Feel it. It is here. (cheesy, but true)

how AMAZING is this ball? im obsessed. it's sparkly and bouncy and superfun! Aaand it's one of my cool toys for the mission. Ialso got these cute teacher stickers..

some of my other favourites are a cool blue skipping rope, Ben10 playing cards, colourful chalk and looong balloons (hope chloe knows how to make actual balloon animals, else we're gonna have hundreds of balloon snales crawlin round haha) oh and i got the cutest notepads from ali ali ali. they have cute lil phrases on them like

"relax and enjoy life. know that whatever you need to know is revealed to you in the perfect time and space"

"the work you are doing within yourself is not a goal, it's a process. -a lifetime process. enjoy the process"

"when good comes into our lives and we deny it by saying 'i dont believe it' we literally push our good away"

i mean, seriously, can u get cuter? -and so profound. thanks ali!!!!

this is one of my favourite photos from the recent DRC mission. (there are hundreds! shouldve posted more.. oh well, madagascar ones will come soon. TOMORROW! aaaah!) it's crazy! aaah im getting butterflies just thinking about it. i CANNOT believe it HERE. aaaah. those of you that know me will know that 'aah' is literally happening. im screaming. and smiling. and jumping up and down like crazy!! aaaaah i cant stop i cant stop. okay *breathe*

what else? im sorta packed. oh wait let me take a photo of my bag quick...

okay seriously. I LOVE TECHNOLOGY. how EPIC is it that i just took this photo, im staring at my bag on the floor infront of me, and now its.. aaah haha maybe im just being a lil dramatic, but we live in such a cool time, guys!

okay yes. that is a LV bag. DONT JUDGE. *i know Scarlett will when she sees me at the airport --and I will ALWAYS be the girl who came on a mission with her LV bag gooosssshhh* BUT you see, being clumsy me, i may or may not have broken the rolly thing of my first bag. and then the alternative just failed on me. so hello, lifesaving-and-coincidentally-stylish bag. the world must just accept you bc youre filled with everything i need. as we learnt at Mission Training in Virginia last year (can't believe it was a year ago.. feels like yesterday..) everything is in my carryon. (incase my checkin luggage doesnt arrive) yes indeed. it's a miracle, everything. the weight fluctuates from 7-9kgs (haha math lit) but either way, it's all good. yes even those extra four pairs of cargo shorts i DEFINITELY dont need but i figure if i gonna rock the cargo short look i might as well do it in a variety of colours and styles (omg i sound like sucha barbie.- im not, i swear) are in there. oh i still have my case though...

ive got a bunch of stuff thatd be nice to have but arent like NEEDS. extra coloured paper... jeans.. a skirt... coloured markers.. an aliceband (ya i literally found that rightnow, i think i wore it last in like.. ninth grade, but hey you never know, i could need it haha.) .. a couple of tanktops and a lightweight warmtop... yeah.. oh other toliteries...ziploc bags..and much space for stuff ill be buying :) YAY BUYING STUFF! that book. SO GREAT. Jack Reacher is amazing, i want to be him. But he's busy investigating some stuff that just... I dont need in my head while I'm on the journey haha.

(got a lil carried away with the photo taking..) this is my 'im wearing you tomorrow so i wont pack you' pile. with a yummyyummy almond and cranberry bar, all on my camprock blanket. which i may bring with, we'll see.

OHMYGOSH i havent told u guys where we're staying. have i? i dno? but wow. it's amazing! not just for a mission, in general, wow.

okay it's already tomorrow aka THE DAY. I have been stalking Lisa Adachi's missionblog and advice and aaah (so sad i didnt get to skype with you before i left...) I am bursting with anticipation! I just realised that, as much as I am like.. I dno, I've been waiting for this day for two years. I feel emotionally prepared, I mean ofcourse there'll be tears and I can't even begin to imagine what's gonna hit me.  But I feel ready. And I've realised, it's so much bigger than me. My family and friends have been so great about it all. I kinda... sometimes forget they're in this equation, too. I guess, I take it for granted how much they care. How much I mean to them. SO thank you, all of you. You really do mean the world to me, and I hope I make you feel that way. Please know you're always in my heart. Someone wise once said that "you've made such an impression on people that when they cross the borders of distant countries they take you with them" -And in a couple of hours you'll be in Tana :) I'm going on this trip and I will make you proud, grow in ways beyond expectation, and make a difference that will last a lifetime. Bc that's what I'm called to do. This is where my heart lies. I am completely certain. And completely EXCITED!

