Introduction

This blog was created to provide a forum where we can share our journey and experiences during the next few months while we prepare for and embark on a humanitarian trip to Mali, Africa.

Now, when I say "we", I am referring to my friend Carie who has completed this trip twice before, and myself (Allison), who has NEVER done anything like this before. We are both very excited to be a part of this adventure and look forward to this opportunity to serve.

I guess I should start by explaining what the purpose of this trip is. It is run through the Utah Alliance and it takes place in the village of Ouelessebougou. There are only 2 times a year when a medical team will come and perform OB/GYN surgeries on women and run a wound clinic for the children. The women in this culture bear as many children as possible with the average being just over 7 births. That fact coupled with the weight of carrying objects on their heads contributes to a condition referred to as a prolapsed uterus. Because of the lack of medical services, these ailments become very severe and result in the women being shunned by their community. Surgical intervention is the only cure. Also, because of the lack of sanitation and hygiene, many of the children have infected and ulcerated open wounds on their bodies. We clean and bandage these painful wounds in the hopes that they will heal.

Needless to say, these services are necessary and I am very excited to be a part of this great team of volunteers. I really think it will be a fun mix of Carie's experience vs. my wide eyed wonder. I have already seen that Carie has invaluable insider information and helpful hints. And so far, I think she is handling me picking her brain pretty well.

As far as preparation for the trip there is a lot involved with this process. These things include the technicalities of obtaining passports, visa's, and the many, many, immunizations. Carie has the advantage of already having received her passport and immunizations from her service in years past. She has made a point to warn me that after all of my shots my arm is going to be SORE.

So far the biggest obstacle at this point is the financial costs involved in such a big excursion. Being a volunteer mission, we are all individually responsible to come up with the funds to make this happen. Although it is awkward asking for financial contributions, we feel that it is a worthwhile cause and is ultimately for the women and children we will serve. We will both seek and accept donations to help offset the costs of travel and volunteer related services. We are looking into a way to donate through this site, but until then you can contact us through e-mail (by clicking on our name) to get our individual contact information.

We hope you will follow us through this journey and we truly appreciate all of your support. We welcome any comments and are happy to answer any questions that you may have. This mission is truly bigger than us and we hope you all will feel a part of this amazing experience.