Donations

5 more weeks until I head to Ghana!!

So if you are here checking out my blog, you may be wondering how you can help my cause. First, I am not expecting you to donate, but know by donating, you are helping people in Ghana gain more independence in their daily life.

My plans with the donations I receive are to use them to pay for my volunteers fees and to buy supplies for the therapy clinic in Kpando, Ghana. My volunteer fees will be around $3000. Those fees ensure that I have clean water, safe food, an escort when I'm traveling Ghana, and housing. In return, I will provide P.T. services to people in need. This trip is not a paid trip. I will be volunteering about 3 1/2 months of my time without pay.

Therapy is a foreign idea in developing countries. I will help make sick or injured people more independent. What that means, I may help injured people return home so they can help their families put food on the table. I may help injured people learn how to use crutches/walkers/canes so they can leave their homes again to go make a living.

I do not expect to save the world, but I am hoping to help many people in Ghana return to active functional lives.

If this is something you are interested in you can now easily donate money to me by visiting http://www.gofundme.com/9f5gs

or you can mail me a check made out to village volunteers
or you can mail me cash

email me at kariqpie@yahoo.com or message me on facebook and I will give you my address

Thanks so much! Check back soon for another update on how my preparations and packing are coming along.

Love, Kari

Welcome!! My first Post!

Thank you for visiting my blog. You probably know by now that I am going to Ghana, Africa. I will be volunteering for about 4 months in the village of Kpando as a physical therapist. My volunteering duties will be very similar to being a PT in the US; however, the conditions will be a little different.

Many of you are probably wondering how I decided to volunteer. Its not exactly an every day decision to just quit your job and move half way around the world. Those who know me well though, probably are not too too surprised by my decision. I tend to be a very random person and while I'm quiet at times, I'm usually up for an adventure.

The past 10 months, I thought my life was going to turn out a certain way. That all changed a few weeks ago, so I decided I could not just sit on the couch and hope my life would turn out the way I want it to. The idea of winter in Illinois became very depressing. I first looked into travel PT in florida, but eventually decided that would not make me anymore content that my current situation. I remembered seeing on facebook, an old classmate who went to Haiti on a medical mission and that got me thinking I should do that. Well, most medical volunteer opportunities are religious in nature. I am not opposed to missionary work, but I most definitely do not want to do missionary work. I happened upon the website, thwb.org. It was a perfect fit. I could volunteer for as long as I wanted to, there is no religious affiliation, and I can provided hospital therapy. I interviewed for the opportunity last week and now I am in the process of buying my airfare, getting my visa, filling out all the paperwork, and lots of other odds and ends that need to be tied up before I can leave.

My departure date will be 12/6/11 and I will return on 3/22/11. Please check out my blog in the coming weeks so you can help donate to the cause if you feel moved. After 12/6, check the blog frequently, so you can read about my adventures in Africa!!!

This is going to be an amazing journey. I will be able to help many people less fortunate than myself, but I know I will get some much more out of it than I can possible give to the people of Ghana. It may be crazy to go to Africa to try and find myself, but this girl is going to give it a try!!

Wish me luck!