Before I change the world, I want it to change me.
Welcome
Oli Otya! (How are you?)
I am delighted to greet you in Luganda, one of the national languages of Uganda, Africa. For three weeks, I had the opportunity to immerse myself into Ugandan culture and what began as a study abroad program about health and nutrition ultimately changed my world!
I learned from both the people and the land. I saw poverty like never before and unmatched beauty at the same time. It was an unbelievable contrast. I learned that there are so many different ways to be human. I see myself and my country so differently now.
I am currently in my final year in the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, majoring in Human Development and Family Studies--Child Development. I am a pre-med student aspiring to be a Pediatrician. I also plan to obtain a Masters or PhD in Public Health to continue clinical and community-based research in under served and underrepresented populations. This experience certainly enhanced my goals and will undoubtedly prepare me to someday be a more socially competent physician.
I would like to thank those of you who provided financial support for me during this process. This site, is a gift to you, the best way I could think to say thank you and insure you that your money was put to good use. Additionally, those who provided wisdom and emotional support you do not go unnoticed. Furthermore, I would like to thank my parents for all their support in EVERYTHING I do. Finally, my boyfriend, Brandon for talking to me on the phone even when it costs $2/min! You all definitely made this a reality.
Without saying too much more I would like to welcome you to my website. Throughout the site you will find tons of reflections, hundreds of photos and even videos! My journal is written like a blog so it is in reverse chronological order. To make comments on the journal entries you simply click the title of that journal and scroll to the bottom. Note that MOST of the photos may be found in the journal. Be sure to sign the Guestbook (located under the Journal tab). Also note that any of the smaller photos may be enlarged by clicking on them.
Please accept this site as is. I wanted to present how I felt and what I wrote and not edit it to be the most well-written piece. I hope this makes sense (as such excuse the typos, I know their there, ha-ha). I feel this has a bigger impact than me looking it over repeatedly for errors ever would.
I put a great deal of work into this site because I was determined to share this with whoever I could. It just isn’t something you want to keep to yourself, you know? Not to mention I wanted to get my 3 class credits too, ha-ha. Hopefully you enjoy seeing and hearing my experiences in Uganda for the other three senses, you'll just have to go there yourself!
Webale (Thank you),
Ashley M. Saffold
I am delighted to greet you in Luganda, one of the national languages of Uganda, Africa. For three weeks, I had the opportunity to immerse myself into Ugandan culture and what began as a study abroad program about health and nutrition ultimately changed my world!
I learned from both the people and the land. I saw poverty like never before and unmatched beauty at the same time. It was an unbelievable contrast. I learned that there are so many different ways to be human. I see myself and my country so differently now.
I am currently in my final year in the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, majoring in Human Development and Family Studies--Child Development. I am a pre-med student aspiring to be a Pediatrician. I also plan to obtain a Masters or PhD in Public Health to continue clinical and community-based research in under served and underrepresented populations. This experience certainly enhanced my goals and will undoubtedly prepare me to someday be a more socially competent physician.
I would like to thank those of you who provided financial support for me during this process. This site, is a gift to you, the best way I could think to say thank you and insure you that your money was put to good use. Additionally, those who provided wisdom and emotional support you do not go unnoticed. Furthermore, I would like to thank my parents for all their support in EVERYTHING I do. Finally, my boyfriend, Brandon for talking to me on the phone even when it costs $2/min! You all definitely made this a reality.
Without saying too much more I would like to welcome you to my website. Throughout the site you will find tons of reflections, hundreds of photos and even videos! My journal is written like a blog so it is in reverse chronological order. To make comments on the journal entries you simply click the title of that journal and scroll to the bottom. Note that MOST of the photos may be found in the journal. Be sure to sign the Guestbook (located under the Journal tab). Also note that any of the smaller photos may be enlarged by clicking on them.
Please accept this site as is. I wanted to present how I felt and what I wrote and not edit it to be the most well-written piece. I hope this makes sense (as such excuse the typos, I know their there, ha-ha). I feel this has a bigger impact than me looking it over repeatedly for errors ever would.
I put a great deal of work into this site because I was determined to share this with whoever I could. It just isn’t something you want to keep to yourself, you know? Not to mention I wanted to get my 3 class credits too, ha-ha. Hopefully you enjoy seeing and hearing my experiences in Uganda for the other three senses, you'll just have to go there yourself!
