In a month, I’ll be on the east coast of Africa in Tanzania (pronounced tan-ZAH-nee-uh) with the rest of the delegation from Maryland, Wisconsin, Montana, and Finland 4-H. I’m incredibly excited for this adventure, but right now I’m busy preparing.

I still need to get clothes that I can wear over there without attracting too may mosquitoes. This means light clothes, but also clothes that cover my shoulders and my knees in respect to the Muslim people there because we’re traveling during Ramadan.

I already got my Typhoid, Yellow Fever, and Hepatitis A shots and have my Malaria medicine prescribed. This trip is actually happening.

Before you ask me, if you haven’t already, what I’m doing over there- let me tell you. This trip is about expanding the Tanzanian 4-H program. While our focus in the US in 4-H is to “Learn by Doing,” they emphasize making profits off of their projects. What we’d like to do on this trip is to work with the 4-Hers there to help them learn about learning in 4-H. We want to help them succeed even more in the program. We will be training the 4-H leaders, especially in team building, for 3 days to assist them in helping their youth grow. We will also be surveying the members there and seeing if there is a need and/or desire for scholarships where we could raise money over in the US to help them have bigger projects over there (like goats or cows instead of turtles). And our last day is a safari, and the huge elephant fan in me is ecstatic about that.

Another thing you might be asking me is “Why would you go over there?” or “Will you be safe?” Well first things first, Maryland 4-H would not take anyone to a place where there is potential danger. We will not be near South Africa and we will be safe. Secondly, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I have dreams of working in Extension and agricultural education, so this is right along the lines of what I want to do. However, it goes even further than that. I’ve had a lot of friends go on trips to third world countries and they came back with a better understanding of the world and how they are a part of it. I’m not going on this trip to build my resume. I’m going on this trip because I want to see how I fit into this world we live in. I want to see how other people live and how the program I’ve fallen in love with is affecting people with lives totally contrasting to mine. I would consider myself a humble person, but I also believe that this trip will humble me more. I try not to take anything for granted (not saying I don’t), but this trip will help me become a better person, not only for myself, but for the people around me, and I’m really looking forward to that. No, I don’t need a trip with a 20 hour flight each way to “get more humble” or to “get a reality check,” but I’m in for the adventure.

So many people have told me “It’s great you’re doing this, but I could never go there,” and it bothers me when they say that. It’s like I’m being encouraged, but they’re scaring me at the same time. I’d be lying 300% if I told you that I wasn’t scared about this trip. I’m nervous more than you probably think I am. It wasn’t easy being told that I had to get 3 vaccines, a prescription, and even more just to be safe. It wasn’t easy being told that I’ll be sleeping in a mosquito net or that I’ll be peeing in a hole for 15 days. It won’t be easy remembering to brush my teeth with bottled water and to wear clothes that fully cover me in order to respect the Muslim culture. It will be really hard.

But when you think about it, when can you grow from something easy? And if you think even more, you had to have grown at some point to make something easy. This trip is probably going to be rough, and I’ll admit that. I’m not going on a vacation to the Bahamas. I’m going to help other people become the best that they can be so they can make this world a better place. That’s what makes it all worth it.

It’s just like this blog, kind of. I don’t consider writing this blog to be easy. I’ve written a few posts I was really nervous about. I’m not good with letting the world know how I really feel at times. I describe my true feelings that people don’t always know of because I feel that if everyone knows about it, why write about it? I believe that if you’re not a little bit scared about what you’re doing, then it isn’t worth doing. That holds true to this trip. Yes, I’m scared, and no, it won’t be easy, but will I grow from it? I definitely will.

My 4-H career has taught me everything from time management to how to clip a cow, but one of the greatest things I’ve learned is that there is no better thing in this world than helping another person. My 15 days spent in Tanzania will be full of helping people, and no matter how hot it may get or how much bug spray I lather on myself, I’ll be happy because I know that I’m learning by doing and making the best better.