Volunteering – ExperienceSomethingAmazing

You don’t have to like me, but respect me

(As a reminder these are my experiences. I cannot speak for a whole country or continent.)

The social norms here in Malawi are very different. I feel like I have taken a time machine and have gone back in time. The roles of men and women are simply: the women are the main providers, whether that is bringing home money, taking care of the children, or doing all of the house duties. The women are to go fetch water, get firewood, or sell the harvest. Men and women are not respected on the same level and I have experienced this first hand. For example, an older gentleman that works at the campsite asked Ernest (A fellow Malawian female) to go fetch water, since she was busy I went instead. I got about 5 liters of water,(4 really big bottles of water) which I had to walk about 10 minutes in total to retrieve the water. It was not a far walk but can become difficult due to the amount of water I was carrying. When I returned about 20 minutes later, the older gentlemen asked, “Why I only got 5 liters of water instead of the 15 liters?” This would have been a fair question if 5 other guys were not simply just sitting around doing nothing. I simply replied, “Your welcome for the 5 liters of water, and one of your other men can go get the other 10 liters.” It is seen in this culture that, fetching water, regardless of how far or how heavy it is a women’s job. I have walked into rooms and have not been acknowledged solely due to the fact I was a woman. This has made me want to flip many tables. Many of the times I am by far the most qualified person in a room, due to experience in teaching, almost fully completing a degree, owning a nonprofit, and have done lots of research on developing nations, but I have been overlooked due to my gender. This is their cultural I cannot change it I must accept it. Now I simply stay quiet and observe the people around me.

The structure of work is very different here. There are plenty of men who go to work, but this solely depends on the structure of the household. If one does not own a business, is a driver or owns a farm than the person does not work. Here in Rumphi, Malawi if you own a business you are successful. It does not matter if your business makes a profit, but you own something and one should be proud. I do believe that owning a business is something to be proud of. My only issue is when walking down the street for 5 minutes you pass 15 mini shops (usually a small outhouse looking building with the simple necessities), 5 barber shops and 15 people selling vegetables. I do not know how people make a profit to survive. This has become a systematic problem due to the lack of education. In Malawi, Primary school (1^st grade to 8^th grade) is free, after 8^th grade, the parents must pay for the student to continue education. Parents cannot afford for their child to continue their education due to the lack of funds available. The other issue is the student cannot pass the 8th-grade exam due to constantly being out of school or having unqualified teachers. Many of the students in rural areas miss weeks’ worth of school to help on the farm or help their parents earn money to get food.

In these situations, I cannot do anything, because these are systematic problems. But what I can do is make the teachers accountable for showing up for work. I can make sure that each day I am present for school the students are in class as much as possible. I can make sure that even if a teacher isn’t present learning still continues. Education is key to accomplishing anything in life. Although going to college and university is not always the option for everyone, education is. This goes for anywhere in the world, students are our future. We want to make sure that each student knows they can accomplish anything. We (teachers, parents, friends, decent human beings) must uplift and protect our children so that they can go be Something Amazing in this world.

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Until next time

Stay Awesome,

Jill

I Almost Gave Up

You read that correctly, after one week I was ready to pack my bags and head to Zimbabwe. This trip is physically and mentally straining to my body. Malawi is a beautiful country, the scenery, the school and the people are all amazing. Riding my bike to school for forty minutes, past beautiful mountains and many Maze (corn) fields is absolutely breathe taking. Saying, “Mwawuka,” (Good morning) to every person and they respond, “Nauka Makola Kwalimwe” (Good morning, I am Fine) gives me a sense of being welcomed into the community. Having all the students run towards you as you ride into school. Or all the students staring while I speak English, gives me a sense of curiosity from the students. Coming home to a wonderfully cooked meal by my Host family and eating dinner together as family. Gives me a sense of a family away from home. Even though all of these things happen daily; a large part of me struggled this past week.

Many times a Malawian sees a foreigner, they think they have money. It has been embedded into their minds that foreigners will give them whatever they ask for. This is extremely difficult for me because many people want to take advantage and lie about their particular situation in order to get money out of you. I have offended people by saying I do not have whatever they are asking for, or told them no because they wanted something of mine(ex. a headlamp, water bottle, my back pack). Teaching at the school was wonderful. There are many loving teachers and students, but many things that hurt my heart as a raising teacher. Many of the students lacked writing utensils, notebooks, textbooks, desk or anything to sit on. The way that the students must learn is through memorization because there is only a textbook enough for the teacher. Many times teacher will show up to school an hour late or not at all. This makes learning disruptive, or for that day there is no learning that happens. These are systematic problems that needs to be address.

