Where do I begin.. this week has been really busy! We've been at UB (University of Botswana) for the most part getting introduced to the culture and history of the country. We've had presentations related to HIV/AIDS, human rights and gender and development, gender issues and concerns of the country, language lessons, cross-cultural connections, the history of Botswana and today visited the National Museum of Botswana. Some of the partner organizations have come in to talk to us about what their organizations do with people in the community. Yesterday, we were able to ride the combi (bus) for the first time. It's not like a bus in Canada, its more of a van where people just get in and out wherever they want, but it's confusing because there are no stops! Alex and I rode out to Tlokweng to our placement, the SOS Village and were able to go inside to visit for a short time. (Our placement hasn't been able to meet with Alex and I yet because the regional director has been away, so we are meeting for the first time when we begin work no Monday). The Village was amazing! As soon as we walked in a little girl, who couldn't have been over the age of three ran up to me and grabbed my hand - she was so beautiful!! Her eyes lit up and she was smiling from ear to ear! She led us to where she lived and we were able to meet her brother and her mother (at the village, there are houses with about 10 people in each, including children and a woman who is hired to care for them... the house becomes like a family - the kids are like siblings and the woman is considered their mother). I definitely did not want to leave and cannot wait to go back to see her and the others on Monday!
Tomorrow we are waking up really early and climbing Kgale Hill to watch the sunrise. We are going with some of the people from Botswana and they are doing a session on volunteerism. After the climb we will head to the Mokolodi Game Reserve to do a game drive. I am so looking forward to tomorrow and the weeks to come. I already feel as though time is going by fast and it will be hard to leave that beautiful little girl and all her brothers and sisters at SOS, as well as the wonderful people here in Botswana!
Miss you all, xo
30 April 2010
26 April 2010
We have arrived!
After a long flight we finally landed in Gaborone! Everything went well and we arrived to the WUSC house where we will be staying. The time difference in Botswana is 6 hours ahead of Ontario. The group has met up with some workers of WUSC and they are showing us around the city... just wanted to let everyone know I am safe - you can relax now mom :)
24 April 2010
Here I go...
I can't believe it's finally here :) And I also can't thank my friends and family enough for all that they have done for me in the process and preparation for this trip! Thank you everyone for the amazing send offs, you are all such wonderful people and I can only hope that I will be able to impact someone elses life the way all of you have touched mine! I wouldn't be the person I am today if it weren't for all of you so thank you!!
I guess I should explain a bit about Project Serve and how I first got involved. Project Serve is an organization at the University of Guelph that aims to involve volunteers in service learning and civic engagement. They are partnered with a large variety of organizations in Guelph, Canada and the States and internationally as well. The first time I participated in a Project Serve program was during my second year at Guelph. I went to Mississippi and New Orleans with a group of about 40 to do some Hurricane Katrina relief work. I worked with a smaller group of students doing oral history interviews for those who lived on the Gulf coast and experienced the hurricane. It was such an amazing experience and I learned more about myself in that week than I could have imagined.
The second experience I had with Project Serve was a day in Guelph where hundreds of students chose an organization in the community to volunteer at for the morning. I chose to volunteer at Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis and helped with housekeeping chores for the morning. All together thousands of hours of community service were provided that morning and students got the opportunity to lend a hand to their community - a great experience overall! This reading week I chose to volunteer in Guelph and focus on HIV/AIDS in order to familiarize myself and learn about the virus before venturing off to Botswana. A facilitator from the AIDS Committee of Guelph came in to teach us all about the virus so that we could prepare workshops for highschool students in Guelph. By the end of the week, the group had gone to two different highschools in Guelph to give workshops and condom demonstrations to highschool students. This was such a great way for me to not only educate others but also myself on the virus and how it is such an important issue not only in globally, but locally in our own communities as well.
