A few days from takeoff: Pre-trip thoughts

I can hardly believe it. In FOUR days I will be on my way to Africa. I remember when I signed up for this class over a year ago. At that point I had no idea whether or not I would actually be able to go through with it. Mainly I didn't know whether or not my parents would let me go through with it, but here I am. I'm really not the adventurous kind of person, or at least I haven't been for most of my life, so this is a pretty big leap for me. I've never traveled out of the country before, but what better place to make that first venture outside the States to than Tanzania? Everyone I've talked to who has been there has said that their trip there was one of the best experiences they have ever had, and I can't wait to see what this journey holds in store.

My travel-companions and I have been meeting for weekly classes for the last fourteen weeks to prepare for this experience. There are thirteen of us total - 12 lovely ladies and our courageous leader Dr. Strickert... aka Bwana Fred. A brave man he is. We've been learning about several aspects of life in Tanzania. First and foremost, we have learned about the devastating impact of the AIDS epidemic in this and other African countries. I've realized how uninformed I have been about this issue. It's estimated that more than 6,000 Africans die every day from this disease. 6,000 people. Every single day! That is more than the number of people who died on September 11th and more than the number of Americans who have died in Iraq since the beginning of the war. That's one person every 13 seconds! And yet the rest of the world is doing very little to help. Sure, we send money and other forms of assistance, but the effort we have put forth is miniscule given the magnitude of this crisis. In class we talked about whether we thought there could ever be an end to this thing. I don't really see that happening unless the powers of the world finally decide to make it a top priority. If that ever happens, then maybe there is hope.

On a more positive note, we have also learned about Tanzanian culture, specifically the Massai culture, and have practiced some Swahili, which we will be learning more of when we get there. I'm looking forward to experiencing life in a completely different way than what I am used to and learning as much as I can from the people I meet. Hopefully our travels will be safe and uncomplicated. Next time you hear from me I'll be thousands of miles away!

Until then~

Peace,
Emily