I Øst-Afrika er Act Nowerne framme på praksisplassene. Her deler de sine første inntrykk:
Andreas skriver fra Dar es Salaam:
Den första veckan har varit introduktionsvecka där vi har lärt känna delar av staden och besökt en del av de platser där vi kommer att jobba. Dessutom har vi haft swahilikurs vardagar 12.00-14.00. Det har varit lite slitsamt eftersom allt är nytt och vi har ännu inte kommit in i fasta rutiner. På lördagen (14 oktober) skulle vi lära känna staden. Vi tog dala-dalarna för första gången. Dala-dala är minibussar som det finns otroligt många av här i Dar es Salaam. De går i stort sett hela tiden och det är bara att vänta på en hållplats tills rätt dala-dala kommer. Kostnaden för dem är 200-300 tanzanisk shilling. De är dessutom väldigt ofta överfulla och är de inte fulla så försöker chaufförerna och de personerna som tar in pengar på bussarna att få dem helt smockfulla. Ofta måste man stå i diverse mer eller mindre obekväma ställningar under åkturen. Dessutom gäller det att hålla koll på sina grejer så att ingen tar dem. Les mer
Thomas skriver om sine første inntrykk fra Mbale:
Noen inntrykk av byen:
- den er passe stor. Ca 80 000 folk her. MEN, virker som alle 80 000 er ute på gata -heile tia!
- byen har ikke så mange biler. Her er det sykkelen som gjelder. Vrimler av sykkeltaxier her.
- heller få hvite folk her. Har kun sett én til nå. Det er litt digg.
- den er veldig afrikansk. Ingen høye hus, ingen store supermarked, nesten ikke internett. Litt fet egentlig.
- tror det skal bli en veldig bra by å leve i.
Har så vidt fått tittet innom CRO, senteret hvor jeg skal jobbe. Så veldig bra ut. Masse unger der som var i 100 da vi annkom. Skikkelig stas. Tror ikke det blir så vanskelig å få seg venner der. Men fytti, folk er fattige her. Er vondt å se med egne øyne at små barn faktisk har gata som sitt hjem. Kommer til å bli mange tøffe og krevende inntrykk i månedene som kommer. Tror det blir veldig spennede å jobbe for CRO. De gjør en kjempe jobb og gir ungene håp og glede, i tillegg til mat og hjelp til skolegang. Gleder meg til fortsettelsen.
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Eivind writes about his first impressions:
Before we were taken to our new home, we had a few minutes to play with the kids. Thomas, who introduced himself as a football coach,were imidiately approached by some of the most enthusiastic footballers, and he joined them for a short match before we had to go. I played with some other kids on a merry-go-round. The kids were really lively and looked happy. It is strange and sad to think about that many of them spend the nights on the street, and that a great deal of them have no parents or are rejected by their parents. I hope I can contribute to make the life a little brighter for some of them through my work at CRO. Our house is great. It is located outside the city center, in a quite calm area. It has a big garden with fences around it, and the house itself is quite large. Me and Thomas has got one bedroom each, mine is really big. We have one sitting room, a small kitchen, a toilet and a shower. The house also contains a library where some of the oldest boys at CRO uses to study, and a bedroom with its own entrance, where four of the boys from CRO lives.
You can read more and see pictures from Eivind and Thomas's new home here.
Mbale is in the extreme East of Uganda, Bushenyi lies in the extreme west. Anne Margrethe reports from Bushenyi:
Imagine a dusty brown-red mud road and all you can see around you is green fields, forests, banana and maize farms, and houses of mud or bricks with “metal roofs” that really needs a shine up. The sun is burning and in front of you a man is walking with a stick trying to guide his only cow. Or you can imagine a tarred road without any road markings, many humps and holes. Besides the road there are tracks for the people to walk on... As you drive you pass many small shops stuffed with different items. WELCOME TO AFRICA PEOPLE. Yes I’m back in Africa, more precise Bushenyi in the southwestern part of Uganda. (Hopefully I will get some fact about Uganda and Bushenyi on the blogg in a short time…)
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Kathrine writes about her first impressions:
Orire gye! – A greeting we finally start to be familiar with here. I am now sitting in our livingroom in Bushenyi, looking out over the beautiful hills to be seen outside our living room.
I arrived in Uganda Tuesday last week (10.10.06). We were then 6 Act Now’ers that stayed in Kampala together for the first tree days. There we met with some of our supervisors, went to the Norwegian Embassy, and to see the Stromme Foudation Office. Then we departed to our different practice places. Anne Margrethe and I are now in Bushenyi, a smaller village about 5 hrs drive south-west from Kampala. This first week we have mainly been taking some language lessons in Ruanyankole. And just to give you a small idea of what that looks like, this is how you say “nice to meet you”: Nakushemererwa kuka reba… Yesterday was our first day out visiting some schools. What a strange feeling to have 5-600 expectant children looking at you with curious faces. We came there with our supervisor and a reverend, to meet with the staff and children, and to hand out some new testament Bibles. Afterwards we got to spend some time in different classrooms, where we later might do some teachings ourselves.
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24th of March we joined a norwegian pastor to visit some projects that his church is sponsoring up north in Gulu. One of the things that really got to me was a visit to a child daycare center. The children who come here, are affected in many ways after the war, run by LRA. Some have lost their parents, others been kidnapped and trained to be soldiers by LRA, others have been among the thousands of children walking miles from their village to town every night in fear of the possible attacs in the villages at night time.
