Name: Tiffany Prachachalerm

Tiffany dropping the kids off at their school on her last day at the center

Tell us about the organization you work for and what you do for them.
I started the foundation with a friend and thought of it after I returned from my volunteer experience at the center. I had found the center online and decided to go there during the summer to volunteer. At the time, I did not know that I would eventually form a non-profit organization, but I knew I wanted to bring more UCSD students back to the center and find ways to fundraise for them. They had become like family to me. Ideas kept rolling and eventually we decided to turn it into a non-profit organization so we can also get help from companies who would be willing to donate!

Share a favorite memory.
I have quite a few stories while with the orphans at the center and while interviewing the patients about their life stories. However, the one that sticks out in my mind is the site of the three youngest kids at the center who’d run around all day, playing so happily. Their parents are currently living with HIV, and I knew their life stories. There were three kids who were not HIV positive because their parents had taken anti-retroviral medicine when they were pregnant. It’s just overwhelming to know how much their parents had to go through in their lifetime to get to this point, and gratifying to know that the kids are happy, healthy, and have a chance to live a life very different from the rough lives of their parents. One of the girls there is a bit chubby and likes to run around eating crepes her mom makes. We bought crepes to pass out to all the kids at the center. She wanted one just because everyone else had one in their hands, but the minute she took a bite, she was sick of it because she had eaten it for the past two weeks, so she gave it to someone else. She was only 3 years old, but I found that act to be adorable. There were countless stories with the kids, but that’s just one that was on the top of my head.

What have you learned from your experience? How has it affected your long-term goals?

Jenny is a 4-year old orphan living at the center. These are her different expressions as she’s feeling the wind pass by.

I learned that you have to do your research before you donate to any nonprofit organization. Some organizations do not donate 90%, or even 30% of the donations. There are even some that donate only 5% of the donations for the cause they are claiming to donate to! There are so many loopholes. The important thing is to do your research before you get involved. Another important thing is to show your commitment once you have decided that you want to be a part of the team. Accountability, responsibility, and most words ending in -bility means your ability to uphold those different values. If you really want to help, then do it, but don’t ever half-a** your way through. That is just my opinion. 

This experience is teaching me a lot of things about life, which is important for a doctor. Although you can never truly understand everything and life’s philosophies, volunteering is a start. It’s teaching me so much about how people interact and how sickness and death can affect people. You don’t start living until you’re close to death. I definitely learned that as I watched the orphans and patients taking their medication twice a day the same time everyday. That’s what they worry about. They think about, “”Will I survive today?”” while we are here thinking, “”What should I eat for lunch? Too many choices!”” It definitely puts into perspective what is important and what really matters in life. Volunteering allows you to give back to society. It allows you to be generous and hope that everyone will give so that we can continue to live together and prosper. Really, it’s a survival mechanism and if we don’t help each other, how would we survive?

No, my goals have not changed. Volunteering definitely advanced my plans and hopefully will prepare me to be the best doctor I can be!

Do you feel like you are making a positive, critical impact on the global community? 
I definitely think I am doing what I can. I have a vision about how I want this all to pan out, and if it becomes something greater, then great! If I overestimated and it doesn’t get as big as I imagined, then I’ll be fine as well because I’ve learned to manage my expectations. I really do hope that I am making a positive, critical impact on the global community. I know I am spreading awareness and providing opportunities for students who want to be active and do these sorts of things but don’t know how or don’t have the means to. Sometimes it’s just a matter of your ambitions and if you think it’s possible. One of the things I believe is that if you want it bad enough and you work hard enough at it, then anything’s possible (as long as it’s not defying gravity or physics). Like in the Wicked play, “Nothing will bring us down!” It’s important to have spirit and not think that whatever your plans or goals are will become a failure. If you believe that it will become a success, then you can provide that inspiration to others and sooner than later, they too will believe that it is a success. I hope that I’m making an impact when I make someone aware about these social issues. They may not have to donate, but the fact that they are more aware that these problems in society exist, they are being more open and more willing to contribute to society in the future. As for the orphans in Thailand, I know that they would really appreciate all that we’re trying to do here, halfway across the world. Everyone, excluding me, would be complete strangers to them. If they knew that strangers were helping them out, then they wouldn’t feel like this world is such a bad place when it’s filled with caring people. If there aren’t people who show that they care, the kids might think that they are being punished by being born HIV positive, without a choice. So I hope that I am making a critical impact. It’s worth it, even if will only make an impact on one person. 

