Yesterday I had two amazing dreams about Africa that were so vivid. I awoke renewed and excited that I have something that I am so passionate about. The trip I took this past summer to Kenya changed my life. I had felt a calling to Africa for several years and waited for the right opportunity. I look to the future for more ways to make a difference. A difference not just overseas but also at home. I am more aware of those in need around me and the comfort that a smiling face can give a scared patient. I saw children that could not remember the last time they had eaten.
I saw families that did not have any shoes.
I saw children that would soon be orphaned by AIDS.
I saw diseases that have been eradicated in the western world.
I saw simple illnesses, that we treat over the counter, damage lives.
I saw love.
I saw thankfulness.
I saw simplicity.
I saw beauty.
I saw my future.
This February I am going to an orphanage in Haiti for one week. A coworker, RN, will be accompanying me. We will be giving the children vaccines and medicines and treating part of the immediate community. After that I am planning on going to Tanzania in June for two weeks and working with an unusual population, albinos. These people fear for their lives because of myths in voodoo medicine that say if the flesh of an albino is eaten it gives special powers. They also have to battle skin damage from living so close to the equator and vision problems. I am hoping to go back to Kenya in August and Uganda in September.
I am ready and willing. I need your support to make this happen. Even ten dollars from enough people will make the difference in the number of lives I can touch and the number of people that can go with me on this journey.
