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I'm back! So the mosquito net project is going really well. My family and friends at home are working really hard and doing a great job at fundraising. And for their part, people here are doing a great job of waiting. We still don't know how many nets we may receive or when. The donor organization, Against Malaria (featured in July National Geographic fyi), is still scrambling for funds to add on to the funds raised at home to get as close as possible to the 12,000 + nets we need. Thanks everyone!

So I have not been too busy lately. My organization has been wrapped up trying to get our new nursing school building finished so that we can move into it, start a 3-year enrolled nursing course and free up some money to work on other projects. We're still trying to do many things in the community ie orphans, AIDS patients, etc... The latest endeavor has been to start a coalition of local community based organizations and work on larger projects. The first one we're developing involves a sub county wide bee-keeping project with the help of a potential donor. I think bee-keeping would be a great income generating activity because a.) it's relatively easy to do, b.) the start up costs are pretty low, c.) there is a market for honey and wax products that has not been developed in the area. The hardest parts are getting the proper gear (bee suit, mask, smoker) and marketing it to the public. The donor org we want to help us assists with those main things. What is also good is that they make the farmers re-pay the costs of the hive interest free over 5 years. This gives the people a sense of ownership and responsibility. The problem is this donor is backed up, so I'll be looking at other ways to start a project like this in my area. The problem we're facing with the CBO coalition is that they don't want to contribute to operating costs like for meetings, travel, computer time, etc. These things add up and my org as well as myself cannot afford to do work for others without some contribution. Sounds cold, but some people want things for free and that isn't how life works. However, I'm here to help so i'll figure out something!

In less serious news, I finally go furniture for my living room! I now have a house that is resembling a home that is mine, not a half complete place with someone else's things (previous PCV's). As most of you know, I'm a huge fan of couches and all that goes with them (the sitting, sleeping, etc.) so I'm very happy. Buying and transporting back to my place was less painful than I anticipated, but not flawless (ie 20 people riding in the back of the truck sitting on my furniture and causing a crack in my couch). I spent 325,000 Ugsh ($188) on everything including couch and chairs, cushions, coffee table and 4 end tables, and transport. So that's almost a full months salary for me, but it had to be done. Guilt for spending so much money is there because of the rampant poverty all around, but I need to do what makes me the most comfortable while i'm here. Having a couch, though silly, is part of my quest for sanity! :)

So the next month or so is going to be filled with a bunch of Peace Corps stuff. Language in-service training next week in Pallisa, meeting in Kampala after that for the Volunteer Advisory Committee that I'm on (think student council), and then technical in-service training in Kla in September. We'll see if I can update, but I'm not sure. I haven't had a lot of internet time to download my photos to my flickr account so sorry for the out-dated photos. Take care...