Do you have any advice for prospective gappers?
My advice is to get out there. Do whatever you wanted to do because you know once you apply for graduate school or get a job, you won’t have the time to explore the world. If you want to teach English in another country, volunteer, explore other career options, now is the time to do it! You just graduated and worked hard during your undergraduate years and you deserve a break. Traveling, joining an organization, and staying active is a great way to open a new perspective and you’ll grow as an individual during the process! You’ll learn more than what you expect to and you’ll remember it for the rest of your life. Why not? You have the rest of your life to go for your career. After taking a gap year, you may have a more focused, clear mind to accomplish your career goals in an efficient manner. Just make sure to blog everything so you can look back on it. I’m sure whatever you decide to do, as long as it’s productive, would be something memorable. Literally soak up every opportunity because it won’t come by as often as we get older.

Presenting a play in a children’s home.

Name: Lydia Ochieng
Type of Work: Environment/Conservation, Education, Community Development, Arts, Childcare
Region: Africa
Length of stay: 1 Year+

Tell us about the organization you work for and what you do for them.
I work for Art Outreach Programme. I work in Volunteer Placement department.

Share a favorite memory.
My favorite memory at AOP is the work camp. A work camp is a place where people of all races, ideologies, and nationalities live and work together for two to four weeks on a project organized by Art Outreach Programme. Most work camps occur during the summer months and have between 10 and 20 international participants. They volunteer, they socialize, and they work with the local people. They are a multicultural, voluntary workforce. That is a work camp – and it works! We usually go far away for the camp and assist the community in various project, as well as teaching in schools and going for excursions every weekend with the group… WORK CAMP IS SO MUCH FUN.

Clearing The field for an Eco-Lodge.

What have you learned from your experience? How has it affected your long-term goals?
I’ve learned that if one wants to go fast, they can go alone; but if one wants to go FAR then one should go with people. A lot can be achieved if there is team work.

What is the most challenging part of your job?
Lack of people and resources.

Do you have any advice for prospective gappers?
Just be open minded!

Traditional Ifugao dance performed by Peace Coprs volunteers and students from Ifugao State University.

Name: Laura Summers
School: University of California, San Diego
Type of Work: Education
Region: Asia
Length of stay:1 Year+

Tell us about the organization you work for and what you do for them.
I am a Peace Corps Education Volunteer in the Philippines. I co-teach first and second year high schoolers (ages 12-15ish) four hours a day. In my free hours at school I am working on a secondary project: creating a Learning Resource Center for students to visit to read, play games, and do their homework. I live with a host family, which has been really helpful in integrating into my community.

Share a favorite memory.
In November we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps in the Philippines. I joined a group of Filipino college students and other Peace Corps volunteers to perform a traditional Ifugao dance wearing traditional costumes. I love learning traditional dances and look forward to showing the video to all my friends and family back home so they can learn a little about Filipino culture.

What have you learned from your experience? How has it affected your long-term goals?
As of now I am thinking about getting my teaching credential when I return to the U.S. Before joining the Peace Corps I did not want to become a teacher.

What is the most challenging part of your job?
The most challenging part of being a Peace Corps volunteer is learning how to cope with failure. While you are learning to navigate a new culture, and as in my case, a new profession, you are bound to have embarrassing moments and miscommunications that interrupt your plans. Being a Peace Corps volunteer requires an extraordinary amount of flexibility and patience. But what you learn in two years is priceless.

Do you have any advice for prospective gappers?
Just do it! Travelling and volunteering abroad will give you such a wonderful new perspective on life and your place in it. If you can’t afford to volunteer a whole year, do as long as you can. You won’t regret it.

Me and two of the Aboom students

Name: Michaela Brown
School: University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Type of Work: Medical/Public Health, Environment/Conservation, Education, Community Development
Region: Africa
Length of stay: 1 Year+

Tell us about the organization you work for and what you do for them.
I worked as the Project Coordinator for ProWorld Ghana for 14 months and as the Site Developer (on temporary contract) for ProWorld South Africa. It is an international NGO that has sites in 10 different countries and has been around for over 13 years. My job was to create a diverse portfolio of sustainable service projects for international volunteers, establish and maintain relationships with project partners, serve as the liaison between international volunteers and local project partners, approve all budget proposals for sustainable donations made by volunteers, plan project work for the custom faculty-led group programs and manage the site’s social media, among other tasks.

