Hello! Welcome to my blogging debut! I never thought I'd have anything interesting enough to say to merit one of these, but I think it will beat mass email updates - this way you can either read all about or remain completely ignorant of my travels, at your own leisure...
I'm still in New Haven now, with just two days left of work. If all goes according to plan (i.e. medical school next year), this will be my last week of gainful employment until I'm 28 or so. After moving home to Willington on the 23rd, I'll have a week of shopping and packing (any suggestions as to where in middle-of-winter Connecticut I can buy clothes both ultra-conservative AND appropriate for the hottest and most humid place on earth?), Micah (brother) and Amanda's New Year's wedding in Hanover, and then it's off to Ghana on January 3rd (!!!), with a quick stop in London. I can't wait to take off, but I'm not sure how ready I actually am - although at least I'm armed with all 396 required vaccinations (now I'm invincible!) and a lifetime's supply of DEET.
For those who don't know, I'll be spending January through May (tentatively - I don't have a return ticket yet so who knows) working with Mercy Ships, a Christian charity organization that runs hospital boats providing healthcare and community development services to the poor in underdeveloped areas (www.mercyships.org). I will be working as an Operating Room Sterilization Technician while the ship is stationed first in the port of Tema near Accra, Ghana, and then near Monrovia in Liberia. I have no sterilizer skills as of yet, but I'm banking on a great training program once I get there :)
In this first entry, I'd like to thank everyone who made this trip possible with your fabulously generous donations. I was truly terrified when I began my fundraising, intimidated at the thought of asking so many people for what seemed like a massive sum of money. However, as is usually the case, I was surprised and humbled by the outpouring of support from family, friends, church members, and complete strangers. I'm honored by your gifts, and it's true - "I thank my God every time I think of you." I'm praying that God will use your investments to richly bless the poor communities that we will be serving in Ghana and Liberia.
Hopefully my next entry will be from a boat off the West African coast! Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year!
