Predeparture: "There are more important things to talk about. Like dysentery."

Mwasuze mutya, banyabo and bassebo. In about 36 hours, I will be on a plane to Amsterdam. I will then hop on another plane that will take me to Kigali, Rwanda, and another that will take me to Entebbe, Uganda. Then I'm going to get in a car and drive until I reach Kakira, Uganda, in Jinja District. Then I will stop listing destinations and start busting a move.

I'm Lynne Fort, Northwestern junior, journalism student, Latin scholar extraordinaire, and victim of chronic foot-in-mouth syndrome. Uganda is my destination for the summer--I'll be working 40 hours a week at St. Eliza's, an HIV/AIDS clinic and community development organization in Kakira, Uganda. By the end of my time there, my fellow interns and I will be responsible for conceiving and implementing a capacity-building project to help the community develop. We will have help from the Foundation for Sustainable Development in this process. For anyone interested in the details, we will be using the Asset-Based Community Development approach (ABCD). What does that mean? In a nutshell, starting with what the community already has and using that to fill the gaps, rather than starting with the community's problems and trying to fix them for said community.

We have no idea what the hell we're doing.

Not that we're not exicited to go into Uganda and live with Ugandan families, try new foods, see beautiful landscapes, and improve our Lugosa. But when we hit the ground and try to map this community, we'll be learning as we go. We've learned how to make decisions, to draw up internal and external project plans, but no one can teach you to live and work in a completely different culture. So we'll be flying by the seat of our collective pants, and if you follow this blog, you can see us develop as we try to help the community develop. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll wonder why the hell anybody thought this was a good idea.

As Robert, Becky, Billy and I make our way into Kakira, I hope that you will hang in with us, comment on our exploits as they're posted, or at least get a good chuckle out of us. I will have limited Internet access, but I'm hoping to post a blog at least once a week (that would make 8 blogs).

If you'll excuse me, I need to go get my learn on. Siiba bulungi!