prudence and Courtney making
packed lunches in preparation for rural homestays

Gilbert chats with social work student Kylie during the
USP/Honors College Retreat at Vision for Africa

John Kabugo

John has just joined the USP team as our newest driver! John was born and raised right here in Mukono, and he has been driving for Uganda Christian University for nearly seven years. Perhaps more than any other USP staff member, John gets to see the breadth of our program every day, driving students to their host families all over Mukono, their practicum sites around the district, and even class field trips in and around Kampala. John is enjoying working in a program that allows him to interact with many different people throughout the day.

John is doing a great job helping us get around and keeping our beloved USP van clean and in good mechanical condition. But really it’s his contagious smile and his willingness to be of help that have made him an important part of our students’ everyday lives. More than just being our driver, John is also an important resource for students when they have questions about Ugandan culture, food, plants, and other observations they may have.

John prepares to head out on one of his daily drive through Mukono

Our complex transportation schedule works smoothly, largely thanks
to the hard work and coordination of Lydia, John and Innocent 

Micah Hughes

One of the most exciting new developments at USP is the development of our new Global Health Emphasis, scheduled to begin in Fall 2016. Micah Hughes, our newest coordinator who will be over the Global Health Emphasis (GHE), joined us in the office at the beginning of January, and we are excited about what he brings to the team! A graduate of Wheaton College, Micah participated in Wheaton’s Human Needs and Global Resources program, doing a six-month internship in the West Nile region of Uganda. Micah went on to get his MS in Biotechnology from Rush University Medical Center and continued working and teaching in the medical field. Most recently he founded and directed the global health program at Denver School of Nursing, where he was an assistant professor. With this program he organized and led internships abroad for nursing students in multiple countries, including Uganda.

With years of experience teaching nursing and bringing students in the pre-health professions to Uganda, Micah now finds himself at USP, constructing the Global Health Emphasis. The GHE will provide USP students in the pre-health professions with opportunities to experience work in the global health field under the supervision of Ugandan clinicians. USP already has wonderful relationships with trusted organizations around Mukono, where we have been placing social work and cross-cultural practicum students for the past 12 years. Now Micah is working toward utilizing the leadership and expertise of the medical personnel at these organizations and others to provide new opportunities for Ugandan partners to mentor our students. 

The GHE is designed to be inclusive of the many professions that fall under the global health category, and it will be open to all students in the pre-health fields (Public Health, Nursing, Medicine, Kinesiology, Exercise Science, and others). Practicum sites will range from district hospitals where students will experience direct interventional care, to community health organizations focused on health education and systemic health issues in Uganda. GHE students will look at both preventative and interventional global health and how the two are related – in addition to the overall USP experience. Micah’s ultimate goal is to mentor students and build a program that serves as a tool to help students discern which aspects of global health they are most passionate about, while experiencing career and ministry opportunities for a future in global health. 

Micah teaches the Cross-Cultural Practicum class

Micah with students and PAs picking up
snacks for the Superbowl Monday party!

USP Program Assistants

A lot goes on behind-the-scenes at USP. It’s an exciting place to work, and every today is different from yesterday! In today’s blog we are highlighting our Program Assistants, lovingly referred to as our PAs. Every semester the three PAs – one Ugandan and two Americans – work closely with each other and the rest of the staff to keep things at USP running smoothly.

Martha (Ugandan PA 2015) and Courtney (current US PA)
hiking Sipi Falls during Rural Homestays debrief 

PAs do everything from organizing field trips to baking cookies, from restocking our med kits to having deep conversations with students about cross-cultural living. They work in the office planning events, sitting at the front desk, preparing sack lunches for road trips and drinking lots of tea! But not all their work is in the office – you can often find them running errands in Mukono, chatting with students over smoothies at one of the campus canteens, tagging along for a class field trip or visiting students at their homestays. Even outside formal work hours, they’re still on the job – living in the same dorms as our students, eating the same food, shopping at the same supermarkets and sharing plenty of laughs and stories and adventures with students.

Our PAs are reeeeeally good at making PB&Js!

Present and former PAs agree that this is one of the most incredible job opportunities out there! It’s not everywhere that you get paid to build relationships and deepen your own faith and convictions through mentoring others in a cross-cultural experience. Plus, the PA position holds a lot of potential for professional development, regardless of what fields PAs enter post-USP. 

Former PAs Brenda, Innocent, Katie, Jones and Andi
at a PA reunion last weekend in Kampala

Here’s what some of USP’s PAs have to say about the job:

“I loved being able to share in the same life changes, difficulties, excitements, and emotions of students coming into this program… It was a huge blessing to be able to walk with them through that, to share with them so they felt heard and understood, as well as to spur them on in the midst of these experiences to keep serving the Lord for whatever he was calling them towards…” 

– Molly Summers, American PA 2010-2011

Current Ugandan PA Gilbert Nuwagira making a stop at the
Post Office while running errands in Mukono town

“When I think about USP, I think about the students. While working at USP both as PA and later on as permanent staff, my experiences with students confirmed my aspirations for this job. Since then, it is now often said that ‘at USP, the students are our joy’.” 

– Jones Ahabwe, Ugandan PA 2010-2011
  

"The best thing about being a PA is being back in Uganda (of course). The next best thing is being around the USP staff - they are truly fun, enjoyable, dedicated people who make the office atmosphere hospitable and friendly. I was always happy to go to work every day at USP... And the next best thing is being able to engage with students as they start to find their place at UCU and in Uganda. It is a great job all around... Through my experience at USP, I learned how interested I was in intercultural study abroad education, and I have shaped some of my work in my soon-to-be-finished master's program accordingly to allow me to better pursue this path. I also became more interested in teaching and more interested in understanding the process of forming students beyond the classroom."

