The Departure

I am not sure it is a mistake or not for keeping it going although we haven’t got any consensus of how long I will be staying. I wrote them an email saying my disappointment for this miscommunication and stressed up that I am only available for 12 months but never heard back. 6 days before my departure, there is an electronic ticket for my trip on my email together with program planning for my in country training.  So I assumed that they also agree for me to stay as the initial plan regardless how expensive it is to send me there. We will see how will be the discussion going on once I get there.

Anyways, I will start my journey soon. I am still bad at saying good bye although I keep doing it over and over again. It’s hard to even hug and say good bye to my good friends in Bali. In a very feminine way we cried, and in a very masculine way we punched and got drunk :P.  It was a very beautiful friendship that I’ve got there. They are all amazing and inspire in their way. And the best of all, I feel so much loved.

 I hope the “saying bye “ moment with my family will be easy though. AND I notice, it is easier and easier for us now. Perhaps because I keep going and they get used to see me flying away already. Poor mom, she’s only got one daughter but keep walking and never staying. I know they are worried but they never show it to me. The best thing I can do is to take good care of myself.

So it will be a long haul flight, 3 hours from home to the airport, 2 hours flight from Medan to Jakarta, 4 hours from Jakarta to Bangkok, another 10 hours from Bangkok to Addis Ababa, then more than 3 hours from Addis to Lilongwe. Will ever be survive in this haul flights? I will let you know soon.

24 months??? Oh no...

Alright, so it was planned that i will depart on the 30th of March. It is less than 10 days from today. But here i am disappointed and surprise, and confuse and a bit upset with the news given by my adviser during our skype meeting today. Well, surprise surprise, they expect me to stay for 24 months instead of 12 months like the initial offer. the only reason is miscommunication. but come on, there is no such thing like miscommunication with months and months and months process. and it is a life of volunteer that we are talking about.

Mentally, financially, socially, i am prepared for 12 months, i can not imagine myself staying there for 24 months without seeing my love ones. I said yes at the first place because it's only for a year, For God Sake...

Now, i truly dont know what will happen next. Either they have to find someone else who is available for 24 months or we can come up to some point of agreement. We will see. Whatever it is, i am ready as i know everything happen for a reason.

Wider Role of Volunteer and the Phillipines

Ok, it still relates to pre-departure preparation. Since VSO Bahaginan in Manila is the recruitment based for Asia, i have to attend the WRV training in Philippine. I would say it was a sleepless days. My flight is at 1 am and only will arrive at 5 am (Bali doesnt have time difference with Manila). at 10 am the same day, i have to be at the hospital to undergo my medical clearance and some shoots of vaccines. The WRV coordinator instructed to wait for couple of hours (read 3 hours) at the airport, but i am just so lucky having some good friends in Manila. They dont want me to feel homeless by waiting at the airport that they woke up early, pick me up, bring me to their favorite Starbucks coffee shop and having breakfast. The are so concern that i will be confuse explaining my direction to the taxi driver that they take me to the hospital, wait for me and finally deliver me to VSO Bahaginan Office. They really make my life easy in Manila.

That`s about it. The venue of the training itself is quite far from the city. we have to drive for 2 hours to reach Silang, Cavite City where International Institute of Rural Reconstruction is located. Apparently, VSO Bahaginan always conduct the training in this place. They have all facility for long term training though. IIRR have several hostels, training halls, dining halls, and  BEAUTIFUL greenes all around which make it perfect for me. the contents of the training is exactly what we need as a volunteer, although i would say the time is too short as we have to compress many information into one. I studied globalization and development in one year, but here we have to tackles issues of globalization and development in 3 days. My favorite module are how to deals with conflict and corruption. The actual case from the field that the trainers presented make this module more helpful.

Anyways, the preparation is on going. I hope VSO Malawi can issue visa easily as the departure date is only a step ahead. I can`t wait to actually sit in the plane and start my journey.

Pre-Departure

The struggle is not over yet after receiving the confirmation from my volunteer adviser. There are heaps of precondition documents that i have to submit before the actual departure in which i need to allocate a lot of time. I have to smart enough dividing myself between my current project and per-departure preparation. I have to somehow able to arrange a document from the police in between my meetings. I have to call many authorized translator to translate my documents into English in just a day as i need them immediately.   I have to spend a day to arrange medical certificate from the hospital. Speaking of which, the nurse from the hospital gave me an ugly big bruise in my left arm after taking 3 tubes of blood for sampling, grrrhhh...

the best advise someone gave me is to take it one day at a time, i am not going to complain. although i have to argue with my boss about my leaving, to bare moral pressure of abandoning the project that i started, to leave people that i love, to pack 2 years of my life in Bali, to sell what i can sell, send home what i can send, and bring along what i really need. This 6 weeks will be a headache, but i will keep smiling.

Pre-departure can be this tiring, but i need to use the most of these remaining 6 weeks to contemplate my 2 years living here, finished what i can finish at work, have a good time and say bye to my amazing friends.

The Beginning

Malawi, yes Malawi…will become my home for the next one year. I wonder how it will be.

I guess it is about time to move on from my comfort zone and experience something different.

I finally got the confirmation from VSO Malawi about my assignment to work with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development in Karonga District, and this time, I will not turn them down. All part of every cells in my body gave sign that I am ready this time. I am ready to leave my well paid job and live with a small allowance, I am ready to pack all my stuffs into boxes, I am ready to say “bye” to my fancy, sexy yoga clothes and dance shoes,  I am ready to leave my love ones and be myself, I am SO READY to live my very new life, appreciate differences, learn more about life and grow with it.

Malawi, yes Malawi…will become my home for the next one year. I wonder how it will be.