adventure

Hello everyone,
As you know I started my first semester of Nursing in January and it's finally over. I'm just waiting for my final marks and I'm still amazed I made it through. Honestly though, I haven't started knitting yet, my right wrist hurts so much from writing so I'm giving it some rest. I'm thinking maybe I should learn contential knitting to prevent from getting carpal tunnel.

I have some very exciting news that I've been waiting over a month to blog about. My goal after I graduate nursing is to work with organizations like Doctors without Borders, to help those in countries less fortunate then ours. To increase global health.
I applied for a volunteer leadership program at my college and got accept! I will be going to Kitwe, Zambia for 3 months starting in May. I will be working with the Marie Stopes Organization. I can't express how excited I am. Since I was in elementary school I dreamt about working in Africa, I even tried in high school but could only find organizations that were religion based.

A little bit about Marie Stopes International (MSI):
A non-government organization that delivers quality family planning and reproductive health care to millions all over the world. MSI is one of the largest international family planning organizations in the world, providing family planning, safe abortion & post abortion care, maternal & child health care, HIV prevention and STI diagnosis and treatment.

The organization wants to meet with me first before deciding which project they are going to put me into. I am SO excited. Of course a little scared for the unknown, and also the length of time. However, I believe that this experience will be a life changing adventure. No words can explain what this means to me, I've literally been picturing myself working in Africa before adolescence... this really is a dream come true. I believe that is where the fear comes most, what if what I dreamt of isn't what it's really like. What if I hate it and realize that this isn't my cup of tea at all? What if I fall short of my expectations?

I don't believe any of these questions can be answered until I go. To be honest, I'm excited to answer these questions! To ask myself am I on the right track of life. I am living my life to the fullest. Is this who I want to be. We learned this semester that the definition of health is to be able to realize aspirations and satisfy needs. Health isn't just about the body, but also your mind, and I want to be as healthy as I can. I want to really live life the fullest. For the first time I feel that this experience will allow me to live my life the fullest, to live my life as I see fit. Furthermore, I feel that this adventure will broaden my future opportunities and I hope change me forever.

Because we are forever changing, never the same as the second before.

I'm so happy to be able to share this with the blogging world. I hope to blog a bit about my adventures when I am there but the internet is not very fast. Also, I hope to do some knitting while I'm away but am unsure what I should bring. Any suggestions? I know to avoid wool. If you were to go to Africa, what kind of project would you bring to knit?