So far. I have been traveling for 48 hours. I started by taking a train Sunday, May 29 from Poughkeepsie, NY to New York City, followed by a cab ride to a hotel. The next morning, I went to JFK to catch a plane to Johannesburg, where I am now. Tomorrow morning, I will be flying from Johannesburg to Blantyre, when I will meet up with the rest of the interns. Having this period in limbo between worlds is giving me time to reflect on the journey I have ahead. Yesterday, I was excited with a heaping side of nervous. Since speaking with people on my flights, in transit, and communicating with the other interns, who arrived Saturday, my nervousness has begun to fade away and I am purely excited for what lies ahead.
On the flight, I met a fair number of people who are planning to do some type of humanitarian work during there time in this part of the world. One thing that all of us have in common is our desire to have a hand in generating change for the better. We all want to “be the change [we] want to see in the world”. However, we are all embarking on completely different journeys. I met someone traveling to an orphanage in Malawi to do health work for a week. I met another person going to Malawi to teach preschool and minister at an orphanage for a month. I met someone traveling to a ranch in South Africa to work for two months. And then there’s me – traveling to a university to improve the sustainability of medical technology for two months. All of us hope to have an impact, but we see that impact differently. What may be a roaring success for one of the travelers may be seen as relatively inappropriate by another.
With this in mind, what does “change for the better” mean? I think that varies person to person. To some, it may be propagating that their moral and ideological outlook. To others, it may mean improving the health of individuals in a community. For another group, it could be more focused on personal change and growth. To me, “change for the better” means improving access to quality health care, which I hope to contribute to by developing technological improvements.
In my preparations for this trip, I read many articles and watched many videos about the way change is implemented and how it can be beneficial or detrimental. (Find some of my favorites here, here, and here.) I hope that, as I work with the other interns and the staffs of Malawi Polytechnic and Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, I have a small part in improving the state of health care in Malawi and do so in a way that is sustainable, valuable, and respectful.