The day my life changed. For real.

August 11, 2010

It was just an ordinary day. It was the feeling that was extraordinary. As I told my fellow Duke Engage buddies, my insides were happy and glowing, and there was not one thing that could have ruined that feeling. Thinking back, I don't know why I knew or rather how I knew that my life changed that day. I am now wishing that I wrote my feelings right when it happened because it is not the same writing about it once the feeling has subsided.

Yesterday, I went with SDCEA to DUT (Durban University of Technology) to hear a talk on Air Quality Monitoring by a retired professor, Jean Faullimmel, from France. He talked about how the NGOs in France worked in line with the government and the public sector to control emissions. His talk was very informative, and without a doubt, I gained a lot from it. However, my life did not change because of his talk but rather what I realized during his talk. As I was jotting down the differences between France and South Africa and thinking about how the system he was advocating would be difficult to implement here, I realized something.

Unlike in France, where the NGO shows the government increases in air emissions and the goverment quickly takes action and reduces the driving speed limit, in South Africa, the case is completely different. Many can easily attest to the view that the government of South Africa is unresponsive to the concerns of its people. We, the people of SA and the NGO, cannot rely on the government as the French do. As the professor said, change in the environment can be made with the assistance of the government because the power is truly within the government. But when the government chooses to sit idly and not exercise this power for the sake of their people, as it does here in South Africa, we cannot not do anything.

So, at some point during these thoughts about the challenges that SA has with environmental legislation, I realized that one of the biggest problem was that we still cannot adequately link the environmental data that we have to the data on health, especially in the south Durban basin. Correlating the two would be the answer to putting the pressure on the government. Therefore, I have decided to forever veer away from my neuroscience dreams and pursue what I have been passionate about but just never realized: the environment and its impact on health.

I have always voiced my dislike for writing. I am realizing now that if I am passionate about something, like the environment, then I can write a book if I have to. This blog, for instance, did not injure my soul. I actually enjoyed it.

So, family and friends, here's a toast to finding yourself in the most unexpected situations and to realizing your passions. Let's hope I never forget this moment and carry through with my new life goals.