First Things First

Hello and welcome! I initially intended to maintain a blog as a thank you to my family and friends who supported my traveling endeavors. Before I left for this trip I reached out to my Hawaii family and selected professional contacts I've made throughout my career to update them on where I'll be going this summer and what I'll be doing. 

Thanks to those who responded, you have no idea how much I appreciate knowing you've got my back :). Special thanks to my Hawaii family (Daddy and Aunty Tammy, Granmom and Grandpa, Aunty Sheri and Uncle Lance), former TPL boss Michael, and former professor Jeffrey Haydu!

For the next eleven weeks I'll be in Ghana, (hopefully Togo), and Cape Town exploring issues of global hunger, food security, and Fair Trade. From now until the end of July I'll be traveling to throughout Ghana - Accra, Kumasi, Cape Coast, Tamale - with NYU studying food security issues and global commodity chains. I hope to also visit the Buduburam refugee camp and Lome, the capital of Togo. 

At the end of July I head to Cape Town until the end of August. While in Cape Town I'll be conducting impact assessment of a variety of fair trade certified organizations - wineries, rooibos tea estates, and citrus estates. Everything in between is still up in the air, and will pan itself out. By now, I've traveled enough to know not to have any expectations and just go with the flow. My goal this trip is simply to maintain a state of awareness, acceptance, an open mind, and an open heart.