The moment that was the straw that broke the camel’s back, was this weekend at the campsite. The campsite was beautiful with Lake Malawi, the lake of a thousand stars, only a 100 yards away. At the campsite, because it is an hour or so away from the village (far away from a town), the food selection was very limited, no electricity, or a lot of running water. I find comfort in food, especially in a period of adjustment. At the campsite we had little fish with eyes in tomato sauce, pap (which is corn flour and water mixed together, very tasteless) and a larger fish(Almost for every meal) (picture below)
. I physically could not make myself eat the food although I hadn’t eaten all day and we were doing physically labor in the sun. Mentally and physically, I was drained and did not think I would be able to last two and a half months in Malawi. I was 5 minutes away from packing my bags and calling a quits. Although I know I can’t leave because I have participants depending on me to be here while they come; I felt defeated. After eating a cookie, some plain bread, and getting a few encouraging messages I felt better. I know giving up is not a solution and pressing forward is all I can do. It is only week one and it can only get better from here.

This journey is not easy, and I never thought it would be, but I could not have prepared myself for how Malawians live daily. I am a privileged American. I do not have to struggle to find food. I do not have to worry about whether I will eat in the morning. I do not have to worry will we have electricity this month. I do not have to worry about walking to school for hours at a time. I do not have to walk a long distance just to get (sort of) clean drinking water. Many Malawians go through these daily/hourly struggles.

Continue to pray for me, and send your good thoughts my way. Encouraging messages do help me through difficult patches. Remember to subscribe to my website on the bottom right hand corner. Follow me on Facebook: Jillian Marie Bundy or Experience Something Amazing, as well in order to get daily/every other day updates.

Unitl Next time

Stay Awesome

Jill

93 days and I cant wait!

We are exactly 93 days until I leave for Malawi for 2 months.

For those who are unaware of this trip or what Something Amazing does, Something Amazing is a nonprofit that helps lower the cost of volunteer trips more affordable for anyone to go. Along with, making trips affordable Something Amazing partners up with a local village and school in order to help the children and people in that village. Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world where many people lack basic necessities. In order to help, we must raise enough funds before our first group trip this summer! We currently have two people signed up to go on this group trip.

All money raised will go to our efforts to:

Send more kids to school
- It cost roughly $45 a semester to $$125 a semester to send someone to secondary school or college
- We currently send two boys, Andrea and Freddy, to Secondary school and college.
School Supplies for the village
- Roughly $100 to $150 can supply enough school supplies for 200 students for 6 months.
- We have two schools we are currently helping.
Other projects
- Bring Freshwater
- Soccer supplies for the local teams.

This is where you can help!

Below are two links where you can donate:

This link you can donate and ALL proceeds go towards our current programs:

This link you can buy a Spa Basket that is fully handmade with all natural oils. The basket includes soap, bath bomb, soap scrub or bath salts and a handcrafted wooden soap holder.

This basket is $22 or two for $40. Half of the proceeds go towards our programs.

Our goal is to raise $1000 in order to help a great help while our there this summer. Do something Great today and help! Majority of money will go directly towards the programs we have planned!!Stay Awesome!Jill

Why Change?

I have officially been home for three months. These three months have been a heap of fun, heartbreak, changes and anything else that could have turned my life upside down. Through these three months, I have learned the true meaning of adapting to change. Many of us hate change. As people, we get comfortable in how we live. We tend to stray away from anything different from the usual routine. Coming back home to simple Georgia was one of the hardest things I have done. The transition back to an everyday life of not being in a foreign country has taken a toll on my mind and soul. Some days were extremely difficult and in order to get through the day I reminisced on my adventures and time with my kids.
Other days were great, especially days I ate all the food I missed while aboard. I even went to the extreme lengths and cut my hair off, I am loving my new cut now, but that decision rocked my world for a few weeks.
Every day for the first month I yearned to be back outside of these country’s borders. Of course, as soon as life started to settle down, and being home didn’t weigh as heavily on my heart, life took another turn. We live in an age where pictures tell a story, every picture is a memory that won’t be lost. I lost majority of my pictures from my South African trip due to my IPhone crashing. It took a few weeks to mentally recover, but I had to realize that the pictures of my kids weren’t the only thing I had left of them. Every day for the second month I did everything I could to find internships in another country. Once presented with an internship in Costa Rica, I was excited to branch my talents and explore a new environment. At this point everything was falling into place, everything I asked for was given to me. Everything does not come at the correct timing’ therefore we must make further adjustments.

