Leesburg native Toby Lamp is cycling cross-country to raise funds and awareness for a medical organization in Nepal. (Photos provided)

LEESBURG — Right now, Toby Lamp, RN, could be working in a hospital with pay and benefits.

Instead, the Leesburg native has set aside several weeks of his life to ride his bicycle cross-country for the benefit of others half a world away.

Lamp is riding to raise awareness and funds for Aarogya Seva, a health organization overseas that he worked with for several months during the summer.

“Basically, Aarogya is Sanskrit for ‘health’ and Seva is Hindi for ‘to volunteer,'” Lamp explained. “The best way that I try to describe it to people is, it’s basically an Indian version of Doctors Without Borders.”

Lamp’s trip is taking him 2,500 miles from San Diego, Calif., to Boca Raton, Fla., and while there are no definite goals as far as the timeframe, he hopes to have his ride completed after about eight weeks, averaging between 75 and 85 miles per day. However, these numbers are not set in stone, as Lamp’s main object is public awareness, rather than personal publicity.

“It’s not like I’m trying to break a world record,” he said.

Funds Lamp raises will largely go to help earthquake victims in Nepal, where a sister organization hopes to build a hospital. Other examples of programs the funds could go to include HIV/AIDS care and awareness, well-child camps and women’s empowerment for victims of spousal abuse and other types of violence against women.

Lamp started his career in the U.S. as an LPN but quickly decided he wanted to go a step farther and became an RN.

“I guess I didn’t think I was being as useful as I could,” he said. “So, I went back to school for the RN.”

However, Lamp soon realized his heart was not in the usual 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. work day, so he decided to do some traveling. To help make his trip more feasible and to do some good along the way, he decided to look into Work Away, an organization that allows travelers to stay with a host organization at their destination while performing volunteer services. That is how Lamp learned about Aarogya Seva.

According to Lamp, medical costs are different in many overseas nations. For example, a surgery can cost significantly less in Nepal than in the U.S. However, because the poverty rate is higher, many people still cannot afford operations they need.

“Here at home, you know, a surgery can cost a ton of money,” Lamp said. “Over there, you can do a major operation for less than $1,000.”

Because of this, raising adequate funds is more doable than it may sound

Aarogya Seva could always use medical volunteers, Lamp said. Because of the structure of Aarogya Seva, there is also a need for non-medical volunteers. For example, following the Nepal earthquake, the organization did art therapy to help children with post-traumatic stress disorder. Another example is theatrical therapy.

“It’s very holistic and that’s a great thing about this organization,” Lamp said.