Looking Back

As you might know I'm now back in Copenhagen where I've started med school. Yay!

I left Uganda in the end of July, and I meant to post some kind of recap on the whole Africa experience, but after I came back other things (like chemistry and different body parts) quickly took over my mind. Not that I've forgotten about Africa, I just haven't taken the time to sit down and put my thoughts into words.

The last couple of days I've seen a lot of people who I hadn't seen since before I left for Africa and of course they've been asking about my trip.
So, to at least say a little something, here goes:

I'm glad I went. It's been a very valuable experience and it has put a lot of things into perspective.
As expected it wasn't all positive, but it has given me a better picture of the problems that a lot of African countries face.
It's been frustrating at times. Mostly because of poor organization, which results in inefficiency and resources not being used optimally, and on a personal level it meant that there wasn't that much for me to do at the places where I was supposed to work. But being at these different projects gave me a good picture of what works and what doesn't in regards to dealing with HIV/Aids in Africa. In general I've become more sceptical of foreign aid and Western development projects, but that discussion will have to wait till some other time.
And then there was the cultural differences. (No need to mention the previous post...)

But looking back now, what I remember the most is my Maasai friends from Zanzibar. I miss hanging out with them in the afternoons, laughing with them, trying to teach them English, watching them dance and play soccer, and listening to their stories from a world so very far from my own. In spite of the fact that we come from very different places we somehow bonded. That special connection was there. I truly miss these wonderful people.
I still talk to them sometimes (they all have cell phones, of course), but communicating isn't easy since my Swahili vocabulary is slowly but surely disappearing.
But who knows? Maybe I'll see them again sometime...
Until then, Tutaonana!

Zanzibar, April 2007. Leimba, me, Lekseto, Lemunyo and Lasaro.