Share a favorite memory.
Hearing the volunteers repeat phrases I used during our biweekly cultural exchange courses or during my conversations with them, about preserving the sustainability of his or her project. It showed that they were adapting, that they were open to learning.

What have you learned from your experience? How has it affected your long-term goals?
Working in this industry restores my faith in humanity. My experience working abroad has motivated me to continue serving this field in some capacity and at every possible chance to encourage youth to get out of their comfort zones and do something that guides them to put their lives and the lives of others into perspective.

Wayne State University pre-medical students addressed 300+ junior high students about HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention/

What is the most challenging part of your job?
The most challenging part of my job was making the local staff feel equally as appreciated as the foreign staff, and developing and maintaining trust amongst each other. Whenever sporadic outbursts occurred within our small team, I was often caught in the middle, mediating between our local and foreign staff. If I am given a similar job in the future, I would strive to create an open atmosphere amongst the staff, where communication is open and free. Another key challenge was achieving volunteer satisfaction while also bursting some participants’ bubbles about their ambition to “save the world.” Sometimes, international volunteers will get so wrapped up in their own goals for their project that they lose sight of what is much more important – working together with the project partner to find the plan of action conducive with the culture and the organization’s needs. This is a beautiful opportunity for a learning moment.

Do you have any advice for prospective gappers?
Go into your gap with an open mind. Pick your battles. Do not waste time asking or wondering “what’s next” or “where next” – let things unfold. Ask “why” and “how” instead. Listen to the locals, try to understand their perspective and how their minds work. Spend time developing friendships with locals – you will learn the most from these people. Stay in touch with the people who had the greatest impact on your gap – a phone call, a letter, an email, anything – a simple gesture will go a long way.

Tell us about the nonprofit/social business you work for:
Volta Aid Foundation is based in the Volta Region of Ghana. We work in towns and villages including Ho, Adaklu-Goefe, Adaklu-Tsrefe, Adaklu-Waya, Tsito and Kilkor-Agbozume. Our website is www.voltaaidfoundation.org

How did you find your position?
I founded the organization!

What’s your typical day like?
My position as the founder and director means I have to work on all areas of the organization, everything from volunteer and staff management to project site overseeing to budgeting and accounting works. I work endless hours.

One of our intensive first aid workshops complete with resuscitation mannequins.

What kind of people do you work with?
Younger, older, locals, international – everyone! Education and training depends on the specific program volunteers work on but most training is done onsite.

What are your living accommodations?
I sleep in a single room attached to the office which holds my mattress and my gas burner. Simple but it’s all I need.

What do you do in your free time?
I play football (soccer)! I have joined a local team and have dressed everyone up in jerseys from my team back home and shin pads and we train daily and play every Sunday.

Share a favorite memory or story from your experience!
I lived with a little Ghanaian boy when he started to speak. One of the first words he could say was ASH, ASH, ASH. From that point on every white person he sees he calls them Ash, even to this day!

What inspired you to do this kind of work? If you are taking a gap year, what motivated you to do that?
I was traveling around the world and ended up in London and was applying for my Irish working holiday visa and searching for jobs. I just remember spending hours upon hours of time on the web and something clicked in my head and I thought this is not for me. Two weeks later I was in Ghana.

How are you financing your time?
I do not take a stipend from the organisation. I rely purely on my personal savings and friends support.

What kind of special skills do you need to do your job?
None.

Do you feel like you are making a positive, critical impact on the global community?
I believe that the difference I make is enormous. Through my efforts we have sponsored two forgotten girls to attend school. Two might not sound like a lot, but it is two less girls apparently destined to be a market lady. We have also trained over 200 people in first aid and provided over 500 people with diabetes counseling and information. The list goes on but I truly believe in education and empowerment (however cliche that sounds) – knowledge is power. I am not just talking about school education but broader education such as first aid, health issues, business skills, life skills, social skills. A good example is the children in our partner orphanages speak better English, have better social skills, and achieve higher grades in school because of the impact of our volunteers over the past two years. This kind of impact cannot be measured quantitatively but helps the child more than anything else in this world.

