From Atlanta to Africa: Saumya Dave, 24, a third-year student at the Medical College of Georgia, talks about the misery--and the inspiration--she found on her trip through Africa.

• Author: Dave, Saumya
• Position: IN HER OWN WORDS

In a remote village in Niger, I met a 25-year-old woman whose situation rattled me for the rest of my 11-day trip through Africa.

Miero was eight months pregnant but I didn't see the swollen belly or glow that I've noticed on women in America. Instead, I saw her ribs--sharp and defined, since she hadn't eaten in a day.

I was in this village because I entered a New York Times contest and won a trip to Africa with columnist Nicholas Kristof. The trip was full of surprises. Despite the difficulties, there were many moments of hope and potential.

For example, the local hospitals were so different from what I'm used to as a medical student in the U.S. In Niger, there were rows of beds squeezed into rooms and no doctors roaming about in white coats. But I did see doctors and nurses doing impressive things with limited resources. In Mauritania, I saw effective on-the-spot malaria testing. In Niger, I saw nurses who understood the importance of breastfeeding as a way to prevent infant malnutrition and disease, and were doing their best to educate women in clinics.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

In Morocco, I met a group of young democracy protesters who had been beaten for speaking out. I admired their determination to fight for what they believed in, despite the consequences.

"We get beaten in school and by our parents all the time," said one of the protesters, shrugging. "So being beaten by the police is nothing."

Anything For Spare Change

The women I met were empowered in ways I would have never imagined. In Niger, a 10-year-old taught me how difficult it is to do what she does every day: grind millet, a kind of grain, to feed her family. In a nearby town, I met a doctor who was the first educated woman in her family. In Burkina Faso, I met a grandmother who ran a microfinance organization that gives loans to...