Here's where I'll write from Africa (or India...or wherever I find myself that isn't home...)
To the right is a feed from Twitter, because I can send text messages to there when I don't have access to the internet; you can read those texts even if you don't have a Twitter, so it's bookmark-able, if you're into that. (And if you have a one, follow me! I promise I'll only tweet when I'm on a trip!)
Here's what's up with this upcoming trip: It's called Beat The Drum, because it's based around an award-winning movie by the same name. We'll spend the first week getting trained and hanging out with some locals, and the second we'll be going into two high schools a day to teach kids about Jesus and HIV/AIDS and how to not-get the latter.
The schools we'll be going into are rough. At one, they've had eight suicides in the last twelve months, and at another, they regularly have 10% of their female students pregnant at one time. Yikes.
Here's a vague game plan with a map for reference:
We'll be flying in to J-burg from London (whoo 16-hour flight!) and then taking another plane to Durban. We'll be staying just outside Durban in a town called Winklespruit for training and stuff.Then August 1 we'll be heading down to our base camp in Lusikisiki, where our classy accommodations have recently been upgraded from "big tents" to "big rooms" with (get this!) flushing toilets! And running water! (To be honest, I was pretty stoked about camping, but I guess I'll take a shower occasionally.)
The area we'll be staying/working in is called the Transkei region ("trans" = across, "Kei" = the River Kei) and when South Africa decided to get involved in all that apartheid business, the Transkei said, "no thanks," so they didn't get a whole lot of the funding and development that other parts o the country got. It's grassy, gorgeous, and just like any postcard you'd see from South Africa. If you're in the mood to feel a little jealous, go ahead and type it into Google Images.
I also have the opportunity to visit Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve which I hear is about two and a half hours from...somewhere we'll be. I think north, along the coast. I'm not exactly sure on the details, but I paid the extra money to go because it should be legiiiiiit.
FYI: This is the blog for my boss/lead missions guy/trip leader, who might be able to write a little more often than me.
We'll head home August 8, and be back in Kansas City 8:20 pm on August 9.
Also! Plans are being made to go hang out with some orphans, folks with HIV/AIDS, and a group with Hansen's disease (leprosy) in India this December!(!!!!!!) Contributions/prayers/good vibes welcome. :)
Love you all,
Jessica!
