week 9 - reflections

Location: Kampala
Needless to say, being in Uganda has taught me a lot, in terms of the classes that I took, but mostly through the experience of living here. Most importantly, perhaps, is the much more informed view of the developing world that I have been able to develop through my experiences here. Though there is still a great deal that I do not understand, and though there are certain parts of this perspective that are lacking, I do believe that I understand the developing world better, as I have experienced it (as opposed to only being exposed to it through television, film, National Geographic, etc.).

As part of this, I have realized that far too many naïve foreigners come to do projects, and though their projects might be successful, they leave and never come back or follow up. They have something that they can be proud of and feel good about, but for many of these people, they sacrificed maybe two weeks of their time, but realistically, their presence in Uganda was that of just another foreigner thinking that their services are so badly needed and that they are so superior, when in reality, they do not leave any type of lasting impact.

It is this type of foreigner that I want to avoid being, and this is largely the reason why I have started focusing on making my project sustainable, by continuing to raise money through grants and donations, to give back to the community and to expand and move the project forward. Thinking that the impact of my project is going to be major in any way would be naïve of me, and I know that in the grand scheme of things, it is very difficult to make any type of major impact. However, I do want to at least leave some sort of a lasting impact on those people who I have interacted with throughout the course of my project.