On the third month, everything changed again. I thought Costa Rica was exactly everything I needed at this point in my life. Working alongside a nonprofit as an intern and learning everything needed to properly run a nonprofit. Sadly, I had to turn this opportunity down; in order to study at THE University of Georgia. For those of
my readers that aren’t from the Southern parts of the United States or Georgia, THE University of Georgia is one of the best universities in Georgia and the Southeast. At first, I couldn’t understand why good opportunities kept presenting itself for me to make hard decisions. I was devastated when Costa Rica had to be turned down, but when one door closes God always opens another. Now I am all moved into my new apartment in Athens, Ga and I couldn’t be more excited about the new opportunities awaiting for me at THE Unversity of Georgia.

I cannot be abroad right now, but everything I do now is to make a better future to travel the world later. Something Amazing has been working hard to secure our trip for next summer. If you or someone you know is interested in going to Malawi please fill out the application.
UPDATE: Freddy has been sent to school with the help of our supporters. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram in order to get weekly updates.
Until next time
Stay Awesome
Jill, Ceo of Something Amazing

Dani Conquers the World

For those who are unaware, Something Amazing is featuring people who are volunteering in many different places around the world and their experiences and feelings. Here is post #2 from Dani on her recent volunteering/mission trip in Ghana. She explains exactly how many feels after coming home from a volunteer trip. She is a 21 year old Medical Student at Valdosta State:

Volunteering is something that I have been doing for a hot minute now, and there are so many emotions that I go through every time. If that’s a trip abroad or a trip within the States… it still the same. Just this summer, I went to Ghana with a company called Cross-Cultural Solutions for two weeks. And yet again — same feeling.

1) The feeling of it being just a long dream.

Coming back home is as much of a culture shock then getting there. To be honest I feel more of a culture shock coming home then when going over there. It’s a strange feeling because it makes you realize how much we have. The amount that we take for granted is insane, and the luxurious that we have are incomparable.
It seems like another world, when it’s just in fact — ours. It’s not another world, it’s our world as a whole.
Everything is so different and it’s insane to say the absolute least. You can picture your memories in your head, you have photo evidence, and it really happened.

Coming back seems like you just woke up from a really long dream — It’s back to reality.

Which doesn’t make sense right? — This is reality as much as that was reality. It wasn’t a dream…. but it damn sure feels like one though.

2) The feeling of disappointment

It will always change your life in a “positive” way — they say
I have done many volunteer works in many places, abroad and around the country. The feeling of awestruck and wanderlust kinda just stick with you. You keep these memories close to your heart. These are the ones that you tell the rest of the world about.
For the most part, volunteer trips make a positive impact in your life regardless if that’s due to the cultural immersion, the projects you work on, or the people you interact with.
But this time, it was a little different.

I feel disappointed.
No, not cause of the trip, or my time abroad. It’s cause it opened up my eyes to how much we suck.
I’m disappointed in us.
Us — as in “Americans” — and I put quotes around it because I don’t just mean the people in this area. I’m talking about people in general, no matter what country they are from…
The one’s who decide to turn their head when they see poverty. The one’s that choose to be in their own little world, and refuse to open up to the rest of this amazing place we call Earth. The one’s that are so consumed with their life, that they can’t open it to others. The one’s that close their mind, and don’t see what’s really out there.

The sad reality is, coming back home made me realize HOW MANY people are like that.

and it’s disappointing.

3) The feeling of confusion

The fact is, we are better off in one area of the world and we have so many resources and means to things. I was one of 16 others out of this side of the world to go to Ghana through this company. Compared to the pure population in the United States alone, the amount that volunteer in a place abroad is so minuscule it genuinely breaks my heart.

Why does it have to be like that? — I’m just so confused.

Our land is as much theirs, as theirs is ours. Well, in the grand scheme of things. We’re all human. Human.
It’s the need. The need just to get everyone on the same page.
No — not on and socialistic standard, or any politically affiliated idealism. I’m talking about the human standard… The achievement of happiness, of unity, and the respect of all life no matter where or who you come from.
It really opened up my eyes to how much we need to change, how much we need to grow, and how much we need to learn.
We’re all the same species you know? — we have the same biological systems, the same make up, the same basic human needs and wants.

