So I still have yet to book my tickets. It may sound like I am procrastinating a bit, which is about 5% of the reason. However the price is fluctuating everyday so I am waiting for the best possible time. I am going to set a goal though. I want to have my tickets booked by May 1st. I also am glad that I did not purchase tickets when I originally planned because after talking to Adam, my contact at FSD, I found out that I am not supposed to fly into Nairobi but Kisumu. This is an unexpected extra $400 hour-long flight. Not only is that unfortunate, but will make my travel days just that much longer. It sure will be an adventure. For an update on my visa: I went to Walgreens the other day and had two more photos taken to send in with all my other documentation. I am that much closer to getting that sent off. Once my tickets are purchased and my visa is in my hand, a huge weight will be lifted. After that, medication is the next on my list to take care of.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Update: Flight prices are staying pretty steady as far as I can see. I just hate that I passed up a good deal last week. But I guess that is how it goes. I am working on getting all the required materials for my visa together. One step at a time...
I forgot how much coordination and planning it is to prepare for an international trip. However, I am confident that I can do it. I did it on my own for my trip to Senegal. For that trip I was working, taking classes, and had absolutely no experience with travel. So I can do it! Flights have already gone up by over $200 in a week. I was not sure where I would be flying from so I did not book a ticket and now I will pay for my hesitation. Goodness, I hate that! I also want to apply for my visa, however, you need to send flight information and two passport pictures with the application. Neither of which I have. I need to step it up! My chore for this week is to figure out my flight so that I can move on to my visa application, and then notify FSD of my plans.
I have begun my search for flights to Nairobi. I have found some pretty sweet deals. I am hoping to book my tickets soon so that I can get the cheapest ones. I plan on contacting the Embassy of Kenya to get my visa this coming week. I have sent my initial payments into FSD and will be paying off the balance of my invoice as soon as I get paid on the 14th!
I am getting really excited because I finally have some firm plans to look forward too. I guess I will need to start looking over my Swahili notes soon :)
I have not posted in a while with good reason. I promise to update you more often from now on. My reasoning is due to the recent changes in my plans. I have chosen to postpone my trip to Kenya until September. Along with this change, I have chosen to go for a shorter period of time. I will be in Kakamega for nine weeks instead of the originally planned fifty two. This is not quite what I had planned but I am still very excited about this opportunity.
There will be no changes in my internship, other than the duration. I will still be taking a position with a local nonprofit to work on a sustainable community development project. Let me give you a breakdown of the new costs.
Program fees: $4,192 vs. $12,283 Airfare: $1,700 vs. $2,600 Visa: $50 Insurance: $500 vs. ~$750 Extra: $1,000 vs. $2,000 Total: $7442 vs. $17,683
I want to use every penny wisely and still be able to live this dream. Hence the changes to my plans. I still have a way to go to raise the necessary funds, but this is a much more manageable number. I am still raising money so, please continue to get the word out about my cause. Put people in contact with me, please!
THANK YOU again for encouraging and supporting me through this process.
Lately I have been asked about why the cost is so high for my internship. This is a completely legitimate question considering the average volunteer position costs only time, energy, and, of course, passion! Let me explain.
The most obvious reason that my internship is so expensive is it is international. The cost associated with an international internship include: -airfare -visa fees -vaccinations/medication -travel insurance
I have studied international sustainable development for several years now and have a concrete understanding of how to provide sustainable, lasting, effective development strategies in different parts of the world. For me, it is easy to understand why the cost is high to do such an internship. I hope that you will understand as well.
Many nonprofits around the globe receive funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), CARE International, United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), etc. However, the community-based organizations (CBO's) that FSD works with are grassroots and do not receive such funding. They are working very hard to impact the lives of the people in their communities and often don't have fundraising or outreach branches within the organization. When FSD identifies an appropriate host organization, they then seeks volunteers to help the CBO achieve its mission, just as any US-based nonprofit does (think Red Cross, Mercy Corps, etc.). The CBO cannot afford to take the time away from their mission to find talented, passionate, and available volunteers. Therefore, FSD steps in to aid them. The CBO definitely cannot spend the money to support volunteers either. Once again, FSD steps in to find voluneers that can absorb the cost of international volunteerism. FSD does a lot of fundraising themselves, but this fundraised money does not go to reduce the cost of sending volunteers but directly into the programs they support. FSD is truly a sustainable organization. In order for development to be effective and efficient, long-term solutions must be found to problems. Time and money must be invested into teaching new ways of living, experimenting with a variety of programs/projects, and implimenting new strategies. I believe that FSD does an outstanding job of creating oppurtunities for sustainable development to be carried out.
A breakdown of the program fees: -homestay (complete room and board) -limited health insurance -training and orientation -retreats to discuss progress with other participants -a seed grant to my CBO to aid in accomlishing the project I will work on -airport pick-up/drop-off
*In order for FSD to do the work that it does, they must employ a staff able to identify and work with internationally-based nonprofits. Therefore, some of the funds I will pay will go to overhead. The way I think of this is that I will have a staff of people to contact if I am ever in trouble. I am basically "hiring" a staff to choose a CBO they feel is safe, a host family that will care for me, and 24-hours assistance. Otherwise I would be going over blindly, which can be quite unsafe. I am taking precautions by traveling under the wing of FSD.
There are also the daily living expenses, including: -local transportation -snacks -necessities (soap, toilet paper, etc.) -the cost of preparing for the trip. The things I will take with are not free!
Friday, March 5, 2010
I am selling my car to raise money for my trip. If you or anyone you know is interested, please please please give me a call. It is a 2001 Buick Century Custom with 30,000 miles on it. It is in perfect condition. My grandparents bought it new. It has clean title.
After a nonviolent struggle for equal rights in Albany, Georgia, Martin Luther King, Jr. looked back on the previous months of events and realized that the participants in the fight for Civil Rights were focusing on the big picture, trying to change the entire systematic problem. He realized that they needed to shift their focus to the individual events that were making huge strides in the movement.
MLK Jr., a man I greatly respect, was right. If we hope for significant change to take place, we must start small. Start grassroots. Focus on the individual. Concentrate on "symbolic objectives" that lead to sustainable changes. My passion for people is grounded in the belief that every human being has the right to live a healthy, productive life. I believe in grassroots sustainable development starting with impacting one individual at a time. This blog is about my effort to start small and make a big difference.
