Angela Luo

AdventuringAng

Angela Luo

If you're reading this blog, you probably already know me. 😉

Buuuut in case you need a refresher:

I am a nutrition student dabbling in social work that loves to travel, try new foods, and find new ways to be active. And most of all, I LOVE God, His awesome people, and His beautiful creation.

"...Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" ~2 Corinthians 5:17

Cheers to this crazy life we've been gifted to live! I've been given the amazing opportunity to go to Uganda for over 90 days this summer as part of the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship program. We're going to partner with local hospitals, universities, and communities to learn from/with the people about the challenges Ugandans face regarding health care. There will be many opportunities to learn and apply nutrition knowledge, among many other things.

Thanks for joining in this adventure with me. 😊

How (not) to be a Hospital Tourist

Africa » Uganda » Western Region » Mbarara July 21st 2019

Baby Brooke & Sir Sarah

AdventuringAng

Agandi! Warning: extra long post ahead, to make up for the ever-growing gaps between posts. And Happy National Ice Cream Day! Technically it's an American thing, but I'm going to unofficially declare it as an international holiday as additional justification for my ice cream intake. ;) We've been all over the place these past couple of weeks--first to Kampala, then Gulu, then back to Kampala, and coming "home" to Mbarara last Monday. We got scooped up into some of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into our supervisors' research with adolescent nutrition and sexual/reproductive health and rights (SRHR). We sat in on some meetings with representatives from BRAC international (an organization that actively promotes and provides opportunities for the empowerment of women), and various universities and hospitals. It was very interesting to talk to the public health ... read more

Pads, pork, and packing up

Africa » Uganda » Central Region » Kampala July 7th 2019

Donation Days

AdventuringAng

Agandi! Where to start? So much has happened in so little time. We have finished our community placement and now we are off to Kampala for a couple days to make some "site visits". We're not entirely sure what that entails, but we are trusting that our supervisors will make it a meaningful and memorable time. :) Yesterday we returned to Mbarara to spend the night before continuing the journey to the capital. Saying good-bye to the Rugazi community was difficult to say the least. for once we actually left on (Canadian) time, which was unexpected and made the hugs and teary good byes feel all the more abrupt. Even in spite of language/cultural differences and the short amount of time we spent in Rugazi, the people and the circumstances they face have affected us deeply ... read more

Getting down to business

Africa » Uganda » Western Region » Queen Elizabeth NP June 28th 2019

Teaching moments on menstrual matters

AdventuringAng

Agandi, and welcome back to the pearl of Uganda! Another couple of weeks down in Rugazi, and we've successfully hashed out our team community projects! The supervisor finally paid us a visit, and gave us the OK for our "plan A" topic on menstrual health. We bought and brought over 300 packages of Afripads (Ugandan-made reusable cloth pads) with us and are looking forward to distributing the pads in the coming weeks as we educate girls in primary 4 - 7 (approximately ages 10-16) about menstrual hygiene and how to make their own cloth pads from the resources available to them. By giving the girls the skills to make these pads for themselves, we hope that this project will be sustainable and have an impact that goes beyond just handing out donations. Thanks to Halimah, the ... read more

Training, training...no complaining!

Africa » Uganda » Western Region » Queen Elizabeth NP June 16th 2019

A study in studiousness

AdventuringAng

Agandi! It seems that I'm beginning to run on Ugandan time, so my apologies if you were beginning to feel impatient waiting for another delayed post. This blog post will be brief--which may end up becoming the Ugandan sense of "brief" which probably means that it will take longer than you would have anticipated even before I mentioned the word "brief". Sorry, but not sorry. ;) If you want to get a better sense of this Ugandan time I have been mentioning, here's a quick and dirty summary on our experiences with the lingo regarding time: Be there in five minutes means "I haven't left yet". It takes about ten minutes translates to a range of anywhere between 30 minutes and 3 hours. Soooo the pace of life is definitely slower here, which I have come ... read more

