Africa - Here I Come!

Upon learning I would be laid off this spring, my San Diego girlfriends gave me a few words of sympathy and encouragement....and then immediately asked where I was going to travel to in my time off. The thought of not having a job was still new, and I hadn't thought much of future plans other than editing my resume. The seed, however, was planted, and I knew I had to take advantage of this "time off" to do something I would not normally be able to do during my 15 days of vacation each year.

My initial thought was to go back to Europe and backpack areas I hadn't seen on my last trips - Eastern Europe and Greece. I quickly realized that backpacking and sightseeing by myself sounded pretty boring. After serving food to the homeless one night at Father Joe's, I was reminded just how much I enjoy serving others, and decided that international volunteering would be an amazing experience.

As luck would have it, my co-worker's daughter did something similar in 2008 - volunteering in South Africa through a company called Cross-Cultural Solutions -and she loved it! I looked into the South Africa program, thinking it would be fun to do that, and stay an extra week or two for the World Cup. However, when I looked through the CCS programs again, Tanzania stuck out as something a little more intriguing. A completely different culture with backdrops of the Serengeti, Kilimanjaro, and Zanzibar island. I was sold!

SO...I bit the bullet and signed up. I will be volunteering from May 15 - June 5 in the Kilimanjaro region in Tanzania (in the city of Moshi). I am so looking forward to this experience to meet new people, experience new things, and help others that are less fortunate than myself. Ideally I would like to work on Women's Empowerment projects, educating Women about HIV/AIDS or working with them on sustainable income generating activities. I should find out in a couple weeks what my exact assignment will be, so in the meantime, I am reading all I can about the country...and learning Swahili! This is going to be a great summer! Stay tuned for updates!