Safe and Sound

Well, it took almost a full 24 hours after leaving Hamilton, but I did eventually arrive in Dar Es Salaam. The flights were long, the food was mediocre at its best, but I made it here in one piece.

Since I am not using my computer for this entry I will be very brief (I should be able to make longer posts in the future).

Basically I have spent my first full day here learning about different things and talking over expectations, etc. I'm not going to lie. It wasn't the most exciting thing. Though that might have something to do with the fact that I'm still pretty tired from being awake for so long (those of you who know me, know I don't sleep much on planes). It's been good to get to meet everyone (more in future posts) and have time to begin to get accustomed to everything. I'm still exhausted from the last 48-72 hours so I think it will be some time until I am functioning at the level I want to be. But I figure I have that time and I'm not worried nor am I rushing right now. Patience is my friend today.

Tomorrow I have some more orientation and then I will take off to Morogoro. I'm not sure when I will be able to post next, but they may come in bursts (I'll write them on my netbook and then post them whenever I can get to an Internet cafe).

My time is running out here, so I will sign off for now. Once again, thanks to everyone who helped get me here.

Time To Go

In just over two hours, I will leave my house for the airport. It's hard to believe today has come. Surprisingly I do feel mostly ready - at least as ready as I think I can be. My bags are mostly packed (just waiting to finish up some computer stuff before I pack this up and get my final bag ready to go.

I've been in this situation before (flying overseas for an extended period of time), but this is much different then when I went to Korea. For starters, there are more and bigger question marks about my living situation. Also, the nature of what I'm doing is very different. In the end though, I think this will be a good experience - even if the trip turns out horrible. Like a wise man once said: "Why do we fall Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up." (Bonus points if you can name the source). Though I hope not to fall (at least big falls), I know this will not be all roses and sunshine.

Anyway, this is my last entry from Canada (as long as nothing unforseen happens). As most of my fellow volunteers have stated, our ability to access the Internet might not be reliable. I hope to write at least once a week, but we'll see how much free time I have and how easy it is to get online (I'm hoping I can use the wireless on my netbook in Internet Cafe's, but who knows).

If you have any questions, feel free to post comments on here and I will try to respond to your questions (I know lots of people read this, and it's not even interesting yet).

If all else fails, I'm back in Canada on December 23rd.

See you on the other side...

"Where exactly are you going?"

As my departure time nears I'm at the point where I can count down in hours (26) or minutes (1570) until I leave. Before I go though, I thought I'd share my actual travel plans. A few months ago, I had booked my major flights and that was it. Now I have a day-by-day itinerary of where I plan to be (though, due to unforseen events, it may have to change). My accomodations are booked as well as most of my travelling. So if you're wondering where and when I'm going, this is my plan:

Sunday September 27th: Depart Toronto for Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania (with a brief stopover in Amsterdam). Arrive 21 hours later, on Monday night.

I will have a brief orientation and training session here.

Wednesday September 30th: Take a bus to Morogoro. For the next 7 and a half weeks, this is where I will be living and working. Exact details for this time are not yet set (at least to my knowledge. For an idea of what I'll be doing, see my previous post.

Monday November 23rd: Volunteering Ends

Tuesday November 24th: Take the ferry to Zanzibar. Relaxing and sightseeing.

Friday November 27th: Fly from Zanzibar to Arusha. I will spend a couple of nights at a hostel sandwiched by an 8-day tour which includes animal watching in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater as well as a visit to Ancient Rock Paintings.

Monday December 7th: Fly from Kilimanjaro (near Arusha) to Kigali, Rwanda. Sightseeing and relaxing.

Thursday December 10th: Take a bus to Kampala, Uganda. Sightseeing. Nearby Lake Victoria has a Chimpanzee Sanctuary on an island. It's a possibility.

Sunday December 13th: Take a bus to Jinja, Uganda. This is where the Nile River starts from Lake Victoria. Apparently you can go white water rafting here. We'll see. There are also places to volunteer here for one day at a time.

Wednesday December 16th: Take a bus to Nairobi, Kenya. Sightseeing and relaxing. Perhaps taking a slum tour, seeing a giraffe reserve.

Saturday December 19th: Fly from Nairobi to Paris. Arrive the next day. Sightseeing - my two full days here should be very very busy.

Wednesday December 23rd: Fly from Paris to Toronto. Back Home.