two sleeps two sleeps!

it's two sleeps today. AAAH. and im FREAKINGOUT. i have lastminute shopping to do, and posters to complete so i can have them laminated, friends to see before i leave (i wont see most of them for a month from saturday. sigh) and SAT registration to complete. and and and . i think me stressing in my head is making it worse. i just went to the dentist, he was mean. the dentists on the mission will be supernice :) im really really excited to meet everyone. it's a lovely sunny day outside, im going to go listen to chilled music and enjoy it :) -while finishing my posters. ORT therapy here i come!! and hey, don't forget, if you have burns -do not put ice or butter on them! OH i also learnt that in Madagascar it is illegal to buy tortoises and lemurs and orchids. but i can buy upto 2kgs of vanilla. #interestingfacts

okay now im just stalking vanilla. (i LOVE google) and craving vanilla icecream.. mmm. stop procrastinating, andrea. STOP. 

one week to go.

wow i haven't blogged here in ages. im mildly obsessed with my other blog, to the point where one day without reading or posting on it, feels like eternity. i guess it also felt like the mission was so far away.. and suddenly it's SEVEN DAYS AWAY. seven days. WOW. (haha i cant hear the phrase 'seven days' without thinking of scarymovie3 "can you hear me now? can you hear me now..? seven days.." yeah, i watched that movie waaay too many times. 

Anyway. Today. I went to buy shorts of appropriate length. Ended up buying some nice tshirts and gladiators as well, buuut let's not dwell on that point...I also spent this afternoon reviewing all the notes I took during mission training in Virginia and Cape Town... And brushing up on my education info.. I'm specifically focussing on Burn Care and ORT (Oral Rehydration Therapy).. Chloe is doing Nutrition and Dental Health.. I'm SUPER excited to be doing this mission with my cousin. But before I go on about her, let me announce.. *drumroll please* that Andries is no longer our sponsor. The date for his thesis to be handed in was pushed up by a month, so it was gonna be too hectic for him. Our new sponsor is.. NADIA!

(facebook profile picture stalking..)
She called me today and she seems really sweet. She's a lil nervous about getting everything right, but we came to the conclusion that we will make sure we are as ready as we can be, but live in the knowledge that it will only become real when we're there, and that we will be there for eachother completely. (She's sure she'll be spending much time crying) 

Right now, I'm waiting for my amaaazing friend, Lisa Adachi, to come online so we can have a Skypedate about my final preparations. Her incredible mission blog and experiences with her mission to Amman earlier this year have been such an inspiration to me. 

Wellll it's weekend, if you have some time, check out Fran's blog. She's currently blogging while on her mission in Fortaleza, Brazil. Really exciting stuff! Okay I have to go, Skype awaits!!

Happy weekend everyone :) As chessy as it sounds, (because im too excited about skype to find an inspirational qute) BE THE CHANGE you wish to see in the world, in everything you do this weekend. 

Love Always Xoxo

Editor's Note.

reading iwrotethisforyou. and came across the latest post:

