So it wasn’t the heat or humidity, not the insects or the bites; it wasn’t the pollution, the noise, the threat of petty crime; it wasn’t even the fact that the stars in the sky looked foreign. But there certainly was something that kept me in a perpetual daze during the first few weeks of living overseas. Maybe it’s because a year prior, my mind had never even conjured up the thought of participating in an internship like this, let alone in the Philippines. But I’m nevertheless here writing this at the end of a six-month tour of duty (and I should add that I’m writing this while in no less of a daze.).

To be as honest and direct as I can possibly be, this internship experience has been nothing less than a life-changing adventure. In the few months that I’ve spent here in the Philippines, my perceptions of the world have irrevocably changed, and I’ve metamorphosed into a person who is confident in his abilities as a professional, as a being living in a foreign land, and as an individual who can truly contribute to something really great. I sometimes find it hard to believe all of the wonderful things I’ve seen and done in such a short time.

The way I look at it, this internship has been a very encouraging beginning to my future in public health. So to CSIH and NetCorps who were instrumental in this tremendous development in my life, I am truly grateful.

Ben Palafox
Philippines, 2002