HIV/AIDS Clinic

So I was invited back by Valentine to the AIDS clinic at UNZA today..and of course I had to go. This meant that I was missing out on the street outreach that my site was doing today, but I felt as though this was an amazing opportunity. Let me start by explaining that I think I literally aged 10 years in 3 hours today...
Berto was thrown into the clinic and what I thought we would be doing was assisting with the counseling portion of the HIV test...not so much..Berto is actually doing the pre test couseling, then administering the test, then doing the post test counseling. So Berto and I sat in a room and tested UNZA students...I mean like WE tested them...right then and there..and then made then wait as we waited in the tiny room for the results, brought them back in and talked to them about the results. I felt so grateful to have had only negative results today, but Berto has had to give out a positive result once...
It was insane...I mean really crazy and I was so happy to be a part of it. We were talking with the counselors at the Clinic and the biggest need that they have right now is support for the children who have tested positive through their clinic. There is little to no support for these families and many of the HIV positive children are living with older grandparents who have outlived their own children. The grandparents dont understand the disease and there is little education available for them. The drugs that these kids are taking makes them sick already and many times, the grandparents who are not working, dont have money to feed them, so the children take the medication on empty stomachs, get sick and then miss school....
I sense thesis project and a fundraiser in my future!!
Other than that my site has been awesome...I love the kids. We are doing literacy daily and group therapy everyday, its challenging and I would not have it any other way! Tomorrow we are taking the kids to the agricultural show that Zambia has every year and it is hosted in Lusaka, the kids are really excited!
The chicken coop in well on its way...Yesterday we had to level out dirt and there is a kid named Malama who for the record has one leg, who was giving us such a hard time about being lazy americans. He kept telling danny that danny didnt know how to dig and that nothing was going to get done if thats how we planned to work. Finally Danny hands him the pick and Malama put him to shame..I mean dropped his crutches and went to town!! It was easily a highlight of my trip we were laughing soooo hard.
I miss home but after today I am really grateful to be able to be a part of something so much bigger than me!
Thats all for now!

Victoria Falls and other updates!

So we got to Livingston on Friday afternoon after a 7 hour bus ride. After detour sing #12, people started to get a little anxious, but we all made it out alive. Friday night was shockingly spent drinking and being social. A bunch of us called it an early night though because we had an elephant ride at 7am!!!! Thats really early, but it was soooo worth it. I had so much fun. Berto and Ana rode together...shockingly :) and Nancy (another girl from the program) and I rode together. Nancy and I ended up with the crazy elephant, go figure...her name was Pongosi and she is insane. She kept going off into the vegetation and eating everything and anything that she could. The best part was our guide told us that Pongosi eat so much because she was a "healthy girl" just like me and Nancy...yes he actually said that...let me repeat that for you, a man who handles elephants for a living called me healthy, diet starts the day I get back!!!! lol it was really a lot of fun and I had a great time. That night we took a boat cruise down the river and had soooo much fun. There has been a little drama in terms of girls liking boys and since there are 4 guys in our group, competition has become a little intense...as a result Ana and I decided to stay in that night and let it all blow over! So funny that even as we get older, some things never change. The next morning was Victoria Falls and it has to easily be a highlight of my life. It was incredible. So massive and beautiful, we had a great time. My camera died as we got on the elephants on saturday though so I had to rely on Ana and Berto for me Victoria Falls pictures...thats a bummer but they did a really good job of taking pictures for me!
The bus ride back was 14 hours it felt like, it was ridiculous, but we made it back and it was off to work on Monday.
FINALLY i was able to go to Salvation House and I was sooo happy. I love them all! There are 2 girls for portland that are doing their internships for their MSW that are living there and I have made them my new friends...and I adore them. They are coming with me on Safari this weekend since Ana and Berto as well as Danny have opted out of going to the Lower Zambezi Safari Trip, sad but I am soooo excited. Anyway I love Salvation, the kids are awesome and I was put in the small group discussion with the older boys and they are tons of fun.
Today we went into the streets and besides getting punched in the face (accidentally) it was really not that bad. One of the kids stole the other kids drugs and he went frantically running after him and I was just caught in the middle..no biggie but my glasses went flying and it busted open my lip a little...just another adventure in the traveling of Felisa! I cant wait to go back on Thursday!
We have decided to build a chicken coop for the house since they are keeping their chickens in a closet in the kitchen so thats what my days will consist of I think until we leave...
thats all you get for now..
Will update soon!

Site Update...

