Preparing For Ethiopia

After graduating from Furman University last spring, I have decided that the Peace Corps is the right ‘next step’ for me. There have been many long discussions with close friends and sleepless nights trying to decide what to do after graduation, but all in all it seems like this organization is a perfect match for me. The Princeton Review book Best Entry-Level Jobs calls Peace Corps "the perfect job for the globe-trotting idealist in each of us." And, well, that pretty much sums up my aspirations.

About My Assignment

December 2, 2008 I leave for Ethiopia, where I will live and work for 27 months. My official job title is Community HIV/AIDS Volunteer. Upon leaving, I will have a two-day orientation in Washington D.C., and then 10 weeks of training in the town of Ambo, Ethiopia. After training, I will be sworn-in as a Peace Corps Volunteer and assigned a town/village where I will work for two years.

I currently have less than three weeks to physically pack up my life and mentally prepare myself for what I assume will be the toughest, yet most rewarding experience of my life. After backpacking through Asia last summer, I feel significantly more comfortable with my level of patience and adaptability, but I hope to build upon those lessons. I have no doubt that this experience will shape me as a person and teach me more than I could imagine.

About Ethiopia

I recently came across a paper I wrote last winter for my “Women and Health” course about the poor health conditions in Ethiopia. I do not remember researching Ethiopia specifically, but there it was, a self-written plan-for-action detailing simple solutions to Ethiopia’s health problems. If someone had told me while I was writing that paper that less than a year later I would be living in Ethiopia with the opportunity to put those solutions to work, I would be speechless.

According to the UNICEF world health statistics, over 1,500,000 people in Ethiopia are currently infected with HIV. To give you an idea of their health education, only 54% of men, and 39% of women know that a healthy-looking person can have HIV.

I get to help change those statistics. That’s cool.

About my adventures to come…

You can check back here for updates on my preparation, and adventures through Ethiopia! I will leave you with a quote about Ethiopia that both confirmed my excitement, and secured my anxiety for my upcoming adventures:

“Testing, awe-inspiring and heartbreaking – a journey you’ll never forget. You don’t explore Ethiopia for a relaxing getaway, you venture here to be moved. And moved you shall be.” –Africa Lonely Planet