Finally the answer

to the question everyone is asking, "What are you going to be doing while you're there?"

I was checking my email right before class, when I got an email from CCS with my placement, that is, where I'm going to be volunteering. I'm thrilled to announce that I'm going to be at Bodeni Dispensary!

It is a government dispesary that was started in 2005 to provide healthcare to all people. Some of their services include prevention of maternal to child transmission (too bad we haven't had that in school yet!), family planning and lab tests. There is a staff of 8 people (doctor, watchman, senior nurse, medical attendent, record keeper, home-based care for HIV/AIDS, pharmacist and lab tech). They speak Kiswahili AND English (yay!), and they see 25 to 30 patients per day.

Here's a list of things I could be doing while I'm there:
- check-in patients, weigh and take blood pressures
- work in a maternity ward; weighing babies and checking growth progress
- observe and assist in various medical departments
- spend time with patients, greet and make them feel comfortable
- help fill prescriptions
- discuss possible treatments with doctors

There is also at least one other girl that is placed at Bodeni Dispensary too.

SO EXCITED!

18 days???

It's here! It's here!

My visa and passport are at the post office waiting for me to pick it up. I guess the delivery person decided not to follow the sign on the door that says, "We ARE home. If you need a signature, go around back and knock on the sliding glass door." That's ok, though. It's just good to know that it IS safe in Morgantown waiting for me. Phew!

I finished the typhoid meds yesterday, so now I just have to gather up everything and pack! Tanzania, here I come!!!

Go, USPS! Go!

I just got back from the post office where I sent off my passport and necessary documents for my visa. It makes me nervous to depart with such important things. I thought about going to Washington DC next week to get the visa in person, but the process would take about 3 days and with Thanksgiving on Thursday... After talking to Jody from CCS, she said that turn-around time from the New York Embassy has been about one week. That would be great! I hope it applies to me too. :)

Tanzania in ONE month!

I am SO excited! The only things I have left to do are to get my visa, which I'm mailing off tomorrow, and take the typhoid and malaria meds which I'll do next week. I'm not looking forward to packing and getting all of the supplies that I'll need. Finals week is going to be stressful with last minute preparations as well as studying for exams. I do have one exam the morning of December 18th which I will have to reschedule. The professor didn't seem to think that's going to be a big deal Yay!

CCS has been great staying in touch with me. I get phone calls every once in a while from them and lots of emails with information. Today, I got an email with a PowerPoint presentation attached about my program specifically. And a conference call is going to be set up for all of the volunteers. We've already emailed each other and it looks like someone else is going to be on the flight with me and Madeline! I don't know why type of volunteering I'll be doing for another couple of weeks, but I'll happily serve wherever I can.

Who's Madeline? I found her on a CCS facebook group early last summer. We're going to be there the same time, so we actually planned our flights together. She's from Albany, NY, and is studying social work. We've been in touch ever since about our preparations and it's been great to have someone to ask "How'd you do this? What'd you do for that?"

Enough for now. Off to work. :) Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

I'm happy to announce that my program fee has been paid for. I put down the original $275 deposit, but the rest of it was donated but a lot of awesome people. I couldn't be more thrilled. THANK YOU!