My Volunteer Placement!

I guess it's real! I received my assignment today and found out that I will be working in a local primary school in Moshi, Tanzania. The school is for children aged 5-14, yet I don't know what ages I will be working with. While all teaching is done in Swahili, English is among the subjects taught and I was told I'll be teaching english, math, reading and writing. Teaching is a bit out of my comfort zone (the language barrier doesn't help!), but that’s what part of this trip is all about. Now I need to get my bags packed, take my malaria medicine and start memorizing my Swahili. It seems like I have waited forever for this moment and now it's coming so fast. Only 8 days till I depart.

Charity Auction

I want to thank my brother, Chris who is generously raising funds for my trip by auctioning off two of his art prints. He has an incredible collection of art prints, and I know that these prints mean a lot to him. Below is information on these prints and links to his auctions. Thank you, Chris!

Chris' Auction #1

Chris' Auction #2

This is a matching set of prints from renowned artist Shepard Fairey. Fairey is the founder of Obey Giant and is one of the best known and most influential street artists in the world today. He has had shows at major galleries around the world and has recently expanded on his fame with the artwork he has created in support of Barack Obama. Like many modern artists he creates original pieces of work that sell in galleries and then creates a limited amount of screen printed copies that he sells to the general public.

Less than a month to go!

Hujambo, rafikiyo! (Hello, my friend)

Well, in less than one month I will be beginning my time in Tanzania. I am filled with excitement, curiosity, eagerness ... and a little bit of healthy nervousness :). The past few weeks have been pretty intense which is why I haven’t added to this blog for a while. I graduated from Drexel University, received an incredible number of shots and prescriptions to keep me healthy while in Africa (I don’t think I totally understood this aspect of volunteering - Polio, Yellowfever, Hep. A, Typhoid and Malaria?) and packed up my stuff and moved cross-country to northern California to be with my fiance, Jack. I am taking this month to get settled into my new home, search for a job for when I get back home, continue my fundraising and hopefully learn a little more Swahili.

I do have a very exciting update to share - Thanks to so many friends, family, corporations and fundraisers, I have successfully raised my entire program fee - $3776!! I could never have imagined the level of support and encouragement that I would receive from you all - Asante (thank you), it really means the world to me.

I am still working hard to raise additional funds through the "ChipIn" (paypal) link on this page. These funds will help to cover my airfare, immunizations, visa and entrance fees to Tanzania. I was amazed to discover that the immunizations and prescriptions are not covered by insurance, and my immunizations alone cost nearly $500!

Thank you again for the support - Let the final countdown begin! 23 days till departure :-).