This week was a bit bittersweet as we had to say goodbye to two of our interns. Diana left on Monday for another internship in Rwanda and Gabriella went home to Switzerland to help her mom take care of her dog who just went through a major surgery for cancer. Anbar and I were sad to see them leave and we know that they each took a piece of the team with them, but we are excited for the adventures they will have in their respective countries and wish them the best.

Before they left, we managed to squeeze in a few more adventures. Gabriella’s proposal was concerned with starting a youth group in one of the communities that CCUg works with and on Tuesday June 14th, 2016, were able to pilot the FIRST EVER YOUTH GROUP IN NAKALANGA VILLAGE and we. made. HISTORY! It was absolutely incredible seeing the 35 students who came to learn and join this group. These 14-25 year olds will be the next leaders of their village. For the first day, we did ice-breaker games, got to know each other, talked about their expectations for their youth group, and played a fantastic game of football. I may have gotten a hand ball and lost my chance to be the MVP but let’s ignore my questionable football skills and focus on the great time we had seeing the Nakalanga community in action! Once other students in the village saw how much fun we were having during/after the youth group, they decided they wanted be at the next meeting in 2 weeks and bring their friends along. Additionally, there were about 60 little kids (from as young as 4 to as old as 13) who rushed to the field and also wanted to join in on the fun. It was hilarious seeing their enthusiasm but we did not want them to distract the older kids who meet the age requirement. Gabriella and Anbar came up with a quick way to mitigate this problem and direct them to their own circle where they played listening and clapping games with them as CCUg’s local interns led the older students. In the long term, we see the older students in the Youth Group becoming so strong in their leadership that they are capable of leading more groups with the (many) younger students who also want to be a part of this. We were so fired up to see how quickly Nakalanga Village mobilized for this great opportunity and how efficiently the local CCUg interns led the groups and know that the opportunities are boundless for this group of youth.

Wednesday was also another hallmark for history. We (the international interns) arrived at the office BEFORE the staff! This may not seem like such a big deal but let’s just say it gave us phenomenal bragging rights. We began enthusiastically rehearsing the 2 skits on Alcohol and HIV/AIDS for the health education presentation that would take place later that day at Nile High School. Each intern took on the role of aspiring actors and actresses and gave 110% of their energy as they prepared material to best educate the students of Nile High about Drugs/Alcohol, Sexual Relationships, Self-Esteem, and HIV/AIDS prevention. At Nile High, we gave the students surveys to complete at the beginning of the session to get an idea of their knowledge base and performed the skits about Alcohol and HIV/AIDs. We then divided the students into 4 groups (for the 4 different lessons) and had rotating stations with the international and local interns leading each station. The students actively participated during the games and were avid in vocalizing their questions. As the sessions wore on, we found different ways to best relay the information to the students despite cultural differences and language barriers. We were very appreciative of the warm reception we received and were glad to be a part of helping deconstruct a few of the misconceptions surrounding many of these health-related issues. A big thank you to Nile High School for allowing us to come!

Gabriella led her final parenting class before leaving Thursday afternoon while Anbar and I spent Thursday inputting data from the Insecticide Treated Nets, working on our proposals, and reorganizing our lesson plans for the health education sessions. Anbar, previously in charge of Sexual Relationships, wanted to incorporate information about Puberty into his lesson because it is vitally important and that information precedes sexual relationships. We accomplished a lot in terms of redesigning some of the material to make it suited for both secondary and primary school students. After our revision, we were more confident for Friday’s health presentation at Wabulungu primary school. We spoke to classes of approximately 125 students and performed the skits altogether in front of 850+ students! It was such fun and there was great participation from the students and it was such a memorable experience with the large 20 minute downpour of rain after our arrival.

All in all, this week was very productive and record-setting. As we head into our final week working with CCUg, we know we will be cranking out our proposals and making the best of every moment while we are still here in Jinja, Uganda. Wish us luck!

With love,

Regine (Team Leader)