Uganda trip changes woman’s life

Published 5:00 am Sunday, March 24, 2013

Anyone who has watched Ashlee Larkin work at Jackson’s Corner knows that she didn’t need to visit Uganda to appreciate her job.

Even when the restaurant is slammed, Larkin finds ways to chat with regulars — “Did baby cut his first tooth?” — and advise tourists — “Try the cardamom latte at Backporch Coffee!”

When the 25-year-old Redmond native left for a 10-day visit to Uganda this month, she expected to come home just long enough to pack up and move to the East African nation indefinitely. Instead, she returned with renewed love for Central Oregon and commitment to her job.

Larkin has been fascinated by the continent of Africa for as long as she can remember. As a child, Larkin pored over the newsletters that arrived in the mail, detailing her uncle’s work with HIV patients in South Africa. As an undergrad at Oregon State University, her favorite class was Politics in Developing Nations.

Last April, one week from finishing her master’s in education, she heard Bob Goff speak at Antioch Church.

“I feel like he approaches life the same way I do, in that he reflects on every experience he has until it changes him,” she says.

Larkin bought Goff’s book, “Love Does,” which she and her roommate read aloud to each other. In the last chapter, he described a school that he founded in Uganda, a nation mired in poverty and civil unrest.

Until then, Larkin had felt unsure of what to do with her degree. She’d wanted to teach leadership but, seeing no full-time positions, specialized in social studies, instead. She had no real interest in teaching U.S. history.

“I wanted to teach classes about human trafficking and water crises and other things that aren’t taught in middle and high school,” she says.

Goff’s school, called Restore Leadership Academy, was the answer to her stalled career. She phoned Goff and offered to move to Uganda to work at his school. He suggested a visit first.

This month, Larkin found herself in the first row of a bus, zooming through Uganda’s lush countryside. She toured Goff’s school. She went on a photo safari. She helped build a bamboo-framed mud hut.

To Larkin, the trip was “amazing” and “life-changing.” It was also difficult. She was prepared to accept that the school might not hire her.

“But I wasn’t ready to accept that maybe I wouldn’t want to be there,” she says. “The school was incredible, it didn’t disappoint me at all. But it wasn’t what I was expecting.”

Daily life in a Third World country was tougher than she’d imagined. She had to coat herself with bug repellent around the clock. Though raised on hotdogs and boxed macaroni and cheese, she found she’d grown accustomed to the fresh, seasonal fare of Jackson’s Corner.

Her tour included an evening at a school called the African Hospitality Institute. As she helped prepare a meal, she and the native students “talked shop” about everything from setting menus to handling angry customers.

For the first time on the trip, Larkin felt a true connection to the Ugandans. She also felt homesick, and not just for Bend. Jackson’s Corner, she realized, is a lifeline to the community.

“It feels like my family,” she says.

In January, Larkin was promoted to assistant manager. On her way home from Uganda, she began thinking of this as a career.

She wants to better know local suppliers — from Rainshadow Organics in Terrebonne, to Crazy Dave’s Organic Sodaworks in Bend. She wants to strengthen connections with local groups like Central Oregon Locavore.

Of course Larkin’s goals could change. But for now, they fit within Jackson’s Corner.

“I’ve seen a lot of people in life not love their job,” she says. “If I love what I do and I’m growing and learning in it, why not embrace it?”

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