*Supposed to be posted June 22nd I look around my empty room. This tiny studio apartment with the little kitchenette and cube like bathroom lays empty and my bed is bare. I’m exhausted as I spent the previous night and much of the early morning trying to fit my life her in Goa into my tiny blue suitcase. My flight to Varanasi is in three hours and I can hear the cab driver downstairs honking his horn to let me…
*Supposed to be posted June 15th This is my last weekend in Goa and luckily I had a visitor to share it with me! Brianna is also a student from the university of Michigan who is conducting an internship this summer in India at a PHC in Delhi. She flew down to Calangute to stay with me for the weekend and we went out to a great local restaurant right on the beachfront. Souza Lobo is a famous restaurant located…
*Supposed to be posted June 27th Today I woke up 3 hours before I usually do to catch a ride with my coworkers into a rural community in northern Goa. This was my first field experience since coming to Sangath and even though the sun was barely up, I felt excited that I would finally be able to see mental health work in action in the field. Three of my coworkers who were also trained lay health workers were tasked…
* Supposed to be posted June 2nd I think one of the most poignant things about my internship is how at home I feel at Sangath. Everyone has been so welcoming and warm to me since the day I got here. They’ve made a place for me at the office with my own desk space and have provided me with two mentors to help guide me while I conduct research here. I’ve gotten to know my coworkers here through shared…
*Due to technical issues could not post on the correct date – supposed to be posted May 19th My first few days of my internship have ended and I reflect on how I arrived here in this tropical wonderland of villages. I had landed in India May 8th and stayed with my cousins in Mumbai before we all decided to make a family road trip down the western coast to Goa. It was an estimated 10 hour car trip…
I’ve been back in Michigan for about 3 weeks now but it seems like parts of me are still left behind in Goa. I think about all this fellowship has provided me with this summer from the chance to travel half way around the world and live independently in another community, to that fact that I got to hands-on experience in the field what I hope will become a very big part of my future career. While at Sangath, I…
I stand above an empty suitcase with trepidation. I should be packing for a 3-month whirlwind adventure in Goa, India. However, something stops me. Be it the nerves of traveling across the world alone for the first time or perhaps the realization of the magnitude of what I’m about to dive into – but I can’t seem to move my body and start packing. I gently remind myself that this is what I’ve spent months working towards. Ever since I…
