Hey all!
As you probably already know if you're here, Ali and Carolyn are headed to Zambia "the heart of Africa" this summer! :) Both of us are nursing students who are three quarters of the way through our program at ISU (woohoo!), and we'll be volunteering at Loloma Mission Hospital (near Kabompo) for 2.5 months this summer (May 24 to August 12, if you were wondering). The purpose of this blog is to keep you up to date on what's going on with our trip, as we may not be able to keep in touch as well as we'd like while we're gone.
Why Zambia?
Why not? Different reasons for both of us, I suppose. We both wanted to be involved in a medical missions trip and the door opened. Carolyn's Dad used to be a doctor at this very hospital in Zambia, so when she wanted to learn about third world nursing and see the life she'd heard so many stories about growing up, the choice was only logical. Also, it helped that he still knew some of the people there. Ali had a tie to Zambia through the child she used to sponsor, and somehow, God put us together and got us talking about the possibility, clearing the way for both of us to take this trip together!
Why this summer?
Again, why not? We're not married, neither of us have full time careers to balance or children to rear yet, and it's a great time to learn. Our hope is that, since we are three quarters of the way to being RNs, we can offer our skills in a useful way.
What's going on now?
Both of us are hectically finishing up end of the semester stuff! We have our plane tickets and passports, but other important details, like Visas, we're still working on. We'd appreciate your prayers as we finish out the semester and smooth out the details of our trip (things like visas and immunizations and malaria prophylaxis and figuring out how to fit our luggage into a managable size)
If you have any questions for either or both of us, feel free to leave a comment or email either Ali or Carolyn. We'll try to keep you up to date on the preparations leading up to the trip!
With much love (seriously, follow us so we feel loved back),
Carolyn & Ali
