I’ve worked at a restaurant. I’ve worked in an office. I’ve worked in classrooms. I’ve had a job on campus. I’ve had a job in retail. I’ve worked in formal settings and informal settings. I’ve worked day jobs and night jobs. I’m not entirely new to the workplace. But this summer I am quickly realizing that working in the field of international development is a very different kind of workplace.
When you’re working in a place as far away from home as Uganda, it sometimes feels like you’re always in your workplace. For the first month and a half of the summer I had an internship at home with an organization called Seed Global Health. When I wasn’t at my internship, I was at my afternoon job as a babysitter or my night job at the restaurant. I was visiting with family and catching up with old friends. I was making plans for the coming school year and making plans for getting myself to Uganda. I had a stimulating and interesting internship, but I also had the rest of my life to keep up with. When I arrived here in Kasiisi, I quickly realized that the whole “rest of my life” was very far away. I wasn’t just getting into a new job, I was setting up a new life. While I’m only in Uganda for 7 weeks this time around, next time it could be several months or even years. This experience is helping me understand that working in International Development will have a significant impact on every facet of my life.
In ways, it is very refreshing to take a break from trying to do a million things at once. Instead of spreading myself between several projects, I can put all of my energy and focus into developing the girls program, completing different tasks around the Kasiisi Project office, making friends and getting to learn the culture as best I can. At the same time, it is hard to realize that as I continue in this field, I will have to leave a lot of the “rest of my life” behind. I missed out on my traditional 4th of July, which has always been a big deal with my friends and family. My grandma was in the hospital and I couldn’t go visit her. My cousin came back from Australia for a visit for just 2 weeks, but he’ll be long gone by the time I get back. A lot happens at home in just 2 months, and I’ll miss even more if I end up working in the field for stints of a year or two at a time.
It is also important to realize that being culturally sensitive is a full-time job, not from nine to five, from when you wake up to when you go to sleep. Because I live in the community where I work, every time I meet a new person I need to be conscious of how I present myself and my position within The Kasiisi Project. There are a lot of major cultural differences that might not seem like a big deal as a tourist, but that become very important as an intern. For example, a skirt or dress pants with a blazer make for a very professional outfit in the working world in America. In Uganda, women generally don’t wear pants (especially in schools), and skirts above the knee are not only frowned upon, but actually illegal. These differences seem almost comical, but it is essential that I am aware of them and respectful of the culture I am working in.
My life in Uganda is a constant learning experience. I’ve met so many incredible people and really enjoyed working in this setting so far. This experience is showing me that working in this field may not be easy, but it is stimulating, enriching and something I am truly passionate about.