So here's one of the first steps on my journey to being a VSO volunteer. There is still a lot to do before I depart for Rwanda at the beginning of September, but it's taken a while to even get this far.
I thought that starting to write my blog may make it all seem a bit more real and may focus my attentions in the right direction. I only have three more weeks left at work and then I will have six weeks to pack up and finally sort myself out in preparation to leave for two years. It's all quite daunting but also hugely exciting. It will be sad to leave GCH but the challenges that lie ahead will give me something to really get my teeth stuck into and I can imagine that although I will be shattered and over-whelmed at times, it's going to be incredibly rewarding.
The journey so far, then: I applied for VSO in December 2009. I had my selection day in April 2010 and then it took until September 2010 to get my references sorted out! So, finally the wheels were fully in motion and I got offered my placement at the start of this year. I have attended both online and face-to-face courses with VSO, I've had my medical and dental checks and I've started the process of getting vaccinated - thankfully I have most of them as I've done a bit of travelling, but I still have to have 7 more to complete the process!
I'm persevering with the online learning of Kinyarwanda - I have a very small handful of words so far (hello/goodbye/thankyou/how are you/my name is Alice), but it will get better once I have to use it everyday (I hope!). Perhaps setting up this blog is just one more way to procrastinate...
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