Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Pre-staging jitters

After years spent dreaming of becoming a volunteer its finally becoming a reality! I received a big blue package from the Peace Corps early in November inviting me to Madagascar. The official date of my departure will be March 1, 2011. I arrive in Africa one day before I turn 22! I hope the lemurs will have a nice gift waiting for me.

Madagascar is one of the last places that I thought I would be placed, but I've spent the past month and a half researching relentlessly about this faraway island. And the more I learn about Madagascar the more I'm convinced it really is a magical place (with its share of issues of course). Around 80% of the flora and fauna is endemic to the island, meaning that it is not found anywhere else in the world, owing to thousands of years of isolated evolution. The Malagasy people are a unique blend of Austronesian, Bantu from Africa, and Arab descent. Some call it the eighth continent because of its unique habitat.

I discovered my love of blogging from a refugee outreach course I took this past fall at university. This was a fifteen week course that was split between civic engagement, advocacy, and the academic investigation of refugee affairs. I spent many hours volunteering with a Bhutanese/ Nepalese family in Rogers Park. I learned that reflection is a crucial component of service work by my contributing to a public blog. Well I hope you are able to follow me on this potentially whirlwind adventure.


Well au revoir until next time mon amis!