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”.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

The Zambezi River

I went whitewater rafting today with a girl named Gemi - she is another medical volunteer for African Impact. We rafted on the Zambezi river, right below Victoria Falls. It was so much fun!!!! We have every weekend off from our projects so we have to do our excursions on either a Saturday or Sunday. Our guide for the day was a Zambian man who goes by the nickname of "Baby face". We really lucked out by getting this guide because he is a really fun person and really knew what he was doing.......thank god! :) There was a point in the rafting trip where we were able to get out of the raft, climb up the side of the canyon, and jump off the cliff into the Zambezi - but only if we wanted to. Well, of course I chose to do it. You could choose to jump from the lower level cliff or from the higher level cliff. Well, of course I chose to jump from the higher one. It was so freaking high.....but it was so thrilling to do. I'm glad that I did it. After we got back into the raft, we had some really scary rapids ahead of us. Well...one of the rapids that we went over was named Terminator 2. :) It definitely got the best of us....as soon as we hit the rapid, it flipped the boat over and we all went flying out. As I was being thrown out of the boat, I was hit in the mouth by someone's paddle. Pretty hilarious huh??!!! When I came up out of the water, my immediate reaction was to put my hand to my mouth and check and see if my teeth were still there....and I found that all of them were still in the right place but my mouth was already bruised and swollen. Looking back now, it is really, really funny but at the time....it was really scary. The rest of the trip was so much fun and I soon forgot about my busted lip - although the mirror reminded me about it later. The canyon surrounding the Zambezi river is absolutely beautiful! Gemi and I both said later that it was exactly the way we imagine heaven to be with little waterfalls everywhere and the greenest plants you have ever seen - absolutely incredible. This trip was definitely one for the record books and I can't wait to be able to post all the pictures from it!!!!