One week until I leave Uganda. It’s incredible how fast the time has flown this semester. One of the parts of this program that has had the biggest impact on my time here has been my homestay family. Throughout this trip, they have gone above and beyond to make me feel comfortable and have really made this country feel like home for me. My family (baganda wange in Luganda) is comprised of my mom, my dad, my sister who is 16 and my four brothers who are 20, 18, 12, and 7. Having such a big family, and one with such a different culture than I’m used to, was intimidating at first, but they were so welcoming that my fear was quickly replaced with a sense of belonging.
My first few weeks my family was amazing while I lived in their home. We had dinner together every night, where we exchanged stories about our days, talked politics, and explained our respective home countries to each other. My younger brothers always provided entertainment. My mom was the center of my family, and was as much a mother figure to me as my mom at home is. She was always there to help when I needed her, gave me the best advice and friendly conversations, and even drove me to the hospital at 3:00 am every morning for a week while I was sick. I love every member of my family and there is no other family I would have rather spent my time in Uganda with.
During the second six-week period of our semester, we were all doing independent research projects and we moved out of our homestays so that we could be closer to where we had to work. Even though I wasn’t living with them anymore, my family always checked in on me, and always had room for me if I wanted to come over. I would make the trek to their house every Sunday for family lunch, to catch up with my mom and two brothers around my age, and to play with my younger brothers. Every Sunday over my large steaming plate of matoke and g-nut sauce, the sense of home I had during the first six weeks would return and it was always hard to leave.
As our program is ending, we have begun to make our final preparations to leave the country. Last night we had goodbye party with all our homestay families. We got to meet each other’s families, spend one last night talking to our own family, eating Ugandan food, and dancing. My family was funny and welcoming as always, and my brothers are all excellent dancers. I had so much fun dancing with them all night. Saying goodbye was extremely hard at the end of the night. They brought me family photos of us to remember them by, and my little brothers came back from the car twice to get one last hug from me. I am so thankful for my family and everything they have done for me. I will always have a home in Uganda with them.