What do you mean I don't have enough vacation time?
So as Tiffany is battling a cold and a horrific work schedule I am using my down time to do some trip planning. Now first you all must be shocked to hear the word "planning" come from me but I figured that this was one time it was warranted.
Before anything else the admin had to be taken care of. Yeehaw for the MS office suit. All the letters are done, address labels made, and update postcards designed. I forgot how quickly you can get carried away from these things. But at least the time was put to good use. So you all will get either a hard copy via snail mail or an email from us in the next few days.
Then it was on to the task of buying our tickets. Once again a larger task than I would have thought. The fact that I am buying a ticket more than two weeks in advance is astonishing me. But once again...trying to think ahead. So a direct flight in and out of Ghana is not much of an option. So I started looking around. Realizing that Tiffany and I have an extra week of vacation that we can use after we do our volunteer work that will have to factor in too. At the heed of my mother I did some research into where to steer clear of only to find that it is like playing a game of hopscotch! If you are going to be backpacking and bus riding then you want to make sure that there isn't a great deal of civil unrest. So the plans are now starting to come together. It is funny how much you don't realize just how big and spread out Africa is until you realize it will take 5-12 hours on a bus between towns. Once I get some more info back I will fill you in on these plans.
There were more planning emails with the ladies at Women in Progress. Kristin is our contact here in the states and she has always been very understanding of our constantly changing schedules. But now we are really starting to dig in. We are narrowing the scope from "Just come over and help out" to "This is what we need". More to come on this soon also.
It seems that communication moves slow as do making some decisions so we are currently in a holding pattern. All I can say is more to come.....
What we are doing....
This adventure began many months ago when a friend, Tiffany, and I were eager to travel, but travel with a purpose. Tiffany and I are engineers for the same company and are constantly reminded of how lucky we are to be part of some of the most amazing technological advances the world has ever seen. In so many parts of the world, fundamental rights and basic education, let alone the opportunity to choose a career and earn a graduate degree in a field such as engineering, are not available to women. Tiffany and I wanted to use our education and years of student loans for a different objective, so we decided to volunteer our skills in an effort to open our minds and help women in need. That was when a Google search turned up the Women in Progress organization.
This is an amazing organization started by a woman who felt the same way we did. Women in Progress programs support the development of micro and small woman-owned enterprises through workforce training, new technology, and in-depth projects that focus on improving internal efficiencies, competing more effectively in existing markets, gaining access to new markets, and engaging in international trade. Women in Progress believe women entrepreneurs largely recognize what is needed to expand their businesses. In most cases, they lack resources (education, technology, and capital) to execute their ideas. By taking a long-term approach to women's business development, the organization helps women help themselves to independently improve business efficiencies, access new markets, and sustain business growth.
After many planning meetings with the organization, Tiffany and I will be traveling to Ghana this Holiday Season to put our specialized backgrounds to the test. Our original intent was to design, test, and build hardware needed to support the computer lab or the production area, but with the communication necessary to accomplish such a task it would not be feasible in the short time we have. Instead, we will be aiding in supply chain management, small business manufacturing problems, new business development and network software updates. We will also be spending the time keeping our eyes and ears open to design ideas that could help manage a business in the given environment. We hope to bring a design idea home to work on for future implementation.
Amanda
Welcome!
So we are finally up and running now you can get all the scoop on how our plans and travels are going!
Amanda
