Pre-Voyage Musings

Thanks for stopping by! I've decided to blog about my Leave for Change experience in the hope that a) I can share some amazing stories, b) it will convince some of you to take action to make a difference in the world and c) to keep you in the loop that I am indeed surviving just fine in Botswana (I hope!).

On the brink of my journey to Botswana (5 more sleeps!), there's a lot going on in my head and my heart that I'm going to attempt to download into the following not-so-brief paragraphs. This entry is more for myself than anything, but as it's fairly rare for me to bare my soul, you may be interested.

So why am I going to Africa on this program and what do I hope to get out of it? As some of you may or may not know, I've been going through a fairly intense reflection on what I want to do with my life over the past 6 months or so - whether I want to go back and get my MBA, or leave the business world altogether to pursue my childhood dream of working in international development/the UN, or whether I want to meld business and development together somehow. I've really been struggling with the idea of how I can truly make a difference in the world, which I suppose comes with the territory of being 23 and the related angst of figuring out who I am and what I bring to the table. :)

So in the end, my reasons for going to Africa are fairly selfish. In one word, it's all about perspective. I'm seeking perspective on what the next step to take in my career should be, on how grateful I should be for the life that I have (again that mid-20s angst clouds the gratitude I should feel for all the things I'm blessed with), as well as perspective on how much of a difference one person can make, and on how strong of a person I am.

For those of you who know me well, you know I'm self-effacing to a fault. The fact that I have to travel by myself to a foreign country, complete a project, and adapt to a new culture...as much as that is a dream project for me, I'm terrified that I will fail miserably, that I won't be able to connect with the people I meet...in essence that I just won't be able to hack it. Honestly, it's the same issues I deal with daily at home, simply amplified about a hundred times. I think this trip will force me to realize that I can do all that and that maybe, just maybe, I am capable of doing the things that I dream about and that maybe being Taryn isn't such a bad thing after all.

So now that I've talked all my selfish reasons for going, I honestly must say that I feel very blessed to have this opportunity and that I'm very excited that I'm going to be contributing to such an important cause. Botswana has the 2nd highest HIV prevalence rate in the world, and the NGO I'll be working with does so much to take care of the orphaned children and the elderly and the others who have been stigmatized by this disease. I hope that I can make a difference in at least a few people's lives, and that the stories I share through this blog or when I get back will convince someone else to take some kind of action to help make the world a better place.

“I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world within.” Lillian Smith