In February 2012 a group of fellows from my Princeton in Africa class gathered in Nairobi for a retreat. Over two years later I was on my way to attend a second one, this time in Jinja, Uganda. The experience our year was informally organized, but was both productive and fun. We were able to explore the big city and enjoy some leisure time while also mixing in activities to help us process our fellowship experiences up to that point. In fact, the retreat was one of the most memorable experiences of that year, and certainly the most important in connecting my fellowship class. The bonds built during that week had a positive impact on the rest of my experience, and many still persevere to today.
I was excited when the PiAf staff reached out to me last year about helping facilitate the 2014 retreat. First, it was a trip to a country I’d never visited. Second, it was a chance for me to help another group of fellows have as fun and profitable of an experience as we had. My trip had a couple inauspicious starts, with me coming as close as I ever have to missing a flight due to some slow-moving money changers at the airport. Delay notwithstanding, I made the flight and arrived in Entebbe, Uganda in the early morning hours. Entebbe is home to the airport which services the capital Kampala, but it’s over an hour away even with no traffic. Worst I’d seen up to then was Namibia and even that’s less than 45 minutes from the capital. Eventually I got to my hostel where I managed a few hours of sleep before an early morning wake up call to head to Jinja, the town on the Nile where the retreat was taking place.
My travel companions were Stephanie and Agatha, two employees of PiAf and the actual organizers of the retreat. For the first day and a half in Jinja we did last minute shopping, preparation of material, and confirming with all the local businesses we’d be dealing with. While in town I took the opportunity to visit the FINCA branch, where the branch manager knew many of my current colleagues. It was cool to see that a bond exists across subsidiaries. We also took scope of the place where we’d be staying and hosting the activities, Nile River Explorers, a beautiful camp overlooking the Nile from a cliff. The first 24 hours there was a little rocky, with my work phone being stolen the morning we arrived and me having to spend a few hours at the local police station getting a report. However, thanks most likely to serious doggedness on the part of NRE’s manager, I found the phone turned in at reception the next morning. After that second speedbump it was pretty smooth sailing.
(Visiting FINCA Jinja Branch)
(View of the Nile from NRE's patio)
The Fellows started to arrive at NRE that Friday and we opened the retreat over dinner along with Frank, a PiAf founding member and an integral part of every class’s experience. The schedule was far more organized and busy than my year; timing had been calculated very precisely and everything ran pretty much like clockwork (no small feat in a “beach” town). The caliber of the activities and events was very high. Many were ones carried over from my year, other were new. I ran a couple, one on career paths and another one using skits to express challenges in their jobs or experiences, which they did incredibly well. All the sessions were well designed to promote sharing, growth and free expression among the fellows. I was very impressed with their mindset coming into the retreat. They all seemed ready to open up and be honest with each other, and it was great to see how quickly the bonds started forming.
We did manage to squeeze some fun into all that serious personal growth. On Sunday we took a boat trip up the Nile to a tiny island on Lake Victoria, where we enjoyed some swimming and Frisbee and tried not to be freaked out by the alarming number of birds nesting there. There were also excellent group dinners at an Indian restaurant and a pizza place. It’s worth noting that my favorite African beer, Castle Milk Stout, which is so rare in Lusaka it’s only found at one store, was stocked in every bar and restaurant we went to in Jinja. I’m not embarrassed to say it was a pretty big highlight of the trip for me.
("Source" of the Nile, beginning of Lake Victoria)
(Frisbee on Bird Island)
On top of everything else, I was also lucky enough to get to visit with my good friend Rahul at his place in Kampala before leaving. He timed his birthday dinner for that night so I was able to meet his friends and girlfriend, which was excellent. Hard to believe it'd been about 2 years since we'd last seen each other. Things felt just the same, it was only that every aspect of our surroundings had changed. Despite initial fears, spending the night there didn't result in me missing my early morning flight home, and the trip back was uneventful, if roundabout.
In my mind the retreat went really well. The organizers did a fantastic job, and the fellows really held up their end of it by being enthusiastic and invested in every activity that weekend. Personally, I left feeling doubly refreshed by the trip. First, just from being near the water in such a beautiful environment, and second, by being surrounded by people whose stories, challenges and passions reminded me of my own feelings and reasons for being where I am.
