You may be wondering...

..who I am:
My name is Amanda Baxley and I am from the teeny town of Hartsville, South Carolina. I went to the College of Charleston and graduated in 2006 with a BA in Biology and a minor in Psychology. After taking a year off to work, I got accepted to the Medical University of South Carolina College of Nursing. I graduated from the Accelerated BSN program this past December and am now officially a RN!!! I have had the same amazing boyfriend for the past 4 years now and will hopefully be lucky enough to be engaged to him very soon! And I definitely can't go without mentioning the other love in my life...my sweet, adorable 4 year old Daschund named Sadie. She is my best friend and always beside me!

...what this blog is all about:
Giving others a chance to experience Livingstone, Zambia right along with me.

...when I will be in Zambia:
From January 31 until March 2 of this year.

...where Livingstone, Zambia is located:
Livingstone is the current capital of Zambia, a country in the southern portion of Africa. Livingstone is approximately 10km south of Victoria Falls, one of the largest waterfalls in the world.

...why I am going there:
To provide healthcare to the disadvantaged citizens of Livingstone. Zambia is one of the world's poorest countries in the world and, as a result, healthcare is ineffecient. Because of the lack of adequate healthcare and health related education, Zambia is one of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa most affected by HIV and AIDS. Growing up, I was lucky enough to see the way that my dad cared about people other than himself. So...long story short, about 10 months ago, I made the decision to go to Zambia so that I could begin using my medical skills like my father used his - to help those that are unable (no matter what the reason) to help themselves.

“For the first time in human history, we have the science, the technology, and the money to end extreme poverty. With this unprecedented historic opportunity comes the responsibility to act”.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

I made it!!!!!!

Well hello everyone!! I made it to Zambia!!! Pretty crazy huh??!! I'm sitting at an internet cafe called ZigZag in Livingstone. The internet connection is really pretty bad here and I have not been able to upload any pictures because of how slow it is, but hopefully I will be able to at some point. I have some really, really cool photos of the view of Zambia from the airplane as well as of downtown Livingstone. The trip down here was incredibly LONG and TIRING but definitely an experience in itself. While in Johannesburg, I stayed at a little paradise of a place called the Safari Club South Africa (please google it because it is awesome)! It was an amazingly beautiful place and somewhere that I hope to return to one day. After an hour and 45 minute flight today, I finally arrived in Livingstone. The heat here is nothing like I have ever felt before but it really cools off in the evening. After I got to the African Impact house, I was given the rest of the day to get myself together and rest. I unpacked and then walked downtown (which is only about a 5 minute walk) and called Bradley and my mom from SKYPE - which really works pretty well given the fact that I am 10,000 miles away. While walking downtown I saw something in the distance that looked like smoke from a fire. I asked the African Impact coordinator about it and she said that what I thought was smoke was actually the mist coming off of Victoria Falls. It was absolutely beautiful and really told me why Victoria Falls used to be called "the smoke that thunders". Tomorrow I am going through an orientation for the project. We are going to be taken to the clinics, houses, farms, and schools that we are going to be working in and I am so excited about finally seeing where I am going to be working!!!! Can't wait for all of the experiences that I am going to have in the next 4 weeks! I also can't wait until I can upload some photos because they are absolutely amazing and I want to share them with everyone!!! Off to bed for me!!!