Memories Resurface

OK, so I'm struggling a bit with not returning to South Africa this year, and I'll admit it.

Eric is getting upset that every day I seem to turn to him and question: "So, you wanna just go to Africa instead?"

I rarely get an answer any more. Just a glare. In recent days a promise of "next trip" has become commonplace, which gives me some peace of mind, but I still find myself pining over not going back this year.

For the past two years, February has marked the time where I would be preparing for leaving, getting shots or even booking flights. This year, I'm left with an empty void once filled with plans of volunteering on development programs with African Impact.

A few weeks ago, when images of relief work in Haiti flashed across the TV screen, Eric and I debated going to do relief work. We both speak fluent French and I've worked on development projects before, and I've been to Haiti.

Despite this, neither of us could find an organization where we were assured we would really be making an impact, instead of taking a space that could have been taken by a doctor or nurse, or even someone simply more valuable than the two of us.

So I think I've come to terms with not returning to my aid work on the continent. There's always next year, and maybe I'll have someone accompanying me on that trip, too.

-A

It Begins...Again?

Today, we finally booked our flights. There's no turning back now.

Leaving on May 1, we'll arrive in Amsterdam for the day on May 2 before moving on to Berlin. The rest of our trip has been tentatively laid out, but I figured I'd let the path we'll take unfold as I complete blog posts. I'll give you a hint that a few of the countries listed in previous blog posts will not appear on our route, but a few extras will!

And so the planning begins, for real this time. With time seemingly running out, Eric and I have started flipping through the many travel books given to us over the Christmas break. But with searching and applying for jobs over the past month, it seems that our travel plans have gotten away from us and today was a big slap in the face.

We're predominantly using Lonely Planet's Europe on a Shoestring book - which is by far the best guide to traveling Europe on a budget that I've ever seen. Even their website is so navigable and helpful, it's making a daunting task seem manageable.

As is expected, we do have some problems with planning (and most of them stem from me). I like being in control, and having more experience I often feel like I need to control the planning, forgetting that Eric is just as capable as I am (he's going to love reading this).

Otherwise, planning is going well, so stay tuned for our first destination, Berlin, and what we plan on doing there!

-A

Planning the Holidays Away

It’s hard to plan a trip so far in advance, especially one that takes up almost two months of your life.

We have made the decision not to travel to London, seeing as it is so expensive there and in the interest of saving money we will probably just travel through Heathrow Airport.

We’ve been buying and borrowing books and we’ve found it’s really hard to know just where to start when planning a trip that has so much scope and is full of so many opportunities.

Some people have said not to plan, which I think is crazy. I’d like to have an element of excitement and spontaneity, but every book I’ve read has said the best way to be economical is to plan.

So we’ve begun the long process of doing so. Once we had decided this was exactly what we wanted to do, and decided we weren’t going to kill each other along the way, and had our practice run of horror outtripping in Algonquin Park, the next step was planning.

And with Christmas coming up, more and more people are asking Eric and I what we want that will help ease or travels when we leave for Europe in May.

We have gotten plenty of suggestions from so many friends and family members about where to stay and what to do while we’re overseas. And despite my constant pleading to reroute our trip to Africa, which Eric isn’t buying, things are starting to come together.

But every once in a while I get in a panic. I have documents on my computer dedicated to questions I need answers to – should we bring sleeping bags? Pack more than two pairs of jeans? Should we both bring MEC packs? Eric asked me yesterday how he will shave. Maybe these are stupid questions?

But every one needs an answer and we’re running out of time to get them.

Despite some setbacks and mix-ups, we’ve decided (after much debate) on which countries we are most likely going to visit:

· Romania (Transylvania)

· Hungary (Budapest)

· Czech Republic (Prague)

· Germany

· France (Paris and maybe Lyon)

· Italy (Venice, Rome)

· The Netherlands (Amsterdam)

· Belgium

· Switzerland

· Austria

· Greece

· Turkey

· Croatia

Obviously this is just a guideline, and some of these countries we are visiting only by the ship during the cruise we’re taking of the Mediterranean.

