HALF WAY TO THE END ALREADY??

Well, it’s been quite a busy week here in the world of SIT world learning (my program name).  Writing papers, organizing what we are going to be doing for the next SIX WEEKS!  Writing proposals, and finding a place to live all in one week!!  In America, none of this would ever manage to come together in time, but luckily we are in Africa where things like meetings, emails, transportation, cooking pasta, take for ever, but important things like internships and living situations come together in the span of one hour! 

I explained briefly explained my practicum a few posts ago, so I suggest looking back as a reference.  But, since the last post I have found out a little bit more information what I will be doing.  The job that my boss/partner (that’s how he sees it)  has planned for me is to consult a group of community members who plan to earn a steady income for their households by making and selling soap.  My boss has invested .5 million shillings into the group so lets hope I don’t mess up!! 

In my first week I will be living in the community, which is Baakijjulula village, Bulera Sub-county, Mityana district, just one hour to an hour and a half from Kampala.  The treasurer of the community will be housing me and feeding me, and hopefully will be telling me what I am suppose to be doing.  The first week I will spend working with the group, mostly observing their production of the soap.  Then I will attempt to make them guidelines to make their production more efficient, especially if they plan to grow and expand in the future.  Also in the first week I will join them in the market, and observe how they go about selling their product, and what they do to make their product stand out from the others.  My assumption based on the rest of Uganda entrepreneurs is that they don’t do anything regarding uniqueness of their product.  Most stores here are made in clusters.  The sports stores are all right next to each other, all selling the same products.  Yes, this is convenient for the customer, but I would say it is quite detrimental to the business owners. 

On Friday I will be heading back to Kampala to live in a hostel with some other SIT students for the remainder of the independent study time.  For the rest of my five weeks I will be researching community development methods to implement within the community, continue to consult the soap group by going there once a week, and I will be writing my final practicum paper which is to be presented at the end of the trip.  I really look forward to living on my own, cooking my own dinners, setting my own schedule, and of course learning learning and more learning. 

I will be sure to update as much as possible on my experiences through out my time!  Tomorrow, off to the ADAM community!  We will see what Mityanna has to offer.