A life changing experience?

I wasn’t even entirely sure where the Democratic Republic of Congo was when I first heard it was the country I would be visiting with Christian Aid. Of course I was in a group of people so I tried to avoid looking ignorant and instead appear as if I knew not only the location but many other important details about it varying from the size of the population (estimated to be 66 million) to the head of state (President Joseph Kabila). It wasn’t as if I hadn’t heard of the place, I just didn’t know very much about it. With just over a week before I go I can now point it out on a map, and not just because it says ‘The Democratic Republic of Congo’ on the map. Aside from that I’m not really sure if I’m ready for it. On the practical side of things I’ve a fair few things to do these next 7 days, but what about the mental preparation needed for going to a place that is massively different to anywhere else I have ever been? A place where 80% of the population live on less than US $0.20 a day. I have no personal experience to fall back on, this will be the first time I will have visited a developing country and as well as being grateful to be given this opportunity I am massively aware of how different my experience is likely to be from some other peoples’ and how little I know about what to expect. I suppose in the same way I didn’t want to appear an idiot when I heard where I was going, I want to avoid seeming completely ignorant when I’m there. In light of that I am reading plenty about the country and becoming more engrossed in both the history and current situation by the day.

I often find it strange to look at the situation I’m in now. A year ago I was at Reading University starting my third year of study for a degree entitled ‘Physics and the Universe’, had no idea what I would be doing after graduation and couldn’t point to the DRC on a map. Now I’m preparing to visit the DRC with Christian Aid and experience what I’ve only been reading about.

I’ve been told this trip may well be a life changing experience for me, I’m not sure you can know if that will be the case or how to prepare yourself for that. I can’t wait to find out the impact it will have on me though and see where these next few weeks and then 8 months lead me.