Hujambo! Mambo! Sikamoo! Welcome to Tanzania.

After 30+ hours of traveling, we finally arrive. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania is nothing like I expected...but to be honest, I really had no idea what to expect. Immigration was not only simple but well organized and the officers were kind, a shock for me as I expected a system similar to what I experienced in the Philippines or Mexico, long waits and confusing officers providing conflicting information on the necessities to enter the country.

 (Photo credit: The amazing Eric Lafforgue...my hero and inspiration for photography. Check out his works at http://www.ericlafforgue.com)

Upon walking out the door into a humid cloud of heat, we were greeted by our incredibly friendly driver from AMREF, Hezron. As we joked about the immense amount of clothes the two of us girls had packed, we piled into the jeep and prepared for the long journey into the city. I'm sure this drive would take no more than 20 minutes, but with peak hour traffic, congested streets and the no rules of the road driving, it took us closer to an hour and a half to reach our hotel.

I was shocked to see how developed the city is. Granted we have seen a very limited amount of the city, I have only seen one person of "destitute" status, sitting on the side of the road and have only been referred to as "mzunga" on a piece of paper for my new cell phone.

What we have been blessed with so far, is the incredibly amazing Tanzanian friendliness. Open and welcoming, the Tanzanian people go well beyond the call of duty to make you feel at home. While we have yet to meet our coworkers at AMREF, we have already experienced the utmost in hospitality from the friendly desk workers at our hotel to the amazing family connection we have from a friend back in Canada.

I greatly look forward to the next 6 months in Tanzania, exploring the culture and the scenery. I'm kicking myself for not having brought my camera, but I just couldn't stand the thought of losing it.

Kwa Heri,

iGlobal Citizen.

The other side of the Downtown East Side

Twelve years ago I began volunteering at the Union Gospel Mission in Vancouver's infamous Downtown Eastside. Drugs and mental illness ravage the area leaving the general population afraid of it's inhabitants. To me however, this community is my second home. Most will avoid the streets of Hastings and Main in order to avoid the gaze of the impoverished, the ill and the well...cracked out, however, by doing so, many will miss the most amazing instances of humanity at it's kindest.

In my 12 years volunteering, I like to think that I've seen it all, last night, however, opened my eyes more so than ever before. Upon speaking with a few of the clients during one of the many meals provided by the UGM, I had begun explaining my upcoming trip to Tanzania to a few of the regulars.

A few days later I was told that one of the regulars came up to me during a meal and asked me to meet her out back after we had finished serving. I came outside to see her standing with a bag full of toys and a stack of papers with the names and biographies of children in Tanzania from the World Vision website.

Here, in the "roughest" neighbourhood in Canada, was someone who wanted nothing more than for these children in Tanzania to have access to toys and some childhood fun. While I looked at the bag in disbelief, particularly wondering how on earth I was going to get this massive bag of individually chosen toys to Africa with me, I couldn't help but be amazed at the kindness and humanity this woman had shown.

The first question people ask while I'm volunteering, is what church do I belong to. When I respond that I don't volunteer on behalf of a church, the second question people ask is "why do you volunteer"? This, is why I volunteer, and this, is why the DTES will always be my other home. The Downtown Eastside has it's problems, there is no doubt about that, but the Downtown Eastside is not a community to be feared. There is more love, more hope, and more humanity is those few blocks than I've ever seen in any of the communities that I have visited around the world.

I can't help but feel humbled as I drive through the streets back to my privileged life and be gracious to be surrounded, even in the worst of areas, by some of the most amazing people.

For more information on the UGM see their website.
For information on the children in Tanzania see the World Vision Canada website here.

The one and only...Charly Folk

Meet Chris, aka Charly Folk. A talented and charming folk musician who I happened to encounter on my latest trip to Victoria, Vancouver Island. Charly Folk was introduced to me through a friend when he mentioned that I was in town and had my camera on me. I had a fantastic time shooting this incredibly talented and insanely creative musician. Some of his work can be found on Myspace < click here.

The "dirty folk" signer has an amazing sound with some fantastic lyrics. He's also a North Shore native which makes him just that much cooler in my eyes!

More can be seen on flickr < click here! Or click on the link at the top of my blog!

Yours,

iGlobal Citizen

Photography marathon training!

You read right. Photography marathon training...I'm stoked! Check out the details here.

In August of 2009, I left on a jet plane.

Destination: Seoul, South Korea.
Purpose: I never quite figured that out...
Why: Help eliminate other languages by pushing English to become a growing global first language  (please note: this was a source of massive internal conflict for me the entire year).

Having never had just "one job", I found myself in constant need of something to do in Korea. I felt myself constantly becoming homesick due to the lack of activities I had available. Then, along came flickr...or better yet, Flickr in Seoul. This wonderful group of people helped not only in making Korea one of the most interesting years of my life, but also brought me back into the world of film photography and reinvigorated my passion for the camera.

While I had always had a huge passion for my camera(s) and photography, it was in Korea with the inspiration of these amazing people that photography became such a huge part of my life (and sanity).

After a year of having to put my photography on hold due to massive pangs of guilt if I left my studying, I jumped at the opportunity to be apart of a photography community again. Particularly something as fun as a photography film marathon. I've always loved a challenge!

It's been a while since I picked up a film camera to be honest. The last time I did would have been my experimentation with lomography.

I started to go a little stir crazy yesterday and decided to pull out my camera(s) after their two month long rest! Headed up to Britannia Beach, a small "historic" mining town on the outskirts of Squamish. People always underestimate this little gem of a town (probably because it is famous for selling "gems" aka hippy crystals and crap). I never cease to be amazed at all the interesting people and fantastic photographic areas I find up there. Here are a few of the digitals that came about my photo adventure yesterday...

These two ships have been at Britannia as long as I can remember. I'm a huge fan of taking pictures of rusted buildings and ships ever since my trip to Alaska. 

Hopefully the film will turn out fairly high quality once I develop it! Let the training continue!

Yours Truly,

iGlobal Citizen

Welcome home?

I've been talking about this for years. I read blog after blog after blog and tell myself "you can do this, seriously, it's not that difficult". Four years later, after the blog craze has started to fade (I've always been a few years behind on fads), I'm finally making my attempt at a blog. After 3 years of constant travel, adventures and stories, I only now decide to give this thing a try.

What now you ask? Why start a blog after returning home? There are plenty of reasons for this...actually there is only one. Can you guess it? That's right....boredom. Like so many of the other twenty-somethings out there, I too am currently over-educated and unemployed. While I thoroughly enjoy waking up in the morning to the smell of coffee and eggs thanks to my dear mother in the morning...this twenty-something needs something to do.

So the jist of it...this blog will consist of:

• Photography updates
• Travel tips and stories (maybe even backdated ones depending on whether I'm caught up on the latest episode of Mad Men)
• Social advocacy (that's right folks, the ravings of a Canadian mad woman)
• Generally interesting things that I find
• and the occasional book review.   

So with that being said, I will now pour myself yet another cup of coffee and sit down to enjoy the wonderful world of blogging.

Yours truly, 

iGlobal Citizen.