This is our lovely host family for our volunteers in Ho. Bea, Sena, Senyo, me, Clinton.

What have you learned about the nonprofit and social business world in your experience?
Unfortunately I have become very critical of NGO’s and not-for-profits operating in Ghana since I have spent so much time on the ground. I think there are far too many organizations doing the same job and a complete spread of resources and know-how. I also think many nonprofits have lost sight of their vision. On the other hand there are plenty of organizations out there doing amazing work and millions of people out there who want to help but don’t know how to go about it and don’t know who they can trust. This lack of trust is hurting the ‘industry’.

Do you think you make a unique contribution to your organization as a young person? Is your perspective or approach different from others?
Definitely. I founded the organization when I was 21 so obviously as young person – a very young person – I believe I am more down-to-earth with what can be achieved and my approach is very relaxed and personal. I believe to understand what people want you have to live side by side with them, in their homes, with their family, eat with them and cook with them, and only then you will see what they see and know what needs to be done. I have done this by being a recently graduated poor university bum who could not afford to live and act differently.

How do you see this experience fitting into your long-term goals?
It was changed my whole life. Before I was a globetrotting party animal, now I am a better person. I will always be linked with Ghana, development and social work.

Partner Orphanage.

What’s next?
Setting up a workshop in Ghana to produce goods to export to Australia.

What is one thing you wish you knew before you came to your position?
Nothing. I came with an open mind and unbiased point of view.

Do you have any advice for prospective gap-givers?
Come without expectations and, as we like to say at Volta Aid Foundation, be prepared to ‘give a little, learn a lot’.

Are you blogging about your work or travel? How can we stay in touch?
www.facebook.com/VoltaAidFoundation
www.voltaaidfoundation.org
info@voltaaidfoundation.org – For volunteer inquiries
ashleybulgarelli@voltaaidfoundation.org – For personal messages to myself

Would you be willing to take questions from potential Gappers?
Yes.

Diewitt Duong and Eric Wang, about to board the Cleveland

Name, Age: Diewitt Duong, 22
University, Major: UCSD, Human Biology
Type of Work: Medical/Public Health, Education
Region: North America
Length of stay: Over two years with PDS, seven weeks with Pacific Partnership 2011

Tell us about the nonprofit/social business you work for:
I volunteer and work with the University of California, San Diego Pre-Dental Society and Free Dental Clinics. I attend weekly PDS meetings and I manage our Downtown clinic location on Wednesday nights. At our clinics, we provide free comprehensive care to uninsured low income families, veterans, and homeless individuals.
This past summer, I had the opportunity through UCSD PDS to spend seven weeks on a US Navy greyhull ship, participating in the US Navy’s annual humanitarian mission, Pacific Partnership 2011. The main focus of UCSD PDS’s involvement in this year’s mission was to be dental and health educators.

How did you find your position?
I begun attending UCSD PDS meetings through a mutual friend and stayed because of all of the interesting lecturers that we have speak to our club. We’ve had congressmen and women, surgeon generals, deans of dental schools, forensic experts, and others and I’ve realized how wide the scope of the dental field is. Through UCSD PDS, I began to volunteer as a dental assistant and x-ray technician with the Free Dental Clinics, gaining exposure and experience in being a dental assistant and I applied to participate in PP11 through UCSD PDS.

What’s your typical day like?
On Wednesday nights at the clinic I manage, I and my co-manager work to make sure that the clinic we run has an environment that is efficient, safe, and professional. We ensure that the volunteer dentist has all of the instruments and supplies that they need to provide treatment, our patient’s needs are being addressed, and that our volunteer students are being as helpful as they can be. Work outside of clinic takes about 3 hours and a clinic night can last 6 hours.
On the ship, my workday would average about 17 hours. I would wake up at 0430, get on shore at 0800, work on site from 0900 to 1500, get back on and and eat dinner by 1700, do offshore work until 2100, at which time I would go to sleep. (Though there was a rough six day stretch where I averaged 4 hours of continuous sleep in a day.)

What kind of people do you work with?
At the clinics, I work with other UCSD and local college students who are all interested in dentistry as a career and profession. I also work with dentists from around San Diego who volunteer their time on average once a month. We also have wonderful staff who help maintain the surrounding facilities.
On the ship, I worked with US the Navy, Army, and Marines. We also had a wonderful contingency from the Australian, Canadian, Malaysian, French, and Spanish armed forces.

