Hanging out at B28

At the gate, waiting to board my flight to Jo-berg, watching CNN and drinking my fancy green tea latte. I don't know much about what is waiting on the other end, except that someone is going to meet me at Maseru and take me to the cottage where I'll be spending the next month.

Things I do know :
I am going to work in a childrens clinic on the outskirts of Maseru , the capital of Lesotho. Lesotho is a country where literacy is in the high eighties but with the third highest HIV rate in the world. Twenty-five to thirty percent of people's are HIV positive and one in four children are AIDS orphans. Life expectancy is in the early forties.
The country itself.is the 'mountain kingdom' as its lowest point is a whopping 1300 km high, the highest lowest point in the world. It's summer there, so I'm really excited to escape the frigid Philadelphia February.

I got hooked up with this trip on a whim, just following instructions from a friend. But I've always wanted to spend time in a developing country, as someone with deep academic interests in public health , and former aspirations in infectious disease. College was just too busy with fencing and being pre-med, and I hear an ob gyn  residency is pretty hectic too. So when opportunity knocks, we answer sure, why not ! It should be clear this is not a philanthropic mission, I am going to learn from this clinic what it means to work in a country with limited resources and such incredible disease burden. This is absolutely more doing a cancer rotation at memorial Sloane Kettering and not doctors without borders. Hopefully I will be a positive force in this clinic, and a helpful presence, but I don't want there to be any misconceptions about my going overseas in a self less quest to save children. It would be icing on the cake to actually be useful in clinic. I'm looking forward to challenging what I know about medicine, and expanding it as well.

Additionally, I have never spent so much time on my own ! I am in a highly co dependent relationship with my fiance David. Leaving him has been the hardest part of getting ready for this trip. I'm hoping for some personal growth time, being brave and independent. I have packed lots of tv shows and books on my kindle just in case too. I'm hoping the month will go by in a blur, and that I won't be too lonely.

It's time to walk around and get my gear in order for.the upcoming twelve hour flight.