Well,

so the baby boy arrived safely and simply, which means there’s no more messing around for me. I’m leaving on 23rd April.

The drama kicks in when I realise there’s a good chance I’ll have to wait not ten days, as indicated, but 14 WEEKS for the visa to come through. So, looks like I won’t be getting into the States for more than the waiver scheme allows… still, 90 days is better than nothing, and if we time it right, I’ll have a long summer with Brad while he looks for work and I look for entertainment on the streets on New York. On a budget, though. A budget of zero.

After I learned this, I emailed the volunteering organisation and asked if there would be a chance to bring the start date forward, so I wouldn’t be homeless and unemployed in europe for half of the year. That was no problem… so my start date is now

15th September!

This also allows me to save money by not having to support myself without a job over the summer. Those of you who’ve been kind enough to donate already, thank you soooo much! I managed to get a deal on the flights for £560, which is a relief, and the fees for the volunteering are due soon too, to cover bed and board. I’ll also need a budget of about £30 a week for essentials, bottled water etc. Any help is greatly appreciated, as I’m stumping up savings from the sale of my dead grandmother’s house to afford this. My kids will be lucky enough, so I’m spreading a bit for kids who aren’t - who’ve lost parents, whose relatives and carers don’t have enough food for them all, who wouldn’t get education unless it was provided free by volunteers who help build, maintain and run orphanages and day care centres. Wouldn’t you like to help that a little bit, too? And I’m not even asking you to go get sunstroke in Arusha! Go awwwwnnnnnn, click donate

Getting ready to go is hard, as I’m sorting all my belongings into “must keep at Mum’s”, “Can sell at Carboot” and “Must take with me” - but I’m going to have to pack 2 suitcases, one for the 5 weeks before June that I’ll spend floating around, and the other one for the 3 month stay. Should be doable, although ploughing through 15 years worth of CDs is intimidating. It’s sad when you have to part with things like… a Dodgy album that you remember buying after seeing them at a festival, but you never listen to. It’s all gonna go. If you haven’t seen http://clairevolunteering.blogspot.com you should take a toddle & see if there are any DVDs you fancy. The Manics vinyl is still for sale too. Hmm. At the moment I’ve been shedding clothes I really don’t want to grow back into, and preparing for Easter Sunday’s mammoth carboot. Come down to Chiswick Community School for a rummage.

So, there was a little boy born on Saturday morning! Little R is dealing with it well and being very very sweet and curious about him! He is doing lots of sleeping, wriggling and pooping. I spent 33 hours with R while everyone else was at the hospital, and she was pretty cool about that, too, despite denying me a night of sleep and convincing me I’m nowhere near ready for children of my own!

As far as the trip goes, I have applied for the B2 visa which will allow me to stay in the US for 6 months. I had a receipt for the application but I have to call them on a £1.20 a minute phone line to pay the fee, I believe, but things have been so hectic that I haven’t been able to. Perhaps tomorrow or Friday. They say the average wait time for an interview is 4 days and then 6 to process the visa, so I should have time. I’m not happy about it. I’m rather nervous. I just want to know what’s happening.

I need to give notice on my flat this weekend, and finish painting the room so I can rent it out. My contract is September to September, so if I don’t rent it out to someone else, I’m liable for the rent til it’s filled. It’s not the greatest flat, and I moved into it when I was desperate for anything that wouldn’t have bankrupted me to live in. It’s pink at the moment - a very pale pink, but… pink. It might put men off. Hmm. It’s better than the sick hospital yellow that was on before, but I’m hoping that it’ll be OK for whoever moves in to paint it themselves.

After that, it’s… cancel the phone insurance, pack up more of my belongings into keep at mum’s/sell at car boot sale/bring with me to America. I have to have everything packed by Easter, to that end. Trying to decide which instruments to take with me and which to beg/borrow/buy a cheap version of when I get there… is hard.

At least having a weekend to myself for once will be really good. I can do this! I haven’t had chance to do my washing in the past 2 weeks cos it takes so long & Friday I was in a daze and went to get my MacBook fixed… the camera broke.

Anyway.
Hmm.

So…. the baby’s finally on it’s way! All being well that frees me up to apply for the tourist visa that’ll allow me to stay in America for 6 months. Baby R is dealing with the upheaval well right now - I don’t think she’s really noticed that Mummy’s not here. We went to Kensington Gardens for a special treat and fed the ducks… or tried to. Mostly starlings and pigeons… so London! A good run around and a picnic in the fresh air is a good distraction.

I’ve paid up the registration fee for the volunteering. A lot of people have been surprised by my having to pay for volunteering. It’s to cover the costof my room and board - which I’d be paying anyway if I stayed in London. Would you expect to go to a country where people have a lot less than we do, and eat all their food? If it was as easy as going to live rent free in a family’s home and play with a few children, the organisations would probably have a lot more volunteers, but I’m going over there under my own steam, so I will need to raise funds.

You can read more about IVHQ and TVE by clicking on their names in this sentence. The reason I decided to go through IVHQ and not directly to TVE is that a friend of mine had a bad experience with a “charity” she was working for, and had no support outside the country to contact. I’d rather know that if I encountered any problems, I had a second layer of support back in the West that I could go running to.

So far the costs are:

$1500 for Registration and Placement fees (including all my meals, accomodation and transport in country. That’s only USD 500 per month - so I hardly think the organisation are fleecing us!)

$200 My visa and work permit for Tanzania.

Flights will cost about £700

Living expenses are about £30 a week for things like bottled water, girl stuff (no, not makeup!) and so on.

So you can imagine, I’m putting a lot of my savings into this venture, and I’m doing it because I want to go and help children who don’t have the luxuries that we do here. A large number of families have one or both parents lost to AIDS. The community can only do so much for these children and they get food and schooling at the orphanages. Because I’m trained in Childcare and Education, have worked in nurseries and with children at home, I think I’ll be able to work well with the organisations for what they need.
HOWEVER
I need some money! It’s a large cost, so if you could help out it’d be very much appreciated.

You should be able to donate using paypal here.
Thanks.