Thinking of a Service Trip

I've always wanted to visit Africa. I think it's a very interesting country....very different from America. The way of life is a lot different than what we are use to....we are extremely spoiled. I have a deep desire to visit but I think it's not right to go "spectate" on the hardship and poverty. I don't want to go to the nicer parts...and stay in a nice hotel either. I looked into taking a service trip to either Kenya or Ghana in summer 09. I can get into the thick of things and help touch some lives in the meantime. I asked Jewel yesterday if she'd be interested in going with me. I think it would be a wonderful trip for her and I to experience together after her graduation. She said YES! I'm so happy that we are going to do this together.

I am going through a company called Volunteer Visions. http://www.volunteervisions.org/ I've done some research and they have a good reputation as far as I can tell. They are also one of the more affordable organizations. We'll have to pay a fee of up to $1,100 for 2 weeks + get ourselves there on our own. Preliminary web searches have revealed that the flight will cost around $1,300 minimum. So- I figure that we will need to come up with $5,500. That seems a little crazy considering it's less than a year and a half away.....but I have some creative ideas that are NOT asking others to flat out pay for our trip.

I'm interested in HIV/AIDS Care in Ghana. Jewel is interested in that too....so I've sent off to recieve more information.