My journey so far...

I've started this blog today, March 30th, but I've been working on this trip for months now, and thinking about it for months before that.

Applying

Last summer my friend Ken spent a month in Ingwavuma, South Africa with AYO. Now, as a student of microbiology and one especially fascinated by tropical diseases, I've always had an interest in volunteering in Africa. I've read books by people who spent years of their lives working with people and diseases there, and it has been a dream of mine to do something similar. After talking to Ken and hearing his stories about his trip, not to mention looking at his great pictures, I decided that I would really love to be a part of this group.

I applied in December 2008 and went in for my interview in January, on one of the coldest days of the year. It was my first introduction to the founders of the group, Rebecca and Alex. I was nervous at first, but their relaxed personalities put me at ease. I don't know how they thought my interview went, but it can't have been too bad because a few weeks later I answered a call from Rebecca telling me that I'd be going to Ingwavuma.

Thus began the rollercoaster...

March 8th - First Meeting

Our first face-to-face team meeting was on Sunday, March 8th, which was nearly a huge problem for me. The Thursday before I travelled with a small group from the marching band down to Indianapolis for the women's Big 10 basketball tournament. Everyone I knew and everyone on the trip fully expected a Thursday loss and to be returning on Friday, but the Badgers surprised everyone and pulled out two wins that weekend, extending my stay until Sunday morning. I felt bad, but I was relieved when they lost to Purdue on Saturday in the semifinal, meaning that I'd be home in time for the meeting. It's one of the things we've discovered: trying to coordinate schedules between 8 very different people is a task that borders on impossible, and always absorbs at least a half an hour of our meetings.

Even running on barely three hours of sleep, the meeting was fantastic. I met the rest of the volunteers, three of whom would be travelling with me to Ingwavuma (Marilee, Machiko, and Jessy) and the four who would be going to De Wildt (Annie, Marsha, Ytevia, and Mary). I was surprised that we were all women, and at the large age disparity in the group, but they are great people and we all got along right away.

After the traditional opening icebreaking exercise, we also discussed travel arrangements and spent an hour learning Zulu, which I loved. Igama lami nguMegan (My name is Megan). I'm sure I butcher it when I try to speak, and I'll probably be hopelessly lost in trying to understand them there, but I like to at least try to learn the local language when I travel.

March 29th - HIV education

Yesterday we had our second meeting and it went just as wonderfully as the last. Because of a mix-up with my friend I ended up taking a cab there, but it just demonstrated to me how great all of my teammates are, because as soon as they heard they all insisted that I could call them if I ever needed a ride again. As it turned out, Marilee and I live only a few blocks from each other, so we'll probably be carpooling.

The main topic of the meeting yesterday was learning about HIV and AIDS, which I loved. Much of it I knew, because of my microbiology classes, but it was all fascinating to me. The best parts were learning about the common myths about the disease, because it really emphasized how much work we had ahead of us. Some of the myths, such as that "having sex with a virgin will cure you of HIV/AIDS" or that "condoms or antiretroviral drugs cause/spread HIV/AIDS" may seem laughable to us, but are dangerously pervasive in the area. Obviously, we aren't going to be able to make everyone listen to and learn from us, but I'm anxious to try.

The Ingwavuma group also had another hour of Zulu instruction, while the De Wildt team started learning Tswana. Ngihlala eMadison (I live in Madison). We had a really tough time with the "hl" consanant, which is like trying to make the "sh" sound through your molars... or something. It's very tough to explain.

As it's getting late and this post is getting long, I'll leave you all with this link to the donation page for AYO. We have a huge task ahead of us, and every little bit that people can contribute helps immensely. If you choose to donate, feel free to send AYO an e-mail saying that it was on my behalf, or using my donation page here.