Mambo!

Mambo!  Habari gani?
Hello!  Well, I've had a week in Dar es Salaam and am enjoying myself so far!   I've been looked after well by VSO and had a week of fairly hardcore training etc so have not had much chance to get on the net until now. I have today off, so am off to the beach later for some R&R.  Dar is a crazy city, so much going on but the people are friendly and helpful even if I can't understand what they say!  It is SO different to anywhere else I've been - amazing how people make do with what they have.  The street outside out hotel seems to be the local mechanics, with people changing engines with their bare hands right next to a BBQ chicken stall.  It's hot... It was 28C when I arrived, and has stayed hot all week... and this is winter!  It did rain today as I was walking around the city.. really rained... but only for 2 minutes... and I dried off quick in the heat. 
Other things I have noticed:   
Beer is cheap (2000shilings = less than 1pound).  
Some things are stupidly expensive (a rubbishy towel= 30 000 shillings = 12 pounds)
Satellite dishes point straight up
The call to prayer from the mosque is both loud and early

I'm going to Morogoro tomorrow for one week for some kiswahili training and then I'm going down to my placement near Mtwara.  It sounds like my placement location is very rural so will be a massive change from my week here in Dar, nonetheless I'm looking forward to starting work.

Hope everyone is doing well back home
Kwa Heri

Thankyou all!!

Thankyou to everyone who has donated money to VSO,  I have reached my £1500 goal !!!! WOOOP!    This money goes to VSO to help them continue to send people like me overseas to help in developing countries.   I thought it would be difficult to raise such a large amount, but thanks to the generosity of friends and family (and selling most of my worldly goods at carboot sales) it was actually quite easy!!!!
Just because I've reached the £1500 mark, does not mean I have to stop there!   You can still donate to VSO through my just giving site:  http://www.justgiving.com/jamesdaviesVSO and this will help VSO even more!!
Also, check out the VSO website for more information on their work.  http://www.vso.org.uk/

Many Many thanks to you all :)


Not long to go now..............

3 weeks.......

3 weeks to go!

The lovely helpful people at Anachem UK LTD (www.anachem.co.uk)  have very kindly donated some Pipettes for me to take with me.  These will be very useful for my work and will replace the ageing pipettes that are currently in use at the hospital.
I've also been requested by the hospital to take a spectrophotometer with me- not sure I can fit that in my suitcase though!

I'm still trying to sell my car! (PLEASE somebody buy it!)
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201223474909916/sort/default/usedcars/model/mondeo/make/ford/radius/1/postcode/bh124be/page/1/quicksearch/true?logcode=p

My Swahili is coming along (albeit very slowly).. but I still don't know much about football.  I did sit through the Ireland-Croatia match the other day... but I completely missed the England match last night (in fact I didn't even know it was on!!)... so still a long way to go before I can have a conversation about Football in Swahili. !

My flight details should be through soon, and then I can start packing/panicking.    

4 weeks to go

4 weeks to go!!!

yep, just 4 weeks until I move to Tanzania for two years!   It's becoming a lot more real now.  I've got my car on the market for sale (if anyone wants a lovely mondeo then get in touch!) and have started to pack my stuff into boxes.  I've sold most of it to raise money for VSO, and thanks to everyone's generousity I have raised £1200 so far of my total of £1500.
I've just spent the last 5 days at my final VSO training... it has been very useful in prompting me to think about the challenges I may face in my placement overseas.  However, although it has answered a few of my questions it has raised about a million more!   I'm still excited about going, but am naturally a bit apprehensive.   I should be getting my flight details through soon, so it will be a lot more real then!

If you want to see the hospital I am going to then look at  http://www.nyangaohospital.com/ 

Welcome to my Blog

Hi Everyone....  Welcome to my blog!!!

If you've got here then you probably know that I'm going to Tanzania for 2 years, doing voluntary work through VSO.   I will be working in a hospital laboratory in the Lindi region of Tanzania.

Hopefully I'll be able to keep this updated throughout my time in Tanzania, and maybe even get some photos on here!

I'm still trying to raise money for VSO so they can continue their work sending skilled professionals overseas to help combat poverty in the world's poorest countries.   You can donate at: 
www.justgiving.com/jamesdaviesVSO