"I do not write this easily.
Yesterday, in South Africa, where I live, a journalist, who had recently written an article on corruption within the government, was picked up off the street by 6 police cars. He was whisked away, in an unmarked car, to an unknown location. His “questioning” started at 2:30am this morning. I re-post this article from the www.thedailymaverick.com for more details. As a human being I ask you, a fellow human being, for your help."
___________
As we write this, the exact whereabouts of Mzilikazi wa Afrika are still unknown. Erik van den Berg, lawyer for the Sunday Times, says they know he was booked into the Watervalboven police station at 5:30pm on Wednesday. Then he was booked out. He has not been booked in anywhere else in Mpumalanga. Needless to say, this uncertainty really gives this story the fear factor. No lawyer has yet been to see Wa Afrika. Is that what the country ruled by the “greatest liberation movement” in the world has come to? This is behaviour reminiscent of one of the worst kinds of government - the one we thought we had relegated to history in 1994. Strangely, the spin side of “Operation Arrest Wa Afrika” has been much quicker. The Hawks' Musa Zondi (you ask why the Hawks were involved here - so do we) was on the radio, talking about Wa Afrika's arrest, claiming it was a normal operation and that the arrest had nothing to do with Wa Afrika's work as a journalist. Which then turned out not to be the case. In fact, he was arrested for receiving a fax that was supposedly Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza's resignation letter to SA President Jacob Zuma. After the Sunday Times checked with the Presidency and they claimed never to have received it, editor Ray Hartley decided not to run the story and it was spiked. Perhaps someone realised that public perception matters when you arrest a journalist in the same way you would a serial killer armed with automatic weapons and on the run. But the awareness of public perceptions didn't go far enough to arrange for Wa Afrika's appearance in court or to let him see a lawyer immediately. If they needed to ask him a few questions, couldn't they just have followed due process? No spin doctor in the world can fix such crude conduct. Of course, none of that happened, and it is no surprise that the media is so concerned here. It took nearly 24 hours for police to even tell us where and if he would appear in court. And, according to Hartley, Wa Afrika’s interrogation began at 2:30 this morning - hardly a standard time to sit down for a chat with a journalist. Of course, political reaction has been fascinating. Mabuza released a statement last night, at the witching hour, saying he welcomed the arrest which, he claimed, was further proof of a political conspiracy against him, and that Wa Afrika was a journalist who had ignored the gains being made in the province. Mabuza's midnight statement told you all you needed to know about the province, and about how it’s governed. It is clear that there is bad blood between Mabuza and Wa Afrika, and now it would appear that Mabuza has the journalist in his power. That may not be technically correct, as the police are run as a national “competence”, and officially premiers have no say and no power over them. But this leads us to the real issue. The entire arrest, the outrage and anger that followed it and the giddy response from Mabuza all point to the same problem. The fact is that in this country the same people make decisions about who to arrest, which officers to use to do it, what to charge them with, and sometimes, it seems, who will do the judging. The checks and balances that are marks of a functioning democracy are simply not there. In this country, Luthuli House decides how and who gets the power jobs in the civil service. The ANC decides who will head the police that will arrest a reporter and who will prosecute him. And we do know the nature of relationship between media on one side, and Bheki Cele and Menzi Simelane on the other. The reaction also tells us another sad fact about our country. Your reaction to Wa Afrika's arrest will pretty much depend on your identity and whether you belong to the ANC or not. If you voted ANC, you’re probably pretty pleased that this rabble-rouser journalist who dissed your peeps is getting what he’s had coming to him. If you’re middle-class, educated and would consider voting for someone else, you’re bloody worried. The reaction of the media is, naturally, more than just one of shared concern. For reporters and editors the sight of one of their own being bundled into a van by police officers with overwhelming force because of a story that is not even going to be run certainly looks like a sign of very bad times to come. The fact that it happened outside a building hosting a meeting of the SA National Editors’ Forum about defending media freedom can justifiably be seen as a crude attempt at intimidation. To the older and greyer journalists' the developments of late, with the ANC hell-bent on railroading a raft of the laws through Parliament that will effectively muzzle the media and shield politicians behind even darker windows to keep them from public scrutiny, the Hollywood-style spectacular arrest of a journalist sounds way too familiar. And we all thought it would never happen again.
By Stephen Grootes
_________________


"I was 14 years old when Apartheid ended in this country. Had I been older, had I the ability to reach people that I do today, I like to think and to hope that I would have the moral backbone to do everything in my power to bring attention to the horrors that were being committed on a daily basis in this country.

Today, I am here.


You may not live here. In fact, you probably don’t live here. I have very few readers in my home country, compared to other countries. That is why you are important. It was people from other countries that provided the pressure, externally, through sanctions, that helped end Apartheid.

You can help end this before it becomes something more.


I beg you to repost this to your own blogs and media platforms, and to either copy and paste the letter below or draft your own, and send it on to the newspapers in my country, so that our leaders know that they are being watched. Not just by South Africans, but by the world.
I implore you.
Sincerely,
Me."
______________
To: tellus@sundaytimes.co.za

Dear President Jacob Zuma,

Firstly, I would like to congratulate you and your countrymen on hosting an incredibly successful World Cup. When the world’s eyes were upon you, you rose to the challenge.


Unfortunately, my attention has recently been bought to the detention of a reporter named Mzilikazi wa Afrika. I have several questions for you in this regard.
Why were 6 police vehicles required to arrest one journalist?
Why were photographers prevented from taking pictures, by police?
Why was he arrested for a story that was never published?
Why was he not allowed to see a lawyer?
Why did you only begin to question him at 2:30am in the morning?
Does this not remind you of the actions of the Apartheid government?

