What is this Business?

My name is Anne, and I'm a college kid who's about to go on an 8-week service trip to Togo, West Africa. In exactly 3 weeks from today, I hop on the airplane!

In the midst of uberprepping for departure, I set up this blog so that people will be able to verify that I'm still alive. On top of that, it will serve as a possibly entertaining tale for you and as a personal record for me.

So, where am I going, exactly? Here's a map of Togo:

I'll spend the first few days of the trip in Lomé, the capital, where there's going to be an orientation for the volunteers. After that, I'll head north to a village not far from Kara. This is where I'll spend the majority of the 8 weeks. I'll be going to Kara each Wednesday, when there's a weekly market, and it's on these Wednesdays that I'll have internet access. Finally, I'll spend 3 days or so in Ghana at the end of the trip as a sort of vacation.

What will I be doing? Odds are I'll be doing research on (surprisingly effective) local medicines as well as working with a women's community group. I'm very excited about both of these possibilities. The trip is rather freeform, however, so I may wind up doing something completely different on top of or in place of these activities. We will wait and see.

More to come!