The Beginning of the Beginning

Hi everyone!

This is my first post on, what I hope will be, a diary of my experiences in west Africa. On January 17th, 2011, I will be departing JFK airport and flying to Uganda. This is my story:

 

Ever since I can remember, I have been fascinated with the continent of Africa. I was mesmerized by their customs, their history, their land, and their way of life. As the years went by and I started contemplating what I wanted to study in college, my favorite idea was a pediatrician working where they are most needed. Obviously, my mind went straight to the place I had been so captivated by for years, Africa. Realizing that it would be absurd to go to school for years with plans to go to a place where I had never stepped foot in, I started working on plans to visit Africa as part of an “immersion”. I wanted a chance to see the country, learn the ways of the people, and submerge myself in a completely different culture. I also wanted to do volunteer work for a semester before I started college.

I got a full time job the summer after I graduated from high school and worked throughout the fall semester while I was actively searching for the best possible way to go to Africa for the spring semester. I met a man from my church named Jay Carney who has an Uncle-In-Law who is a priest in Uganda. The priest, Fr. David Baltz, made a couple of phone calls for me and found a home for me for four months. Sherry Meyer, a native for Indiana who has been working in Africa for 19 years, runs a Catholic radio station called Radio Pacis. The radio station is located inside a compound with 24 hour security. Sherry has invited me to stay in a guest house at Radio Pacis along with another lay missionary from Germany. Since my situation is unusual (most lay missionaries are there for a minimum on one to two years) Sherry is showing me great kindness by inviting me to stay.  While I am there, I will be spending my time volunteering in places such as the radio station, in AIDS support groups and hospices, schools, or wherever they need a helping hand. I will be learning everything I can about what it means to live and work in Uganda.  

This is the first post out of many. I will include as many pictures and stories as I can. To contact me, either leave a comment, facebook me, or email me at meggoodwin57@yahoo.com. Please do not call me or text me from January 17th on because it will be INCREDIBLY expensive. 

For more information about where I will be staying in Arua, visit www.radiopacis.org.

Thank you to everyone who has shown me such great support. Whether through prayers, donations, or encouragement, you all mean the world to me and I don't know what I would do without you!!

Peace,

Meg

"It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves - in finding themselves"

-Andre Gide