Hello, World

I find my calling in exploring this life and working to better the lives of others. Like every young and eager person, I want to change the world. I don’t think this desire should be ridiculed because I recognize my own limitations, ignorance, and inability to truly fulfill a pageant girl idea of “world peace”. However, I am grounded in the belief that every effort, big or small, makes a difference. 

Because of this passion, I am entering the blogosphere with hopes of better understanding healthcare in Uganda. Why Uganda? My focus on healthcare in Uganda stems from my summer plans to work in a village called Adyege in northern Uganda. I am traveling to Adyege with a volunteer team consisting of 20 other USC students. During our time in Adyege, we will provide natives with the resources and education they need to create a strong foundation in sustainable living. We will conduct HIV testing for awareness and prevention, construct mosquito nets for malaria prevention, build a biogas digester to improve diverse crop yields, empower women through economic education, and improve maternal health and hygiene. This work is a continuation of a project from last summer. However, last summer only 4 USC students traveled to Adyege. This trip was not an official USC volunteer trip, as these students traveled on their own to work with the Global Health Network in Uganda. One of these 4 students decided he was going to come back the next summer with an official volunteer team from USC. He asked the natives how their community would benefit the most , and they listed off issues. He then based a volunteer trip off of these needs and pitched the idea to the volunteer center. The volunteer center accepted his idea as an official trip. He is now our trip coordinator, and we have a full team!

Although I do not have an extensive knowledge of Uganda and I have never been to Africa, I have to start somewhere. I want to use this blog as a way of challenging myself to truly learn and consequently invest in the community I will serve. Hopefully, this blog will serve as a springboard for my dive into serving the global community. Because I am researching health, possible subtopics can range anywhere from community to politics to drug use to warfare. Since Adyege is in northern Uganda, effects of the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) will be an important topic in assessing the way it has impacted the health and well being in different communities.