After 2 months of fundraising the time has finally come. When I first started fundraising I never thought I’d be able to get to a £1,000 – it’s such a massive total to get to. It had to happen, but I couldn’t work out how. Did I even know a 1000 people to give me £1? A 100 people to give me £10? I had no idea what event we were going to do or how we could raise all this money. More importantly I had no idea how much fun Yellow Fever was going to be for my immune system and I started to get nervous over how much power my travel nurse had over my life, and my new role as ‘pin cushion’.

But I just look at where I am today, slightly exhausted but I’ve flown – post £1,000 -  with help from family, friends and Ogilvy. Everyone I’ve ever met now knows I’m going to Uganda and will be building a school. In fact all their friends and family know that I’m going to Uganda as well. There’s a small part of me expecting a small fanfare and screaming crowds of fans at Terminal 5 tomorrow before I jump on the plane, but I digress…

The Masquerade Ball was an incredible success with so many people attending – even my family rocked up! People are still talking about how legendary the party was. We raised so much from the ball and it was great to see so many different people from so many different Ogilvy agencies there. We’ve got some cool people working here. Heroic event complete, I’ve dragged my body through a shot of Yellow Fever and am on a strict diet of Malaria tablets and presumably rice and beans for the next week. My rucksack is packed and I’ve brought my super aerobie, Jaws – the book, the best damn boots Millets can offer and spare clothes that will go to a good home; I’m ready to build, learn and build some more – so life-changing week now lined up.

I’m now sitting at my desk, the incessant beep of Lotus Notes emails popping into my inbox merely background noise. In fact, I’m sure this is the same for most people, but there’s a slight difference at my desk. Next to my mouse, I’ve got a piece of paper. This piece of paper gets me to Uganda. I’ve been waiting to see this piece of paper for two months and can’t wait to put it to good use.