Got Some Great News!

After being told that I had not received a scholarship, I was informed via email in a little Internet cafe in Rwanda that I did in fact get a scholarship and will be able to attend a 2-year masters in Europe to study tropical forestry!! I'm a very very lucky girl!

I will be starting in Dresden Germany in October of this year and will be doing a field course in either Costa Rica or French Guyana to start off the summer. For the second year specialization in agroforestry I'll be going to North Wales to a little place called Bangor... one of the most isolated places in the whole of the UK. It still hasn't really sunk in that I'll be getting money to study something I love in Europe for two years, I feel so unbelievably fortunate! And for now I'll have to start learning some German (although school will be entirely in English, thank god!).

The picture above is the view from a lodge we stayed in for a night in Rwanda. From one spot we could clearly see 6 volcanoes and two large lakes! It was absolutely breathtaking. I'll post the other photos on my picture site now.

Environmental Awareness Competition Success!

On Friday the Environmental Awareness Competition between primary schools was held in Kayunga district. It was a huge success, and a great relief after the sports tournament I helped to plan previously. The children were great and everyone was really getting into it!

Five primary schools and one high school (all dressed in different brightly coloured uniforms) competed in 4 categories all focusing on the environment: Song, Creative Dance, Original Composition, and Drama. Although most of the performances were in Luganda it was apparent to me that the children were taking the environmental messages seriously. My friends from the Agency for Environment and Wetlands came along and gave an information session, and we ended the day by planting a grafted mango tree in the school yard and sending the kids off with seedlings to be planted on their school compounds.

Thanks again to everyone back home that contributed to the fund that make this event possible! I can't even express to you how far that money ended up going! I'll be writing an article for the UCA quarterly publication "The Cooperator" in hopes of encouraging other schools in Uganda to hold similar events.