Plane tickets, group tension and The Cord

We finally bought our tickets today. The current plan is to leave Toronto on May 1, stay in Kampala at Makerere University for three weeks, go to Arua for six weeks to work on the projects and then to Rwanda for one week. 

We have come across the opportunity to take a peacebuilding course at the university and it's a chance that I don't think we will pass up. It will build a great relationship between Laurier and Makerere, we'll learn a lil somethin' and we'll be able to create more revenue for the university there.

The idea of going to the university in Kampala has come at a cost though. We're waiting to hear back from Makerere and Peter Donahue at Laurier International to see if we can get full support from Laurier. They've already offered to pay for tuition but we're hoping to have our accommodations covered as well. 

Although, the money-side of things isn't the only cost that has come along with the decision to go to Makerere for a few weeks. There has been a lot of tension between our group in the past couple of weeks. I won't get into detail about it all but it hasn't been pretty. Basically, the group has become divided. There is a group of six that want to go to the university and two people want to go straight to Arua to work on projects. Neither side is incorrect in what they want to do but it's just a matter of figuring things out so that each of us is able to work with what we're most interested in.

Needless to say, we have all been arguing over the details of the trip, where money is being allocated and how people have been treating each other. I don't like it one bit but I think in the end it will bond us all together (if that's not too naive of me to say). But we'll wait to hear what happens between the universities and I'll keep you all posted.

On another note, last night was the volunteer appreciation dinner for WLUSP and after numerous crying spells this week (four of which occurred last night), I've come to the realization that my favourite job in the world is now over. Although my passion lies more with writing than editing and being an editor was the toughest job I've had, my position at The Cord this year has been the most rewarding experience of my life and I imagine it will be hard to beat in the future. 

Perhaps you would say, "Why is Heather talking about The Cord right now? It has nothing to do with Uganda." It actually has everything to do with Uganda. If I wasn't hired as International Editor last May, I wouldn't have had the freedom to choose the articles that went in the section, therefore, I wouldn't have discovered my passion for human interest pieces and I would never have met Tk - the dude that made this trip possible. 

In my eyes, I owe it to The Cord to remain dedicated for as long as possible. Even if I don't get the Investigative Journalism Grant, I'll still write. Except that could be tricky because I might not have anything to write about if I can't afford to go to Uganda in the first place. 

Enter: money from the IJ Grant.