"Congratulations Lea!" Her mother had gone out of her way to celebrate her daughter obtaining her medical license. She was the first female in her family to graduate from college and the only child of her mothers to even go.

Leonora had always gone by the name Lea she felt like her full name was too old-fashioned and when she shortened it, it became boyish. She had tried to enjoy herself at the party her family threw for their sake, but stress was eating at her. She hadn't been picked by the hospital to stick around after her residence and her monthly bill for her loans was coming up, all the while she still had to look for a job. The hospital she had been at for training recommended her to go out into the world and gather some people experience. She had spent her whole life studying and never took any interest in making friends. She didn't think it effected her to do her job, but they insisted that she needed to feel emotions when tragedy struck. Her mom would probably have a heart attack if she knew she was considering doctors without borders, but her mentor had made an excellent point. He had also guaranteed her a job after she completed two years, and to top it all off her loans would be waved from it.

"My baby's a doctor." She pulled her daughter into a tight hug.

"Alright mom." Lea didn't push her mother away, but she didn't encourage her and hug her back either. This would be the tenth time she had embraced her today.

When she finally found an opening Lea went inside the house and sat in her grandpa's recliner. Parties were never her scene but books, they were. She pulled out her phone and looked up peer reviewed articles for new methods to treat infectious diseases in third world countries. A pull inside her felt like this is what she should be doing, that she could make a difference. When her mom came in she quickly switched her screen off and sat up in the chair.

"What were you doing?" She had her hands on her hips taunting her daughter.

"Nothing." Lea stuffed her phone into her back pocket.

"You were researching, again weren't you?" She asked with an annoyed tone.

"No." Lea shook her head.

"Oh yeah? Let me see your phone." She held her hand out.

"Alright, I was looking at porn." She got up from the chair hoping that she would now drop it.

"Yeah, your porn is articles and charts." Her mother sighed.

"That's what makes you so proud of me, you know." Lea did a little twirl in the living-room before heading outside making her mom chuckle.

The next morning Lea had signed up for doctors without borders and decided to inform her family over social media to avoid them all together. It took about a week for the text messages to quiet down. Her mother had been more upset about the way she presented the information over her actually joining, and that was exactly what she Lea hoping for. She didn't want to be told she couldn't go and have to explain it wasn't her mothers choice, so she was calculating on what she could distract her mother with.

It took two months for her orders to come in and a week worth of classes training her and educating her on the current situation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). At first, she was terrified but the people around her reassured her that they take extra care with their female doctors. She eventually accepted any fate as long as she would be able to help people and they explained to her that she would be helping hundreds in just a few weeks, making her fears turn into excitement.

Lea waved her parents goodbye as she crossed the security checkpoint at the airport. She hadn't packed much since she had a list from the organization stating the things to bring and nothing outside of the list was allowed. They would be heading into territory that had the highest crime rate of the entire world, valuables were not welcomed. The plane that they boarded was about half the size of the commercial planes Lea was used to, which made the flight rougher than she would have liked.

When the plane landed, they were met with the previous crew who they were taking over for. This helped Lea ease her mind because they were all here and alive, she felt silly thinking about her fears. After a quick run down from the doctors they took a quick taxi to the American embassy to get registered before they embarked on the drive across the Congo. Kinshasa was a grand city, from what she saw. However, she didn't understand French at all, and that was all they spoke here.

They were warmly and coldly greeted at the same time. Armed soldiers were placed at every corner of the embassy reigniting the fears she had dismissed. They loaded up a supply car that would last them six months outside the city. She Helped load the supplies and found her spot next to a window in the back seat of the second vehicle, and started the trip out east. The building they set up camp at was in a small place called Kasese. The building was made earthy materials and scanty in size.

"Mon, come c'est beau." A man gripped Lea's hand as she hopped out of the car.

"What?" Lea looked at him confusedly.

"He said you are beautiful." Her co-worker shook his head at her ignorance.

"Gracias!" Lea was so tongue tied by the forward man that she mixed up her words and ended up saying thank you in Spanish. He had looked at her for a few seconds with a blank stare before turning away and spoke with someone a little more familiar with the language.

Lea decided to grab some gear and help unload them into the open building. It had a makeshift door made of a tarp from the last workers. Before they could have finished unloading the people from the small town started coming up to see who the new doctors were.

"Hello." Lea waved at them between loads from the car. They smiled and waved back, some of their kids would come up and show excitement that they were here. Lea laughed and found herself truly enjoying her new start in a foreign country.