- Jordan McGurran, American PA 2011-2012

Innocent (Ugandan PA 2013) at tea time with student Michaela

“I’ve always heard it said that you learn and understand concepts best through explaining them to others. I wanted to come back as a PA because I wanted to deepen my understanding of the values of simplicity and presence that I learned as a USP student. This job has given me so many opportunities to not only guide students but also to join them as learners while we observe and talk through the realities of the world we see around us.” 

– Prudence Gordon, current American PA

Prudence (current US PA) checking up on one of the med kits

“When I think of being a PA for the Uganda Studies Program I think of friendship. This position, over and above being fun and enjoyable (although it was definitely that) was an important position for me – in my thinking, in my being, in my loving and in my ever-growing. It is important for us to learn from people and places that are dissimilar to us – and not just learn from people, but find that we can also be truly friends with those that are different, and not-so-different-after-all than us.” 

– Hannah Groves, American PA 2013-2014

Martha and Prudence make sushi at Rachel's house during Christmas break

“The beauty of being a Program Assistant is that the experience is both meaningful and exciting, as well as an incredible opportunity to grow and develop as a professional. I have found myself over and over again being challenged in leadership, organization, character development, and cross-cultural engagement. USP is the perfect place to develop professional skills in a safe and supportive environment, all while engaging in the lives of those around you and building truly valuable relationships.” 

– Courtney Beiler, current American PA 

The application and complete job description for our 2016-2017 PAs are now available on our website! http://www.bestsemester.com/locations-and-programs/uganda/alumni

Mukono Homestays

Every USP student does a homestay with a Ugandan family here in Mukono, whether that is for a short two-week stay or for the entire semester. Living in a home with Ugandan family members is often one of the most valuable experiences of the semester. 'Ugandans' become family members, brothers, sisters and parents. It brings Ugandan culture off the pages of our books, giving shape and life – and sometimes challenges – to concepts about Christianity and culture we can only attempt to diagram on the classroom blackboard.   

Our host families in Mukono are as diverse as the families our students come from back home, so each student has a unique homestay experience. Here are a few of the lessons our students are processing after spending a couple weeks with their host families:

Presence: Many of our students are realizing that, in their Ugandan homes, ones presence is more important than their accomplishments. Waiting several hours for supper to cook is a daily evening activity in many Ugandan homes, since cooking and waiting together are as important to family life as getting food on the table. Sometimes the majority of the weekend is spent sitting on the couch with the family, watching music videos or soap operas, not really doing much but simply being together. While this can be a shock to our time-conscious Western mindsets, the magic really happens when our students start making the choice to sit with their family members – not necessarily to talk or to help prepare dinner, but simply for the sake of practicing presence.

    

Hospitality: In many Ugandan homes, familial relationships are much more fluid than they are in the West. Household members include many people outside the immediate family. Grandparents, nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles and oftentimes people not even related to the family are in and out of the house. Sometimes they stay a few hours and sometimes they stay for months at a time. These families are beautiful models of hospitality, always inviting guests in and insisting they stay at least long enough to take tea!

Expecting the unexpected: As is always the case when you’re in a new place with new people, there are plenty of surprises when living with a Ugandan family. A lot of flexibility and a strong sense of humor help in cultivating an expectation for the unexpected! You never know when you might find a chicken trying to lay an egg on your bed, or when you might discover your family has a fish farm on the property behind their house, or when your host mama will dress you up in a gomesi and whisk you off to a family friend’s wedding!

As our on-campus students move back to their rooms in the UCU dorms, they have a lot to ponder from the last two weeks, and they’ll continue to add to their observations through sharing life with Ugandan university students. In the meantime, our semester-long homestay students will build deeper relationships as they continue to live with their families for the next three months. 

Introducing... Spring 2016!

Happy New Year!

Things have been quite lively at USP! Just a week and a half ago we welcomed our new group of twenty-two fabulous students…

Eddie and the PAs get ready to pick up students from the airport

Students hike up Monkey Hill while waiting for the others to arrive

They're all here!

We dropped off our four semester-long homestay students at their new homes, where they were welcomed with big smiles and beautiful Ugandan hospitality.

Homestay students with their trunks and basins - ready to head home!

Anna meets her mama

Rachel with her new mama

Danielle gets a big hug from her new mama

Kennedy's mama so excited about her new daughter

Over the three days of orientation sessions, we got acquainted with the K-3 classroom, explored the UCU campus, ate plenty of rice and beans, and walked around town for the Mukono scavenger hunt!

All 22 in the K-3 classroom

Last Monday we dove straight into Faith and Action class with a lively seminar discussion on John Taylor’s The Primal Vision. We spent the rest of the week settling into classes, visiting social work practicum sites for the first time, sharing plenty of comic stories as we adjust to Ugandan culture, and taking a trip to the Mukono market for a shopping spree! On Friday we all piled in the coaster for our Faith and Action retreat at Vision for Africa, where we had more great discussion and quality bonding time over card games and coffee. 

Carly and Jenni rocking their braids at Vision for Africa

Adrian, Stacey, Prudence and Amy enjoying some coffee and good conversation

Anna, Gilbert, Emilie and Kennedy playing a lively game of Dutch Blitz

When the weekend rolled around, all of our off-campus students got dropped off with their respective families in Mukono for their two-week homestays!

On-campus students ready for their Mukono homestays!

Bethany gets a warm welcome to her new home

Stacey and her mama

Ella meets her many siblings

The semester is off to a great start, already full of deep discussions, funny stories, close friendships and lots of learning – a beautiful way to start 2016!