5 more days!

First aid kit.




My backpack, haphazardly packed.



All this stuff has to go in there?



Well, I figured I should at least try out my blog once before I take off into the wild blue yonder of east Africa! The countdown is on...5 more days! And what a busy 5 days they will be. Yesterday was my last day of work with crazy lady, and today I'm doing all my last minute packing/shopping. Tomorrow I'm off to Saskatoon for my friend's wedding, and we're going to see Tim McGraw and Faith Hill tomorrow night. I'm back in A-town for final packing on Sunday, then I fly out Monday evening to London! My good friend Gill is going to meet me there and we'll have a fun, albeit expensive and quick, 3 1/2 days in London. Then June 30th I'm off to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, via an overnight flight to Nairobi, Kenya! What a crazy start to my trip into the unknown, overnighting in the city nicknamed "Ni-rob-ya". I realize my e-mail was quite vague, so here's a bit of background info in case anyone is interested.

Volunteer Africa is an international non-profit charity based in the UK that recruits volunteers from around the world and then partners them up with local NGO's. In Tanzania I will be working with HAPA (Health Actions Promotions Association, and also a swahili word meaning "here" or "this place") on a community initiated project in a small village. HAPA helps communities to identify and prioritise the issues that face them and that they would like assistance with. HAPA then works with the communities helping to address the issues that have been identified. The primary aim of HAPA is to facilitate community groups and individuals to become aware that their well-being is a core responsibility of themselves. In return for hosting us (the volunteers), the host organization receives donations from the volunteers. So basically, I pay a fee that goes towards the building supplies, as well as helping to create on-going support of the project. My project will be construction of school classrooms as well as teacher housing. The first week of my time in Tanzania is devoted to learning Swahili, then for three weeks I will be camping with 11 other people from around the world in very basic conditions. No electricity or running water, and we get to buy all our own food from a market once a week and take turns cooking for the group. Needless to say I have a variety of anti-diarrhea pills!

I'm actually really excited to live in a small village (Mghumbu - try pronouncing that) and work alongside locals. I will really be able to see what living conditions are like in Tanzania, which is one of the poorest countries in Africa and in the world. More than one third of the population lives below the national poverty line, so it will be sobering to know that my hiking boots and sleeping bag cost more than one person there will make in a whole year. Well, I hope that gives everyone a better understanding of what it is I'm doing half way across the world, and why. And now I need to get organized and try to pack!