Hello all! Emily here. We are now in Mbale, Uganda and are staying at an inter-faith coffee co-op called Mirembe Kawomera. We’ve been learning about how the coffee is grown and harvested and have gotten to take part in the entire process- picking the berries, pruning the trees, shelling the berries, etc. The farm is totally organic and the coffee is shade grown with many other plants, such as banana trees and vanilla. Yesterday we were taken to a town meeting and the townspeople gave all of us new names. Mine is Namaganda. Holla!
Last week at the school was amazing. We spent the mornings building the foundation for a new schoolhouse, and it was extremely difficult. We did a lot of shoveling, rock moving, and brick building. I think we are going to be in good shape by the time we get home. If not, we will at least have a lot of blisters and sunburns. We slept on cots in one of the classrooms at night and had a really amazing cook named Peter.
Adapting to life in Africa has been pretty difficult but really interesting. We are all learning the science of squatting over a hole and bathing with a bucket of water (though most of us have simply chosen not to bathe…)At the school, we had to walk about a half mile up big hills just to get water.
Despite some homesickness, all of us have been doing really well. The group is amazing and I think we all bring something awesome to the table. We have a lot to learn and a long way to go, but we are totally ready.
