I'm here!

I finally got myself on the flight. My suitcases scraped in at just under 46kg. (Yes I have brought my hair straightener - don't laugh). At the airport I managed to find a few other VSO volunteers who were also going to Addis. Once we were on the plane, we found nearly all of the others, about 30 in total. We were all a mixture of nerves and excitement, which meant that none of us got any sleep on the plane. We were all eager to find out if anyone was going to our final destination with us. I found that no one was going with me to Debre Birhan, but that a few others were going to be taking on the same job role as me in different town and cities. I even found a fellow ESOL tutor! This is useful to know as we can use each other for support.
The night flight was long but after the necessary security checks we were warmly greeted by other VSO volunteers and staff. Everything was well organised and we were soon directed to our minibuses which transported us to the Red Cross Centre where we will be staying until the 22^nd of September.
But this was not before my little incident! During security where all bags are checked, I accidently forgot to pick up one of my bags. I only realised my missing bag once I was out of the airport, so I asked one of the volunteers to look after all my things while I went back in. Everyone from VSO was outside waiting to be shown to the minibuses. I rushed back into the airport and didn’t have difficulty getting my bag. But when I got back outside, there was only the one volunteer looking after my bags. Everyone else had gone, and he didn’t know where the others had gone. We were alone for quite some time trying to find our group. I tried ringing the others but there wasn’t a signal on my mobile. We then thought that if we go back into the airport, someone would be able to assist us. Unfortunately we couldn’t get in, because by now there were very scary looking security guards at the door who refused us entry. There weren’t many people to ask for help and those we did ask didn’t understand English. It was quite a scary situation to be in after being awake for nearly 24 hours. I was just grateful I wasn’t on my own!
Fortunately our party didn’t go without us and someone came looking for us and everything was fine after that.

The volunteers are health professionals, IT technicians and teaching professionals. At the moment we are all in Addis Ababa for In-Country Training (ICT) for ten days. After that we will travel to our own towns or cities where our placements are.