ONE MONTH FROM YESTERDAY! It's kind of unreal, but so fantastic.
Our excitement has been growing rapidly, and our Saturday spent at a training conference for HELP International has just fanned the flames. It's becoming more and more real, which is both scary and invigorating.
We heard from special presenters about principles of development, learned more particulars about what projects we can work on, and got to meet much of our team. I love the dynamic already, with so many personalities and interests.
Some of the highlights:
- Mangoes will be sold all down the streets the first month or two while they're in season. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
- One of our country directors is from Hyderabad, and even she is dreading the heat...
- There is a really big problem with missing children in India. Children will get separated from their parents for one reason or another, and if they do not know their way home there is no way of police looking it up; there is nothing tracking addresses. As a result, many of the children in orphanages actually do have living parents, they just do not know where.
- A potential project includes helping individuals in a leper colony find a way to generate income. I think it sounds really interesting.
- Sometimes people will cram like 11 people into a rickshaw... (see photo and imagine 11 people in that).
- I'll probably get to prepare a few classes on various public health topics, including basic "growing up" for adolescents who aren't really taught about it, hand washing, and who knows what else.
- There are FIVE positions left on our team! Join us! If you or anyone you know is interested, let me know, or visit http://help-international.org/ to find out more. It's going to be amazing!
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| A rickshaw, like many we'll ride this summer to get around town. (Thanks Wikipedia!) |
On top of all that, I won a really great backpack! Perfect timing too; the one I've had for at least five years is on it's way out. Now we only have a few more things to get to prepare... Luckily, we'll buy much of our clothing there since it will be cheaper! Our visas came in the mail today too!
Selavu!
