Today I'll be flying out to Tanzania. At 9:40 I'll board a plane in Chicago headed for London, a 9 hour flight. After a short layover in London I will board another plane bound for Kenya. Once in Kenya I will collect my bags and hop onto a small single engine plane going to my ultimate destination: Mt. Kilimajaro Airport. So as of Friday, Milwaukee time, I will be in Tanzania.
8341miles
I'll be living with about 15-20 other volunteers, all anxious and ambitious students looking to make a difference in the world. We are all HELP-International volunteers (click to find out more). Our focus will be to create sustainable projects and programs that will help the communities we are in (mainly Arusha, Tanzania) get out of poverty. I am creating a program to help kids learn proper hygiene, I also want to build some square-foot gardens. It's a daunting task but it's one worth doing.
So the big question is, Why Tanzania? In 2006 life expectancy in Tanzania was estimated at 50yrs, that puts them in the bottom 10% of the world. Furthermore, only 57% of children 5-14 are attending school and 45% of the population is without clean water. The perplexing thing is that Tanzania (unlike most other developing countries) has been a peaceful nation with little in the way of civil or international wars. Thus Tanzania can very much benefit from the types of education and development we are bringing.
I truly believe that the work that we are engaged in will be great, tremendous, and will make a lasting difference in the lives of the Tanzanian people. I am immensely grateful to those who's donations have made this possible. I know many of you would like to join in the work but obligations and commitments limit your involvement. I am so grateful to have this rare opportunity.
Check back often for pictures, updates, and video.
If you'd like to know more about HELP-International watch this short video:
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