Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to Africa I go!

The big day is here! Leaving in approx. 12 hours to catch the bus to Vancouver, then on to Heathrow, Jo'burg and finally Zambia.! Had to break down and pay for extra baggage; there was just no way I was getting everything in the 3 I had. The one bag I had for just personal stuff weighed over 70 lbs. so I decided it was worth it to take another bag, and then I was able to fit in a bit more stuff for the projects and families. It's hard trying to decide what to take for 2 months and actually it wasn't all that much. I think I ended up with 4 pairs of pants, about a 1/2 dozen tops and 3 skirts. Where did all the weight come form? Seems the medical kit was part of the problem, so it got moved to the extra bag. If I had of figured it out sooner, I would have tried to get some seed donations for the garden projects. So, if your feeling inclined, donations are still gratefully accepted through the PayPal widget at the top of the blog, as I will still need to cover the expenses of visiting the sponsor children and paying for the B& B's. Any little bit will be gratefully accepted!!!
The St. Lucia project sent a welcome email today and a bit more explanation of their projects.
St. Lucia Medical Project

The St. Lucia Medical Project seeks to aid rural communities struggling against South Africa’s HIV epidemic through medical outreach, support and supplies. We work with a group of local home carers to provide medical assistance, clinic pick-ups and dropoffs as well as care in the home such as cleaning, home repairs and subsistence farming for ailing patients. We facilitate much needed support groups in two communities, which aim to empower members through friendship, education, gardening and craft-making groups.
St. Lucia Educational Support Programme
Many of the schools and creches that African Impact volunteers work with in the communities are poorly funded and seriously lacking in resources. We want to help ensure that every child can be cared for and educated in a safe and sanitary environment. The St. Lucia Educational Support Programme helps by teaching lessons in some of the community’s creches, as well as distribute resources to the schools and creches most in need.
St. Lucia Inkanyezi
Inkanyezi Crèche caters for children aged 0 – 5 years old. The crèche is not registered and so neither the staff nor the school receive any funding from the government. Approximately 26 children regularly attend the crèche, however many more would come if the crèche was developed to ensure a comfortable and safe environment for the children. The Happy Africa Foundation is in the process of developing Inkanyezi Creche as well as helping to establish a longer term plan to ensure the crèche can run itself independently.
St. Lucia General Pot
The General pot is what makes it possible for The Happy Africa Foundation to be able to put funds towards something that would not fall within the other four focal projects. For example: organising fundraising events, awareness events or starting up a new focal project. Although these funds do not go directly into a certain focal project, they are still directly assisting our over all programme and service offering to the communities.

I have really great feelings about these programs and am really looking forward to participating.
Will try and post from Heathrow and Jo'burg to let everyone know how things are progressing (flight wise).