News of our placements is on its way!

Trevor has been trekkin' African soil to pair us all up with our partner organizations and will be home shortly with news of our placements. Soon, I'll be able to delve into focused preparation for my work this summer.

For the Chapter
Since we last talked, I've become up to date with all my vaccinations. I have also completed the Level Two and Level Three of the Foundation Learning. Hopefully by the time Trevor returns, I will be on Level Five (Project and Sector Specific Learning). I've also been having some great conversations with Tony (return JF from Zambia) about hygiene, culture, things to bring, things to carry around, living with a family, tips and tricks for integrating into my community and I'm getting really excited. I have a lot of work to do before departure, but there is plenty of time and it can be done!

When it comes to feelings, sometimes I drift into fear of the unknown (being alone in another country for 4 months) but it isn't 30 seconds before I am giddy about working for EWB and exploring a new horizon. To prepare for those lonely moments, I bought some awesome fiction last weekend (The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Great Expectations, Raise High the Roof Beam Carpenters) and have been downloading albums like a mad man! I've also been dreaming up my social change project.

I've always been interested in documentary filmmaking so this summer, I'm going to make my first doc and use it to connect Canadians to Africans. I've been following EWB overseas blogs for some time now and I've noticed that video is much more powerful than photos. It can capture personalities with stories. I don't want to develop the content until I'm there (I know it will be about livlihoods), but I've been watching documentaries with every opportunity I get and have been taking notes. I'm looking for a video camera and hope to do some trial interviews before exams hit.

I'll let you know as soon as I find out my placement.
Until then, hope you're endin' up on the downtown side.
love kate