I can't believe that tomorrow I am leaving, I don't even know that it has really sunk in yet. This was probably the longest week of my life, it was nice to finally just be able to say "I'm leaving on Saturday!" instead of in however many months or weeks, but Saturday has taken forever to get here. Today I spent the whole day packing with Mom which has gone smoothly except for the few minutes when Mom read somewhere that I DO need a Visa to go to South Africa, which I don't have because really I don't need one, but until we confirmed that it was a tense couple of minutes (i.e. I was ready to kill myself at the thought of having to postpone this trip). Anyways, I am pretty much all packed and I personally think that for being gone 6 weeks I am definitely not bringing too much though Mom begs to differ on several items. But really everything I'm bringing is incredibly necessary.
It is sad that I've only been home for one week and haven't really been able to see/spend the time I'd like with some people, but at the same time I really can't imagine being home for another 8 week winter break. It is also sad of course to be missing Christmas with the fam, but as Rholene (the AVIVA staff member I've been in contact with since last year) says, the babies need to be fed/bathed/played with on Christmas and New Years too, and somebody's gotta do it. Christmas in Africa will probably be so weird, but there is always next year & the years to come at home. New Years, on the other hand, I am EXTREMELY excited to spend in Cape Town (legal drinking age = 18). Woohoo!
So my flight leaves tomorrow at 5:40 PM from Dulles-- I fly overnight to Johannesburg, South Africa (~15 hours?), have a two hour layover and then get into Cape Town around 7PM after two more hours of flying (I think). I am kind of dreading the long flight; I suck at sleeping on planes and this will not be helped by my definite nervousness/excitement. I really would just like to be there already. Tomorrow morning Dad's making waffles, then I have to run a bunch of errands, finish packing, go say goodbye to Grandma, and get Bagel Bakery with the girls (Molly, Cody, & Marie). It's going to be a busy day.
A few interesting things to know about AVIVA/Cape Town/Africa:
-Cape Town was recently named 5th in a survey to find the top 50 "must see" places in the world.
-Beyonce Knowles, Bono, Elton John, and Manchester United have all visited & provided publicity for Baps (the orphanage I'll be working at).
-Included in my trip is a full day Cape Winelands tour, a full day Peninsula tour, and a half day cultural tour of Cape Town.
-AVIVA was recently contacted by the Discovery Channel, which is interested in doing a special that would follow several volunteers before, during, and after their time volunteering with AVIVA.
-South African currency is the Rand, R10 to $1. According to AVIVA, a good breakfast costs about R35, dinner with a bottle of wine around R80, and R12 for a beer.
-South Africa is 7 hours ahead of Olney, MD.
-It is currently summer in South Africa. Right now it 75 degrees and sunny with 0% chance of rain =).
-When not at the orphanage I will be residing at:
AVIVA House
8 Sussex Road
Observatory
7925
South Africa
-The "Big Five" apparently refers to the 5 animals that are the hardest/most dangerous to hunt & includes the elephant, leopard, lion, buffalo, and rhino. Hopefully I will see them all in Kruger National Park.
-South Africa has the highest number of people living with HIV in the world, more than five million. HIV-related deaths among young people fifteen years of age and older increased by 62% from 1997 to 2002. AIDS-related deaths account for some 30% of all deaths nationwide. The adult prevalence of HIV in South Africa soured from less than 1% in 1990 to almost 25% by 2000 with an average of 600 new infections per day. 100 children become HIV-positive every day, and in 2005 160,000 children experienced the death of a parent to HIV/AIDS. (New News Out of Africa).
I guess that is all for now-- the next time I write it will be from AFRICA!!
**HUGE thank you to all of my family that contributed to my Safari fund. It is such a big help to me and I really, really appreciate it!! Love you all.**
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Hello & Welcome
In less than two weeks I will be leaving for Cape Town, South Africa! I couldn't be more excited and I have very high expectations for this trip, though I am sure some nervousness will set in the days before I leave. Before then, I think that there are several things to be explained- after all, this whole thing really began almost a year ago to the day that I leave, December 20th.
I've always looked forward to studying abroad, but learned upon coming to UD that as a nursing major, if I went abroad for a whole semester I'd be set back an entire year academically. Though this was disappointing at first, (I don't understand why more people don't go for a whole semester!! I think it would be entirely worth it) UD has the alternative of going abroad during our 7 week winter break, which is actually what most people do. So I began considering some of the offered trips- one throughout Europe, one to Fiji and Australia with nursing majors, etc etc. I realized, though, that these programs weren't going to work for me: for what a UD trip costs, I could probably travel abroad on my own for 6 months and pay the same. Plus I'd be paying for credits and taking classes that I have no need for.
Another reason for not going abroad with UD is that I don't want to be so confined to a set schedule and I want to be able to plan trips and activities on my own and based on what I want to do. This desire is also the reason why I am going completely by myself and didn't try to recruit my friends. I may be crazy, I don't know yet, and I'll be finding out very soon. But who knows when I'll get to do something like this again, and I realized that I might as well take the plunge and try to get everything out of it that I possibly can.