Aptekar kept me away from Salvation Home today...he decided that since I am feeling better it is best for me to get 100% before I head out to the streets...i agree its a good idea, but man was I bummed! The nice thing is that I have been totally torn between working at the clinic on campus and working with street kids so Aptekar sent me to the clinic today...
The only issue is that there is a conference in town right now so the Clinic has a booth set up there answering questions and handing out information. I was in heaven! I spent some time explaining American attitudes towards HIV/AIDS and then learning a lot about African Culture surrounding the disease. I was really in my element and loved it. I would definitely stay there if I didnt feel like seriously pushing myself to get the most out of this experience. HIV/AIDS in something that I am comfortable with and I understand a lot about, street kids in something entirely different. So I was super bummed when Aptekar pulled the plug, but I get to start back up on Monday at Salvation Home and then maybe take a day next week and go into the clinic to do pre/post HIV testing counseling...I'm sensing a career change :)
We will see. Tomorrow morning we are all headed out to Victoria Falls! This is going to be amazing! We are taking a elephant ride to see some animals (AHHHH I CANT WAIT!!!!)
ok I probably wont post until after Victoria Falls...

So...we got our sites

And i would just like to mention that I have no written this post 2 times...since the first time it didnt post!!! GRRRRRRR!!!
ok moving on..
We are here in Zambia and slowly but surely getting used to it all. The rest of the group is now here and thats been fun! We are all trying to get to know each other and as well as the UNZA students. I love them all...the UNZA students have been amazing! They even took us (the original 4) out the first Saturday that we were in town (Dont worry grandma and Papa, it was very safe and we were never in danger!!!)
They took us to a local club..that was an adventure! We had a great time and I was grateful to have 1 adjustment day without the other 24 SJSU students.
Sunday was spent at the "get to know you" bbq. The UNZA Drum Team came out and did a few dances and sang some songs...way cool!
Then we did icebreakers and hang out and had a bbq, it was all soo much fun. Sunday night the rest of the group decided to go out and me, being the responsible mature young lady that I am, decided to stay in and sleep (Mostly its the fact that I am having some mild side affects to the malaria medication and I am also coming down with a cold, but I like the idea that I am a mature and responsible young adult, so thats my story and I am sticking to it!!!)
Monday: We visited all the sites. There are 6 in total, 2 working with special needs children, 2 schools (one of which Oprah is a sponsor of), a street kids treatment center, and an AIDS Clinic. After we saw all the sites, we went to the main down town (very busy and tons of people) and had a scavenger hunt in small groups to get to know each other better. That was interesting. When we got back we had a meeting to pick out sites. So here they are:
Christiana got Yashemi (the one that is sponsored by Oprah) and she could not be happier about it
Danny and I are both at Salvation Home (the street kids treatment center)
and Berto is at the AIDS Clinic (Which was my second choice and I was really torn between the 2)
So now we have spent a couple of days there:
Day one...slightly overwhelming but I am loving it. Salvation Home was on lockdown since the night before 7 kids snuck out and got high and had to be dragged back to the center by Mama Carol. Mama Carol is amazing, she is the American woman from Minnesota who got divorced, sold her house and has been running and Salvation Home ever since. She 5'0" and is tough as nails...i love her! We spent most of the day talking about why they were on a lockdown and what can they do to solve the problems. It was intense to say the least. These kids have the saddest stories I have ever heard...its incredible how amazing these kids are. They just want attention. I was given a rap name yesterday lol its Fairy Baby! It was too funny! I am having a great time!
Today Apetekar made me stay home and sleep. I was coughing too much at our meeting last night for him to let me go to work...for 3 reasons: me being sick around kids who are highly susceptible to getting sick is a bad idea, and me being sick around kids who are already sick is a BAD idea, and lastly, me being sick and not getting better by this weekend when we go to Victoria Falls would suck (in Apetakars words, not mine)
So I slept all day, it was glorious! The first time I think that I have really slept since I left on the 11th!
Christiana is loving her site! I asked her if she had anything else she wanted to add to that, she said no (sorry Ana followers)

Tomorrow we are going out on the streets and seeing what we can do there, if anything. Mama Carol likes to make sure that the areas with the highest concentration of street children know that she exists! So thats tomorrow!
Then we leave Friday morning for Victoria Falls.
ok so thats all for now! I will update soon!

ZAMBIA HERE WE ARE!

So...exactly 24 hours from when we left the apartment in Amsterdam, we are officially here in ZAMBIA!
Let me just give you a quick highlight from our trip from Amsterdam to Zambia...We had to fly through Heathrow and as a result we ended up having to check our bags, collect them, change terminals go through customs then go back through security all before we make our joinery from London to Kenya, where our first flight change was to take place.
Surreal to say the least, we have checked in to our room...naturally the boys have a better room...my thoughts are because we (Christiana and i) would complain less about a shitty room than they would! The boys have affectionately renamed their room CLUB 4 0..after their room number 40 and we suspected that the after parties will be hosted by them...
I have my doubts however since the last time I heard Berto say he wanted to party...he had 5 shots of Jager in 30 min and then spent the next 15 hours sleeping off his hangover...Updates on their club scene will follow cause they are awesome!
Berto seems to be having some banking issues and so far has not been able to contact them to get a new pin and let them know he is traveling and then today when he tried to use an ATM..the machine ate his card..luckily for him people where coming to service the machine 15 min after it ate his card.
Did i mention that we are in Zambia?!?!!?!? soooooo fing crazy!
OK thats good for now!
will update soon!

