I'm going to Guyana. Please help.

UPDATE:

my fundraising site is up!

I'm going to Guyana!

for two weeks. and i'll be camping. and hanging out with lots of sick people.

october 23-november 6.

i'm stoked.

[it's on facebook, too!]

What?

So over the past year, I've been trying to figure out what to do with my life. I took a CNA class- absolutely loved it. Then I worked for a few months with the school district, and in the spring decided to go back to the local community college. Spring and Summer quarters I attended part-time so if I had any migraine problems it wouldn't set me back in school. This plan worked excellently because both quarters I got a 3.9! Yay! Overjoyed, I quite happily signed up for Fall classes, ready to keep going.

And then there was that Sunday I sat in church and felt really strongly like something would come up this fall and I should withdraw from classes so I could devote myself to that opportunity. My thoughts were something like, "wha?!" So a few days later I took a big gulp and withdrew from my classes. Yikes! I thought and prayed about it and decided that hey, this would be a really good opportunity to do something I've always wanted to do-- go volunteer abroad!

I started researching various volunteer programs like crazy. After about a month of research I'd seen a few programs that caught my eye, but none of them occurring this fall. Then I got an email from Ve'ahavta. They told me that they had an upcoming medical trip to Guyana and were in need of a support person for their team and the information they had about me suggested that I might be a good fit for this role. The trip is scheduled to leave Oct 23, so would I please get back to them quickly about whether or not I'm interested? I took a weekend to pray about it and decided that this is something I really want to do and to go for it.

Well that's nice, Cassanndre, but what're you actually gonna do?

Well, this is so cool. Short answer: I'm going to be a support person on a medical team. My job will be multi-fold. Part of it will be to help our team leader logistically, make sure we don't forget anything on the little boats or airplanes (like medicine, tents, food, and other not-so-important items), and remind my teammates to stay hydrated and wear mosquito repellant. The other part of it will be using my medical skills and enthusiasm to learn by helping the doctors and nurses in the clinic. I will help with basic patient care (taking vitals, basic first aid, etc), triaging our incoming patients, and educating patients on things like hygiene, sexual health, diabetes, and preventative measures. I will also have opportunities to observe the doctors and nurses in action.

We will travel by "puddle jumper" (little plane), boat, canoe, and.... well, I imagine there will be a vehicle here or there :) We will be going to the rural Guyanese people who have less access to primary care and working with the local healthcare workers to meet the medical needs of each village.

If you want to know more in depth, check out the Ve'ahavta Guyana project information page.

You said "please help"... are you asking me for money?

Yes, yes, I am. I will be completely honest with you about this. And y'know what makes it great? I really don't have the ability to afford it on my own!

Are you crazy?

Yeah, maybe I am. However, I feel really strongly that this medical trip to Guyana is something my Heavenly Father is giving me the opportunity to do and it is something I really, really want to do. That's an understatement. I am enthused, excited, and committed to this trip. Worst case scenario here? I go to Guyana and am in debt to Ve'ahavta and arrange a payment plan with them to pay off the cost of the trip within the next year or so. I believe in working for a living as well as working to make dreams possible. I don't like the idea of debt and try to avoid it as much as possible. I feel strongly that if I do everything I can to prepare myself for this trip and take advantage of all of the resources available to me that I will be provided for- in whatever form that comes about. It might sound crazy to plan this trip on such short notice with such little resources of my own, but I am not ashamed of my situation nor my decision to go.

The cost of the trip is termed a donation (and thus is tax-deductible). It is typically $3,000 but because I'm awesome, Ve'ahavta has reduced it to $2,500 for me. What does this cover? This covers not only my personal airfare, food, in-country travel, insurance, etc. but it also helps cover the cost of the medical supplies we will be using and supplying the Guyanese people.

What do I get out of it?

Well, that depends on what you want out of it. If you want me to have a great time, expand my educational experiences, and help people- I promise you'll get that. You'll even get some people in Guyana who are healthier, happier, and more knowledgeable about taking care of themselves. Personally, though, I want to give back to the people who help me to go. I have a few ideas about this, and honestly, I can't think of one to make the single gift back to those of you who help sponsor me. So how about this? I'll give you guys a list of things I can do, and you let me know what you would like in return.

• a printed photo of guyana. your choice from my pictures of people and land. (since i am a photographer)
• a photoshoot of you, your family, your pets, whatever.
• professional editing or restoration of photos you already have.
• babysitting. (for an evening, a day, a few times a week, a month....)
• cleaning. with my special genetic-anal-retentive skills.
• a massage. (i have no training whatsoever, but i do have a reputation for awesome massages.)
• buy doTERRA oils from me at retail price (i believe i get 25% of your purchase). feel free to ask me about essential oils if you don't know about them or what might be a good fit for you. i love them. maybe i'll put a post regarding oils here on my blog sometime soon...
• caregiving. i am trained to be a nursing assistant. i can help you or a loved one in a number of ways, from personal hygiene and basic medical attention to preparing meals and rearranging furniture for greater accessibility. and many things in between.
• tutoring. i have extensive experience working with special needs kids. i also am a college student and can help with most subjects up to high school level. i took two years of ASL and can teach you basic sign language.
• anything else you can think of.

well that's nice that you can do stuff, but I only have a little bit of money. can I just get a picture or something?

Of course! And you know what, if 50 people donated $20, that would be $1000. Now, I probably won't be able to send an 8x10 glossy to each of those 50 people because that would get expensive. But if you want one, let me know and we'll make it happen. If you want an hour of tutoring or a small handful of photos edited, let's talk about it. If you want to just donate and you don't want anything in return, that's really sweet and I'll accept that, but please give me your address so I can at least send you a picture or something. Pretty much, I'm a reasonable person, and I expect that anyone who reads this is probably a reasonable person. Want to help me out? Let's talk and see what I can do for you!

I have more questions!

Okay, post them below, give me a call (if you have my number), or shoot me an email (cassanndre [at] gmail [dot] com). I will also probably come back and add more information as I think of things people might want to know/ I want to share.