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| Treating Kids at Ms. Agnes's Orphanage |
Exhausted doesn't even begin to explain how I feel at this point. My brain hurts, my heart aches, and my lungs.....well, thats a story for a different day. This medical mission has been absolutely amazing. I thought I had seen much of the world and believed I had a good understanding of poverty and despair. That was until I came to Africa. My experience in Kenya and Uganda has proven to be life changing. Not only have I been deeply moved by the poverty and despondence in these countries, I have also developed a clearer view of the path I was meant to take in life. I have found a love and desire for something that one cannot just learn from a book. I have fallen in love with the connection and healing involved with medicine. You realize you truly love something when you can commit yourself to doing it for the rest of you life, absent of any financial of sociological gains. Is medicine usually associated with money? Yes. But, in contrast, I feel I could be happy for the rest of my life treating extremely sick people that were unable to receive care due to unequal economic circumstance, and while doing this, forfeit the privilege to excess and wealth.
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| One of the 900+ Patients Seen in Clinic Over the Past 2.5 Days |
It may be easy to say now while immersed in an environment such as this, but I hope when I return home I'll retain some of that zest for humanity and try to push away the need for more material things. On the flip side though, it's important to realize that we are extremely privileged to have the opportunities that are available to us, and at no time should we pass them up due to guilt or compunction. We must embrace all opportunities that come our way and understand how privileged we are to have these doors open to us. Guilt should not be felt for things that are given, but we must be able to understand the degree of sacrifice and lack of opportunity around us. We all need to take a step back at times and realize how truly fortunate we are to live in a country such as ours. Yes, we may all complain from time to time about taxes, road conditions, health care, etc., but in the grand scheme of things were are the acme of societal progress and equality. I know that after a few months, if not weeks, I will begin to digress to the mindset of ninety five percent of americans and start to complain about mundane and non-imparitive issues. I will though, try my hardest to remember the little faces like that of little baby Moses or the many other disadvantaged children of Africa. With these memories and profound images, I hope that in the most trying of times, I too will be able to take a step back and truly realize how extremely fortunate I am.
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| The Little Faces of Africa |
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| Innocence |
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| Deprivation |
This trip has been an emotional roller-coaster and one of the biggest learning experience in my life. I have held dying babies. I've had to turn people away due to a lack of medicine. I've been peed on multiple times. I've had to tell people they have an incurable illness. I've seen and counseled rape victims. I've lost my temper. I've embraced the unknown. I've felt more swollen spleens than I could shake a stick at. I've experienced frustration and joy in the same moment. I've been coughed on, sneezed on, slobbered on. I've enjoyed the experience to its fullest degree. I've put myself to the test and saw both strengths and weaknesses emerge. I've cried. I've laughed. I have no regrets.
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| The Juggling Mazunga! |
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| My Awesome Assistant Jennifer and I |