What are your living accommodations? 
For the clinics, I live in your ordinary UCSD student apartment housing.On the ship I lived in enlisted berthing area, with a small bunk and a community head.

What do you do in your free time? 
In my free time, I like being outdoors. I enjoy playing and watching sports of all sorts (especially football and tennis). I am also a diehard fantasy football player (curse you jamaal charles!)

Share a favorite memory or story from your experience! 
On PP11, we had a patient in Timor Leste who had two fused molars which were causing her extreme pain. The process of extracting both molars required the teamwork of both a US Navy dentist and a Japanese Army dentist. They spent about an hour extracting the teeth in a fantastic example of international forces joining together to provide essential humanitarian aid for those who most need it. Truly inspiring.

What inspired you to do this kind of work? If you are taking a gap year, what motivated you to do that? 
I was interested in dentistry and UC San Diego just happens to have one of the best pre-dental societies in the nation. You get exposed to multiple facets of dentistry and healthcare. Going on Pacific Partnership was a once in a lifetime experience that I just couldn’t pass up. I hope to participate again in PP12!

How are you financing your time?
I work part time with UCSD and I have personal savings and parental support.

What kind of special skills do you need to do your job?
Medical expertise

Do you feel like you are making a positive, critical impact on the global community?
I feel like I am making a positive, critical impact. We were teaching nurses, teachers, families, teenagers, and children how to take care of their teeth and overall hygiene. We were exchanging essential information that will lead to sustainable growth. The overall dental and overall health of these regions will improve over time and only strengthen their overall growth.

What have you learned about the nonprofit and social business world in your experience?
I have learned that if you don’t ask for something, you will never get it. Before 2006, there were never civilians working on US Navy vessels on humanitarian missions. The adviser to the UC San Diego’s Pre-Dental Society worked very hard to get UCSD PDS to be on the first Pacific Partnership mission in 2006 and ever since then we have opened the doors for other non-governmental organizations to work with the military.

How do you see this experience fitting into your long-term goals?
All of this experience in dentistry has only advanced my plans. I have experienced and witnessed first hand the access to care issue in not only third world countries, but also locally, in a city as great as San Diego. I know that when I eventually go and graduate from dental school, I will give back to my community and I will continue to volunteer where I can. There are many who need and deserve dental care who simply can’t afford it. Dental pain, infections and mission teeth impair one’s ability to learn, to work, and to live. I view that health professionals have an obligation to provide their services back to their community.

What’s next?
Dental school is my next eventual goal. Between that, I am continuing to manage one of UCSD’s Free Dental Clinics and working with UCSD PDS. I also plan on working with Pacific Partnership 2012, possibly embarking in the mission this summer.

Do you have any advice for prospective gap-givers?
Give back to your community! Volunteer where you can to help out those less fortunate. Your experiences can humble you and make you aware of the need that is around you.

Are you blogging about your work or travel? How can we stay in touch?
You can reach me at diewittduong@gmail.com and also keep in touch with what University of California, San Diego’s Pre-Dental Society is up to at fdc-pds.ucsd.org.

Would you be willing to take questions from potential Gappers?
Yes.

Cameron Price, Peace Corps Swaziland

Name, Age: Cameron P., 26
University: Northern Arizona University
Major: Communications
Type of Work: Medical/Public Health, Education
Region: Africa
Length of stay: 2-3 Years

Tell us about the nonprofit/social business you work for:
I have known that I wanted to apply for the Peace Corps since 2007, and I thought about it hard for several years. It was ultimately a tough decision to come to, as it is a two year commitment, and I would have limited ability to come home. But I made that decision, and spent two years living in rural Swaziland. Those two years were some of the most fulfilling I have ever had, but my third year extension here is proving to give them a run for their money.

I currently am working at Columbia University’s ICAP (International Clinical Support Program) in Mbabane, Swaziland, while donating my free weekends to Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative’s Teen Club Youth Support program. ICAP has been an awesome opportunity for me, and I have seen a lot of Swaziland that I wouldn’t have otherwise. NGOs can be frustrating, but my experience has been great and working on the Clinical and Psychosocial Support programming that we help the Ministry of Health with has been incredibly valuable experience to put under my belt.