So now I am doing a much larger trip and going to Gaborone, Botswana which is located in the southern part of Africa. We are affiliated with WUSC (World University Services of Canada) and are doing our placements through an organzation called Students Without Borders. The focus of our trip is HIV/AIDS and I will be volunteering with an organization called the SOS Children's Village (http://www.sos.org.bw), which cares for orphans whose parents have died from AIDS. I am not sure what tasks will be required of me or what to expect, all I know is that these kids will be beautiful and very, very hard to leave. I definitely expect the toughest part of this trip will be getting attached to these kids and knowing that I can leave and come back to my luxurious lifestyle, while they can't leave - this is their reality and it will most likely be all they know. I expect to experience the most culture shock when I return home (so bare with me please!). In terms of culture shock upon arrival, our first week will consist of an in country orientation. We will be shown around in order to help familiarize ourselves with Gaborone and get settled. We will be taking language lessons (the official language is English, but the locals speak Setswana) to help us better communicate with locals, which will be pretty helpful. For the rest of the trip (five weeks) we will be in our placements and also have the opportunity to help build a house. I have no idea what to expect and am very excited for what lies ahead!
I hope that some of this has helped settle those of you who are worried about this trip, but there is no need to worry or be nervous. This is going to be the experience of a lifetime and I am so grateful to be able to have the opportunity to do something that matters. I wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for all the help and assistance I got from so many of you, so again, thank-you and please check this from time to time while I am away. I am not sure how often I will be able to update as the internet connection is slow from what I understand, but when I do post, I will be sure to say as much as I can.
I can't wait to share my stories with you :)
I guess I should explain a bit about Project Serve and how I first got involved. Project Serve is an organization at the University of Guelph that aims to involve volunteers in service learning and civic engagement. They are partnered with a large variety of organizations in Guelph, Canada and the States and internationally as well. The first time I participated in a Project Serve program was during my second year at Guelph. I went to Mississippi and New Orleans with a group of about 40 to do some Hurricane Katrina relief work. I worked with a smaller group of students doing oral history interviews for those who lived on the Gulf coast and experienced the hurricane. It was such an amazing experience and I learned more about myself in that week than I could have imagined.
The second experience I had with Project Serve was a day in Guelph where hundreds of students chose an organization in the community to volunteer at for the morning. I chose to volunteer at Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis and helped with housekeeping chores for the morning. All together thousands of hours of community service were provided that morning and students got the opportunity to lend a hand to their community - a great experience overall! This reading week I chose to volunteer in Guelph and focus on HIV/AIDS in order to familiarize myself and learn about the virus before venturing off to Botswana. A facilitator from the AIDS Committee of Guelph came in to teach us all about the virus so that we could prepare workshops for highschool students in Guelph. By the end of the week, the group had gone to two different highschools in Guelph to give workshops and condom demonstrations to highschool students. This was such a great way for me to not only educate others but also myself on the virus and how it is such an important issue not only in globally, but locally in our own communities as well.
So now I am doing a much larger trip and going to Gaborone, Botswana which is located in the southern part of Africa. We are affiliated with WUSC (World University Services of Canada) and are doing our placements through an organzation called Students Without Borders. The focus of our trip is HIV/AIDS and I will be volunteering with an organization called the SOS Children's Village (http://www.sos.org.bw), which cares for orphans whose parents have died from AIDS. I am not sure what tasks will be required of me or what to expect, all I know is that these kids will be beautiful and very, very hard to leave. I definitely expect the toughest part of this trip will be getting attached to these kids and knowing that I can leave and come back to my luxurious lifestyle, while they can't leave - this is their reality and it will most likely be all they know. I expect to experience the most culture shock when I return home (so bare with me please!). In terms of culture shock upon arrival, our first week will consist of an in country orientation. We will be shown around in order to help familiarize ourselves with Gaborone and get settled. We will be taking language lessons (the official language is English, but the locals speak Setswana) to help us better communicate with locals, which will be pretty helpful. For the rest of the trip (five weeks) we will be in our placements and also have the opportunity to help build a house. I have no idea what to expect and am very excited for what lies ahead!
I hope that some of this has helped settle those of you who are worried about this trip, but there is no need to worry or be nervous. This is going to be the experience of a lifetime and I am so grateful to be able to have the opportunity to do something that matters. I wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for all the help and assistance I got from so many of you, so again, thank-you and please check this from time to time while I am away. I am not sure how often I will be able to update as the internet connection is slow from what I understand, but when I do post, I will be sure to say as much as I can.
I can't wait to share my stories with you :)
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