Pre-Trip Excitement and Anxiety - CCS Community

The week is here at last!? Leaving for Tanzania Friday morning...

This is my first "official" blog post, and for a guy who usually can't shut up when he gets a keyboard in hand, I'm at a loss.

My packing isn't where it really should be, but there's too much laundry left to get done before I leave, and I've decided to take enough clothes for the two weeks, to avoid the issue of "you need to iron everything you wash and hang out to dry to kill the flies that lay their eggs in your clothing" thing.? I have very few true phobias or "ick" factors, but flies laying their eggs in my skivvies is probably on that short list.

I got my placement assignment a week ago, and I think I am excited.? I say "I think", because I know from my other "missions"-type experiences (primarily on the Rez here in the US), that what you are told you are going to to and what you actually do are often residents of different zip codes.? In my case, the description of my assignment/placement is:

• Providing women who are operating existing businesses with financial assistance through micro-loans.? This includes the provision of financial and small business education.? Businesses include poultry and livestock keeping, tailoring, grocery and clothing shops, restaurants, street vendors and fruit and vegetable sellers.

• Counseling and legal advocacy to lead towards gender equality to educate marginalized women in their human and legal rights.? (e.g. inheritance rights, business training, advice on personal relationships, domestic violence, etc.)

If this is what I actually end up doing, I'm feeling a little bit prepared, just from my past experiences and some of my professional training.? Even so, translating this into what will actually be happening (I've been told that our group - two of us - will be doing a lot of travel in the area with this particular assignment) is an unknown, which is a little intimidating, but not too much so.

I still remember sitting in front of a class of 15-20 Native American girls on the Standing Rock reservation in North Dakota, having just been told I would not be assisting with teaching a vocals/singing class, but that I would be teaching the class (because the original teacher broke her ankle the week before).? After the longest hour of my life, in which I couldn't get anyone to talk - let alone sing - I called my wife and told her I thought I'd made a mistake in coming on this mission trip.? By the end of the week, though, I'd already made plans to come back the next year with my wife and as many friends as I could drag along.? (Ten years later, I'm still working with that organization, though on a different reservation right now.)

My Swahili seems almost non-existent (still working on my note cards - planning to finish them up tonight), and I'm trying to put together my pictures from home (to share on the trip), along with pulling together the last-minute things required.? Every five minutes it seems like I remember "one more thing" I need to do before leaving.

For example - our packing list includes "flashlight", but then goes on to say that power is not completely reliable, and that a flashlight is a necessity for the trip if I need to get up at all in the middle of the night.

Nice to know that.

We are supposed to have wifi at home base, but its reliability is, reportedly, similar to that of electricity, so who knows how much I'll be able to update y'all during the trip.? There is supposed to be an internet cafe nearby, so even if the wifi doesn't work, hopefully the landline at the internet cafe will...? Otherwise, I may be trying to update this from my BlackBerry (which is like trying to build a deck with 2x2's and a staple gun - it can be done, but it ain't pretty).

Grace and peace to all of my friends and family, and looking forward to sharing my photos when I get back!

Chris

Source: http://community.crossculturalsolutions.org/xn/detail/1496614%3ABlogPost%3A135856?xg_source=activity

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