Come Fly With Me! (Are We There Yet?)

Trip Itineraries and schedule details were recently distributed to the 200 folks who will be headed to South Africa Week 1 (Nov 13 - 22), and below are the exciting details:

Thursday Nov 13, 2008

Leave Cincinnati @ 10:40 a.m. on Delta 1705U

Arrive Atlanta @ 12:08 p.m.

Leave Atlanta @ 3:45 p.m. on Delta 34U

Arrive Johannesburg @ 5:15 p.m. (with a brief stop somewhere in between for refueling)

Friday November 21, 2008

Leave Johannesburg @ 7:20 p.m. on Delta 35Q (stopping again somewhere along the way)

Saturday November 22, 2008

Arrive Atlanta @ 8:30 a.m.

Leave Atlanta @ 10:00 a.m. on Delta 1702Q

Arrive Cincinnati @ 11:32 a.m.

For Week 1, there will be seven different groups of travelers flying on different airlines, out of different airports, and some with more stops, so based on our departure and arrival times, I can't complain. For the second round of 200 volunteers traveling Week 2, there will also be seven more flights leaving on the 20th, All I can say is God Bless the guy who's been planning all of the travel details for the last year. He really deserves a vacation that someone else plans!

On a super positive note, I'll be able to rack up some major Frequent Flyer miles on Delta! (I'll remind myself of that often during the long flights.) There's been lots of discussion in the trip meetings about the importance of moving around during the 18+ hour flight, and when to sleep/when not to. I've flown internationally before, but on the longest trip, where I traveled to Japan (16 hours) it wasn't so bad. The flight out of Cincy was virtually empty and I was able to commandeer an entire middle row to myself. (Sweet!) On the way back, I wasn't so lucky since the flight was completely full, but I did manage to survive, and I'm sure I'll make it through this one too.

There are lots of "DO's" and "DO NOT's" for this portion of the trip, which make sense with such a large group:

DO show up on time (3 hours before the flight) to check in with our GO Groups

DO bring your passport (Duh - but I did forget mine on the above mentioned trip to Japan and broke the sound barrier making the 1.5 hour round trip home and back to make the flight on time.)

DO NOT try to call the airline to preference your seat (window, aisle, exit, etc.). You get what you get.

DO NOT try to upgrade to First Class. We're all in steerage together. (You know somebody's going to be "that guy" and try to do this!)

And now the fun part - our schedule for the week we're in South Africa is as follows:

• Friday: Arrive. Stay at Kopanong Hotel in Johannesburg
• Saturday: Visit Apartheid Museum & Pilanesburg National Park. Move to Manhattan Hotel in Pretoria
• Sunday: Church at Charity & Faith and Tent churches. Mamelodi Sundowns game. Spend the night in a Host family home.
• Monday: Work
• Tuesday: Work
• Wednesday: Work
• Thursday: Work. End of week celebration at Charity.
• Friday: Shop at African market. Leave.

As you can see, there's a mix of cool touristy-type activities in addition to the work that we'll be doing. There are also some opportunities to enjoy and participate in the culture and the community, including the worship services at Charity & Faith and spending one night as a guest in the home of a local Host family. We're also going to have the unique opportunity to attend a Mamelodi Sundowns game (soccer), which is the first time this has ever been available to the Crossroads team. They're apparently a HUGE deal there, and likely could beat the Cincinnati Bengals (even though they play a different kind of "football"), so that should be really exciting! Personally, I'm really looking forward to the Apartheid Museum and the Safari, in addition to the work we'll be doing in the community. This week, I plan on purchasing a new/better digital camera and maybe even a Flip Video camera so I can capture all of the special and awesome moments and share them with you too!

In my next post, I'll share some of the Trip & Travel Secrets the Crossroads team has shared with us thus far, and at least one Trip Shocker that I wasn't aware of when I signed up to go on the trip! Stay tuned to find out just how vain I really am....

GO Mamelodi Fundraising Goal Met!

It's time for some BIG "Thank You's" here at Jennifer's Going to Mamelodi central!

First and foremost, I'm extremely excited to announce that I was able to reach the fundraising goal of $3,000 by October 1st! Thanks to my family, friends and current/former co-workers who were so kind to contribute finances (and prayers) towards my journey. I'm honored and humbled by your support! Personal Thank You notes are in the mail, and while I'm not sure that everyone who contributed would want to be publicly "outed" on this blog, I must take this opportunity to give a special shout out to one special person who doesn't get a choice in the outing matter - My Mom. THANK YOU Mom for your significant contributions to my fundraising efforts! You are already a blessing to so many, and I cannot thank you enough for your support of me in everything that I do!

Through the start of this blog and the communication regarding it to many of my personal and professional relationships, it was very interesting to hear back from others regarding their own volunteer efforts. At least two people also blogged about their experiences and shared them with me, including one of my high school classmates that I recently reconnected with on Facebook (Mark Kelly Hall) who visited South Africa in 2006, as well as a LinkedIn connection (Terry Brown) who went on a mission trip with his wife and 2 kids to Jamaica earlier this year though Southbrook Church in Dayton, OH. How awesome to connect with people who are giving of their time and talents to help change the world and make it a better place!

Another cool thing about communicating with others about my upcoming trip has been hearing from several people who also attend Crossroads or who know someone that does. It's a huge place, with over 10,000 people attending 4 services each weekend, so the opportunity to get to know everyone there is slim. Thankfully, there are a number of opportunities available to meet people through volunteering to serve at the church, in our community and globally - a great way to connect with others, while also helping to make a difference!

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to participate through Crossroads in the single largest service project in the history of our city called GO Cincinnati. During this one day event, over 4,000 volunteers impacted Cincinnati through various service projects in over 175 community-based organizations. Once I volunteered to participate, I had to complete a Questionnaire outlining any "special skills". For those of you that know me, you're well aware of my inclinations and preferences when it comes to outdoor physical labor, so you won't be surprised that I skipped right past all of the spaces to list special skills/interests/experiences in construction, painting, landscaping, etc. and listed what I believe to be my one special skill - "animals love me".

For some reason, my one special skill qualified me to lead a team of about 30 volunteers in a huge landscaping and cleanup project at a local nursing home. (Some obvious parallels to the interviewing/selection processes within some companies in that scenario...) Thankfully, I was able to put my recruiting and networking skills to good use, and before we were dispatched from the church to our project sites, I connected with a professional landscaper that was wandering amongst the 4,000+ people who had been assigned to a painting project and quickly brokered a trade. (Never mind that his group leader hadn't arrived yet... There's a war for talent out there people!) The photo in this post is of the Lincoln Crawford 2 team after a day of hard work power washing, digging, weeding, planting, shoveling mulch and clearing a hillside that even mountain goats wouldn't dare to climb! (In a supervisory move - I'm the one taking the picture and giving them the glory.)

I checked the calendar today, and it's 31 days till departure! I'll receive my travel itinerary this week, and I have scheduled my flu shot. If I'm feeling brave, I'll also get my other shots behind me. (We'll see about that.) Our next trip meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 20th, where they'll cover "Frequently Asked Questions". Should be some good updates to share, and thanks for continuing this journey with me!