Took my first Malaria tablet this morning

So i took my first Dioxycycline tablet this morning, a prophylaxis for malaria which you begin taken 1-2 days before exposure to the area of risk. This means one thing, in 1-2 days, I WILL BE IN MALAWI! YEYEYYEYE

Well i leave Darlington tomorrow, on the 12.26pm East Coast service to Kings X Cross, followed by a short trip to Heathrow, an overnight flight to Ethiopia, a quick technical stopover in the Congo and finally landing in Malawi Saturday afternoon.

The last 2 months have passed in a fund-raising, exam-passing, moving out of flats blur. Ooo and i quick trip to Bulgaria and Slovakia. But in true comic relief style we not only reached or target i would say we smashed it. We know have around £13,000ish sitting in the bank, meaning if time allows we may also be able to construct a house alongside the health centre for a member of staff.

For the first few nights we will be staying in Lilongwe, followed by a weekend trip to Nkhata Bay and then onto project for the next 8 weeks. We have around 2.5 weeks at the end for travelling and more adventures.

I will try and do a quick blog post whenever i have internet access so hopefully you can all keep informed.

Enjoy the Olympics Britain, and let the adventures begin.....

Just had my last two injections! MMR and Hep A, no more injections for me for a while! YES!

Good Read
https://apps.facebook.com/theguardian/global-development/2012/may/01/malawi-president-joyce-banda-western-donors

Happy Mayday to all!

Which means one thing, we can say we depart for Malawi next month! WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! yeyy! exciting times.

So Saturday was our bag pack at Asda and we raised £556.29 in 6 hours! bringing our about in the bank to £8391.09, with Ross and Ben's money still to reach the bank we are at around £9831, which leaves about £1000 left to raise!

I remember thinking back in the beginning of the year how would we ever make it to this point, but here we are, so we have a few bits and bobs coming up to raise the last £1000...

- Ross's speech at the Rotary Club
- Rachel's second pub quiz 
- My cake sale at my old college
- Some team member still to climb Ben Nevis
- Just general last bits of donations to collect up

I have my final last 2 injections tomorrow and just had by 100+ Malaria tablets delivered, getting organised for once!

So 59 days i will be in Heathrow Departures Lounge (getting exciting now), but now back to virus revision....

Love Kasha xx

The level of posting definitely in increases when I am meant to be revising!

Well yesterday me and Rachel completed a First Aid awareness course for overseas expedition. We are now absolute pros at the recovery position! We also covered cuts, fractures, burns, cpr and snake bites. Seriously hope we don't encounter this little fellow-

The black mamba can kill in under an hour and considering the only hospital stocking the anti-venom in Malawi is in Mzuzu, lets hope we avoid him!

After receiving our kit list on Tuesday and due to being unable to sleep I did a rather large internet shop and pretty much ticked most the list including, Malaria tablets, gardening gloves, memory cards, disposable cameras, ticket to heathrow, after sun, sun cream, mosquito repellent this list could go on and on.......In typical style i hit eBay and Asda, definetly the best prices!

Today has been a pretty successful day for our total with an £100 donation from one of last years volunteers and £630 from Ross's aunties coffee morning. This bring our total to £8299.60 and only £2597 left to go! Roll on the bag pack tomorrow!


Love Kasha xxx
http://www.justgiving.com/malawik2012

Well doesn't time just fly when your having fun! it's been a far too long 5 weeks since I last did a post, i will try my best to fill you in on whats been happening.

Back in March we had Rachel's pub quiz raising £154.80 and the Olympics Night raising £65.29. On the 29th March myself, Dave, Leonie, Frani and Ross completed the long drive North to Fort William, and that was before tackling Britain's highest mountain! Ben Nevis stands 1,344m above sea level and the rather large hill was conquered by all. As you can see, some spectacular views on the way up and from the top!

At the beginning of April we held a Lazy Lounge night raising £226.72 and another bake sale bought in £51.90. the weekend of 7th/8th of April also saw the Malawi:Kachimbeka team hit the streets of Edinburgh for some bucket collecting, bringing in another £300 towards our total!

So the current total raised stands at a mighty £7301.63, 67% of our target! This Saturday we have a backpack at the local Asda which should hopefully bring in a few hundred!

Last night we had our Pre-Departure Training session and it is all starting to feel very real! First Aid Training tomorrow and just 65 days till departure!

Just keep giving!

http://www.justgiving.com/malawik2012

Love Kasha

So what has been happening in the last 11 days I hear you ask!

Following the success of our previous library based bakes sales we decided to mix it up a bit and head down to Kings Buildings for our last 2 sales. The first on March 9th raised £73.87 in 3 hours, and the most recent one on March 16th raised £40.37.

This week was also the EGP AGM with next years committee being elected and any amendments to constitutions being voted on.

Here is the new committee for 2012/2013 and i am your new I.T Sec! Exciting times.

Following our paper clip challenge before Christmas, the fridge carafe is now available for you to bid on, on eBay! You know you want to.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Eva-Solo-1-4L-Fridge-Carafe-with-Lime-Neoprene-Cover-NEW-/290684339247?pt=UK_HG_Crockery_RL&hash=item43ae23042f

Yesterday we also took advantage of the fact it was St.Patricks day AND the final 3 six nations games. The pubs of Edinburgh were bursting with people willing to support our cause and donate there small change! An afternoons work raised a very impressive £322.82. Good effort team!

This week Ben also secured us a spot at The Gyle Centre to do a sponsored bike on June 9th.

Coming up this Wednesday is our Society Olympics! bound to be an awesome night!

https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/343652072338525/

I will defenitely update you on how it goes!

Love Kasha

DAYS TO GO- 102
MONEY LEFT TO RAISE- £6600(ish)

KONY 2012 is a film and campaign by Invisible Children that aims to make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice.

http://vimeo.com/37119711