So why doesn’t everyone just help out their fellow human? — I’m just so confused.

4) The feeling of being useless

It felt as if you didn’t even change anything. Yeah, I might have dug some trenches in my day, I might have helped a student read, I might have helped someone walk again, but it feels like I haven’t done anything. The needs are so great, and I can only do so much. One person can only do so many things.

I feel so useless. — like what I’m doing isn’t changing anything, and there is too much suffering and pain in this world for us to overcome. There is so much to do and I feel so overwhelmed with emotions. I feel so small and I feel so…useless.

But the thing is… those relationships that you build with people, the laughs that you share, the stories that you tell, the tears you shed and the comfort you find in others… that’s what matters. That’s what is useful. We might not be able to end world hunger in a snap of our finger. But we can feed those around us. It doesn’t have to be with food either, we can enrich those around us spiritually, emotionally, and much more. We have to be there for each other and we have to make the ones around us the best that they can be, so that they can in turn do the same to those around them. So really in fact, we are all useful.

5) The feeling of not having a home

The home is where the heart is.

My heart reaches out to the Nicaraguans in La Chuscada getting their school built. My heart reaches out the the Afghan students learning how to read and write. My heart reaches out to the Ghanan physiotherapy patients learning how to walk again. My heart reaches out to every American that is on the street begging for their only dollar. My heart reaches out to the kids at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta battling whatever they got as hard as they can. My heart reaches out to all the other hearts that feel pain, and feel empty.
So if the home is where the heart is….

I don’t have a specific home. — None of us should have a home, and by that I don’t mean a place to lay your head down. Everyone needs that, but not all actually have it. None of us should have a set place for our heart, our hearts should flow into others and show that only love can save this world. The world that we can all call home.

Jill here again: share, comment, and like Dani’s love and passion as she travels. Make sure you are following our

Facebook page Something Amazing and my personal Instagram: Maybeits_Jill

Stay Awesome!

Jill

Samekh Takes over Peru!

Something Amazing will be featuring people while they slowly take over the world while volunteering. Here is our first entree.

Hola from Lima, Peru! smaehk 4

My name is Samekh Ward, and I am 20 years old! Currently, I am participating in a month long mission trip in Peru, and it has been a life changing experience. I am here through a organization called Buckner International. They have a section of their organization called Project Go and that is the group of college students I am apart of. I was here for a month last year and I loved it so much I had to come back. We are able to help the community in different ways while we are here. We mainly worked at the two family hope centers, Buckner has established in Peru, Villa Hermosa and Pamplona. This year we have painted rooms, did VBS with kids 2-6 years of age, and did a new project called Healthy Homes! samehk 6

The Healthy Homes project consists of us going into the homes of the people of live in Villa Hermosa and helping to clean up their homes and do whatever we can to help them improve their lifestyle! Also short term groups will come for a week, and we are able to help them out with whatever minister that are doing! Usually they are the groups to go into orphanages and have VBS with the kids so it is cool to be able to participate in those moments. I have been so blessed to work with the Buckner staff another year! This experience has been so humbling for me, and there is no other place I rather be right now. I have grown to love the amazing people of Peru! samekh 5

Here is one entree from my travel journey:Friday
This day was pretty much the same as most of the other days this week except for the fact that this was the last day for our Healthy Homes project! It was definitely bittersweet leaving the home for the last time but knowing the family appreciated our hard work was rewarding. Also knowing that they were going to keep up with improving their home is a blessing!

Saturday – Zoo Day!
We took the kids from both Pamplona and Villa Hermosa to the zoo! The kids were sooo excited because it was the first time they had been out of the places where they live! I rode the bus with this little girl named MariaFe who I remembered from last year. When we got there we were asked to take the hand of two kids and keep them with us all day. So in a sense they were our children for the day. I had MariaFe and this other girl Tamara. MariaFe was pretty chill, but Tamara is a different story. She kind of reminded me of the little girl Brisa that I told you guys about last year. I thank God for my experience with her all the time and He has given me the peace and patience I need everytime I ask Him. When we got off the bus and were lining up, she came to me and took my hand. I was a little nervous about having Tamara because she is one of our little runners and can be mean to the other kids at times. At the zoo, I saw another side of her! She was scared at times and wanted me to hold her as we walked from animal to animal. I definitely prefer to hold her versus her running around everywhere. Since she wanted to be held most of the time I was able to let MariaFe walk with another member of Buckner and focus mainly on Tamara. It was cool tho because during lunch she came and found me to help her open her drink. Then during the time the went to play, she came and found me if she needed anything. On the bus ride back, I had MariaFe with me again. She played games on my phone then feel asleep on my lap!

