And then Moses heard a voice...

So...talk about answer to prayer, eh?

I felt like I needed to get involved on a deeper level in Uganda. I felt like I was possibly being called to do something with government. I was scared to give up my beautiful home at Perry.

And then, BAM...

Maybe you should join the Teacher Exchange in Uganda this summer?
Oh, okay.

After spending a few days in a whirlwind of thought and excessive worrying, I have made my decision. I am applying. What does this mean? No Morris Fork. No camp (although it is a remote possibility). LOTS of money. Postponing my graduation from graduate school. And putting my mom through a cycle of worry like none she has battled before.

But, none of that really seems like a big deal to me. I have absolute complete peace about it. I am working on the application, and if this is God's will, then I know it will happen. I started to worry about analyze what the IC people want me to say, what they are expecting, etc. I stopped doing that. I will answer honestly. I will not pretend to be anything I am not. If it is meant to be, it will be. I am sure of that.

Want to know what I could be doing? Okay, I will let you know...in brief...

Week 1: Teachers travel to Uganda, arriving at the airport in Entebbe—a city located one
hour from the capital city of Kampala. Because the North and South exist in such
dichotomous educational conditions, an important part of the assessment process will
begin in Kampala. U.S. educators will tour a secondary campus in Kampala prior to
heading to Gulu. The initiative will not be framed as a comparative experience, but
beginning the program this way will offer perspective for teachers as they gradually
begin to understand the education standards within the country and how those differ in
the various regions. Once in Gulu, educators will spend their time becoming more
familiar with the city and the culture, as well as attending workshops led by Invisible
Children staff.

Featured Workshops for U.S. and Ugandan Program Participants
1. Cultural Exploration
2. Language Training
3. Historical Foundations of Ugandan Schools
4. Education in War Time

Week 2: The workshop series will continue, and teachers will receive their school
placements. Teachers will create residency groups; each residency group will be placed at
a school for the duration of the trip. Groups will be comprised of one or more teachers for
each of the following disciplines: English, science, mathematics, and social studies. Each
teacher will be paired with a Ugandan instructor in the same field. The in-school
experiences during the week will focus on observation, relationship building (with
teaching partners and students), and dialogue with the school community. All
participating educators will have an opportunity to roundtable with one another at the end
of this week, affording each schools’ teachers the opportunity to ask questions of one
another, cast vision for the remaining weeks, dialogue about specific needs/desires, write
an initial self-assessment, and create a method of evaluation and documentation that will
benefit all parties once the initiative has concluded.

Weeks 3-6: The third week marks the continuation of the team teaching that will take
place the remainder of the trip. Teachers will work with one another and the student body
on the given curriculum, exploring student-centered methodologies, while remaining
focused on the material needed for the exams in August and November. Throughout the
experience, educators will engage in support groups with one another. This collaboration
enables teachers and administrators at different schools to brainstorm, develop strategies,
relate work to the texts, create lessons together, and crystallize concepts. All participants
will also attend Invisible Children’s second International Teaching and Learning
Conference in Gulu, Uganda.

Yea...and I get to go rafting and on a safari. Bonus.

My mind explodes when I think about it, literally. I can hardly fathom this possibility. Tomorrow, when I get up to teach at FCA (oops...that wasn't supposed to happen, but maybe it was...) I think I might cry. I am bursting. BURSTING.