VNDRL

I’ve been given the opportunity to travel to Zambia, Africa in early 2010.  This both excites me and terrifies me.

Excites me in the sense that I will finally be using my education and background in English, graphic design, and photography to work with a cause that is more than just commercialism.  To be able to use my photography to create awareness of the work that our church (The River) does with a group of villages in South Eastern Africa is a dream come true.  As much as I can appreciate the beauty, planning, and time that goes in to creating commercial advertising campaigns and publishing great design, I’ve always wanted to do more with the skills that I have learned.

Terrifies me in the sense that I really will have to take a leap of faith for this trip.  While I’ve traveled extensively throughout Canada and the United States, overseas travel is something that I have not had the chance to experience until now.  It will be interesting to see how I deal with foreign customs, two new continents, unfamiliar food, and yes, foreign washrooms.  I’ve grown up in a North American bubble for 26 years and have become too complacent in my surroundings.  I know this trip will shock my system of beliefs in what life and its hardships actually are.  Will I complain and gripe over the cost of fresh vegetables and fruit after I return from a region with so much poverty and food shortages?  Probably not.  Am I going to let a traffic jam ruin my day?  Probably not.

The challenge for me over the next two and a half months is to raise the money I need for travel and other expenses.  It’s a big cost ($4000) that I need to find somewhere.  Be prepared for me to ask you to help support me in my fundraising, be it through the sales of Fair Trade Coffee, sales of prints of my photography, or some other means.  All gifts will be tax deductible!  Please email me (nvandriel@gmail.com) or post a comment if you have any questions or words of encouragement.

Thanks for reading.  Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers over these next few months.