Of all the places I could've gone...Why Africa?

Written on May 26, 2013

Reasoning

There are three parts to why I am partaking in this program. Firstly, I wanted to study abroad. Secondly, I wanted to participate in a public health program. Thirdly, I wanted to go to Africa.

Firstly, I wanted to study abroad. What college student doesn’t? Well, this might sound a little extreme but toward the end of last year I found myself thoroughly evaluating different study abroad programs on a daily basis. At one point in time, I visited The University of Texas study abroad website more than any other! I started to ask around to friends who had studied abroad and met with a study abroad advisor as well. It might have become an obsession but I have to say it was worth it. I participated in a week-long Global Medical Brigade in Panama a year and a half earlier and after that experience, I was certain I had to learn the lessons of the world. I had to get to know the real world, the world outside what I called home. Also, I had a serious case of the traveler's bug. 

Secondly, I wanted to participate in a public health program. I was seeking international public health experience and I wanted to find a program that worked well with my career needs. I lucked right out on that one! I've always intended on doing international work sometime in my career. I didn't want to be one of those people who always talked the talk but never flew on the plane. So, I decided to start now.  For me, however, this is not simply a “résumé booster”. I am doing this much more for the educational and cultural experience rather than solely to appear a better candidate to graduate schools and jobs. It isn't nearly at all about taking classes that are half-way across the world, it's about being here and learning how the world works outside the reigns of the United States. For some reason, I've always wanted to travel to Africa. This leads me to my third point.

Thirdly, I wanted to go Africa. Technically speaking, I am already in Africa. I am currently on a plane from Dakar, Senegal to Johannesburg, South Africa (stopped for refueling and we didn't even leave the plane). I have wanted to travel to Africa for a very long time now. When I was younger, it was more of wanting to travel somewhere where not many people wanted to go as their first choice. I enjoyed finding beauty in underappreciated areas. I didn’t fully understand why I was drawn to this continent as a whole. Maybe it was because I wanted to become a doctor, serve internationally, and cure AIDS as a child. Maybe I wanted to serve in Africa because that’s where I heard people went to help people who "couldn't help themselves". That’s where I thought people "needed" help. This sounds foolish, odd, and childish. However, I have no better reasoning for why I wanted so badly to one day make it to this continent. The older I got, the stronger the urge became. Along with this, the realities of concerning myself with safety and security issues grew exponentially. I had also discovered more concrete explanations for why I wanted to go to Africa. I wanted  to travel on humanitarian and tourist basises. I wanted to help people. I wanted to be exposed to different cultures and languages. I wanted to be exposed to major healthcare differences. For instance, Botswana has an HIV/AIDS rate of 24%. It has been said that every individual knows somebody who has died of HIV/ AIDS. This is almost one in every four people. Just let that sink in for a moment.

Fast forward to present day, I am going to Africa almost as a “pre-test”. I want to join the Peace Corps and I’d like to see if this is something that I really want to do or if it simply a fantasy I have built up in my mind about only theoretically wanting to make a twenty-seven month commitment to helping people I don’t know and being independent in a country far away from all of my family and friends. After all, it is possible that I find after this program that I want something else out of my life unrelated to the Peace Corps or public health or even health care! All I know is that I am trying to go into this experience with an open mind.

That being said, even if all else does work in my favor, my parents aren’t exactly jumping with joy with  my desire to join the Peace Corps or the thought of me being in a different continent for seven weeks and this is a pre-test for them as well to see if and how they handle their concerns with me being so far away.

All pre-testing aside, it looks like I'm in for the summer of my life! The one that I have literally fantasized of. More posts to come.

Goodnight for now,

Komal