Preparing to go...

"There is no moment of delight in any pilgrimage like the beginning of it."

Charles Dudley Warner

Hi everyone and welcome to my blog, this is my first entry so keep with me if things go a little awry.

I will shortly be going to Vietnam with VSO, (Voluntary Service Overseas), to work in their HIV and AIDS programme. The past couple of months have been very busy, my flat has had to be emptied in preparation for letting, a cathartic experience that finally meant donating some 20 years worth of accumulated books to charity. Together with medicals and vaccinations, I now feel as though I should be immune to most things, though the comprehensive VSO medical briefing has made me aware of the wide variety of illnesses and general hazards that I am still likely to encounter, including the rather gruesome bot fly maggot.

The past few days have been spent at Harbonne Hall, VSO's delightful residential training center just outside Birmingham. The time was spent learning skills that I shall need in my placement in Vietnam. These include a variety of techniques often based upon role play and theatre. I tried conducting meetings through puppets, a first for me and something I should have tried ages ago, as I have often been to meetings that have seemed like a Punch and Judy performance. It was also a fantastic opportunity to meet with other potential volunteers many of which were going to countries as diverse as China, Rwanda and Namibia. The skill mix and age range was also very diverse reflecting the variety of opportunities that VSO offers to fight poverty and tackle disadvantage in some of the poorest areas of the worlds.

VSO volunteers at Harbonne Hall, Aug 09, off to Ghana, Malawi, Namibia, Cameroon, Rwanda, China and Vietnam...can you spot me?

Another delight of Harbonne Hall is not only the resource centre, packed full of information, but also the delightful bar and the charming local Pub, the Bell Inn, which incorporates the village bowling green. A few pints of Summer Storm makes for an interesting walk through the olde worlde church graveyard after last orders. So now we have all departed and we will soon be going our seperate ways. I have come back to a newly decorated flat, well done to my decorators, Gary and Graham, it is only a shame that I shall not be living in it. In September I will be in Vietnam beginning my in-country training so you will be able to catch my updates and photos here.