a change is as good as a rest

It’s been one full month since I left Kenya and moved to Lira, Northern Uganda. Oddly Garissa already seems like a lifetime ago, yet it also seems like I could easily make some weekend plans to go for breakfast at Nairobi Java House. I finished 13 months in Garissa with an evaluation of the food voucher program in the refugee camps – and a bout of malaria.

The evaluation was going on well until I suddenly developed a massive headache, felt nauseous, lost all energy and generally felt like an overcooked noodle. I got the test and drugs after nearly a week of this and while I was nearly 100% better a week later, the drugs actually made me feel worse. Perfect timing…just as I’m meant to be wrapping things up I get sick and bed-ridden.

So now I’m in Uganda where I’m helping to get a cash & skills transfer program up and running. The people we are trying to reach are those who are returning to their homes after displacement due to the Lord’s Resistance Army from 2003 to 2006. Not nearly as long as the displacement in Gulu, but these people lost everything they had all the same.

I’ll be here just until the end of May and will gladly head home afterwards for a much needed break. While the pressures are not as much as in Garissa (I’m not the one responsible for the program) and the working hours aren’t quite as long, I’m definitely ready for a good long rest. “A change is as good as a rest” … well…the change has really helped me to re-energize but a true rest is still really needed.