global thoughts
Have any of you read the book Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder? It's about Dr. Paul Farmer, and it is a fucking amazing book. I'm not even done reading it and I'm about to move to Haiti.
The thing is, I really do want to do something drastic. I want to see some of the things I've read about, and really get to help people who need it the most, if only for a month. But I also enjoy the comforts of electricity and clean water. I like food and hate bugs, I can't lie about that. But I keep thinking that maybe I'll do one of the global health internships over the summer. One of those things where students can go to some impoverished area of the world and do safe volunteer stuff for a convenient amount of time. Hmmmm I think my contempt for these programs is coming through in my writing right now. It just seems to me that these programs were created for rich kids whose parents are willing to throw down a few thousand dollars so that the kids can go off somewhere and have a meaningful experience or, even better, an impressive resume point or essay subject for college or med school applications. They want to charge students $1500+ just to come help the poor, not including your plane ticket or, in some case, your room. So where does the money go? I have a feeling it's not going where it should. Especially when some programs that I found on Idealist.org charge $400 for the same type of work experience. Now, $400 I could manage.
Still..... as much as I think these pricier programs are perhaps ripping people off, at least they're safer than the other programs I've found. I mean, they were created for the sole purpose of getting students to come down and have a just-authentic-enough experience. Help, but don't get hurt. See, but don't get too close.
But I want to REALLY help, not watch from a distance. Simultaneously, I want to be safe and not get kidnapped or catch TB or malaria. I have a feeling that I'll have to sacrifice one or the other.
The thing is, I really do want to do something drastic. I want to see some of the things I've read about, and really get to help people who need it the most, if only for a month. But I also enjoy the comforts of electricity and clean water. I like food and hate bugs, I can't lie about that. But I keep thinking that maybe I'll do one of the global health internships over the summer. One of those things where students can go to some impoverished area of the world and do safe volunteer stuff for a convenient amount of time. Hmmmm I think my contempt for these programs is coming through in my writing right now. It just seems to me that these programs were created for rich kids whose parents are willing to throw down a few thousand dollars so that the kids can go off somewhere and have a meaningful experience or, even better, an impressive resume point or essay subject for college or med school applications. They want to charge students $1500+ just to come help the poor, not including your plane ticket or, in some case, your room. So where does the money go? I have a feeling it's not going where it should. Especially when some programs that I found on Idealist.org charge $400 for the same type of work experience. Now, $400 I could manage.
Still..... as much as I think these pricier programs are perhaps ripping people off, at least they're safer than the other programs I've found. I mean, they were created for the sole purpose of getting students to come down and have a just-authentic-enough experience. Help, but don't get hurt. See, but don't get too close.
But I want to REALLY help, not watch from a distance. Simultaneously, I want to be safe and not get kidnapped or catch TB or malaria. I have a feeling that I'll have to sacrifice one or the other.