The South Pacific is AMAZING.
I am so lucky to be here.
I am on board the USNS Mercy volunteering with Pacific Partnership 2008 on a giant 890' Navy red cross hospital ship. It is the perfect opportunity to see the world, help people and learn about my future life as a Navy Dentist.
We are getting the chance to get to know and help the local people at length. The culture is shockingly different but we are fighting to teach and learn from the locals just as much as to treat them in our effort to improve relations.
The individual people are great. The language and cultural barriers are evident, but the children still laugh, the old women smile and it is hard to deny the warm connection. It is experiences like these that I hope will one day put an end to war. We are all the same with "One heart" as they would say in Jamaica.
The first pictures are from a mission in Vietnam and the local market. I went to the island of Bintan, Indonesia where we played with the local kids in a small village usually void of foreigners. It was a wonderful experience. I have been trying all of the weird local fruits including the snake fruit from the picture.
I am so lucky. I am learning heaps and having once in a lifetime experiences every day. I hope to return as more than just the Pollywog you knew.
2 comments:
Wow, bud. Great pics. Yeah, tough to argue against helping kids anywhere under any circumstances. Glad it's been such a great trip.
South Pacific huh? My best friend here in Okinawa is a Navy Dentist. He says his three years on Okinawa practicing his trade (and getting his school paid off in the meantime) are worth the many years of school to get where he is. Too bad your ship won't be stopping in my region this time around, but in the future you should drop me a line and I may just be in your neighborhood.
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