I sincerely urge you to look into this matter and to provide answers at the earliest possible opportunity. Because, as they were during Apartheid, as they were during the World Cup, and as they are now:



The eyes of the world are upon you.
Sincerely,
(Name)
(Country Of Origin)




just sayin.

Mission Meeting.

This evening we had a meeting about our mission at the opsmile headoffice. I met our student sponsor, Andries, for the first time. He went to Madagascar last year, so it's really helpful that he knows the area we'll be working in well. In response to my 'what do we really need, specifically in Madagascar, question, he said: "Toothbrushes. Lots of toothbrushes. And bubbles! Bubbles are the answer to world peace." (*hint hint nudge nudge* donations always welcome. We need 1000 toothbrushes. And we'll be seeing around 300 kids, who will all love bubbles -because theyre awesum!- so we'll be needing lots of stuff.) Scarlett's mom, Jo, told us she is bringing these cool bubbles which last for an hour without popping! How cool is that?! And she was telling us alll about the cool new activities we'll be running during the mission. (She's an Occupational Therapist, and the Child Life Therapist on the mission) They're all these really cool games to develop hand-eye coordination and teach the children about colours and shapes.. and we'll be getting their parents involved with activity books and story-telling. Oh, we played with this supercool playparachute (which Meagan and I now both want!) I'm SO excited!!! We're going mission shopping soon, at this huuuuge warehouse. Haha everyone at the office is already warning me to calm down.. They know me so well :) It was good to be back in the office. It's only been two days since my internship ended but it's still strange not going in every morning, not seeing them all every day. They've become family, so it's natural that I'd miss them.. But it's not long til Madagascar where I'll see them allll day and night for ten days! Haha we'll really know each other well after everything on the mission. Can't wait!

Connect.

"I am because you are. A simple statement. But one in which we find incredible power. Ubuntu teaches us that we’re all inextricably linked –that in order for one to succeed, the whole must succeed. It teaches us that to be human, one needs humanity –that there is an element of ourselves in all whom we meet."

"This is the story of a young boy and an old man. A story of how this connection is able to change a life forever. Thulani was born with a cleft lip and abandoned by his family. He lived on the streets, an outcast shunned by society. There was, however, one man that always greeted Thulani when their paths crossed. They never spoke, but he had always recognized something of himself in the boy. The man was old –his face masked behind a bushy grey beard.

One day he stopped to speak. He told Thulani that Operation Smile would be visiting a village a few days away. But Thulani had no money. Together, the two collected enough to pay for two bus tickets and made their way to the mission. Thulani’s surgery was successful. He could barely believe he was looking at himself when the old man held a mirror to his face. The old man was offered a bath and a shave. As he emerged, it became clear why they’d shared such a connection. Behind the old man’s grey beard, remained the scar of a cleft lip."

figure out the rest of your life.

have you watched the 1Goal videos? theyre so great! 72 million children on the planet aren't being educated. 60% of them are in Africa. i just watched oprah's 'the 25th season will be my last' speech. *so emotional* it's the end of an era.. weird thinking that my children won't come home from school and wonder what's on oprah today. we won't sit on the couch and watch the amazing christmas episodes where the audience gets every kind of free thing imaginable. *sigh* i guess that's how time goes...

the point i was trying to make is that i was already in an emotional state, and then the jessica alba and bono video came on. (you should watch it!) WOW. what strikes me is the biggest lesson ive learnt from operationsmilesouthafrica, -you can make a difference. a huge one. the smallest thing, one hour a week spent tutoring a child, could be the highlight of their week. one hour spent honestly caring about their needs, about their well-being, about their hopes and dreams. -that's what makes the difference! ive been so blessed to have grown up with amaaaazing people shaping the person ive become. and i am beyond grateful. i can only hope to make as great an impact on the life of another person, -and i do, everyday. we sometimes forget how much of an impact every moment shared with another has on them. and i like to stop and think, 'what is it that people see in me when we spend time together? when we speak for a moment in the store? when they see me across the room before we meet? when they hear me talking to my friends about my weekend?'

so this post is purely to remind you of the millions of people in need of your help. your talents, your passion, your time, your resources. we've been so blessed. if youre reading this, you are literate. and able to comprehend my thoughts. you have access to a computer and internet. you are SO blessed. let's help those who aren't. there are so many amazing projects, so many ways to get involved in uplifting the hearts and quality of life of others. there is no excuse. GET INVOLVED!

and have a wonderful weekend, reflecting on your blessings and contemplating how you can make a difference. -it's a really exciting thing!