Finances for an Mbale Internship   

Schedule during an Mbale Internship

Immigration procedure upon arrival in Uganda   

What should I bring?

Medical Requirements/Emergencies

Finances for an Mbale Internship

As you prepare for coming to Mbale, Uganda, there will be questions concerning the cost of this adventure. Here are some guidelines that will help you figure the amount of money you need to bring.

 

IMPORTANT!!!

When you bring American cash, be sure not to bring any bills older than 2003 with you.  The foreign exchange bureaus do not like older American currency and will either not accept it or give you a very poor exchange rate.  When you get your cash, ask the bank for 2003 or newer bills.  Be sure and look at the dates!

Budget Information

Optional Expenses

Expenses While Traveling to Uganda

Watch out for unexpected expenses during your trip. Be sure you know your layover times and double check to see if they include an overnight stay. It is very likely this will be so in London. If you go through London, there is the possibility that you may need to change airports. It is your responsibility to claim your luggage, transfer it and yourself to the other airport. The airlines no longer provide this service. Bus transfers are 9 pounds each. Be sure to cover your hotel, meals, and transport while coming and going.

Getting Money While in Uganda

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Schedule During an Mbale Internship

The following will give a brief overview of some of the activities you will be involved in. This should help you shape expectations and give more accurate reports to churches and individuals that will be supporting you.

Arrival In Uganda

Initially, we will pick you up at the airport and give you a couple of days to recuperate from the jet lag and time zone changes. There is an eight-hour difference from Central Time (America) to Uganda. During this time of rest, we will also move you from Entebbe (your port of entry) to Mbale. This is about a four-hour drive through Kampala, Jinja, and Iganga, to Mbale. We will travel mostly east and cross the Nile River only a half-mile from the source of the Nile (where it comes out of Lake Victoria - the second largest fresh water lake in the world).
 

Upon Reaching Mbale

In Mbale, we will let you unpack at your hosts' house. A brief tour of the house, compound, and other team houses will help you get a feel for the neighborhood and surroundings. During these first few days, we will give you:

Weekly Schedule (subject to change):

Language Learning

We will provide a language tutor three days a week to help you with greetings and a brief understanding of some of the major languages. We may ask you to focus on one language during your internship, or ask you to learn short phrases in several languages. The purpose of this exercise is to help you understand the fundamentals of language learning that will aid you in some future mission work.

Village Visits

On village visits, you will most often accompany one of the missionaries. Sometimes you will go with a trusted national church leader. The village visits will cover several language groups and give you an opportunity to see churches in various stages of development- from new starts to elderships. You will learn our plan for church development and may even participate in teaching church seminars. Other village visits may focus on women's meetings, or leadership development. A few may include counseling or conflict resolution situations where you can observe a missionary struggling with the effects of sin within a community of believers. Don’t be too intimidated by the frequency of village visits, we will schedule in extra days of rest to keep you from burning out.

Town Ministries

In town, you will help the town church in various ministry roles that may include visitation, youth ministries, office assistance, women’s ministries, or choir. It is here that you may develop your strongest friendship bonds. Also, with a door-knocking program in place, you may do more personal evangelism in town than anywhere else. We have members at MCC who were brought to Christ by our past interns. You may be able to witness the same thing.

Cultural Project

In addition to the village and town visitation program, we will ask you to work on a cultural project. We will give you a topic for research. During your village visits, we want you to ask questions and gather data pertinent to your study. At the end of your stay, we will invite other mission groups and interested parties to hear you give a presentation that may include a paper, visual aids, charts, or artifacts that you have gathered. We may video tape your presentation. Also, the project will cover an area that will benefit the missionaries in their on-going work, so it is not just make-work. You will have a chance to broaden current missionary thought on a cultural subject.

Bonding

There will be a bonding time of three days and two nights in the village. You will go by yourself to a pre-selected national family and stay with them. During this time, you will get a first-hand experience of village life and trials. It will be a time to gather a lot of cultural data, practice your language skills, sharpen your cultural knowledge, and prove your abilities to do village mission work. Many interns fear doing this but proclaim afterward that this is the best part of internships.

Survey Trip

We often plan a short survey trip to introduce you to an area needing missionaries. If this trip is possible, we will ask you to gather important information about prices of housing, fuel, utilities, workers, taxes, etc.  You will learn how to survey an area to develop a missionary budget (both personal and work).  You will survey existing church works and see if the area is ripe for future mission work in the area.  All of this will help you prepare for some mission work.

Kenya

Occasionally, you may have the opportunity to cross the border and visit the church work in Kenya. Shawn and Linda Tyler worked in Kitale, Kenya from 1981-1994, and still visit on a regular basis. Such visits will provide you with the opportunity to see a functioning children's home and primary school under mission supervision. You will also have the opportunity to see a mission work post-missionary presence. There are some helpful insights that will make you a better missionary while you are on the field, such as learning what churches struggle with after missionaries leave.

