Emily's Worldview

For those of you who don’t know, I have been hired to a two-year contract with Students for International Change (www.sichange.org), based in Arusha, Tanzania. My title is Tanzania Managing Director, and I am directly in charge of the non-volunteer related programs in the rural areas around Arusha including education outreach, mobile testing services, support of anti-AIDS clubs in schools, community health workers, and whatever new programs make sense to assist people living with or fighting HIV in these areas. I am overjoyed and excited about this position because it promises to provide hands-on, day to day management experience, but also experience with program development and proposal writing. It should be an enormous challenge, often frustrating, but also a lot of fun.

The last few weeks have been a blur and my apologies to everyone for my distractedness and abrupt departure. Two weeks ago, I was working three jobs, wrapping up my thesis, finishing four classes early, 100% not packed, and trying to say goodbye to everyone I knew. I made it out of the country as scheduled, but I didn’t get to prepare as much as I had wanted to, and I definitely did not get to spend enough time with everyone at the end. So, my apologies for that, and my thanks for the well-wishes and support. It's hard to believe I'm actually here.