Africa

I am going to be writing an essay for college writing about worldwide disease. Actually, this can relate to my blog topic as well. YL has many opportunities to be involved with and my friend Aly went on a YL mission trip to Africa last summer (2008). The purpose of the trip was to run a Young Life camp for the poor African children. Everyone is aware of the disease present in Africa, so I was curious how she dealt with this on her trip. When asked why she decided to go on the YL trip, Aly responded that she wanted to "experience Africa's culture and people." She stated that she was exposed to a whole orphanage of sick people. She saw many HIV+ children and saw sickness everywhere. Malaria is a common disease in Africa which is spread by mosquitos. I researched that in some areas of Africa, it kills 2700 per day! Of course, Aly was exposed to this, so she had to take Malaria pills constantly. Her pills began 2 months before, lasted during the trip, and finally stopped three months after. She had various shots for other illnesses she could aquire while in Africa. I can imagine that this 17 day long trip was lifechanging. Aly said her new experience made her realize how much better we live. If Moline was taking the trip again this summer, she would love to attend! I think it would be awesome and I would LOVE to do something like this. There are fundraisers to help with the cost. While Aly received the trip as a christmas gift from family, fundraisers are a great option to make the experience more affordable!
Thanks Aly:)