So our planning continues. Formulating this list was probably the easy part.

However, with some people’s help we have been able to come up with a few places we are planning to stay, including this boutique hotel in Budapest courtesy of Paula. We’ve also been able to find some activities like cycling along the Danube and visiting castles in Transylvania that seem to peak our interest.

We’re also thinking of tentatively travelling to Ireland if we can find a cheap flight to stay with my family there.

The next few weeks of the winter break will be optimal time for planning and hopefully we can decide on a route to take. As you can see from the map, we already have a tentative plan of what kind of path we plan on taking from city to city, but this is constantly changing.

They’re going to be a long few weeks…

Until Next Time

-A

Each of us can’t survive without the other

Alanna

I realize this next adventure is not going to be barefoot. At least, it’s going to be completely different from my blog’s last two experiences abroad in Africa.

This May, my boyfriend Eric and I are going to backpack around Europe for a couple of months.

I know for some this plan may seem inherently flawed. Some couples (even ones we know) would never embark on a journey like this. Fighting is surely to ruin our beautiful, romantic vacation – right?

But Eric and I have a history of international travel. At the end of 2005 in our final year of high school, we travelled to China on a group trip to commemorate the release of Canadian POWs in Hong Kong after the end of the Second World War.

And this trip went well – in fact, we found we’re great travel partners. Eric even ended up becoming my personal bodyguard when locals got too friendly.

We very rarely fight, and work well under pressure. We even took a couple of days out tripping in Algonquin Park this summer to make sure we could handle high pressure situations as a team.

I want us to use our ability to compliment each other so well when we travel this summer.

I want us to experience as much of the local European lifestyle as we can while also visiting the stereotypical tourist hotspots.

I’ve never backpacked like this before and I’m (tentatively, with a pang of longing) excited to be a tourist and not an aid worker this summer.

And lastly I want to have fun!

1. Cycling along the Danube – I’ve looked into this and I think it’ll be a great change after taking trains and buses everywhere

2. Turkey – I’ve never been to an Islamic country before and I look forward to the culture

3. Budapest – everyone I’ve told about our plans to visit here get really excited. Apparently it’s one of the untapped resources of European tourism!

Eric

Not only is Alanna my girlfriend, but I also consider her one of my best friends. Our personalities match perfectly so I can’t think of anyone else I would like to go on a trip with but her. Alanna’s going to be the smart brain and I’ll be the fun brain for the trip.

By this I mean she’ll be in charge of museums, historic sites, government buildings etc, While I’ll be in charge of food, the bar scene and which hostels have the best bathrooms.

As you can see, one of us can’t survive without the other.

Even if were going to 10 different countries in 6 weeks, my main goal when travelling is to get a sense of how people live in their respective countries.

Being a sociology and anthropology major, I’m all about the social and cultural aspects of countries.

So even if were doing a fast paced trip, I would like to get a brief sense of what it’s life to live in each country.

1. I’m a big scenery lover, so one of the main things I’m excited about is being surrounded in sceneries I’ve never experienced. I hope to see everything I possibility can!

2. For anyone who knows me, they know I love my food (No fat jokes). I cant wait to taste every dish from every country and get a sense of what pizza is like in Italy, or bread and cheese in France, or chocolate in Belgium. Cuisine is a big part of my personality, so it’s only naturally I want to experience the cuisine of every country.

3. New experience! I’ve never been to Europe so I can’t wait to experience everything is has to offer with Alanna by my side, and hope to see and experience things we will never forget.

Got A Case of a Love Bipolar

I know what you’re going to ask.

I’ve been to South Africa twice now, so which trip was my favourite?

And that’s one question I just can’t answer. There is no way I can choose between both experiences because they were so different from each other.

The first time I travelled to Africa I was very much an idealist. Although I’d been told time and again that I was not going to change the world, I still believed that there was some way I could make a difference and I was shattered when I realized that I was just a blip on the radar, at best.