Fun Extras

We may also plan trips to see some of East Africa’s wildlife, hike to the waterfalls on Mt. Elgon, go rafting on the Nile, or just see the sights of Kampala, Uganda’s capitol city. Don’t forget to bring your camera!

Though this schedule sounds busy, there will be plenty of time for you to read, write, and visit with mission families and other friends that you will make. Learn what it is like to live away from the fast-paced American life style. Learn how to be a conversationalist and ask questions that go beyond greetings. Visit with each missionary and find out why and how they came to the field.

Remember we will mold the internship, within reason, to fit your interests and talents. We will not put you into dangerous situations or push you to do things you are uncomfortable with. We will however make an effort to stretch you beyond your regular practices on some issues. This internship will most likely be a milestone in your spiritual walk. Come prepared to do a lot of self-examination and be pliable enough for God to shape and guide you as he sees fit.

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Immigration Procedure Upon Arrival In Uganda

The following will give you a brief overview of the most up to date immigration requirements for entering Uganda.

First, let me say that we will suggest you follow the instructions of the intern coordinator at your school (if you have one). They may have some school guidelines about the immigration process that need to be followed. If so, that will be your first step. If they are flexible on this, then I offer the following suggestions.

Visas

While it is possible for you to send your passport to the Ugandan Embassy (in America) and receive a tourist visa, it may actually be easier for you to wait until you arrive in Entebbe and purchase one at the airport. Currently it costs $30 to purchase a tourist visa, and you can get it within minutes. You do not need extra passport- size photos (though everyone should bring three or four extras with you), but you may need to fill out a short form.

Entebbe International Airport

As you land at Entebbe International Airport, you will disembark from the plane onto the tarmac and walk to the building. Once you enter the building there will be several lines for visitors. The ones farthest to the right are for visitors from the East African community (Kenya, Tanzania, etc.). Most travelers from Europe or America will need to get into the lines on the left. However, if you need a tourist visa, you will be guided to an office in the back left corner of the room you entered. You will need to purchase your visa there. It is best to have American cash in hand (correct change of $30- in bills no older than 2003) so that you will not have to search for a foreign exchange counter. After you purchase your visa, you will be free to pick up your luggage which will come in on a conveyor belt to the right of the immigration desks. Carts are available for you to carry your luggage from the claim area, through customs, and out to the waiting area where we will be waiting for you. The whole process from disembarking to seeing us may take about one hour.
 

Off to Mbale

After greetings and hugs, we will load up your luggage and head off for Kampala some 20 miles away. We may do some errands in town and eat lunch before heading out for Mbale some three hours away. It may be a physically demanding day, but we have observed that interns do better sleeping if they have already made it to Mbale instead of staying somewhere along the way and adding another day to the trip.

Lost Luggage or other Problems

In the event that luggage is lost, you talk to an airline representative (get name and contact phone number for follow up) in an office behind the customs area near the baggage area.  If you have any unforeseen problems, officials may let you come through and get one of us to assist you.  For example, my son recently came from Kenya but only had $20 for a visa instead of $30.  They let him come out and get more money from me to pay for his visa.

Contact Information

In the event that you come out and we are not there (perhaps your plane came in at a different time or even day than we knew of), you may call us on one of the following cell phones:

Shawn Tyler: 0772-441504

Linda Tyler: 0772-537533

Ian Shelburne: 0772-450484

Danetta Shelburne:0772-915988

Phillip Shero: 0772-915990

Laura Shero: 0782-450484

If you need to call any of us from London or the States, you would use an international code (from the U.S. it is 011) then the Ugandan country code (256) then our number minus the first 0. For example, you would dial 011-256-772-441504 to talk to Shawn.

In the event that you can not get any of us on the phone, exchange $50 worth of money and have a taxi take you to the Summer Institute of Linguistics guest house (SIL guest house only four miles from the airport - past the Windsor Lake Victoria Hotel.) You can talk to Laura, a Ugandan, who is in charge of housing. Her cell phone is 0772-433450.  She can help you with showers and a place to stay until we can get there. If you wish, you can go back up to the Lake Victoria and go swimming ($3 per person) or eat a meal ($10 per person). The taxi ride from the airport to SIL should be less than 10,000 Ushs (Ugandan shillings) per vehicle ($6), and you may need two if you all come together.  If the SIL guest house can not take you, then return to the Windsor Lake Victoria Hotel.

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What Should I Bring?

This section was designed to help you think through what you might want to pack for a visit to Uganda. 