With all of this in mind, the idea of volunteering abroad came to me, and I knew right away that I wanted to go to Africa. I can hardly explain why really (which probably sounds weird seeing as Africa may not be most people's number one destination abroad), but for several years I have had ideas of going to Africa in a Doctors [nurse] Without Borders kind of situation one day, and the opportunity to be able to spend my winter break doing something incredibly productive in a place that has SUCH need is perfect. So I Googled "volunteer opportunities in Africa", clicked on the first link I saw, and found AVIVA. It was really that easy, and AVIVA is EXACTLY what I was looking for. I was thrilled.
AVIVA is a company based in Cape Town (CT) that offers volunteer opportunities to people 18+ from around the world, offering over a dozen programs focused either with children & community or wildlife & conservation. The program that immediately stood out to me is located at Baphumelele (Baps), an orphanage in Kayelitsha township right outside of Cape Town. I will be working with children ages 0-5 who have been neglected, abused, and/or abandoned, a few of whom have TB or HIV. The way it works is that I will live in the AVIVA house in CT with other volunteers for three days at a time (during which I can do whatever I want with my time) and then I go to the orphanage and work/stay there for three days, then back to the AVIVA house for three days and so on. So for the 6 weeks my time will essentially be split evenly between Baps and my own free time in Cape Town.
I decided to apply right away, which I think may have freaked Mom and Dad out a little bit, but they learned very quickly how completely serious I was about it and came around in no time =). Of course, I did research other programs/opportunities, but I knew AVIVA was going to be the one- and after three weeks of waiting over Christmas and New Years to hear back, my application was accepted and it was set!
So I have had a whole year to plan, talk to past volunteers through Facebook, research CT/safaries/excursions, sadly watch airfare go up and up and up . . ., and read multiple travel guides as well as New News Out of Africa (courtesy of Aunt Linda!) And now, all there is to do is wait (and study for finals in the mean time).
So for now, thanks for taking an interest in my travels & for reading along, and be sure to comment!! Comments from home when I'm thousands of miles away will be hugely appreciated! And lastly, below are a few pictures from the AVIVA website that may help to further explain my desire to do this . . .
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I've always looked forward to studying abroad, but learned upon coming to UD that as a nursing major, if I went abroad for a whole semester I'd be set back an entire year academically. Though this was disappointing at first, (I don't understand why more people don't go for a whole semester!! I think it would be entirely worth it) UD has the alternative of going abroad during our 7 week winter break, which is actually what most people do. So I began considering some of the offered trips- one throughout Europe, one to Fiji and Australia with nursing majors, etc etc. I realized, though, that these programs weren't going to work for me: for what a UD trip costs, I could probably travel abroad on my own for 6 months and pay the same. Plus I'd be paying for credits and taking classes that I have no need for.
Another reason for not going abroad with UD is that I don't want to be so confined to a set schedule and I want to be able to plan trips and activities on my own and based on what I want to do. This desire is also the reason why I am going completely by myself and didn't try to recruit my friends. I may be crazy, I don't know yet, and I'll be finding out very soon. But who knows when I'll get to do something like this again, and I realized that I might as well take the plunge and try to get everything out of it that I possibly can.
With all of this in mind, the idea of volunteering abroad came to me, and I knew right away that I wanted to go to Africa. I can hardly explain why really (which probably sounds weird seeing as Africa may not be most people's number one destination abroad), but for several years I have had ideas of going to Africa in a Doctors [nurse] Without Borders kind of situation one day, and the opportunity to be able to spend my winter break doing something incredibly productive in a place that has SUCH need is perfect. So I Googled "volunteer opportunities in Africa", clicked on the first link I saw, and found AVIVA. It was really that easy, and AVIVA is EXACTLY what I was looking for. I was thrilled.
AVIVA is a company based in Cape Town (CT) that offers volunteer opportunities to people 18+ from around the world, offering over a dozen programs focused either with children & community or wildlife & conservation. The program that immediately stood out to me is located at Baphumelele (Baps), an orphanage in Kayelitsha township right outside of Cape Town. I will be working with children ages 0-5 who have been neglected, abused, and/or abandoned, a few of whom have TB or HIV. The way it works is that I will live in the AVIVA house in CT with other volunteers for three days at a time (during which I can do whatever I want with my time) and then I go to the orphanage and work/stay there for three days, then back to the AVIVA house for three days and so on. So for the 6 weeks my time will essentially be split evenly between Baps and my own free time in Cape Town.
I decided to apply right away, which I think may have freaked Mom and Dad out a little bit, but they learned very quickly how completely serious I was about it and came around in no time =). Of course, I did research other programs/opportunities, but I knew AVIVA was going to be the one- and after three weeks of waiting over Christmas and New Years to hear back, my application was accepted and it was set!
So I have had a whole year to plan, talk to past volunteers through Facebook, research CT/safaries/excursions, sadly watch airfare go up and up and up . . ., and read multiple travel guides as well as New News Out of Africa (courtesy of Aunt Linda!) And now, all there is to do is wait (and study for finals in the mean time).
So for now, thanks for taking an interest in my travels & for reading along, and be sure to comment!! Comments from home when I'm thousands of miles away will be hugely appreciated! And lastly, below are a few pictures from the AVIVA website that may help to further explain my desire to do this . . .
<
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