Re: Blai is volunteering!
So, ARE you going to Africa Blai? (*So didn't read the other posts*)
Yesh, I am. Not until 2012 though but I
am going, which feels wonderful
Zimbabwe for six months at a daycare centre for children born with HIV. It's the same kind of daycare centre that I spent two weeks at in a Shantytown outside of Potchefstroom in RSA -09 so I am familiar with the environment and the medicationing / day schedule etc (roughly). And it's in the southern part of Zimbabwe, with good roads to Bulawayo and it's Airport if I wish to visit my friends in RSA. One of the guys I know from Potchefstroom works as a lawyer for one of the most successful firms in Southern Africa so he's often visiting Zimbabwe which means I have a high chance to meet him and hopefully his family too again.
I didn't read through all the posts, so excuse me if I am a bit or a lot off. It was a long time ago, but I travelled to SA for 3+ weeks and other African countries for a month+. I personally experienced an attempted robbery with a knife in Johannesburg. Honestly, unless you are suicidal, nothing is better than simply being alive. I think SA is such a beautiful country and I love the sound of the language, but please be extremely careful about where you live and visit. If you decide to go to other parts of Africa, I can say the same thing. Also, malaria is treatable, but if you ever get a choice where you live, pick a town at higher altitudes so that mosquitoes don't get you.
Thank you mikkih for your information, and most of all, your concern
How did you travel? Alone, with a group, family, with guides etc? Since the country you're introduced to looks very different depending on how you were introduced. I'm sorry you had to experience the robbery. Well J-burg is a pretty... "bad" tourist city and a quite dangerous city - if I'll visit RSA it'll probably be Pretoria and Potchefstroom, later one I'm very familiar with. Haven't been there many times but it's like my.. ehm, third home. Apart from some areas it's perfectly safe day-time. And I've experienced enough never to go outside of a locked yard gate when darkness falls.
However the country is indeed beautiful. Did you ever visit Sun City (luxury casino resort) or the Pilanesberg Game Reserve? Both of 'em are in the other part of RSA but if you travelled with, for example, The Pink Caravan or something, there's a chance you might've passed it.
And which language are you talking about? You know they have seven national languages? If you mean Afrikaans (the English, Dutch, French, German mix) it's a language I'm intermediate at \o/
I am already vaccinated to basically everything but the local viruses, cholera and malaria. I'll work under UNICEF so I'm pretty confident that there will be the best treatment available for us in case anything happens but I'm not that worried.
!
?
