why do i do what i do?

In fact, a good question, one that can be elusive to answer. Some of the reasons include...
... i am cognizant of how very lucky i am, as a Canadian from an supportive, educated family - I've had every opportunity... and i also know that most are not fortunate like me.
... i want to "contribute" something - may sound trite, and it would be laughed off of a med school application... but i am much more satisfied with how i spend my day if i feel its useful in the grand scheme of things
... love of travel & all that it entails, eating new foods, experiencing new cultures, learning about new traditions, trying to understand what makes communities tick
... of all of medicine, its what i find the most interesting
... there is such a huge need; and there are simple interventions that could help - like Vitamin A!
... a deep distaste for winter

My first overseas job was taken on a whim, but back then i realized that there is something about global public health that I find WAY more interesting than anything else whether I'm studying it in a classroom at home or trying to figure out how to balance patient care with resource limitations, and how health systems should work.

After a year here, what has changed? I think all those reasons still stand. I am maybe more realistic about the limitations of foreign aid (though I wasn't impossibly optimistic). I have seen the things I spent so long learning about before coming here... diseases, malnutrition, systems problems, corruption, lack of resources.

With all that, sometimes I wonder, why bother? But what it comes down to is that this is what i think is important, this is what i value. Because even if society as a whole doesn't care much about the poorest of the poor, someone has to. And I know what is out there. I couldn't live with myself for ignoring the problems I see.

I do want to find a way to do this sort of work and yet have better balance because I don't do that well. (though here, I have been doing daily yoga, crafts, eating well, in order to stay sane).