At the end of
August, my Health and Agriculture June 2014 group gathered together
for our Mid-Service Conference. This conference happens roughly
halfway through ones service and is different in every country but it
still has the same meaning and message: “You are mid-way through
your service – congratulations!”. We had a couple days of
discussions, activities, learning about different topics that we had
requested to have more information about, what to except for our
final year, starting the job search, and just hanging out and
chilling with great friends. It was a great way to look back over my
first year of service and evaluate where I am and where I want to go
for the final months of my service. This past year has gone by
quickly and the final now nine-monthsish are going to be crazy busy
and I am sure will fly by. I am a little worried, I wont be able to
get everything done by the time I am finished as a Peace Corps
Volunteer but that is okay. After going back and forth, I have
decided to not extend my service to a third year with my organization
because I feel it is time to move on to a job with a salary and start
paying off my student loans.
The first photo below is from our group at Staging about 14 months prior to our
MSC right before we headed off to get on a plane and fly into Uganda.
The second one is of our group at MSC (Minus a couple people who were
on vacation). We started out with 40 people at Staging and now we are
down to 27 volunteers.
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| Staging June 2014 |
|
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| MST August 2015 |
We have lost a total
of 13 people for a variety of reasons from health, security, family,
or personal issues. Finishing ones service is not always in the cards
for people and there is nothing wrong with leaving early. At times,
Uganda is a very challenging and rough place to be and live. I have
thought about early terminating or 'ETing' a couple times over the
year but it had nothing to do with Uganda or her people it actually
has mainly to do with issues at my organization which most of the
times have ended up clearing themselves up.
It is amazing to see
how people have changed and grown over the past year. All of my
fellow volunteers have grown into their own and I am sure there will
be more growth to come in the final months. I have enjoyed my service
thus far with of course the few bumps in the dirt road but that
happens with any path.
The final months are looking bright as they
tick down to our Close-Of Service Conference which will be around
April and the start of the job search in the coming months – I
really enjoy job searching so I am looking forward to this part. Nine
months left! That is CRAZY!