Days in Uganda are fairly warm, with the possibility of cool mornings and evenings. Cotton clothing is recommended for breathability.

When choosing clothes to bring, consider these things:

Ladies

In order to be culturally appropriate, plan to wear dresses/skirts in the village. The exception to this is in the homes of the missionaries, or when dining out. In this culture, hips and thighs are considered the sensual part of the body, and are therefore covered (and not even hinted at by wearing “trousers”- though this is rapidly changing). Don’t forget to pack your slips - but if you do, there are plenty to buy at the market (sorry, but this is very important). If you really hate slips, denim is a good choice for dresses and skirts.

Take into consideration things such as movement -- will you be out in the village frequently, sitting on the ground, which might cause you to desire a dress or skirt that can be tucked under your legs easily or that won’t be uncomfortable. Also consider if you will want to walk or jog in the morning – the Ugandans in town don’t seem to be offended if you wear pants for exercising, but you may prefer a skirt that allows enough movement.

Men

Going out to the village and in town, pants or jeans are recommended. Do consider that jeans may be hotter than khakis. But consider that the Ugandan red dirt doesn't come out of khakis as well.

Visitors’ Packing List

These are just recommendations. They may have to be altered depending on the length of your stay and what you’ll be doing.

Women’s clothing: Women’s clothing must be modest.

Men’s clothing:

Men and Women:

Shoes:

Toiletries:

Miscellaneous:

Packing tips:

Luggage:

Carry-on:

Most Important:
Don't forget that your hosts have been away from America for some time.  If you have plenty of room in your luggage, then write and ask for suggestions of gifts to bring.  We really appreciate Oreo cookies, Gardettos, Gummy bears, Hershey's kisses, Hershey Bars, and other kinds of snacks.  Remember we have children aged 1- 14.  They would enjoy pens, pencils, pads, stickers, etc.  Be creative!  Also...we will probably ask the interns to bring over supplies that we need for different ministries, such as school books for the school that our children attend, and glasses for SEE Ministries.  Please be aware of this, and organize your packing in a manner that allows for these items.  We will contact you individually about these things.

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Medical Requirements/Emergencies

Traveling to Uganda can be a scary thing for those who have not done so before - especially in the area of medical needs.  The following should give you some direction as you prepare for your internship.

MEDICAL CONSIDERATIONS OF TRAVEL TO UGANDA
compiled by Ellen Little M. D. of the Kampala mission team
with notes in italics by Linda Tyler

Vaccinations

We follow the guidelines of the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) for all short-term workers who join us in Uganda. We recognize that it can be very expensive, not to mention painful, to get the number of vaccines necessary to insure safety. But we feel strongly that this is an important part of trip preparation, and any exceptions must be cleared through the team. For the latest updates, check the CDC website at www.cdc.gov. We have found that local health departments are usually cheaper than travel clinics or doctors' offices for vaccinations.

Yellow fever - this is the only vaccine required by the government of Uganda. That is because there is currently no yellow fever at all in Uganda, and the government is trying to prevent the entry of any. So you will have to get this vaccine, not because you personally need it, but because the government of Uganda has adopted this policy to prevent the possibility of a yellow fever outbreak, which would propagate as an epidemic, and doubtless cause many deaths.

Hepatitis B - many university students will already be vaccinated with the three-shot series. If you are in doubt, a titer can be drawn at a local health department. In Sub-Saharan Africa roughly 10% of the population has hepatitis B.

Measles - once again, those who have kept their shots up to date are rewarded in skipping this needle. Measles booster is needed if not received in the last ten years. Children frequently die of measles in Uganda, although it is rare in the United States. You could easily be exposed during your trip.

Polio - paralytic polio is becoming increasingly uncommon, and there is hope that it will soon be eradicated. However, it has not been eradicated yet, and since it is a virus, it is still untreatable, except by supportive measures. If you have had a booster in the last ten years, you're probably fine.

Tetanus - people still die of tetanus in Uganda, also. If you've had a booster in the last five years, you should still be protected. Otherwise, get the shot. Some health departments offer tetanus toxoid alone (TT), and others give diphtheria-tetanus combination (dT). Either is acceptable.

Hepatitis A - this is the vaccine-preventable disease that travelers worldwide are most likely to get, because they didn't get the shot. It is a two-shot series, and you need to at least have started it before arriving in Uganda. If you get hepatitis A, it will take weeks or months to recover, even though it is seldom fatal. A lost semester of college or two months off the job is generally much more expensive than the vaccine. Note: in the past, patients exposed to hepatitis A were given gamma globulin to prevent active infection. Now that the vaccine is available, this is no longer recommended.

