on a more serious note

i guess i should tell you a little bit about what i'll be doing while i'm in zambia....

well i was accepted to a year-long internship with grassroot soccer in lusaka, zambia. i'll be leaving this august (august 8th to be exact), and i am really excited! grassroot soccer (grs) is a non-profit organization that uses the power of soccer in the fight against hiv and aids. founded by former professional soccer players in 2002, grs trains african stars, coaches, peer educators, and teachers to deliver an interactive hiv prevention and life skills curriculum to youth.

so that is a very brief overview of grassroot soccer, but if you want to learn more about the organization please check out our website at www.grassrootsoccer.org.

grs has started programs in many african countries, but as i mentioned earlier, i will be working at the lusaka, zambia site. lusaka is the capital of zambia, with around 2 million people, so i am not living in the bush amongst the lions as some of you may have thought. on the contrary, ill be living in a house with the 5 other interns at my site. it'll be 4 girls and 2 boys in total. 2 of the interns are continuing a second year, so they will be helpful in showing us newbies the ropes...i hope.

throughout my internship, i'll be involved in many aspects of the grs program:
* planning youth-targeted hiv prevention programs
* networking with community organizations to build relationships and promote grs services
* coordinating events such as voluntary counseling and testing (vct) soccer tournaments
* building capacity of grs field staff and and local grs coaches
* recruiting community-based volunteers
* assisting in curriculum and business development

if you want to get a better idea of how the programs work and specifically how the zambia site interacts with the youth, check out the youtube video, "lusaka sunrise" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyplef2Hi6Y)... it's a sweet video.

all in all, i'm super pumped to get to zambia! i don't really have any expectations for the year, but i'm excited to see what comes my way and hopefully i'll be able to adapt well enough haha.