ByeBye Amsterdam!

So we begin our 22 hour treck to Zambia in just a few hours! I'm not going to lie, I am not all that excited about the trip!
We have had so much fun here in Amsterdam that its a little bitter sweet to be leaving. I am ready to start the next leg of our adventure, but oh man did we have fun! I am slightly excited about the idea of unpacking instead of living out of the backpack, that will be nice!
So tomorrow we will be in Africa...who does that?!?! Its going to be such an amazing adventure and I cannot wait to start!
The four of us keep trying to come up with ideas on how to entertain ourselves for the next 22 hours, including layovers and plane trips...I think we might get really good at playing cards...
So this is the last post from Amsterdam!
Zambia here we come!

Amsterdam in a nutshell!

Ok I clearly have some updating to do! We are in amsterdam our appartment is amazing and this group is amazing. I am having so much fun! We got in Monday morning and it poured on us before we could get to the apartment which was fun. We went out Monday night and there weren't too many people out we decided that the city was in mourning since they lost to Spain the day before. Oh my goodness I forgot to mention that when Christiana got to the airport...she realized that she had left her passport at her house. Luckily berto was on top of keeping everything calm and christiana was so on top of it and kept her cool! Her mom brought her the passport after her grandma had offered to get it to her (way to go fam!) ok so it turns out that we can all travel together and it's been awesome! The second day we were here the holland futbol team came on a bought through the canals and everyone wad there for hours waiting for them decked out in orange and holland gear...so cool. It definitely put a damper on getting things done on our list but being a part of that was such a once in a life time experience that it was so totally worth it! It's been difficult to find Internet cafes and pay phones and my international phone isn't working so I have been really grateful for the iPod touch that Christiana brought it's been a life saver in terms of communication. There have been lots of naps since we are getting home from the bars at around 4 and trying to be up by930 ish so naps have been a necesity! I'm currently sitting in the appartment watching a lightning complete with down pour and massive thunder while berto sleeps and the rest of us are working on getting the motivation for the last night out before we start our 22 hour treck to Zambia tomorrow. The best part is I'm looking around and our apartment looks like a tornado came through. We all have our stuff ALL over the place and shockingly enough I think I'm the worst! Today we acomplished a lot. We went to Anne franks house the van gogh museum and then I made it to the rijksmuseum while the others went back to hang out at the apartment. Ok so it's time to get going with our evening I miss home but I am having a great time! Update you all soon I promise!

Ready to leave/intros!

So after 2 days of trying to get everything together to go on this trip..I think I have finally done it!

I have waaaay more things than I can possibly fit into the two bags that I am planning on bringing including 40 note pads and 100 pencils (donations for Zambia). Because of the massive amounts of things I would like to bring, I am boycotting packing; clearly it is better to just know that things wont fit then to try to problem solve and pick the necessities.

I had my first freak out on wednesday night about the trip. I kept thinking about all the things at work that I left half done, desperately trying to figure out how to get my thought process to work with someone else's and train someone to do my job in 2 days worth of time. It will definitely be interesting when I get back, but honestly at this point I just want to go!

Christiana and I have this running joke at this point about the lack of preparation we have done for this trip up until this point...all I know is we are going to Amsterdam in 2 days, so who cares about anything else!

On a side note, for those of you who dont know here are my travel companions:

There is Christiana, whom I adore and we have become friends relatively quickly since the begining of the cohort...she works at Radio Disney and is amazing fun! She is an only child and takes a significant amount of shit from us in stride about being an only child! She will also be my roommate in Zambia

There is Danny, who is incredibly charming. Danny is the only one out of the 4 of us who has been to Amsterdam. Hes a good sport and allows me to give him a hard time, even if its only rarely that he pencils us into his busy schedule!

And there is Berto..B-Man (as Christiana calls him) is hands down the most easy going person I have ever been around. He is genuine and a beach bum at heart. I think he might actually be having anxiety about not being by the ocean for almost a month. He always seems to join the conversation 2-4 hours after the rest of us and thats part of the reason we love him!

We have only had good times together and it seems like that perfect group to travel with..I CANNOT wait until Sunday!

Getting Started!

Ok so I am working on getting this thing up and running, but this is just a way that I (and the others that I will be traveling with) can keep people updated on our adventures. We leave SUNDAY!! I am so excited.
So here is the breakdown: San Jose State has a Service Learning Project with the University of Zambia. 20 students from SJSU are going…I am one of them! There are 9 people from my cohort going and I could not be more excited about that. On top of that, 4 of us from class have decided that it’s a good idea to stay in Amsterdam for a few days, 4 to exact.
We get back on August 7th so for the next few weeks…you can follow us through our adventures. I will do my best to update as frequently as possible!
See you all in AUGUST!