I graduated from university
last spring. I now can say I have a social work degree (Yay!). Now what? This
is a question I’ve been asking myself a lot. I’ve been going to school almost
every year of my life and now I am finally done. I guess for some people,
this is pretty exciting. I am sure others will agree with me though and say
that it is also very frightening. Am I right? I think having doubts is
totally normal. However, you can’t let doubts scare you away. You have to take
risks and try new things in order to live the life you want to (or as I would
say : to make your soul shine!).
Well, I've questioned myself a
lot but you know what? I am very glad I did because it helped me find
my center. I connected with my values, my amibitons, my aspirations
in life... Somehow, I knew it was time for me to achieve a dream. I knew it was
time for me to make a big move.
Ever since I can remember,
I've always had a calling for India. I always wanted to explore that country
and discover its culture. I feel like there is so much to learn from it. I
always wanted to go there and see for myself the struggles people are facing
daily. Still today, I want to see what we could do as human beings to help
one another.
The truth is, I strongly feel
like we keep on forgetting how lucky we are to live in a country where we can
have a decent roof above our heads, where we can have good sanitation
facilities, where our human rights are respected... We are so lucky and we
keep on forgetting it. Everyday of our life, we are capable of doing things
that we take for granted. We do things without realizing how lucky we are to be
able to do so. I mean, it just feels normal to us. We don't realize (or at
least, we try not think about it) that there are some people in other countries
struggling for that same thing.
I will give you a simple
example (but I know you can think of many others) : you just have to open
the tap and there you go; you have fresh potable water. If you think that
it's that easy in other countries, I invite you to do a little research about
it. You might be very surprised to see how rich you are just to be able to that
in your kitchen.
Anyhow, the point is, we are
luckier than we think and for some reason I can't explain, I've always
needed to see with my own eyes what other people are struggling for. I feel
like we can change some things all together, as a humanity, and I think changes
always start with initiatives.
So here I am. Leaving for
India in a couple of days. Not only to discover the country, but most of all to
learn more about an amazing non-governmental organization (NGO) that helps the communities
of India help themselves. Basically, I am going to visit the country I’ve
always wanted to see and also, I am going to learn more about what we can do,
as a society, to help other communities less fortunated than us.
Now you may think this is just
like humanitarian work. Well, that’s where you’re wrong. You see, humanitarian
work truly has great intentions. It can be very helpful especially in
disasters. However, you are only helping the moment you're there. When you
leave, the community will mostly be better but next time they will have an
issue, they will need help again. The real issues haven't been fixed. What if
we could just give these communities some tools so that they can help
themselves? What if we would help them grow with all of their potential? This
is what we call community development and that’s exactly what I am going to
learn during this internship in India.
What is this NGO I’ll be doing an intern with? It’s called SOPAR Bala-Vikasa and it
was founded in 1977 by a Canadian and his wife, herself from India. Yes, my
friends, you read correctly, it started from an amazing canadian
initiative. Now I have to admit I discovered this organization not a long
time ago. I’m already impressed of everything they are doing. I’ll be
discovering it more every day during this intern and I’ll be doing so with all
of you.
I like writing, I like
talking about my travels, but most of all, I want to share with you my
exprience through this intern so that you can yourself learn more about this
organization and see through my eyes what they are doing abroad. At the same
time, you’ll be able to follow me through this trip (if you care!). Don’t
expect anything too big though, I’ll just be sharing my everyday (ish)
thoughts.
Now you may like my Facebook page to make sure you don't miss any new articles. You may also follow me on instagram to see more pictures everyday.
https://www.facebook.com/thetravelingblackbird
https://www.instagram.com/gene_m
Let the adventure begins!
Now you may like my Facebook page to make sure you don't miss any new articles. You may also follow me on instagram to see more pictures everyday.
https://www.facebook.com/thetravelingblackbird
https://www.instagram.com/gene_m
Let the adventure begins!
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