Bon Voyage!

It is 10:15pm the night before I take my first international trip and of course I am not finished packing. My trail of destruction begins in my room and ends in the living room, consisting mainly of clothes and the odds and ends of travel necessities. Maybe it is because it still hasn’t hit me yet that I am really leaving that the inevitable freakout has yet to begin, but I am sure it is close at hand. Tomorrow at 4:45pm I am going to take off on Emirates flight EK216 bound for first Dubai then Kolkata India, the place that is going to be my home for the next 8 weeks of my life.

This new home is going to be both the most difficult and I am sure the most rewarding experience of my life thus far and even though I am dreading the last steps of packing, I am unbelievably excited for this journey. I am a participant in the Duke Engage in Kolkata program (for those not familiar to Duke Engage this is their mission statement via their website: "DukeEngage empowers students to address critical human needs through immersive service, in the process transforming students, advancing the University’s educational mission, and providing meaningful assistance to communities in the U.S. and abroad. DukeEngage provides funding for Duke undergraduates who wish to pursue an immersive service experience") and will be working with the NGO Manovikas Kendra Rehabilitation and Research Institute for the Handicapped.

Manovikas Kendra is an institute that aims to help diagnose and educate “differently-able” children with the goal being the facilitation of these children into everyday society. Ever since the first day that I read through the Duke Engage programs almost a year ago, I knew that this program was the perfect fit for me. Like many kids I have a little brother: Eric; he is witty, bubbly, spends hours on computer and likes to annoy me just like any younger sibling would. He is also Autistic. Being the sibling of a severely disabled child has changed my life more than anything else; it has shaped me into the individual that I am today. Throughout my life I have been working with special needs children and also learning how to grow up with one and it has always been a goal of mine to take all of the skills that I have learned through these experiences and try to make a difference. I know that going to India will turn my understanding of the world of special needs children upside-down but I am ready for the challenge that it will present me.

I can’t believe that the day that I have been waiting for for months is almost here. The mixture of emotions going through my body right now is unbelievable: excitement mixed with nerve, bundled with awe, and tossed about with a bit of fear. I will use this blog to follow this whirlwind journey and hopefully it will provide some good reading of my adventures!