Rugazi: Round One

Africa » Uganda » Western Region » Queen Elizabeth NP June 7th 2019

Village visits

AdventuringAng

Hey hey, and sorry for the delay! Agandi (how are you)? Plans shifted a lot since my last post--so if you're confused by the progression of events I am about to recount, don't worry, I'm just as confused as you. instead of going through training all this week, we did a one day orientation on Sunday. Although we were a bit apprehensive of the orientation since we only found out about it the night before, it ended up being incredibly engaging and helpful. Together with some of the local university students, we discussed and participated in several activities about what "development" means to us, our core values, barriers to communication in cross-cultural work, and how to acknowledge our privilege and blind spots. It was a little embarrassing to go through a variety of case studies taken ... read more

Church, charades, and various escapades

Africa » Uganda » Western Region » Mbarara May 31st 2019

Our little fam jam, ft. fried grasshoppers

AdventuringAng

Welcome back, fellow traveler! I'm sniffling a bit, partly because I am just so overjoyed that you're still following this blog, and partly because I think I have a cold (mostly the latter). Where did we leave off last time? Oh yes, our rendezvous with the Michigan crew. Our Ugandan friend, Marius, had brought over some delicious mangoes and fried grasshoppers the evening prior, and we brought the little "critter fritters" over to share. I daresay the little 'hoppers weren't exactly delicious, but they were palatable enough if you didn't stare at them too hard and gross yourself out. Anywho, we didn't exactly scare the Americans off, but they have since left (ie. fled) to a week of community placements while we continue to pass the time with no fixed itinerary. Since we had a very ... read more

Ssese Islands, supermarkets, and...a strike?

Africa » Uganda » Western Region » Mbarara May 23rd 2019

First run of the trip

AdventuringAng

Hello again, Ki kati! Time seems to pass slowly as we meander through the days in Uganda. And yet, looking back on these past couple of weeks, it amazes me how the days have blurred and flown past faster than a reckless boda boda driver (motorcycle taxis that we are strongly discouraged to take rides from). So here we are now, third post of the trip, and already approaching the end of May! We spent the weekend on the Ssese Islands, where we did typical "island/resort" things like sunbathe, swim, and eat delicious food. Since it is the end of the rainy season we had to wait out quite a bit of rain, but we were still able to soak up some rays (and vitamin D!) during our time there. We even went for a run, ... read more

Airports, Africa, and Adventure

Africa » Uganda » Central Region » Entebbe May 17th 2019

Still smiling and smooth sailing!

AdventuringAng

Welcome welcome, so glad you're back! As I start writing this post, my computer tells me it's 8 am when it's about 5 pm here in Entebbe. Surprisingly, jet lag hasn't set in despite the 9 hour time difference--what a blessing! (Knock on wood...) Travels were smooth despite the minor hiccups of switching my flight from Saskatoon to Calgary on the morning of the 14th to the evening of the 13th--praise God! I spent the entire journey from Calgary to Entebbe alongside my friend and fellow scholar, Brooke (4th yr Nursing). Casey (brand new RN!) and Anne-Sophie (1st yr Nutrition) joined us at Toronto airport and we set out internationally together. We were later joined by Rayden (1st yr Vet) and Haley (3rd yr Nursing) in the van taking us to the guest house, and Victoria ... read more

The Waiting Game

North America » Canada » Saskatchewan » Saskatoon May 10th 2019

(Almost) All Packed!

AdventuringAng

Wow! Just a few more days before I fly out from this little Saskatoon nest I call home for the longest international trip of my twenty-two years of life. It would be an under-exaggeration to say that I am EXCITED (yes, even if I write it in all-caps), but unfortunately my feelings are more intense than what the English language can capture right now. *sigh* A question I get asked a lot is: "What are you most looking forward to in this Uganda trip?" I'll try to channel the essence of my answer in a few sentences. I am looking forward to the many learnings that lay ahead--about health/nutrition, about culture, about people, about myself. I am looking forward to having my knowledge and faith stretched as I get pushed into that uncomfortable place where growth ... read more

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