About

My name is Katy Tucker and I’m currently a Peace Corps Response Volunteer in Youth Development at the Fundacion Juan Felipe Gomez Escobar (aka JuanFe) in Cartagena, Colombia. The Foundation works with teenaged mothers, and I am developing and implementing a conflict resolution curriculum with them.

From May 2012 to July 2014 I served as a Health Volunteer at Budini Health Center, Kaliro District, Uganda. I worked on maternal and child health campaigns, implemented a program to train community activists to combat violence against women, and organized HIV programming in my little village.

This blog documents my experiences as a Peace Corps Volunteer in two very different countries and circumstances.

Why ‘Muzungu Bye’?

In Uganda, ‘Muzungu’ means ‘traveler’ or ‘foreigner’ and is used with reckless abandon for any foreign (especially white) person. In Uganda it is a constant chorus from the peanut gallery…as in ‘Muzungu howareyouhowareyouhowareyou’ or ‘Muzungu give me money’ or my personal favorite from the throngs of children who know enough English to try but not enough to realize their fundamental greeting mistake: ‘Muzungu byeeeee’

Why ‘fire swamp’?

In Lusoga, “Kaliro” (the district I was placed in) means ‘fire’ and I lived between two rice swamps, which immediately made me think of the infamous fire swamp in “The Princess Bride”. Read about it here. 

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email me at katy.m.tucker (at) gmail.com