I don't completely know what I'll be doing at each of my destinations, because things could easily change. As they occur I will share as much as I can on here. I am bringing a camera and a video camera so hopefully I can post pictures (the videos will probably have to wait until I return though) of everything. Most of the places I'm going have nearby internet, except for the 8-day tour. Expect a total blackout then.

So that's that. Tomorrow I will write one last time before heading off and then it will be time to actually start doing things instead of just talking about and getting ready for them.

"So what exactly will you be doing in Tanzania?"

The title of this post has perhaps been the question I've been asked most frequently in the last month (and probably a few months before that). Until very recently, I have not really been able to give a concrete answer. Well now I can answer in depth (though I'm sure in the coming week my knowledge of my work will be greatly improved).

I've been given a detailed list of 7 projects that I (along with the other two volunteers in Morogoro) could potentially be working on. Many of these are with a local partner organization: Faraja Trust Fund. Here are the projects I could be working on:

1. Computer, English, Business Communication Course: Since May of this year volunteers with YCI have offered courses for vulnerable youth to develop computer skills and basic English skills. There have been two cycles of the course so far, so my group will be providing three levels of instruction for a total of five classes a week.
2. Secondary School HIV/AIDS Club: Since May of this year YCI volunteers have provided support to an HIV/AIDS club at a local Secondary School. The plan during my trip is to extend this support to a second school. The idea is to help the clubs, but not so that they rely on our support.
3. Good Governance Education for Active Student Youth and Future Leaders: This has been going on since February. We will be working at one school, once a week to increase the knowledge of 25-30 participants in principles of good governance and opportunities for involvement in local government.
4. English Class for Street Side School: My role as a volunteer will be more of a support role with the teacher of the class. Given my background, this should be great experience for any future jobs.
5. HIV/AIDS Outreach: This particular project has a lot of different facets, including but not limited to School Presentations, Talent Shows and other Community Outreach Events. This seems like one of the bigger projects I will be working on since the goal is to reach 600 community members.
6. Social Support for Youth PLHIV (People Living with HIV?): This will involve working with people affected by HIV, including both teens (14-18) as well as younger children. One activity will be to have stigma-free play days with younger children.
7. Communication and Development Support for Faraja: This will basically involve helping with their website as well as data entry and other office duties.

So there you have it. The best answer I can give at this time. I believe that some of the YCI staff may be reading my blog so if I'm wrong on some points, maybe they can correct me. I'm not sure, but I think I will only be working on some of these. I guess time will tell. I will update my status and the status of my work as time goes on.

Look for a detailed trip itinerary from me as well as final thoughts before departure in the next couple of days.

T-minus 50 hours and 38 minutes until my plane takes off....

One Week Until Arrival

In exactly one week (give or take 20 mins) my plane will touch down in Dar Es Salaam and I will begin my volunteering. So you'd think I would be on here every day writing about how excited I am. Unfortunately, I've been too busy juggling all sorts of details that need to be in place before I leave, to write much.

My first big task was to but all the supplies I needed. This included a large backpack (the one I got has a 75L capacity), clothes, a sleeping bag and related items, as well as many small things that may come in handy during my 12 weeks overseas. I have spent a good amout of time at Mountain Equipment Co-op in the last three weeks. Medications also took up a big chunk of that (if I get sick, I will be prepared). It took me over a week to get the majority of the items and I'm still slowly working on a few every day. The good news is hopefully I will have everything I need by Sunday.

Packing has also been an activity I've devoted many hours to. I've decided I'll need to be organized if I want to be living out of a couple of bags for three months. I've divided all my clothes up and put them into varying sizes of ziplock bags. I've done this for two reasons: 1) easy access (and it won't create a mess just looking for one thing), and 2) protection against leaky items. Hopefully it works out and I can continue to use the bags for the whole trip. I've filled my bigger bag and I have a smaller one I will likely end up checking in for the flight as well. Hopefully I don't go too much over. I will take a smaller shoulder bag for my netbook and some books on the plane. I have been asked by a tour operator to buy a daypack (for him) so I may use that as a carry-on as well.

I also found the time to get one final vaccination: multi-strain menningococcal. It was a bit pricey, but hopefully it will help keep me healthy while in Tanzania.

