My answer is a resounding, “Absolutely.”

After attending the Malaria Bootcamp in Tororo District run by Peace Corps Health Volunteers, my whole understanding of our role as Peace Corps Volunteers changed. I left the camp motivated to incorporate malaria related activities at my school and got to work in early April. 

As part of the Pre-Service Training, Peace Corps Trainees spend 5 (five) weeks with host families across the country.

The long dusty drives and difficult terrain could not deter us from reaching out to vulnerable teenage girls. With coordination from the Education Department of my organization situated in Northern Uganda, a two-day training on how to make reusable menstrual pads (RUMPS), the female reproductive system, and menstrual health and hygiene was made possible.

Situated in central Uganda, Rakai district has been at the epicenter of the HIV/AIDS epidemic due largely to its location as a hub on the transnational highway connecting Uganda to the neighboring countries. 

It happened by accident, driven out of sheer necessity rather than by drawing upon years of training or experience. 

The fishing communities in Eastern Uganda have for a long time experienced the impact of HIV and AIDS. The fight against the epidemic has long been hampered by the generally low level of awareness, high incidences of poverty, and unhelpful socio-cultural practices.

The Blue House orphanage, founded by a native Ugandan, Beatrice, who was living with her husband in St. Paul, Minn., is a home to 40 orphaned girls.

Uganda has the third highest number of plasmodium falciparum (the deadliest form of Malaria) infections in Africa. 

In Uganda, Peace Corps Volunteers live and serve in communities for two years and work on Agriculture, Education and Health projects, while Global Health Service Partnership (GHSP) Volunteers are doctors and nurses who serve for one year as Peace Corps Response Volunteers and work specifically to train future doctors and nurses in Uganda.