We will be leaving Amanda's house today at 5:30 P.M. to drive to O'Hare airport. Our flights are through British Airways and the first one tonight leaves at 9:45 P.M. and we are expected to land in London after eight hours of flight. We then have an eight hour layover in London. Our next flight leaves at 7:20 P.M. London time and we will arrive in Dar Es Salaam after ten hours of flight! After flying for two nights in a row, we may be slightly jet lagged at this point!!
Once we get off the plane in Dar we have to immediately get out visas, this will cost $100. At this point, hopefully there will be a currency exchange open at the airport and we will be able to cash in some American dollars for some Tanzanian shillings. We will need shillings to get a taxi from the airport to our hotel, the Econo Lodge. We will also pay for our hotel room in Tanzanian shillings. For an idea of the exchange rate... one Tanzanian shilling is 0.0006 American dollars and one American dollar is around 1600 shillings.
We will arrive in Dar around 7 AM and unless there is an opening already in the hotel, we will have to hang around until 2 PM to be able to check into our hotel. At 3 PM we are meeting a girl named Sarah who works for International Volunteer Headquarters but who is placed in Dar. She offered to show us around, help us get converters, cell phones, bus passes, etc. and then we will be going to dinner. Our first Tanzanian food in the country!
So we will leave today (Monday), arrive in Dar two days later on Wednesday. Stay Wednesday night and then wake up early on Thursday to catch our 6AM bus ride to Arusha. This lasts around 8-10 hours. We travel almost all the way across the country and we hear it is very scenic and that all the roads on the way are paved. Once we arrive in Arusha we will call the program and they will send someone to come pick us up. After that we will be taken to the volunteer house and then on Friday we will start orientation.
My first four-six weeks will be spent at St. Dymphna Special Needs School. And I have found two really good sites that have given me a preview for what is in store! The first is a blog that is written by some women who have been apart of the growth of the school.
Here are a few photos of the school as well...
Here is another really AMAZING site. It is a video blog of some girls who went through IVHQ to Tanzania, which is our same program. Episode 9 shows my placement at St. Dymphna and you get to meet some of the children. There is also an episode featuring Cradle of Love, which is the orphanage some of my classmates and I chose to support this past semester through our Legacy Project. We just sent over the check to them for the construction of a new "sick bay" for the children. Our total amount raised was $1,731!! So thank you to everyone who made this possible by giving donations and buying t-shirts!!!
From August til I leave in October I will be at Ngarenaro Health Centre. It is located in the city center of Arusha and is a very busy maternity clinic. Women from Arusha and far surrounding areas travel to the clinic to give birth. The clinic delivers about 20 babies a day! Here is a picture of the clinic...
So... there it is. My life for the next three months summed up! So in 8 LONG hours I will be sitting on a plane with Amanda about to begin an adventure of a lifetime. I want to say thank you so very much to everyone who had donated towards my trip. I would not be able to do this without you... I have been thinking a lot in the last few days about how I felt in Haiti and a lot of emotions are coming back which I feel will help to prepare me for what I am about to encounter. I am ready to be tested and in the end to be blessed beyond measures. It is a life changing experience and in every hug I receive, every smile I see, every little kid laughter I hear, and in every life I am able to be apart of... I will thank God for the amazing support that lead me to this place in my life. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I love you all more than you can imagine.
Here we go... In three short days of travel I will be 8,615 miles away from home. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to be changed and to play a small part in the change in others. God Bless. <3
