One of Field of Hope’s core values is adventure — having fun and being challenged on the journey. Which my time in Uganda has had no short coming of adventure along with some challenges. From long car rides on rough roads that make my stomach turn to almost (unknowingly) eating a gizzard, this usually results in a good laugh or a sweet moment to follow.

Some of my favorite memories I have made so far are at the trainings we’ve had with the smallholder farmers groups in very rural parts of Uganda. The purpose of training is to better understand what a cooperative group is and how the group dynamics work within them. The leaders of the trainings, Patrick and Walter, went through various activities that covered topics such as being stronger in numbers, thinking outside of the box and learning how different personalities work in a group. “Knowledge is power” is a phrase that has also been reiterated throughout the training. Taking advantage of these learning opportunities will empower these groups, strengthen them and eventually create economic growth within their communities.

The local language of Luo is used for communication at these trainings and most of the community members know little to no English. Learning a foreign language has never been one of my strengths and I have pretty much only learned the word “Apwoyo” which luckily for me doubles as a greeting and a thank you. Even though communication can be a challenge, it has all been part of what has made this trip even more of an adventure. I have loved to see how much can be communicated without words and I have learned that a smile can go a long way.

In between these trainings, I had the opportunity to go on a safari adventure. This country continues to amaze me with its beauty. I am trying to soak up every minute I’m blessed to be living in the Pearl of Africa.

One thing that has come pretty easy in Uganda is making friends. The people here are so kind and welcoming. I was walking back to my hotel from a local cafe, one day, when a woman greeted me and started talking to me. I quickly realized that she only knew a handful of English words and she could only speak in the local language of Luo. We carried on a conversation with hand gestures. She was making a gesture like she was writing and I could figure out that she was asking me if I was a teacher. I replied, “No, agriculture”.

She said, “Oh, agriculture! Apwoyo! Apwoyo! (thank you, thank you).”

She was so genuinely excited and grateful that I was here working with agriculture, and I have to say I am too!

My excitement for Ugandan agriculture heightened this past week. We started off the week with having 11 leaders from different communities throughout Northern Uganda, come to Lira for a subject matter expert training (SME). They learned a variety of different topics from soil management to sunflower agronomy to managing pest like the fall army worm. These community leaders are trained then expected to train the members in their community. It was so inspiring to see lively discussions (even though they were mostly speaking in Luo), about bettering their small communities through agriculture.

Then later in the week I had the opportunity to go to the Harvest Money Expo in Uganda’s capital city of Kampala. There were hundreds of vendors and thousands of participants, all interested in the future of Ugandan agriculture. I had the chance to sit in on sessions about urban agriculture, bee keeping and vegetable growing. One of these biggest takeaways for me was from the bee keeping presentation. The speaker said “be open to fellow farmers because we are all trying to meet customer demand.” Such a great simple reminder that we are all in this together.

The lady I met on the road was right to be excited about agriculture – there’s a lot of exciting things happen in Uganda agriculture!

The time has finally come, I’m in Uganda! I have preparing for this trip since I first started my graduate program at Oklahoma State a year and a half ago.

Prior to this trip, I was often asked, “Why Africa?” or “Why Uganda?”. Over time, I have realized there have been many different parts that God has perfectly pieced together in my journey to the Pearl of Africa.

I have always had this desire to travel to Africa, I think it dates to before I was a twinkle in my father’s eye. My parents honeymooned in Kenya in 1989 and that has always been a part of my parents’ story that I have deeply admired. While I’m here for much different reasons, it is almost exactly 30 years later I’m one country over to the west. In many ways my parents have inspired me to go on this trip but mostly, they have always encouraged me to work towards my goals. I would also like to think my childhood dog named Jambo (hello greeting in Swahili) was part of my inspiration, too.

There have been many attempts to travel to Africa throughout my undergrad – for various reasons they just never worked out – but none of those would have been to Uganda or with an organization like Field of Hope. My first two weeks in Uganda have shown me why God saying “no” to your plans just means He has something better in store for you.

I am very fortunate to get to be in a country where God is so present, as well as intern for an agricultural and faith-based organization. Field of Hope’s mission is to work towards empowering people through agriculture to gain sustainable solutions towards food security. In my first two weeks, I was also fortunate enough to be accompanied by a team of people that have challenged my way of thinking and inspired me with their passion for agriculture and education.

I am so excited to meet more amazing people and to see what work God has planned for me in these next few months.

Maybe one day I can inspire someone of the next generation to travel to east Africa through having a dog name Apwoyo (hello greeting in Uganda’s local language of Luo).

Uganda.