Now, I don’t believe I can change the world. But I do believe that no act of kindness (no matter how small) goes unnoticed. At least if I do something good for someone, they will pass it on or appreciate it. Like giving out school uniforms. Yes, one girl has one school uniform that might last her a few years. But it’s the fact that she now wears a new school uniform which will give her the confidence to raise her hand in class that is important.

Non-profit and nongovernmental organization work is about crunching numbers. It’s about getting the most bang for the buck you’ve been donated. Pinching pennies works wonders, especially in developing countries and although there are necessities that people need, some things are luxuries. I feel sad to admit that when you work with people who have nothing, they will ask for everything.

Wouldn’t you?

So organizations have to be thrifty with their compassion and with their money because there are other people with necessities – hundreds of thousands of people with necessities that must be met. Two school uniforms is a necessity, a paraffin lamp so your house doesn’t light on fire is a necessity.

Besides learning to differentiate between people’s wants and needs from a bare development perspective and becoming more of a realist, I found a large difference in my support back home.
There are some things I didn’t report on, or video. There are some things I photographed that I will not show you because I am afraid you would pity me for having seen what I have seen, and not grieve or find compassion for those I’ve helped. There is a difference between flaunting what I’ve seen that at the end of the day haunts me so that people will recognize what I’ve done, and giving people the information and the evidence of a world that needs their help.

Which leads me to another dilemma – how do we help?

NGOs are essentially useless – anyone who has taken a political science course has heard this before. Volunteer and relief organizations exist because governments have failed people. For this reason, I do not see any NGO as being anything but a relief organization (sustainability is just unattainable) that exists to take the place of governments that have failed their people.

And that’s what I’ve learned – or maybe I’ve just become more jaded.

I think it’s probably that I’ve just grown up. I believe that through knowledge and expertise I can change the world in a small way, not necessarily through actions. And that’s the biggest difference between my two experiences in Africa.

So none was better than the other; they were different.

I’m sure that’s the answer you expected.
-A

Africaaa

Someone call the doctor

I do apologize for that video blog and promise you, at the request of my mom, that my next one be much more uplifting.

I’ve already admitted that last year I gained so much perspective from my trip that this time around I wanted to help you gain some perspective and get to know Africa on a different level apart from what you see on TV or in movies.

And I guess this is it.

Strokes are extremely common here, a result of endemic high blood pressures that are probably the result of a very unbalanced diet in the region.

I’ve noticed that although commercials on TV show you the suffering of children (probably because that pulls on your heartstrings the most and gets you to open your wallet wider) the elderly suffer in painful silence.

Last year, because I worked at the crèches, I saw more sick children and rarely saw adults. Now, on home-based care, I’ve really been shocked by the way the elderly suffer.

This is not to say that the old are always abandoned. There have been at least three instances while I’ve been here that I’ve seen children abandoned. It's just that society back in Canada so often caters to the aging baby boomer population that it is such a juxtaposition with this society that has no infrastructure for the elderly.

This day was tougher than others just because of a combination of many factors. Normally home based care has a very uplifting house visit that counteracts the emotions brought on by a heart wrenching one.

And of course, learning from Jenna has been a great experience. She just graduated and is now a doctor so she’s been teaching me so much about dressing wounds and diagnosing the symptoms we keep seeing over and over again, mostly TB.

Which brings me to the last girl in the video, suffering from TB. This is the fourth individual we’ve seen with active, contagious TB and they all generally look like she does.

It has been suggested that this region has the highest HIV and TB co-infection rate in the world and it’s obvious with every passing day that it’s a problem. Mostly because TB medication is a strict six month regimen and people are reluctant to stay on the meds that long, can’t get to the clinic to receive their full rounds, or the clinic runs out of medication to give them.

It’s frustrating to see the faltering healthcare system in the country. But there is a silver lining; the construction of the new clinic in Khula is supposed to be finished by the end of the year and hopefully African Impact can expand upon their medical project to involve volunteers working at the new state clinic. There is hope for the future!

Until next time

-A