3...2...1...And so the Journey Begins.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada - As the plane gained altitude and the landscape shifted from checkerboard farms and the rust-coloured, paintbrush-like tips of fall trees in southwestern Ontario to a field of dimpled clouds, it struck me that my journey to a land far different from my own had begun. It is a journey that involves more than a series of connections through airports filled with nomadic people of whose lives you gain little but a fleeting snapshot. It is, I say without hesitation, a journey where the impact will be felt not just physically in the hot, dusty climates of rural Kenya and Tanzania, but on the psyche. And hopefully, at the same time, I will be able to help make a difference in others' lives. Having spoken with numerous people who have made this trip before me, I have an extremely difficult time thinking I won't come back in some way changed.

It is this feeling that both excites me and renders me slightly apprehensive – there's something about leaving a piece of yourself behind and coming back to those you love somehow less complete. Or, paradoxically, more complete. I have long been fascinated by how people live, particularly in other parts of the world, but I've been told that nothing really prepares you for your first visit to a developing continent like Africa. The poverty. The disease. The morbidity. The happiness. A trip to Malaysia last year provided me with my first real experience in the developing world, but the newly-industrialized country remains quite different from many of the areas I'll be visiting in Kenya and Tanzania over the next few weeks.

Drawn to the lore of Kunta Kinte, Kizzy and Chicken George, Alex Haley's Roots has been my favourite book since a young age. From the opening chapters of the book, I became intrigued with Africa, but never really thought I'd ever end up going there. Now, a flight to Amsterdam, followed by one to Nairobi, is all that stands between my breathing the air of what many consider to be the cradle of civilization. And I do not hesitate to believe that the journey will mean far more than travel to a far-off continent.

I hope you'll join me.