สอง หนึ่งสัปดาห์ (two weeks)

Okay, so I probably butchered that translation. I am sitting in the Denver airport, on my way to Philadelphia to check out a medical school, brushing up on my Thai. And when I say brushing up, I really mean stumbling over basic greetings and directions. Lizzy and I will be leaving for in less than two weeks! Time has flown as we have finished school for the semester, attended HELP International trainings, purchased our flights, and gotten immunized. We couldn't be more excited to go serve the people of Thailand!

We have been overwhelmed by the incredible generosity of those who have donated. We have raised nearly $8,500 so far. Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed! We know that we will be able to change many lives in Thailand with these funds.

For those of you who don't know, HELP International works in several locations throughout the world, endeavoring to contribute and start sustainable humanitarian projects. They focus on three areas: entrepreneurship,  education, and public health. Lizzy and I want to focus most of our efforts on public health. HELP gives its volunteers a large degree of freedom in choosing projects. When we land in Thailand in two weeks, there won't be any previously established projects on which to work. We will spend the first couple weeks assessing the needs of the community and coming up with project ideas. We will then apply for funding and get to work on our projects for the rest of the summer. It is a bit intimidating going to a foreign country without any pre-established projects, but we are excited for the freedom it will give us to work on things in which we are interested and that we think will make the biggest difference. Right now, I think it would be great to work on diabetes and AIDS prevention. But I am sure that ideas will change and develop as we see the needs of the community.

Beginning in two weeks, we will start to update the blog more frequently. Thank you again for all of your help and support!