Pre-Africa Thoughts

Hello Everyone!

Most of you who will be reading this already know who I am. For those of you that don’t, my name is Abby and I’m a senior at the University of Minnesota Duluth. I am majoring in Health Education with a community concentration.

This is a blog about my experiences as I intern in Tanzania. In order to fulfill my degree requirements I must complete an internship for credits. I knew I wouldn’t be happy sitting behind a desk somewhere in Duluth, so this led me to an organization called Cross-Cultural Solutions. They are a non-profit organization with no political or religious affiliations that run volunteer placements all over the world.

I was motivated to intern abroad because I just really wanted evidence to put on my resume that proves I’ve actually done something! On a professional level, I expect to gain valuable lessons in cultural competency, being flexible and open, and working in an environment with limited resources. On a personal level, I expect to gain an experience that will set the tone for my future life endeavors.  I hope to gain reassurance that non-profit work abroad is truly where my interests lie.
   

Tanzania is on the south eastern coast of Africa, right below Kenya.  I will be stationed in Moshi, which is right next to the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa!  I will be staying at the home base, just 2 kilometers out of town.

                                                                                           

My placement is with a children’s center for ages 3 to 6.  Honestly, at this point in time, I hardly know much more than that, but there will be plenty to come!

I hope to fill this blog with not only my experiences as an intern, but also the whole cultural experience that comes along with living in Africa for 3 months! I look forward to becoming familiar with the land, people, food, dress, language, values, and traditions and passing them on!
 

I’ll try to post on my blog as regularly as possible, but as of right now I don’t exactly know how often or easy internet use will be.  I hope I can keep you all up to date with my happenings!  Please feel free to leave me comments! Thanks for reading!