Headed South for the Summer...No, farther south

Observe to the right: a country I have never seen the inside of...yet. Honduras is a small Central American country with...people...and health needs...and other things.

That's about the extent of my expertise. But I want to know MORE, so I'm headed to Honduras for the summer - as our prof's have been reminding us, the last summer break we'll ever have...ever. Its like they want us to act out and "live" one last time before we're forced into the shackles of labor and debt for the rest of our lives. Cheery bunch.

"I'm going to Honduras" makes it sound like I woke up today and decided to spend six in a half weeks in the most rural part of a faraway culture I could find. In fact, I have had to fight long and hard to get people to let me, and in some cases give me money to, haul off to Honduras for the summer. I am doing a research project for my University and for an NGO that does short-term medical mission trips (among a host of other things) in Honduras. The study is simple in design - ask people about the health of four nearby villages, then talk to people about how the NGO and other health providers can improve their situation.

That being said, I have been leg-working, glad-handing, and application/protocol/grant-writing myself stupid to get from idea to reality.* You know, the hardest thing is to have any credibility whatsoever when the people you're working with are mentally comparing me with their college-age son. I'm twenty four (though I do in fact look fifteen), so when am I allowed to come and talk at the "adults table"?

So, all venting aside things are moving. Wheels are turning. I'm set to leave on June 17th, and I've got a bunch left to do, but it seems like I might just be able to still pull off four meetings -two of which are 6 hours away - move out of my house, oh and of course pass some pesky second year medicine exams (yikes!). This thing can happen!

More to come.


*Shout out to my Katie: Without her, I would never have gotten even halfway to Honduras. She makes my dreams a reality....<>