Preparations underway!

It’s been only two weeks since I found out I was selected for the 2018 GLP Programme, and already I am planning and preparing (although if you know me, this really shouldn’t surprise you). 

Once I recovered from the immediate shock and sheer excitement of knowing I would finally be achieving one of my bucket list dreams, the first point of order was fundraising! As I need to help cover the costs of the trip, I need to raise £1500. I launched into action: I planned bake sales, began organising raffle prizes, discussed Wick High staff events, and began requesting donations from those who attend my after school Zumba classes. Finally, I established my GoFundMe so my friends and family from Australia could also help if they were able to. In the first two days I raised £300 and a further £200 in private donations. I was nearly in tears at the incredible support I had already been offered - I was a third to my goal and still have five months to raise the rest!

(Btw - if you would like to contribute, you can find the link here: https://www.gofundme.com/miss-morrisons-african-adventure) 

Next: INOCULATIONS. I have a terrible fear of needles. I’ve been trying to overcome it since I was about 20, but I’m not quite there yet (just ask my dentist). So after visiting the doctor and finding out I was looking at roughly SEVENTEEN injections...I was somewhat less excited. However. Refusing to let my fears stop me from doing something I have wanted to do since before I began my teacher training! So I have an appointment with a nurse coming up to organise them all in time for July. 

Finally (for now): LANGUAGE! I ordered my Kinyarwanda dictionary yesterday and came home to it today! Thrilled! Very excited to start learning and planning to put words and phrases on my walls and around my classroom - hopefully I’ll get the kids involved too! Lastly, as a history teacher I’ve also always been intrigued and horrified by the Rwandan genocide. I’ve always wanted to teach it, so we’ve decided to include it in our third year curriculum this year. However, most of what I know about it has come from films such as Hotel Rwanda (which has come under criticism for bias) and Sometimes in April. So today I was in Inverness for a working group meeting and had time to stop by Waterstones and picked up this highly recommended book of personal recollections to help give me a better and more thorough understanding as well as to help me resource my upcoming programme. This obviously isn’t all of Rwandan history, and I intend to also include colonial and post genocide topics, but I believe it is an essential piece of history to be taught and I am really looking forward to creating and running this program!

Well that’s it from me for now - watch this space for more! 

-Miss M.