Its all very real now.

Its all starting to hit home now that in around 4 weeks time I shall be embarking on what will probably be one of the biggest adventures I am ever likely to have.

Yesterday I got my "Welcome Pack" from Rose ( Moving the world ) and it out lined a whole load of legal and official bumph that I need to fill in fax back post back. That's when it really hit home that I am really am going to be part of something special. The excitement is starting to kick in but there is still a lot I have to do before I leave.

From a personal perspective I just really need to clean my flat and pack my bags. Oh and send off the forms etc for Rose.

From a work perspective I think that where the real challenge is going to be. I have loads to turn out before the end of Feb so I really do have my work cut out for me in that department. But I am sure I will get there in the end. Just hope I don't have too many sleepless nights over it all. I don't think I will - I will be too tied not to !

On a plus I did have a post on the blog from someone I did not know. That was quite a pleasant surprise. It was from Jaqui, a Researcher/ Coordinator, who works with Alan Whiteside. Alan is one of the co-authors of "Aids in the Twenty-First Century" a book that I got the other day. So that was quite a boost to me.

Links & Resources

Here is a list of links and resources that may be of interest.

Links

• TNT Express - The company I work for and one of the key partners in Moving the World & North Start Foundation
  

• Moving the World - The partnership between TNT and the UN

• TNT World Food Program Partnership
  

• North Star Foundation - The foundation I will be seconded to for 6 months in South Africa.

• My YouTube site - I will upload all sorts of vid clips but not all of them will get posted here so do check it out from time to time

• HEARD - Health Economics & HIV/AIDS Research Division. HEARD conducts research on the socio-economic aspect of public health, especially the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Resources

• "Aids in the Twenty-First Century" - a book by Tony Barnett and Alan Whiteside ( ISBN 978-1-4039-9768-5 ) This book was recommended to me, I have not yet started to read though it as I only got it in the post today. I ordered my book from here
  

I will be updating this from time to time as I get more resources and links to add.

Why ?

I have been asked this question a few times over the past few weeks.

"Why do you want to do this assignment ?"

Its not an easy one for me to sum up really. There are loads of reasons for it but I guess the big reasons are as follows.

I grew up in South Africa and a bit in Zimbabwe so Africa on the whole has a very special place in my heart. Its where I call home. HIV/AIDS has also started to play a bit in my life too recently. With friends and there partners and family members being affected by this virus. Whilst in South Africa I had a part in the transport industry too, so it just sort of made sense. This assignment with the North Star Foundation will give me the opportunity to give something back, to a place that I hold so dear to my heart and also to an industry that has given me this opportunity to do this.

I think Africa will always have a bit of a hold on me.

Site info

I am still getting to grips with this blogging but here is a few cool things you may like to know.

When I mention places in my blog I will where ever I can post a link to the place from Google Earth. All links are highlighted in blue like the Google Earth link I have just posted.

The same will go for links to external websites and photos etc.

I hope this will ensure that there is loads of interesting content to see.

You can also subscribe to my blog by clicking on the RSS feed icon located on your address bar.
it looks like this :


This will ensure your always up to date with what is going on.

Introduction - 1st Vblog

This is my first Vblog - even though I had typed up a script of sorts it still took my 6 attempts to get this one out ! Not use to talking to my self! Makes you all a bit self concious about your self.
I guess I better get use to it !

You can see my first Vblog on YouTube here.

I have removed it from my blog page so that people on a slow connection can if they want to view it click on the link.

Introduction

Welcome to the start of my blog site -
Hi,
I am Peter Black

Here is where I will tell you all about my African Adventure as am heading off to South Africa very soon (End of Feb/ early March) on an assignment with TNT and UN WFP (the logistics arm of the United Nations) to set up Wellness Centres to help the transport communities in southern Africa reduce the transmission of HIV. These Wellness Centres will be set up along major trucking corridors as well as border posts.

For more info on this Humanitarian project visit the " North Star Foundation" Website

This is quite an opportunity for me so I feel its quite important to let family, friends, collegues and, any one that wants to know really, what this mission is all about from my perspective. Never really been a fan of blogging but I do feel that this is quite important so I am going to blog
my African Adventure as I like to call it at the moment.

I shall be based in Johannesburg, South Africa, for 6 months from around the end of Feb/ beginning of March 08. I will be working with "North Star Foundation" to set up HIV/AIDS Wellness clinics at Beitbridge ( the boarder between South Africa and Zimbabwe) and Chirundu ( the boarder between Zimbabwe and Zambia )

I will be posting more info about my self and my preparations for me heading out to South Africa in the up coming days. I also plan to upload Vblogs to Youtube and pix to my Flickr site

So keep coming back to see the updates and please feel free to post comments.