About the trip and about me

Sanibonani!

Or, as you may understand it: hi, everybody!

My name is Megan Riley. I am 21 years old and a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I am majoring in Medical Microbiology and Immunology with a certificate in Computer Sciences. I am a member of the marching band, where I play clarinet and am better known by my nickname, Crayola (hence the web address of this blog!). Right now I am looking to pursue a career in public health, though I'm still trying to work out the specifics.

This will be the blog I use to document my trip to South Africa with the wonderful group African Youth Outreach. For those of you just stumbling upon this, they are a nonprofit, non-governmental, secular organization based out of Madison, Wisconsin who work to provide HIV education to at-risk children in South Africa. Their efforts began at Ingwavuma Orphan Care, in the KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa (it's in the eastern part of the country). Recently, they've begun expanding their operation to helping orphans at the De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Trust, which is nearer Johannesburg.

Through AYO, I will be travelling this summer to Ingwavuma to help their efforts to educate children of many ages about the dangers of HIV/AIDS, attempt to dispell the myths that surround the disease, and probably learn a lot about myself in the process. We'll leave America on June 24th and I'll be staying in Africa for 3 weeks.

You are probably wondering why I am starting this blog now, with nearly 3 months before I even set foot in South Africa... Well, preparing for a trip like this takes a lot of time and effort, more than the average person would ever imagine. I want to not just describe the wonderful and rewarding work that we'll be doing in Africa, but also the hours of learning and preparation that we're doing here in Wisconsin.

I hope you enjoy!