Hey, there! Privileged for this chance to get to know you all and share a bit about my experience being welcomed into Uganda. My name is Angelina, and I live in Northern Uganda where I get to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer teaching English in a village school. My days are most often full of laughter, yummy food, time outside with my neighbors, and random adventures I come across in daily living, like carrying water from the borehole.
As you might have guessed, I haven’t always lived in Uganda.
I was born in Portland, Oregon and lived there for 7 years before my family and I moved to Mexico, where my father is from. We stayed there for another 7 years and then my mom, sister, and I moved back to Oregon to attend High School and hopefully have access to opportunities for education after that. And I did! I went to George Fox University and studied International Studies and Christian Theology. While there I also got to study abroad in Spain.
Because I grew up in two different countries, in a family that spoke two languages, and with parents and families from different backgrounds (my mom is a White American, and my dad is Mexican), I grew up with the awareness that the world was bigger than me and my family. I grew up knowing that no one culture, language, dance style, or music genre could possibly represent all people. This made me curious, it made me want to ask questions, and get to know people who didn’t look like me, speak like me, or think like me.
I think stories matter, and that learning about others and the way they view the world is so helpful as we try to engage those around us. My hope is that you and I would help each other with this as we embark on this journey.
Peace Corps Volunteers like me live and work side by side with community members around the world, collaborating on locally prioritized projects, building relationships, exchanging cultures and knowledge, and helping transform lives for generations. Learn more by clicking here.