This week has been awesome and it’s kinda crazy to think week 2 is coming to a close.

samekh 1

Volunteering abroad has definitely widen my perspective of the world. It helps me understand that not every culture is the same and we all do things differently. The language barrier was definitely difficult at first but after continuing to remind myself what I’m doing this for, God gets through by my actions.

Jill here now: I am beyond excited to hear about people’s travels and journeys as they discover themselves in different ways.

Until Next Time,

Stay Awesome,

Jill

Father’s Day Let’s Celebrate!

Fathers do not get the warm welcome of being thanked on this holiday.
Many families have been broken by absent fathers. Children have grown up without a father figure making these people bitter on this holiday. I sympathize with these people, but today is for the fathers. I will be celebrating my father along with all the other fathers who are trying their best in their child’s life.

Let me tell you about the wonderful person I call dad. He came into a family that was already made. The first day we met my older brother, Corey, shot him with a water gun and I threw a plastic knife at him. If on the first day he could handle anything thrown at him we knew he needed to be a part of this family.My dad is a man of few words. He loves differently than any other person I know. He is a person who shows his love. Through the many years of happy and crazy times he has always been there for me. .From the time I came home crying because some boy in the neighborhood said he was going to punch me in the face. To the time I left for my first trip abroad. I love my dad for always standing by me in difficult situations. For always be the person I turn to when a giant bug is torturing me. Or when I have a difficult life decision and he just stares at me while I am rambling.

Step Fathers do not get enough credit. These are men who have many different roles. Apart from being the man of the house, taking care of the family, and all other responsibilities, He steps in when a space is vacant. He did not have to step into our lives when he did, but I couldn’t imagine our lives any different. I thank you for everything you have done. As I said in my Mother’s day blog, I am not the easiest person to be a parent to. Therefore for someone to have stuck around this long and continued to love me even when I say weird things.

I love you dad,

I hope you enjoy your day.

Stay Awesome

Jill

Umhle Kakhulu, You are Beautiful.

Our ultimate goal on this road trip was to reach Coffee bay. The only thing we kept hearing is Coffee Bay is amazing, unsure of what we were to expect we drove open minded to one of the best surfing spot in the world.
The further we drove to the east coast of South Africa the worse the roads became. Pot holes, sheep, cows and people were casually everywhere on the streets. There were times that a cow would just decide to walk across the street with no warning and each car would have to stop immediately. As we made our way closer to Coffee Bay we were leaving the normal way of life, just by watching how many people walked for hours to a small 3 store town. The houses along the road started to form villages painted with bright florescent colors.

I had an opportunity to hang out in one of the villages with a local drummer. The name of the town translated to “Look Out” because tourists visit because of the colorful houses.
I do not have any pictures of this portion of my trip because these are just average people living their lives. Many companies take people on tours and watch the locals in their village like a human zoo. This is not fair to the people because they are merely living life. While walking to the village, I ask Zuko how he felt when people would take pictures of him or his family. His simple response was, “Why don’t people just ask to take my picture instead of being a paparazzi?”

As we continued the journey one hill away which was a SHORT walk of thirty minutes. We came to the top of the hill where everyone in the community was, ranging from the oldest to the youngest running around dancing to music and enjoying each other’s presence. We came to a circle of about 10 guys who were sitting on a plastic cartons, surrounding about three large beers, just enjoying a chat about life. We walked around the village and saw where his whole family lived: aunts, uncles, brothers, and sisters. His entire family stayed in the same area together. My misconception when I first saw the clay houses was a vision of uneven floors, simple furniture and humble surroundings. To my surprise his grandfather’s house had marble counter tops, beautiful floors, a gorgeous dining room set and a flat screen TV, with many rooms inside. There was electricity and running water inside each hut that was hand made by the owner.

Many people from the city depict people that live in the village as the most dangerous, and scary people you will ever meet. Every single person we walked said, “Molo, Unjani?” (Hello, how are you?) Then would follow with “Umhle Kakhulu,” (You are beautiful.) The respect level for the elders was high and their words were treated as valuable. I was greeted with cool drinks and a Xhosa lunch, Samp n beans, that everyone in the village eats, which was extremely good. The family bond is extremely strong. Although the sense of community was powerful, there were the inherent issues. It was 2 o clock in the afternoon and almost every adult was not working, they sat around, drank, and talked all day. No one ever wanted to leave the village. This village was their home and no one could take that away from them. There were things that needed to be fixed and not being addressed.

