I'm off on Saturday, July 14 to begin my South African adventure. If you are interested in following my trip and experiences, I will do my best to keep this page updated. This is my first experience with blogging, so bear with me!
For those of you who are not aware of my plans, I am going to South Africa to volunteer with a program called "loveLife," which was started by the Kaiser Family Foundation and is South Africa's national HIV prevention program for young people. My friend Avni and I will be volunteering with loveLife for three weeks, working with South African teenagers all over the country.
The first week, we will be in Cape Town working with groundBREAKERS (South African teenagers who have committed themselves to the program to offer sexual health counseling and effective outreach to other young people) on the loveGames, which is an Olympic-inspired competition among schools around South Africa and includes sporting events, drama, debate, musical performances, etc to promote healthy living. We will also be meeting with members of the South African government and media and the CNN anchors for the Annual Nelson Mandela Award and the CNN African Journalism Awards.
The second week, we will join the loveTrain which travels to the rural communities in South Africa to sustain outreach and services to young people. We will be stationed in Piet Retief, a very small town in the Mpumalanga region on the border of Swaziland. We will be working with groundBREAKERS to educate local youth about HIV/AIDS and sexual health through entertainment, sports, and motivational speaking. We will also be working with the schools and clinics to sustain the loveLife message when the train departs.
The third and final week we will be in Johannesburg, lovingly called Jo'burg, working with the program's media partnership that promotes awareness of the program, encourages more open discussion of sex, sexuality, gender and HIV and connects young people with the services they need to remain healthy. If you'd like to learn more about loveLife, you can visit the program's website, http://www.lovelife.org.za/
Avni and I are beyond excited about our upcoming adventure and I would love for you to share in our experiences as well. I hope you enjoy it!
Kim
5 comments:
kim, i wish you the best of luck... i am so proud of you!! xoxo
Kimmi!!!!!!!!! I cant wait to read about your adventures in Africa. I also can't wait till you come home to tell me all about it. I love you!
Can't wait to hear all about your experiences in S.A. Safe travels to you and Avni!
Kim! I miss you already. I know you will have an amazing time. When do you get back again? I am literally marking it on my calender.
I hope you're having a wonderful time! Can't wait to see ya back in DC :-)
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