To be completely honest though, I stayed for the kids and teens that I have built relationships with at Teen Club. Teen Club is a support group for HIV-positive youth, and currently has something akin to 450 young men and women attending at four different sites. Doing Peace Corps brought me to some of the most beautiful children the world has ever seen, and for that I am so very thankful.

Teen Club: swazilandteenclub.wordpress.com
ICAP: www.columbia-icap.org

How did you find your position?
Applied at peacecorps.gov. Sadly this is only available for US Citizens. I do know that there are awesome organizations like Skillshare… GVI… etc.

Parachute games at Camp. I got to be Camp photographer, and it was probably one of the best few weeks of my life. I can’t show pictures of the kid’s faces for legal reasons, but this picture always makes me smile.

What’s your typical day like?
I work at a 730-430 desk job now, and it is only OK because I get to do site visits and love rural Swaziland. Lots of paper work.

My weekends, however, I spend with the kids at Teen Club, and that is where I really love my experience.

What kind of people do you work with?
By day I work with some of the nicest office workers ever. By Night I work with chupacabra (pl). On the weekends I work with the most beautiful kids in the world.

Seriously though, NGOs are all pretty highly educated, socially minded people, and I dig them.

What are your living accommodations? 

I stay in an apartment near the town center, but for two years I lived in a rondavel. A rondavel is, for those of you who don’t know, it is this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rondavel

I often times miss my hut. Oh well.Someday I will build my own.

What do you do in your free time? 
Volunteer at Teen Club, hike, travel, read, photography, swimming in Manzini, participate in shenanigans generally.

Share a favorite memory or story from your experience! 
The following is excerpted from my blog itsbrilliantanyway.blogspot.com, and was written in August 2010:

How do you explain, on paper, the eccentric, erratic, serendipitous events that make life beautiful?

Writers have been trying to do that for thousands of years, so I don’t even want to begin to tackle that challenge. Frankly, I am just too lazy to try. But still, sitting here, I am faced with the task of writing to you lovely people to tell you what I have been up to.

It can be boiled down to a few catch phrases that I sometimes rattle off when you guys call or are on Skype, like: “The usual,” “Studying,” or “I’m awesome, it’s Avocado season.” Or I could relate a few quirks of life here… like the stuff I put on my Facebook status updates; e.g. “A chicken in a bag bit me on a khombi,” “I almost physically ran into the director of NERCHA with an armful of Hoola Hoops while carrying things into his building,” or the ever popular “I have a handlebar moustache.” But that wouldn’t really get anything valuable across… besides the fact that I am awesome at talking without actually saying anything at all. Which I am.

So why don’t I tell you guys a story. A story about Camp. I just got back from camp, you see, and it was truly the highlight of my service so far. I mean that in much the same way that Optimus Prime would say, “Defeating the Decepticons was the highlight of my service so far.” OK, he would probably never say that, but you know what I mean: Camp changed the way I see the world… and here’s how.

We ran the camp for two five-day sessions, with about 100 kids in all. It was sponsored by NERCHA, BIPAI, Young Heroes, and the Association of Hole in the Wall Camps. All of the kids were HIV-positive, were initiated on ARVs, and knew about their statuses. They ranged in age from 10 to 16, the older kids mostly coming in the first week, and they were all g-d-awesome.

The difference between when the kids came in, and when the kids left was breathtaking. It was simply the most amazing thing I have ever seen happened over the course of five days; they metamorphosed into something new completely. When they showed up, nervous, anxious, and probably homesick, they seldom smiled and didn’t know what was in store. I’m pretty sure a few were afraid of me as I was wearing a strange hat… also I have strange, pale skin. Anyways, after five days of games, songs, scavenger hunts, skits, and praise, they’d all been changed. By the time they left, even the shy kids were giving us hugs, high-fiving their new friends, and saying fond farewells to us all.

