Time for a new blog entry! The trip is in the near future. I am very excited. This is living my dream. I will be with a mental health N.G.O. reaching out in villages and outskirt of the city. Another organization is primarily focused on women's health/maternal-child. Third N.G.O. is focused on providing primary level education to slum children in urban slum. It also has clinic to provide primary care. I'll be working (volunteering) with the Dr. to do more screenings and education. I've been in contact with the N.G.O.s to plan and will do more planning and implementing there based on needs. I really hope to do a lot of community, as well as individualized education on prevention of diseases, injuries that are common to the area and population. The 4th N.G.O. is more general, but I am open to broad experiences. My focus would most likely be health there too. Things have yet to be finalized for that one. It is based off of Gandhi Ashram.

Hoping to tie loose ends soon to finalize things soon, and the rest, I will take it as it comes. Go with the flow. Most importantly, go with an open mind being ready to adjust to anything that comes my way. The way of life there is different there than here. Let every day and every experience change me for the better and help me grow. Among the plethora of things I am grateful for, the one thing that I am very lucky to have is holding onto my culture and languages from India. It will allow me to connect to so many more people there. I will only prepare more before going.

Here is an exert out of a book I'm reading:

A) " It is easy to get swept away from our own interests, from the passions that captivate our souls and drive our energies, in the surge of popular excitement for something else...If I want to know what my passion is, the question is a simple one. The question is. what do I care about? What do I care about enough to pursue it avidly, to make room in my life for it, to do something about it?." -Following the Path-by Joan Chittister

B) "Knowing others is wisdom. Knowing oneself is enlightenment." -Lao Tzu

Now combine A and B.

I will try to blog from India, but there is no guarantee as I may not have a computer or internet access.

"Be the change you want to see in the world"- Gandhiji