It has been a crazy week! I leave for Singapore/India on Monday morning...I can't believe it's finally here!!
You know, I was watching VH1 this morning while I was working out and this song came on, but before they played it the host of the Top 20 Countdown said, "Our life is full of BIG BANGS. Like, you're married for 25 years, or you have a child, or you get left at the altar. Some are beautiful bangs and others are punch you in the face kind of bangs...but that's life." Couldn't have said it better myself Top 20 Host...okay maybe I could have and I should have summarized what he said..anyways..I feel like I'm on the verge of a pretty BIG BANG in my life, maybe the biggest I have yet to see. Let's hope its the happy kind! I have a feeling it will be.
I'm going to answer some of the most popular questions I get about India to hopefully fill y'all in.
Q: "Who are you going with?"
A: I'm going through an organization called Rising Star. Their main goal is to help with leprosy in India. People who contract leprosy are immediately shunned from society, being forced to live as beggars without medical treatment. Our goal is to help these people find treatment, and empower them and their families to be self-sufficient. That's as far as I know right now....I'm sure I'll learn more about their cause once I'm there.
Q: "Do you know the people you're going with?"
A: Yeah I'm traveling with a group of nursing students that I've had classes with at BYU.
Q: "Ummm...why India?"
A: Our nursing program at BYU requires us to take a global health class after our junior year. We can either stay in the states and work with the at-risk population, refugees, etc, or we can go to an international site. Some of the international sites we have include Ghana, Tonga, Ecuador, Finland, Taiwan, and...India. We have to apply to each of the sites and we have to be selected to go. I initially was dead set on Tonga. They told us to "pray" about it and I almost didn't because I wanted to go to Tonga so bad...but once I prayed I felt like I should put India as my first choice. INDIA?!!! I was awfully confused. Especially since it's a brand new site for us and everyone wanted to go...there was no way I was going to get picked out of all the qualified people. But I just felt like I was supposed to go...and it turns out, I'm going :)
Q: "How long will you be gone and what will you be doing?"
A: I will be gone for 4 weeks...we're stopping in Singapore on our way there as a little pit stop to play!!!!
I will mostly be working in the leper colony while I'm there. People always gasp when I say 'lepers'...and to be honest..I was freaked out at first too. But it turns out that 95% of the human population is immune to it, and after a couple weeks of antibiotics, you'll be a-okay. The stigma is what makes leprosy such a horrible disease and keeps people from reporting it or seeking treatment. If leprosy is not treated, it will lead to horrible effects. I guess our job is to help change the stigma, and help the lepers help themselves & their families.
Q: "Have you had to get a lot of shots?"
A: Yes...and I'm taking a bag chuck full of meds with me...including 8 weeks worth of mandatory malaria medication. Awesome.
Q: "Aren't you nervous?"
A: Would you be nervous? Of course not. haha, no...I'm really excited. A little nervous here and there, but I just feel so strongly that I have a purpose in going.
Anyways...enough with the boring stuff...my bags are *almost* packed and I'm almost ready to go!
That's all the clothes I'm taking....for a month...supposedly we get to wear the traditional kurtas while we're there. I'm cool with that.
Most of my bag is filled with food. We'll get fed traditional Indian meals 3x a day but I hear that's rough on a gentle American stomach that's used to honey nut scooters and granola bars. Oh and we were also told to pack Desitin. Bring on the poopy pants.
Hopefully I'll get to blog while I'm there and share my experience...but if not....ta ta for now!
XOXO
PS) A couple things that made me smile this week:
-this video gives me chills every time I watch it...dang I wish I could move like that. Perfection!
-also, this is the best wedding proposal I've ever seen.
- I got to go 4 wheeling with my bestie Justin and he let me feed his cows....they kept trying to eat my hair/arms and push me over. For example:
Okay really, I'm outie!
Loves.
4 comments:
Okay... I just watched both of those videos and they both are making me cry my eyes out! Thank you for sharing them!
I am sooooo excited for this adventure you're about to embark on. But I'm even more excited for what comes after. You'd BETTER be able to blog out there!!!
lovin that big bang song! haha that was rather fortuitous that that played at the gym. you go get em, zebra.
Have a great trip Whitney! I am sad that I will miss you at your parents house, but I know you will be having a great adventure. Here's to hoping you won't have to use the Desitin:)
So, I didn't realize you were going to India to help with the leper colony. A girl in our old ward in So Cal went there last summer and she had SUCH an amazing experience. She created a slide show of all of the pictures she had taken and shared a little bit of her experiences with us in RS one Sunday and it was awesome. Very touching pictures and you could really tell that the people just LOVED her and so appreciated her help. You will be awesome. Have a GREAT time!!
And, PS ... she was married just shortly after she returned home to CA ... I'm just sayin' ...
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