The one thing I have taken out of being in Coffee Bay is happiness comes from within, money can solve problems, but in the end its internal happiness. This village in Coffee Bay has stolen my heart and I will return. I do not know when, but I will accomplish this task. Zuko and Akhona have promised me a spot of land to build my colorful hut.

I will be posting more blogs and stories shortly. I was limited on my wifi due to the areas we were in.

Until Next time Coffee Bay,

Stay Awesome

Jill

Momma, I love you

Traveling is something no one can express, you see the happy pictures, the many destinations that are reached, the smiling faces, but there are things that aren’t shown. When travelling I miss out on a lot of things. While preparing to embark on this journey I never took into consideration what I will be missing while away. I miss food, gr
aduations, holidays, birthdays, weddings, and many other things. This year I have missed graduations from many of my close friends and now I am missing a second holiday. I miss the food that we have during these celebrations and the faces of those I love while they are accomplishing a remarkable transition in their life. I wouldn’t trade anything in this world but to be where I am now, but when holidays or special occasions roll around I do start to miss home.

Today is mother’s day and I am half way across the world and I know that saddens her. Having a child that travels and lives life day by day to the fullest can make ones heart cringe. I give my mom a heart attack at least 50 times a day. I remember sometime last June I woke up one morning and declared I wasn’t going back to school in January. This was not an easy conversation for either of us and she completely disagreed and let me know her opinion. I do not need a mom that allows me to run in the street like a wild child; instead someone that challenges my thoughts and pushes me to be better. One of the things I will never forget in the mist of one our heated conversations when she told me, “Go take a slow boat to China for all she cared.” I know she cared whether or not I took a boat, but it’s what I needed to hear. The tough love and affection my mom has shown me through every stage of this journey and life has helped me become something incredible.

Today on this day, hold your mom a little tighter because she has dealt with all the crazy things you have thrown her way. Make her dinner, buy her flowers, and show her that you care about her. I am not the easiest child to be a parent to and I am so thankful that she is my parent. She continuously prays and encourages me through any situation. I have seen her do selfless acts like take the smaller portion of food. Although we do not really enjoy the same things; I loved the times we spent together. As I grow older our mother daughter relationship improves and continues to get stronger. There isn’t much I can do for my mom on this day, but I hope this makes me you smile.

By the way the road trip Is going great Ill update you shortly on my adventures.

Until Next Time,

Stay Awesome

Jill

We are Lost.

Day 1.

Three Germans and an American have set off onto our crazy road trip along the coast of South Africa. It is scary to think we rely on my English to help get us through our trip. The different mix of personalities should make this trip very interesting. I have never been on a road trip with friends before so this is all very new to me. We plan and plan, but it is very obvious our calling in life is not to be travel advisors. In the first 15 minutes we missed our exit and got turned around. The next 45minutes we were going in the wrong direction. Eventually we found our way . The way consisted of driving for an hour on dirt roads and missing the exit, but we were finally on our way.

I tend to meet more people who have no idea where they are going in life then those who have everything planned. Obviously ,there is no right or wrong way to go about life. Along our travels we stopped in Betty Bay, Hermanus, the Southernmost point in Africa and Mussel Bay. Each of these small towns held foreigners and locals all just seeking a life filled with in seeing something different. I find family where ever I go whether in the big city or small villages.

The extreme difference between the less fortunate and the wealthy is the hardest thing for me to understand while being here. The most interesting thing I have seen is the beautiful multi-million rand (South Africa dollar) houses sitting on the coast, only 500 meters away from people living in tin shack houses. The small tin houses have limited water and electricity. While travelling into the rural parts of South Africa we have passed many people walking on a road that is many kilometers away from any towns. Nobody knows how far or how long these people have been walking, it could be hours or even a few days. I guess the important part is they always find their way. Regardless of how the journey begins or ends things tend to fall into place.

At the end of my trip I will post a rough itinerary that we followed/Got lost on. I’ll include the many different hostels and activities that we have completed on this crazy trip.

until next time

Stay Awesome,

Jill

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1) The feeling of it being just a long dream.

2) The feeling of disappointment

3) The feeling of confusion

4) The feeling of being useless

5) The feeling of not having a home

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