Leaving tomorrow

As I'm sitting in my mom's living room at 1am the morning of my flight, surrounded in every imaginable thing I might need on this trip, I can't help but take a quick break from packing to say one thing to you all: Thank you.

I am overflowing with excitement and eagerness, and I'll admit I am more nervous than I can put into words, but more than anything I feel so grateful to have the opportunity to do something like this. The only reason that this is possible is because of all of the tremendous support from my wonderful group of friends and family. You all have no idea how much this means to me.

As I head off to bed, I am thinking of something my CCS program manager said to me yesterday. She simply stated, "It's hard to explain, but when you go to Africa it will take a piece of your heart .... and you'll never get it back."

I'll keep you posted.

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 :-).

Family Fundraiser

This past Monday my family and I held a fundraiser in my home town of Cranbury, NJ. We set up a lemonade/brownie stand on Main Street during the town's annual Memorial Day Parade. My family was incredibly kind to do just about all of the prep-work and run the lemonade stand with me all day. Thanks to a great friend from school, we got the idea to give the lemonade and brownies away for free, but explain my cause and ask for a donation in return. This idea proved to be successful - we ended up raising $400 in donations! I plan on using this money to help pay my airfare to Tanzania.

Aside from the financial success of the fundraiser, it really meant a lot to me to have my family so involved in helping me pursue this dream. My 4-year old nephew even made a poster for the fundraiser!

Half way there!

I'm happy to report that I have almost reached the 50% mark in my fundraising! Thank you to all of my friends, family, and teachers who have shown such tremendous support over the past few weeks. I still have $2051 to go, but I now understand just how willing and eager people are to help out.

When I first decided to do this volunteer trip, I admit the one part that I was unsure of was the fundraising. Soliciting donations from my friends just feels a bit awkward. But I was also amazed at what it costs to travel to these countries in need, and work in their villages and schools. The $3776 that I have to raise is just the program fee. I still need to get myself there! My parents have graciously agreed to help with the airfare, but that still left a large amount that I needed to raise. A few weeks into my fundraising efforts though, and I have truly been heartened by the donations and kind words of encouragement and support from so many of my family and friends. It is hard to explain how it feels, but seeing so many people donate and show their belief in me gives me a new found sense of confidence and empowerment. You guys are the best :).

Thank You, Drexel!

What a great day! This past Friday I received the Harold J. Budd Award from Drexel University's LeBow College of Business. This award is given annually by the legal studies department of LeBow to a student who exhibits a commitment to academics as well as humanitarian causes. The ceremony was even more meaningful because the award was presented to me by Dean Tsetsekos as well as one of my favorite professors, Professor Sher. I was also pleased that both of my parents were able to attend.

While I am honored to have received this award, it is also exciting because there is a cash award with it that I can now contribute to my fundraising efforts. I still have a long way to go, but this $500 will be a huge help!

Asante sana, Drexel!
(Asante sana means thank you very much in Swahili.)