It's about time I'm back!

Somehow over the past year, I seem to have lost my way, in regards to this blog! Every time I would think of writing something, my brain would freeze up. Not an uncommon occurrence, I can assure you, but doesn't allow for much in the way of communicating!
Actually, there hasn't been a whole heck of a lot happening, to speak of. Not much in the way of World Vision volunteering opportunities has come my way, and the few there have been have been out town a lot of the time. A sudden loss of income for us, has held me back from venturing to far from home since returning from Zambia, so I haven't been able to toddle off to any opportunities that haven't been in town. I did manage to get up to Shawingan Lake School and give a presentation to a group of students that had participated in the 30 Hour Famine this past spring. That was pretty amazing.  Have had some pretty wonderful letters from Nikki and Fundiswa, but no word from my 'new' little guy. Velody in Zambia. I do 'talk' with a couple of the staff from the Kalomo ADP Office and the KMP Office, on Facebook, which is pretty wild! I get very excited telling people that I was talking to someone in Africa (Zambia and South Africa) last night. Gotta love this technology we have now, it just blows me away!
Now I must tell you what has inspired the brain to unfreeze and is getting my fingers to moving again.
I have a new trip planned starting in mid-March next year. It has taken a lot of scrimping and saving, but I think I'm almost there. By the time it rolls around (keeping fingers crossed) I will not have to put any of it on a charge account.
This trip all started with a friend from my trip to South Africa, calling and asking if I would like to join her on an extend trip next year. I of course jumped at the idea.

She has unfortunately had to back out, but this has actually been ok, as I was already doing a lot of searching, for places for us to go and volunteer, so I already had some plans in mind that I was able to put in place for myself, instead of the 2 of us. It will be the first time I'm not traveling as a 'group' so it is a little intimidating, but I can handle it, after all I understand "Africa' time now, Hakuna Matata. I wouldn’t be able to go with World Vision this time as they only do the 2 week visits (I did call and ask, plead etc). I have been wanting to spend considerably more time and be more involved in a project. It’s been a little frustrating and confusing trying to get everything organized, but I think it has finally all fallen into place. I really wanted to have the chance to visit South Africa again, as well as Zambia, AND somewhere new. Couldn’t be easier, right? Wrong, Trying to arrange everything, dates (when is the rainy season?) flights (do I lose a day or gain a day?) plus trying to fit in visits with the sponsor children (how many days should I allow, where will I stay, how will I get there), all became a little overwhelming, but I decided that I would volunteer in South Africa, Zambia and Kenya. I then found out the costs of the flights within Africa, from country to country. Wow! As expensive as the flights to get from here to Jo’burg. I had to cut something out. So I decided that I would return to Zambia another time and picked South Africa and Kenya. Then came the shocker that my one vice ( ok, one of many), smoking, was going to prove to be a problem on the Kenya part of the trip. I took to re-thinking and have now made a solid decision on Zambia and South Africa.
Now, I bet your wondering what organization I am traveling with? After a lot of searching and checking, I have decided to book through a company called “African Impact’ who partners with an NGO called “Happy Africa’. They are both fairly new to the game, but seem quite well organized and transparent in the work they are doing and how their funds are spent.

http://www.africanimpact.com/        http://happyafricafoundation.org/
I will be spending 2 weeks each at the following programs:

- Medical and Community Project - Livingstone, Zambia
- Livingstone Lion Rehabilitation And Release Programme
- St Lucia Medical Outreach HIV Awareness - South Africa

The medical work will basically be similar in each program and will include:
• Helping out the sisters in the clinics, serving to alleviate some of their busy workload, particularly with taking
patients vital signs before consultation and helping with clinic record keeping and filing.
• Visit and provide care to ill (HIV/AIDS) people in their homes, as well as to residents at the local old people’s home.
• Work on school refurbishment and building projects.
• Conduct HIV Education around the communities of Livingstone where the disease affects vast proportions of the population.
• Train local people how to care for the sick in their communities.

Volunteering at the Lion Rehabilitation and Release program, which works alongside ‘Alert’, will be to assist management and their team of guides, handlers and scouts in all aspects of care for the animals in their charge; giving them the opportunities to develop their natural instincts in preparation for their release into the next stage of the program.
Research is a significant part of the volunteer role; collecting data not only on the development of the lions, but also joining our elephant monitoring team in the National Park. Also helping with various community programs that may include conservation or health education as well as a number of other projects.

I have to wonder, what am I thinking, I have no formal medical training, but what better way to see learn and help than to volunteer in such programs? And the Lion Project?  It's actually part of the place I visited last year, where I walked with the Lions! I will get to clean up lion poop, cut up donkey's and cow's for their meals (oh my, I don’t think I’m going to like that!) and work with the cubs (yes, that I WILL like). Should be a very exciting addition. I thought it might be a good way to see the animals and still do something good. I will be going a week early and traveling to Kalomo to visit Velody and staff at the WV ADP Office.  Crispin and Helen (friends from the Kalomo WV Office) say they will come to Livingstone to visit me.
I am just awaiting my last forms to be sent, then I will start filling things in, sending for visa's, getting my inoculation's up-to-date (already in the process of getting the flights arranged), calling World Vision to arrange to see the children, finding places to stay whilst visiting, etc. etc. Still six long months to go before I leave, but there are lots of plans yet to be made and things to take care of. Stay tuned in for more updates as they become available!
In the mean time check out my fundraising idea in the space at the top of the blog.
I'm hoping to take about 200 of my dolls (whether they get 'sponsored' or not). They squish down a lot and I am going to get some of those bags that you can suck the air out of, to try and reduce their size even more. A friend in Kalomo had tried to arrange for my friend and I to volunteer at an orphanage in Kalomo, but was too late getting back to me (I just booked the above trip) so I am hoping that maybe that orphanage would be a good spot to donate them all.

After such a long hiatus of not writing I have to quit now, my brain is starting to fail me.