So, what am I doing?!

Some of you are bored of hearing me talk about taking a year off, going travelling, doing voluntary work...and to be honest I had started to bore myself with the chat – I’d been thinking and talking about it for so long - pretty much since I got back from my last trip...and definitely since I started work!! Well, finally, I’ve ‘bitten the bullet’, I’ve got the ‘bulls horns in my hands’ – I have taken a year off work (unpaid)!

Over the course of the next year I hope to fulfil a few personal objectives:
1) To do something worthwhile, to give something back to society and to help those less fortunate than myself
2) To (finally) learn Spanish!
3) To have a real adventure...

Numbers 1 and 3 should be covered by the first part of my year out – I’m heading to Uganda (aka ‘The Last King of Scotland’) for 6 months to work on the charity I have helped to set-up (wannabeamazin). We are basically providing structured recreational programmes for kids – giving them an opportunity to do something they wouldn’t normally get to do and, at the same time, incorporating HIV/AIDS awareness messages in the programmes and encouraging the kids to look to the future and set goals for themselves (more information can be found on our website: http://www.wannabeamazin.co.uk/)

For the 6 months in Uganda I will be living with the 2 co-founders of the charity (and good friends – Anna and Karl) in a basic hut in a small village called Bajjo in the Luwero district of Uganda (it’s near a small town called Bombo which can be found on Google Earth..although there are several Bombos in Uganda!). As well as the recreational programmes with wannabeamazin we will also assess how else we can help the wider-community. One area I have already been asked to help with is to work with one of the charities we are partnering with in Uganda (SPAU) to help improve their business processes and efficiency (yep am keeping my hands dirty with some consultancy work!)

Number 2 on my list will (hopefully!) be fulfilled in the second part of my year out, when i will spend at least 4 out of the 6 months in my favourite continent – South America – travelling, visiting friends and taking Spanish lessons.

So, I start Part 1 of my year out – the African Adventure – in less than 5 hours when I board a plane to Uganda... Some of you may be asking yourselves – Am I crazy? - Maybe I am.....Am I scared? – Most definitely.....Am I excited? – Abso-bloody-lutely!!