Programs - The Lilly Project

HHE
Day 20,
Tonight a feeling of deep regret as I leave behind a group of students and doctors who I have grown to love over the past 20 days. I was always that kid who became extremely upset when summer camp would end late in July; I would return home and mope around the house for days. Departing from this trip, that feeling has returned. To say that Himalayan Health Exchange has affected my life would be a gross understatement as its impact will follow me for years to come.
This trip re-opened my eyes to the needs of the perversely poor in the developing world. Many lack nutrition, jobs, health care, and shelter and so many lives are cut short due to a lack of these basic needs being met. How upsetting to live in a society that wastes so much, when so many are in need. How shallow a society that can have all of these things and still not be happy. For this society of suffering that I encountered in Himachal Pradesh India can be envied for their unshakeable will to not just survive in these adverse conditions, but to live.
This trip also presented me with multiple challenges to undertake, constantly placing me outside of my comfort zone and forcing me to cope. The youngest of the group, I had to learn how to surpass an age barrier that was sometimes very noticeable. In a group of med students, I had to learn how to hold my own. In a society completely different than mine, I was forded to adapt. In a group already split into traveling companions I had to integrate, and when faced with a seemingly impassible mountain with dangerous cliffs and no sure route I was forced to find new paths and trust the guidance of my fellow hikers. For all of these reasons I now where this ring, to symbolize that “beyond mountains, there are mountains” and I look forward to climbing them all.
Thirdly, this trip provided me with potential lifelong friendships with multiple levels of inspiring people. The drive of these medical students to do what they love, encourages me to follow their paths. Their sincerity and compassion as well as their dedication to international health provides me with real life models to follow. Tom, Dvora, and Hem’s dedication to a cause that they believe in as well as their friendship also encourages me.
Above all though there is Ravi Singh. This larger than life man is living proof that the inspiration and dedication of one man is enough to change the world. Ravi is the embodiment of everything that I can hope to be, not just bringing health care to those who need it but addicting others to his cause by positively impacting the medical students he brings to the Himalayas as well as everyone else that he meets. In this way he also befriended and impacted me, and for that I am forever indebted.
And yet, still I return to this intense sadness, and now I know why; because in the harsh yet beautiful environment of the Indian Himalayas, I have found complete satisfaction and peace. It is here that I have found people in the most need, here that I have found challenges that I can overcome, and here that I have found a group of people with the compassion and desire to make a difference, to forever change the lives of others. It is here that I have found my vocation, and for that reason above all I wear this ring, so that I will never forget the Himalayas.