Webale (Thank you),
Ashley M. Saffold
Goals
I applied to the Uganda Study Abroad Program two years ago during the fall of my sophomore year. Below are the reasons I cited for wanting to participate. I was shocked because without looking at these thoughts in over two years, nearly all of them overlapped with my journal entries and other thoughts I shared about the experience. In short, I got everything I wanted to get out of participating in this program more!
I wanted to...
+ receive scholarly information on health and nutrition in Uganda
+ create new peer, faculty, and staff relationships
+ learn beyond the classroom
+ expose myself to others’ realities
+ further my understanding of world cultures
+ increase my concern with the international needs
+ gain awareness of issues beyond my environment
+ learn more about myself
I wanted to...
+ receive scholarly information on health and nutrition in Uganda
+ create new peer, faculty, and staff relationships
+ learn beyond the classroom
+ expose myself to others’ realities
+ further my understanding of world cultures
+ increase my concern with the international needs
+ gain awareness of issues beyond my environment
+ learn more about myself
Uganda Study Tour 2010
I had the pleasure to share this experience with an exceptional group of people. My classmates are all interested in health care but each had something unique to offer. There were students majoring in dietetics, nutrition, biochemistry, genetics and food science just to name a few. Moreover, our group represented four different countries (United States, China, Thailand and Colombia).
Each of my group members, whether they know it or not taught me something. I thank them for putting up with me, as I know we all had our moments (hey, we were with each other everyday, all day for 3 weeks!). You will see some of their pictures that I have stolen also scattered throughout the site! While in Uganda, Ronald Nsimbe, Dan Bazeyo, Imelda Zimbe, Professor John Kakitahi were amazing in helping us better understand the country and shared personal stories which enhanced the experience. I would especially like to thank John Ferrick and Professor James Ntambi from the University of Wisconsin-Madison for organizing this program and continuing to take students to Uganda every year. Your work does not go unnoticed. I truly love and respect you all.
Each of my group members, whether they know it or not taught me something. I thank them for putting up with me, as I know we all had our moments (hey, we were with each other everyday, all day for 3 weeks!). You will see some of their pictures that I have stolen also scattered throughout the site! While in Uganda, Ronald Nsimbe, Dan Bazeyo, Imelda Zimbe, Professor John Kakitahi were amazing in helping us better understand the country and shared personal stories which enhanced the experience. I would especially like to thank John Ferrick and Professor James Ntambi from the University of Wisconsin-Madison for organizing this program and continuing to take students to Uganda every year. Your work does not go unnoticed. I truly love and respect you all.
The Uganda Experience
In preparation for the trip John shared the following...it was definitely true!
Things that you will experience in Uganda: • You will get sick!
• You will be thirsty! • You will get hungry! Bring snacks on day trips! • Bus rides will be bumpy! • You will get tired! • You will not have hot water! • You will get malaria if you do not take your medicine! |
• The schedule will change! • You will be uncomfortable - physically and emotionally! • You will eat matooke! • You will meet very friendly people! • You will see many, many children! Wave side to side - up & down means come and they run! • You will see sick people/children! • People will ask you for personal information - contact #, etc. |
Makerere University
We were fortunate to be hosted by the School of Public Health at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. Furthermore, the service we received at the Makeree Guesthouse was unbelievable and appreciated.
Just a quick facts about Makerere University...
- Has over 22 facilities/institutes/schools
- 36,878 registered students
- Female students compose 44.3% of the total student population
- 5,000 students graduate from the University annually
- 3,155 international students from over 10 countries in Africa and outside Africa
- Academic Units include: Agriculture, Arts, Computing and Information Technology, Economics and Management, Forestry and Nature Conversation, Law, Science, Social Sciences, Technology, Veterinary Medicine, Institutes, Adult and Continuing Education, East African Institute for Higher Education Studies and Development, Environment and Natural Resources, Social Research, Statistics and Applied Economics, Psychology and Public Health.
- The University runs on an annual budget of approximately 56 million US dollars.
Visit http://mak.ac.ug/ for more information.
Questions?
I learned an incredible amount of information during the time I was privileged to be in Uganda. As such, if you want to know more about any of the topics you read about or have any unanswered questions please contact me! You may leave comments/questions in my GUESTBOOK or if you prefer to contact me personally, feel free to email me at: [email protected].
Want to Help?
If you want to help by donating to any of the projects I wrote about please visit: http://www.villagehealthproject.org/. This is a non-profit student organization created and maintained by students who have attend the Uganda Study Abroad program at UW-Madison.
