Approaching the end: the next steps

All modules complete, one final piece of work left to do and goodbyes left. The end of SOP 2012 is right around the corner (literally, we have 8 more days left). The journey while being in India; well it would be nice to fill everyone’s stereotypes and say it has been amazing and only good things have happened. It has been an incredible journey but there have been tough times, tough lessons learnt and tough stories heard but, I wouldn’t have changed a thing. Those tough times have, in reflection made the trip one life experience I won’t be forgetting in a hurry and have taught me so much about the things I should be lucky for, the rights that I have and have not had taken away from me because of where I was born! It is those tough moments, when the story has been difficult to hear that will stay with me for the rest of my life. The trip has certainly not been about beaches, tourist attractions and swimming and some of the experiences have been talked about earlier on here so I won’t bore you all again with them all.

Don’t get me wrong, we have, as a group had a lot of fun and although there are no secrets within SOP, what happens in SOP, some of it stays in SOP! We have had fun celebrating different festivals and events in culturally diverse ways which has made the learning even more fun! We laugh a lot, when having full, heavy days we all need a good laugh and I couldn’t think of a better group of people to have spent the last (nearly) 4 months with. They are an amazing group of people and have made the experience an even better one. They will be friends for life and I love them like they are my family (they have been for the last 4 months).  I have faith that (Dr) Max will bring us all back together in the future. It is thanks to the guys here I have survived the 4 months away from home, something I did doubt in myself! Thanks to (in particular order) Max, Erica, Miriam, Ella, Poli, June, Norisa, Noy, Julio, Toan, Barce, Ouane, Small, Si Mhong, John, Mhodz, Phally, Tha War, Biplob and last but not least, Khamsa! You are the people who have made this trip incredible! It has been a privilege and a pleasure to meet you all!

So as we all approach the end, the question I think a lot of us are asking is; what next? For a lot of us, we return home and go back to work or our studies. For me, I will return to work but what else? I don’t know the answer to this yet. I don’t know what my life holds for me in the future but I know this journey has changed me. It has been a journey of self discovery as well as discovering the issues people face around the world, these issues are no longer just news to me. When the news in England reports something about any of the countries that are represented here, I will think about my SOP family; are they ok? How has it affected them? How do they feel about it? What is happening to them? There are a lot of issues in the world that I had no idea about before coming here and it would be naive of me to think that these will now not affect me in some way. A question I have asked a lot; what can I do? This will stay with me while I think about them. I have changed; can I go back to a simple life in England where these issues don’t affect me? I don’t know. I don’t know a lot of the answers to the questions I have, I guess the answers will come in time, if I need them; all I can do is wait and see. What I do know is that I have loved my time here and although I am extremely excited to come home, I am desperately sad to be leaving at the same time. Sad to be leaving the place I have called home for the last 4 months, sad to be leaving the people that have become my family. There is fear there too. Fear that I may never see some of them again. All I can do is hope that one day our paths will cross again somewhere down the line.

I would like to end by thanking everyone who has made this trip possible and made it the experience that it has been. I never thought my life would bring me here and you all have made it possible. My life has changed thanks to you all; you have had a profound impact on me. I wish all the family here all the success in their lives and that one day we will meet again. I know (Dr) Max will make it possible!