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Published: July 17th 2009
The final stages of my summer trip are in the works. 4 more days and I will be boarding my first flight headed to Botswana. I can not even truly express my gratitude for this experience. None of this would have been possible without Rebecca making it so and I am so thankful to her whole family that this is going to happen.
Africa has always been a dream to me, not the first place on my list to travel around alone but a very big dream to get there. There are soooo many places in Africa that I would like to visit and hopefully in the future that will all come to fruition, however Botswana is such a great start. From what I have been learning it is a very stable country in terms of government/politics and economy. More so than nearly all of Africa. This however does not mean that all of the living conditions are Western or that there is not hunger or children deprived of education, these factors still exist. I will be hosted by my student Drews grandmother and grandfather and staying in their cottage in a village about 30 minutes outside of Gaborone.
My mom has been selling some of my photography at her store helping me raise some money for Africa. She has also gotten a few friends to each donate $20 and another friend gave me 28 brand new shirts that her daughter designed that I will distribute. A couple of my friends are giving a small monetary donation and I am collecting more clothing for children from my friends as well.
The plan for my time in Africa is to volunteer as much as possible with the community, take in the culture and provide a special memory and ounce of hope for the children I meet. The money I am saving up will be to get the children school/art supplies and the biggest hope I have is to sponsor at least one child's education (tuition and uniform) that may not otherwise be able to go to school. I will be in Botswana for 3 weeks we will see what I can do while there.
Summer has been super amazing so far and it is getting better everyday. Montana was such a great time and seeing my family along the way was such a great bonus. A new man has entered my life and immediately on my return to LA he came down to stay with me and I returned with him to Santa Barbara to meet his family and get to know his home town. My birthday party was a blast, over 30 amazing people showed up and my cheekbones hurt from the amount of smiling and laughing I did. I admit yes I had alcohol, I was given a few drinks and I was buzzed by the end! My boyfriend is on his way back down to LA to spend the weekend with me before I leave and we have lots to do and lots of friends to see before I go.
On August 13th I will arrive in London, with absolutely no intentions of staying there. I am looking into my options as there are sooo many places to go, however I need to be very careful with money. One of the places I did not get to visit on my Europe trip that I really was sad to miss was Gdansk, Poland. The home and burial ground of Kinga Freespirit, my inspiration and such a great light in this world. LED BY DESTINY is so amazing to me and I know I have mentioned her and her story a few times in the past. Lucky me, I have been in contact before with her mother and this morning I received an email from her that she may be in Gdansk during my time in Europe and if that is the case she would love to host me. She asked if I would be willing to re-route and go to Ghana instead. Oh how amazing that would be! *sigh* I do not think I can afford the reroute etc so I will have to plan on that one in the future. If she stays in Gdansk and can host me it will be sooo amazing like a dream. Kinga was such an amazing person and I already know her mother is equally amazing. I told her although I will not be able to go to Ghana this time, I will help her in anyway I can in Poland if she stays. We will see where I end up in Europe. If Poland is a no go, I would like to go visit Meredith. Either one I will be happy with.
Now for my adventure... I have no idea if I will be able to write at all while there as internet and phone seem very sparse. Please keep me in your thoughts and I can't wait to share my summer with you when I return!
Much love!!!
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Athur
non-member comment
Going to Botswana?
Hi Erin, I can't believe it! You are actually finally going to Africa. And to Botswana! WOW! I was actually there in June and it was pretty cool. You should also pass through Zimbabwe and go to the Victoria Falls! I don't know if you remember but that's where I am originally from, Zimbabwe that is. It's a really nice place too and since you will be so close you should probably check it out. If you want I can help you link up with some of my family or friends if you need a place to stay or something? Just let me know before you leave.