Typhoid - the oral form is recommended, as the immunity is more long-lasting and more effective, but the injected form will also be acceptable. You can also plan on being sick for at least a month or more if you get typhoid. Typhoid is very common in Uganda. I treat patients for typhoid at least every other week. It does not have a high mortality rate, but it can still be fatal on occasion.

Meningococcus - universities in the U. S. are increasingly requiring this vaccine for entrance, but it is not yet required by all of them. There are sporadic epidemics of meningococcal disease in Uganda. Meningococcal meningitis can be rapidly fatal (within hours), or leave survivors with permanent brain damage.

Short term visitors will usually not require vaccination for cholera, rabies, plague, influenza, varicella, tuberculosis, anthrax, or Lyme disease.

Malaria prophylaxis

Malaria is very common nationwide and very common in the villages and other places we may be traveling. Bring insect repellent.

If you have good insurance with a co-pay, I would recommend Malarone, the newest preventive medicine for malaria. It doesn't seem to have many side-effects, and is considered highly effective. It needs to be taken daily, starting a week before you come to Uganda and continuing for four weeks after you get back to the U. S. It is not currently available in Uganda.

If you are cash-poor, Doxycycline is a good alternative. It is readily available in Uganda and may cost just a few dollars for a two-month supply. It may make oral contraceptives less effective, and is not for children under age eight years or women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. Some people sunburn more easily while on it, so bring sunscreen AND insect repellent. The dose is 100 mg (one pill) daily, starting a week before you leave the U. S. and continuing for four weeks after getting back.

Some people like to use a combination of drugs, such and Chloroquine and Proguanil (Paludrine) as malaria prophylaxis. Chloroquine alone has a 40% resistance rate here, and is not appropriate for single drug therapy, but its effectiveness is increased by adding proguanil to the regimen. It is probably not quite as good as doxycycline or malarone, but is a reasonable alternative. The Chloroquine is taken weekly, 300 mg base (usually two tablets, depending on strength of base), and proguanil is taken 200 mg once daily (usually two tablets). Both are started one week before departing, and continued four weeks after returning to the U. S. Proguanil may be difficult or impossible to obtain in the U. S., but is available in Uganda.

Mefloquine (Lariam) has been widely used, but is falling out of favor for malaria prophylaxis, and is completely out of favor with the Kampala missionaries. It is expensive, considerably more than doxycycline or chloroquine/proguanil, and has resistance rates variably recorded, but up to 15% in Uganda. Its side effects were originally thought to be uncommon, but are now considered more common than previously recorded. Most side effects are neurological in nature, and include tremors, paranoia, irrational behavior, depression or emotional instability, and occasionally psychotic behavior. Insomnia is very common, as is the feeling of being on an "emotional roller coaster". Trust us, culture shock will be difficult enough without drug effects to make it worse.  Please don't choose this.  It is available in Mbale but we don't recommend it at all.

Before you leave Uganda to return to the States, we will also suggest you purchase a curative dose of malaria medicine (about $15). This is much cheaper than taking tests and purchasing medicine in the States (about $200) if you should come down with malaria after leaving Uganda (the incubation period for malaria can be up to 21 days)

Other considerations

Diseases from contaminated food and water are very common in Uganda. We recommend drinking only water that has been boiled and filtered, or is bottled. Food bought in restaurants is usually prepared well, but food bought at roadside may not be. Unpasteurized milk can cause brucellosis, which is common. We strongly encourage you to discuss with the team any medicines you are taking, or any medical condition you may have, as well as any symptoms of illness you have while in Uganda. After returning to the United States you should see a doctor for any fever over 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, or 38 degrees Celsius, and inform the doctor that you have traveled to Africa. Many people will also choose to be tested for tuberculosis three months after arriving back in the United States.

Prescription Drugs

Most other prescription drugs are available though they may not be in the brand you are familiar with. Things are generally cheaper here. If you are on a certain drug, you may wish to inform us of it and let us check to see if it is available.

Medical Emergencies

Concerning medical emergencies, we have a very good set up here in Mbale. We currently have a very good hospital called Cure Children’s Hospital. It is staffed with American and Ugandan doctors and nurses. We have good laboratories and are able to help you with just about any kind of sickness that you might encounter while here. And our doctors will make house calls! 

Other options for serious illnesses are in Kampala (3 hours from Mbale). In Kampala there are: 5 hospitals, general practitioners, an orthopedic doctor, an obstetric/gynecologist, dentists and a doctor of ophthalmology.

This list of diseases and treatments is not designed to frighten you. They are given to provide you with the most thorough information possible to make your stay safe and enjoyable. Feel free to direct any medical questions to us on the team.

Let me know if you have any other questions concerning medical needs.

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For more information, please contact:

 Shawn and Linda Tyler, Mbale Mission Team intern-coordinators at

saltyler29@yahoo.com