Update email to Family & Friends 2

Dear family and friends of VS Uganda,

I hope this e-mail finds you well.

I received an update from our volunteers in Ramogi Village . They are eager to tell you about their incredibly exciting week, full of new experiences, hands-on work and discussions about the community, the politics of the region and the Jewish motivation for doing social justice work.

I hope you have a wonderful July 4^th weekend. The AJWS office will be closed on Friday, July 3^rd, so if you need to reach me for any reason, please call the 24-hour emergency line at 212.736.XXXX (does not need to be posted in a blog), and ask to speak with me.

Best,

Alexis

VS Uganda – July 1^st

Yoga!

That is hello in Dopadollah, the local language here in Ramogi. We are all doing quite well, bonding with our fellow participants and group leaders, working hard at the work site, doing our daily chores, taking bucket baths, and interacting with our host community.

Our group has only spent 5 days in this village and we’ve already come face-to-face with many of the challenges and joys of being “the visitor”. The community has gone to great lengths to welcome us, especially through their singing and dancing. We have been greeted by dozens of children, who have offered their hands as we walk by the local primary school and in a formal ceremony with representatives from the local community.

Everyone from our group has acknowledged our privilege to be able to travel and live in Uganda for 7 weeks. We know that this cultural exchange experience is unique. This trip provides us with many glimpses into an extremely different life style that we could not fully appreciate from a university lecture or newspaper article. In spite of how remarkable the beginning of our journey has been, the group continues to grapple with many difficult questions:

How do we best express our gratitude toward our hosts who constantly tell us to feel at home? How do we strike the delicate balance between integrating our selves into the surrounding community, while still respecting others’ culture and space? And finally, what do the local inhabitants think of us, as Americans, as Jews and as representatives of the “developed world”? While these complex questions can sometimes lead to moments of frustration and discomfort, they also provide us with innumerable opportunities for personal growth and newly gained perspectives.

As we took our first bucket baths and take turns pumping water from the local well, we are forced to reconsider water conservation. As we walk past Ugandan natives working in their fields without shoes, we are faced with people’s struggles for basic resources. And when we take our malaria pills, we realize that we are extremely fortunate to have access to medicines that many of the local Ugandans must live without.

While some of the images of poverty that we see every day in Ramogi are heartbreaking, we are also experiencing a plethora of warmth and joy. The connection we experience when we play “London Bridges Falling down” with dozens of Uganda children is undeniable.

Another powerful moment for us occurred at our welcome ceremony when the director of our partner NGO (non-government organization), Apollo Jaramogi, asked each of the AJW participants to explain our chosen majors in school, in hopes of inspiring the adolescent girls to continue their own schooling.

While we have begun to experience the lifestyle of the residence here, learned some of the local language, and received our native names, we have so many issues we still have to explore. We are eager to learn more about the community, through both formal and informal conversations.

The coming weeks will require much physical, mental and emotional stamina. The benefits we will gain are intangible.

Love from VS Uganda