I'm Isabelle and (like Faisal) this is my first blog post ever, but I hope to be writing a lot over the next few months as we work our way through a summer in Botswana! In September I'll be going into my 3rd year as a Global Development Studies major at Queen's University. I spent my first year at the Bader International Study Centre at Herstmonceux Castle in England, which was an absolutely amazing experience and taught me a lot about living as a student abroad. This summer I will be working at True Men Trust in Francistown with Faisal.
The theme of our first posts is "Countdown to Botswana", and I am here to tell you that the official countdown is only 34 DAYS until we fly out and start making our way to Botswana!!! Its pretty hard to describe exactly how excited I am to actually get going and start our real summer. Last week (on April 30th) we had our final all cooperant training day. It was definitely a surreal experience to say goodbye to the cooperants and site directors who will be working in Nunavut and Ghana, and almost felt like we were all headed to the airport right then and there. Finally it feels like this is really happening. I have been counting down since I received the phone call from Davina saying I would be going to Botswana way back in the fall, but it has just started to feel real.
I'll be spending the next month getting everything ready (most likely repacking a couple of times) and preparing for the experience of working in a country and culture which I have never lived in before. Although I know that we will face challenges when we are adjusting to the work and the lifestyle, I could not be more excited to meet our host family, explore Francistown, and start working! I am sure that this summer will be a life changing experience, and I can't wait to get started!
Sala sentle (stay well)!
Isabelle