I'm feeling more like I love Africa now that I'm home than I did when I was there. I miss it. I miss the people and the lovely spirit of togetherness. I miss the management style of "family spirit" that I witnessed at TASO. I think my mind was clouded by my longing for home - I really did have a good time. I learned a lot and now I am eager to go back.... Just not for 4 months. [View Full Entry]

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Here are some of my last photos in Uganda. I'm now back in Arlington! [View Full Entry]

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Leaving Mbale was strange; sitting in the car, feeling like I was getting sucked back through the worm-hole I took to get there, which at the time felt like I was burrowing deep into some unreachable depth of Africa. Now I rushed quickly backward back through the same pathway I used to come, being pulled by some invisible force. Like a scene from Being John Malkovich - perceptions altered, tunnel vision. Seeing the country side with new eyes, eyes that know what each house and structure is, what each barefoot child is doing, how the goats and cows are cared for [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday, we rose early to make it to Soroti by 8am, which is 90 kilometers away. Unfortunately, the Manager was busy when we got there and we didn't actually present until 9am. The presentation went well, and we got some good comments and questions. We met several friends there, as evidenced by the photos. [View Full Entry]

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When my parents were here, they toured the TASO Mbale Center and visited with the Skills Development class. The class learns to sew, make baskets, cook, and other crafts. For sewing, they have been practicing using paper mostly (see paper dress in previous entry). When my parents left, they decided to donate some money to buy some fabric for the class. Now, finally, I have been to buy the fabric with Juliet, the teacher. Here is the class, happy for the donation, which will be used to make clothes for orphans that TASO supports, as well as for the skills participants' [View Full Entry]

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Here are some very interesting, funny, crazy, billboards and signs from my time here in Uganda. [View Full Entry]

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We just got back from our first Center presentation of the preliminary results of our Study to Assess the Impact of Food Support on WFP Beneficiaries at TASO. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the impact of food support on clients. We had two overarching research questions: * What does food support mean to the HIV-positive clients who receive it? * What will the elimination of food support mean for clients? Our hypothesis was that food support plays a significant role in clients’ households, particularly with regard to dietary diversity and access to food. Our questionanire had about 25 [View Full Entry]

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On Saturday, we went with our friend M to buy her some bags of cement, so that she can build a house for her goat, Queenie. M brings us tea every day, and we love her for that. She's always cheerful, even when she is sick. She is one of the clients of TASO, and her story is as heartbreaking as any. Her husband and co-wife have both died of AIDS. Her sister as well. She now cares for her three biological children, her nephew, and two other children. When we were visiting, her mother was there because she had just [View Full Entry]

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This week has been a great feat of data entry and pulling data from databases. We now have most of the data in hand, and have all our quesitonnaires in one database. Here are some photos... [View Full Entry]

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We started the data entry from our research last Friday. We have 264 questionnaires to enter in 5 different languages (Ateso, Lumasaba, Luganda, Japadhola, and English). Luckily, I am speedy and have entered many. We're almost done! [View Full Entry]

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