Another task that has cost me a lot of time has been my travel arrangements, but more on that in a few days. Mostly I am all set for what I am doing in my four weeks, but I have one or two loose ends to tie up before I'm ready to share the whole trip.

So that's what I've been up to the last little while. The next week will be spent finalizing all the little details (travel insurance, visas, final packing, getting ready for my actual programming, learning swahili, and on and on). I'm sure I'll be getting ready right until Sunday afternoon when we leave for the airport.

Anyway, keep watching this space. I'm sure in about 8 days time it will actually start to get interesting - and before then I hope to put up some good answers as to what I will be doing in Tanzania.

Habari za asubuhi! Ninasema Kiswahili.

Good morning. I speak Swahili. Well, not really that well, but that's what the title says. Since my first foray into learning Swahili I have certainly suffered some setbacks. It's not easy learning a language that you can't really practice. Being in Korea, I was trying to learn Korean. Swahili turned out to be a challenge to learn at the same time. Now that I'm at home, I have been working much harder and I have become more comfortable with my efforts (though we'll see what happens when I actually touch down in a country where people speak it fluently).

Since I last wrote about learning Swahili, I have changed my methods dramatically. I had originally tried using a book. Though I have had some success learning Korean with books, I found the particular book I was using not as helpful as it could have been. It was very text-based and I often didn't have the time to actually study things. That way of learning language was more like how I learned French in school. It would have been much better with a teacher.

Since then I have tried two very similar but different methods. I have been using Rosetta Stone and that has been somewhat helpful. It is a very simple concept, but has been helping me learn some words and phrases. Basically the program shows you four pictures and one word/sentence. You have to match them. There are 40 pictures (10 sets) per lesson and about 10-12 lessons per unit and about 8-10 units per level (of which I have one). The bonus is that there are no translations so you learn to associate the pictures with the words. I could go into a long discussion about how this is both good and bad, but I won't. I'll just say that I have been somewhat successful with Rosetta Stone, despite my suspicions that it might not be teaching me Swahili the way people actually talk (only time will tell). I should also note, the goal of Rosetta Stone is to teach the language, not conversation (so the words and phrases are basic).

The second method I have been using is called byki (Before You Know It) and can be downloaded for free. Basically it is electronic flashcards (with English on one side). It goes through them for you from both sides. You also have to type the answers for each side. It keeps track of all the flashcard sets you've done and then has you refresh them every now and then. I've been doing this for about 2 weeks and I feel it's helped me learn a lot of vocabulary. It is a bit limited for Swahili in that there are only about 20-25 sets available for free, though it has 70+ languages and some of those languages have hundreds of free sets. You can also purchase a better version, but right now, I'm sticking to the free one.

Another website that has been a little useful has been this site, but it's also mainly text based and is not very creative with it's teaching methods.

Overall, I've been working hard and I believe I've set down a good foundation so that when I do arrive, learning will be much easier. I will continue to work a little each day for the next 12 days (can't believe it's that soon!) and hopefully I will be ready to go.

Tutaonana! See you later!

Back in Steeltown (for a bit)

Despite the fact that I've been doing a lot to get ready for my trip lately, I haven't written in over a week. There is a very good reason for this.

Starting the day after my last post (August 28th) I started a 4 day string of having to say goodbye to pretty much everyone who was a daily part of my life at the time. It was a very emotionally exhausting few days and as each successive goodbye happened, it was harder and harder to handle (though I think the first and the last goodbyes were actually the hardest). Following that I flew halfway around the world (literally right after the last goodbye at a boarding gate in a Tokyo airport) and I was obviously a little physically tired.

The last few days have been spent trying to recuperate from both of those shocks and slowly but surely I started to feel much better. The task at hand right now is to complete all the final preparations for Tanzania (and the rest of my travels). In the coming days or weeks look for posts about: 1) Language learning (I've been busy this past week), 2) Buying supplies (the excitement, boredom and stress of shopping), 3) Trip planning (maybe). My departure day keeps getting closer and closer (20 days now!) and it's starting to feel a bit more real than it did when I was back in Seoul (which I miss very much right now - but I already did a sappy entry last time).

For those of you in Canada (or the U.S.) enjoy Labour Day today (and have fun in school tomorrow :D).

Note: For those of you who aren't familiar with Southern Ontario, the term "Steeltown" refers to Hamilton (my hometown) which is famously known for it's steel mills.