Cameron with Bunny Ears

But the magic of camp wasn’t just for them. Over the last six months I have been getting used to the idea of everyone now knowing I have a polyplural neuropathy called Charcot Marie Tooth. It’s a hereditary disease passed down from my dad’s side of the family, and will most likely limit my mobility someday. It slowly lessens my body’s ability to conduct electrical impulses to my limbs, and will lead to weakness and possibly chronic pain. I had been aware that I might have it for some time now, but it’s different when it’s on paper. Part of it is knowing that other people know. It’s one thing to feel broken all the time and keep it a secret, it’s another thing entirely for everyone to be on the know with you

Here’s the thing, and it’s something I go back and forth between feeling like an a-hole about and feeling blessed because of. These kids all have a disease that will cost them their lives, most likely in the next few years, and they never should have been exposed in the first place. Just because Swaziland didn’t get (and still sometimes doesn’t have) the medications and professionals to prevent it, these kids and a few thousand more won’t have a shot at being normal kids. I spent my 25th birthday asking myself what the f*ck I did to deserve this disease instead of a case of Pediatric HIV. It was a crap shoot and, even though I spent all this time thinking I was S.O.L., I am so shamefully lucky. I feel like a major cock for writing this down, but those kids fixed me. I think I got more out of camp than they did. Seeing them smile and beat me at soccer games did more for me than they will ever know: They just had a good time at camp… I figured out what I want to do with my life.

I may have a hereditary disease, but that’s OK. I’m going to spend the rest of my life trying to make kids like the ones I met at camp smile. I want to make them feel better, because when they feel better, I feel a little less broken inside. Ugh… and I still can’t properly construe what this means to me, probably won’t ever be able to. I want to live every single day like I am still at camp

… guess that’s the most important thing I learned there.

Anyways, seeing kids smile… isn’t it just the most beautiful thing that you have ever seen?

Best Wishes from Swaziland,
Cameron Price
PCV Group 7

Define yo’ terms!

NERCHA – National Emergency Response Council on HIV and AIDS

Young Heroes – An NGO that sponsors AIDS orphans with regards to school fees in SD

BIPAI – Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative. Baylor Pediatric Clinic in Mbabane is amazing. They distribute meds, do testing events, reimburse for travel, and operate Teen Club Support groups in three regions of Swaziland… soon this will expand to all four. Also the Baylor docs are always incredibly cool, quick to give you straight answers, and sometimes even rides in cars. Hats of to you guys. Especially Doug. You deserve a Sivivane Kilo!

Association of Hole in the Wall Camps – Founded by Paul Newman, actor and Philanthropist (RIP), Hole in the Wall operates camps in countries around the world, specifically aimed at giving kids with chronic or terminal diseases a shot at a fun childhood. Their rep was awesome and totally is the reason our camp was a success… thanks Babe Jazz.

What inspired you to do this kind of work? If you are taking a gap year, what motivated you to do that? 
I was born here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona and – though I still love it – I needed to get the hell out. I have wanderlust, and these roads aren’t going to walk THEMSELVES, now are they? I met a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, heard about her experiences in Nepal, and I knew I had to apply.

Going abroad is the best way to learn about where you are from. I never knew America until I left it and saw it through the eyes of others. I also was fortunate enough to meet some spectacular people along the way.

How are you financing your time?
Peace Corps pays my stipend monthly, and my NGO picks up the costs of housing.

What kind of special skills do you need to do your job?
Language, Medical expertise

Do you feel like you are making a positive, critical impact on the global community? 
Yes. Absolutely. I have made friends for life. No matter how unimportant my filed forms are, I will always have another (Swazi) family.

What have you learned about the nonprofit and social business world in your experience?
That one must be careful of where one donates money; that people can do a lot of good and that the world will work out OK if you put some time into it.

Do you think you make a unique contribution to your organization as a young person? Is your perspective or approach different from others? 
Yes. My 2 years in rural Swaziland allowed me insight into how Swazis live, that town-folk don’t always get. My age makes me relevant with certain things, and have abilities that some older people might not be aware of.

How do you see this experience fitting into your long-term goals?
I spent two years working on HIV projects in Swaziland, the country with the highest HIV prevalence and incidence rates. I want to go to Medical School so I can come back and make sure those numbers go down.

What’s next?
Medical School. Hopefully. And as for volunteering, I will always do it in any way I can.

What is one thing you wish you knew before you came to your position?
You can never be TOO open.

Do you have any advice for prospective gap-givers?
DO IT. If you don’t you will end up asking yourself, “What If?”

Are you blogging about your work or travel? How can we stay in touch?
yes, but you need an invited to read it. PC is strict about what gets published. Email me questions at brilliantanyway@gmail.com and I will furnish you with answers ASAP.

Cheers!

Would you be willing to take questions from potential Gappers?
Yes