Only two days to go before I fly out to Kampala to start my trip...I have been overcome by a mild state of panic today. My mind is buzzing with things I still have to do. I'm reasonably well organised - I have my list and have been slowly gathering things together but there is now a sudden rush to finish off work stuff and purchase the remaining things I need to take with me. I think part of the problem is not knowing what to expect when I get there and therefore trying to cover too many eventualities. At the end of the day, I will be constrained to what I can fit in my suitcase! I just have to hope I've prioritised the right things!
For those of you who want to read about the organisation I shall be visiting and working with, you can read about them here http://www.afid.org.uk/partners/kitgum-concerned-womens-association. I read through many of the partner profiles before choosing - I didn't really have any criteria in mind. I just wanted to work with an organisation that moved me in some way and KICKWA certainly did. They also hadn't had a volunteer before whereas many of the other partner organisations had. Their accessibility, being in the north of Uganda, may also make it less likely for volunteers to visit. The trip will certainly be a journey - I'm taking an internal flight to Gulu, thanks to to the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) and will be collected from Gulu by someone from KICWA. It's then a 4.5 hour road journey to Kitgum on not terribly good roads. Thankfully, I am splitting the trip and have a day in Kampala on arrival before flying to Gulu.
I shall be pleased now to get the trip underway - so that I can focus on the doing rather than the thinking (& at times worrying) about it. I am feeling somewhat under-prepared for the actual assignment at this stage so I will be pleased to have the day in Kampala to focus on how I might structure the first few days of work. I have been liaising with Robert, the accountant there who has already sent me through their budgets. All very organised and impressive actually so am wondering at the moment where I can add value.
During the times I shall not be working on Finance, I would like to get involved in the work the of the organisation. For me, this is an important aspect of the trip - all too often one can feel somewhat removed as an accountant, in the work of an organisation so being able to visit first hand and connect with the project and people is a big part of the reason for going.
My worries have tended to focus on the practical elements - what will I eat & drink; where will I be staying and what will the facilities be like; how will I survive the mosquitoes! I hope my constitution holds up..
I hope I can relax and go with the flow and deal with the unexpected without getting too het up.
Not sure when I'll be able to upload my next post - depends on internet connection and general communications which are likely to be erratic I'm told.
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