[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/nairobidn1.jpg” caption=”Recent graduate Priscilla Medeiros (right), who is traveling to Africa for a six month internship, with her mother Rose. Photo by Laura McGhie. “]Most Canadians drive only a few kilometres to reach a hospital; Priscilla Medeiros will fly half-way around the globe.

The recent anthropology graduate doesn't need health care though. Instead, she is traveling to Africa for a six month internship with the Waltz Volunteer Organization, a group that specializes in vulnerable youth populations throughout Africa. While there, she will provide care and counseling to patients infected with HIV/AIDS at a hospital in the small town of Ongata Rongai, located 25 kilometres west of Nairobi.

In addition to this work, the Waltz organization is allowing Medeiros to set up an HIV/AIDS prevention program that will educate orphans about the risks of contraction. She hopes it will be self-sustaining, and continue on after she leaves Kenya.

“I just hope the program takes off and is adopted and sustained by the supervisors in the area,” says Medeiros of her work. “The organization seems really positive so far.”

Overall, she's well prepared for the journey. Medeiros spent the last year doing research for the program as part of an independent study with Kee Yong, an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology. Although she has many ideas, this graduate won't complete her action plan until she's settled in Ongata Rongai, familiarized with current programs and grasps the children's understanding of HIV/AIDS.

Still, there are some challenges-emotional and physical-that are almost impossible to get ready for.

“It won't be easy. We have to be prepared to lose victims and to deal with the culture shock. It's definitely a different world there. The pictures on TV are accurate; they do show where I'm going in terms of poverty and the challenges I will face.”

Luckily, she won't be alone. Once in Kenya, Medeiros will join two other interns, one Canadian and one Polish, already working at the clinic and living with a local family. But that doesn't mean she won't miss her own family back home.

When asked about the internship, Priscilla's mother Rose paused for a moment while she thought about her daughter's first trip overseas.

“I'm very excited. I see her dream and support her 100 percent,” she said proudly. She did did mention, though, that she'll be eagerly awaiting her daughter's “safe return” – with a little extra emphasis on the “safe”.