Leaving Karamoja

Today is my last full day in the field. I head back to Kampala for a short de-brief then east to the beaches of Kenya. Then back west to the States for Christmas and New Years.

I'll spare you the emotional reflections but I will say it has been a great several months, not easy but great. I worked hard, successfully managed a program, and hopefully helped a few people in the process. I learned many valuable lessons about development and my own leadership abilities throughout my time here.

Karamoja is a tough place. It's dry, hot and has some crazy people within it's borders. It's also beautiful. The 10,000 ft mountain feels like it carefully watches over the small town on Moroto. It continues to amaze me and I find it more and more impressive the more I look at it. The stars are amazingly clear and can be seen as far as the eye can see on a good night. The children are beautiful, even if they're demanding money or food. They're still fun. My favorite scene was a kid along the side of a road wearing a lion costume that some rich American kid probably used once and it got sent to Africa. I didn't have my camera with me at the time but it beautiful and hilarious and outrageous and it made me think, "only in Karamoja...."

I have a lot to learn about the Karamojong but I have enjoyed working with them. Sure, the drunk guys are annoying but there seems to be so many who genuinely want to improve their lives. Karamoja is full of potential and I hope to help harness it next year. Budgets and agreements are still being finalized but I am planning on returning in January. This time with a hammock and a mountain bike.

I'd like to thank my cohort members at Eastern for their friendships and skype chats as we slugged through the last semester together as we were stationed all over the world. They are a truly impressive bunch of people who will let their light shine and help thousands over their lifetimes. Going to Eastern was a leap of faith and though it was a gamble, it paid off in more ways than I could have guessed.

I'll continue to use this blog but may broaden the topics to development, leadership, cross cultural interactions, God, missions or photography. I'd like to write a weekly entry starting next year because I hate when I follow other people's blogs but don't ever update them. Stay tuned.....