Small Town Girl

Haiti

2011-01-08T18:48:00.000-08:00

So I know it's been a long time since I've posted but I was back on the road again this Christmas break. It's sort of long but there was a lot to write about! Enjoy!

Our medical team (minus Rohini whose passport was denied in Miami for water damage) arrived in Port-au-Prince mid-morning and after a long search for our bags (which yielded all except one) headed to the smaller airport down the road. We weighed in, split into smaller groups and crammed into the 5-passenger plane for the 24-minute ride over to Pignon. Gabi met us at the airport and brought us to the mission house in Jacsonville.

We unpacked the pharmacy that night, combining the meds we brought with us with those stored from previous trips. We spent the rest of the night hanging out on the roof watching for shooting stars.

The next day we opened up the doors of our clinic to the community. Min, a fellow first year medical student, and I took over the vitals station where I learned the Kreyol basics such as bonjou and kouma ou ye? I also learned the phrases for sit here, stand there, lift your tongue and close your mouth. After spending an extra night in Miami and sorting out her passport issues, Rohini was able to fly into Port-au-Prince, pick up the missing bag and join us.

After the patients were done with vitals, they went to the next station where their histories would be taken and physicals would be performed. If the case was more severe or the patient needed something looked at we took them into one of the rooms in the back. When they were done we gave them their medication and sent them over to Christina, our high school student and one very cool girl, who gave them an eye exam and found them some glasses.

That night after we closed up shop and retired to the upstairs for dinner, a man was brought in with a laceration on his leg from a motorcycle accident. The medical team set to work and, using our headlamps for light, we were able to stitch him back up. Afterwards we went upstairs to celebrate Gabi’s sons Garel’s and second-year med student Thomas’s birthdays. They provided rum, coke, Prestige (the local beer) and Clarin (moonshine) and played an ecliptic mix of Caribbean and American music.

The next day our A team, Dr. Graham, Dr. Weis, Alison and Chris, did a home visit to see a patient who has been very sick. He had edema below the waist and had been sick for many months. His family had moved him to the floor signifying that they were expecting him to die soon. The medical team couldn’t figure out what was wrong and came back to the mission house to discuss the case. Alison went back later that afternoon and convinced the family to move him back into the bed. Unfortunately shortly after the move he coded. Alison started CPR and the motorcycle was sent back to pick up Dr. Graham and Chris. About half an hour later they pronounced him dead.

One of the hardest parts about seeing patients in the clinic was the language barrier. Many of us do not speak any Kreyol or French and things often got lost in translation. Alex, one of the other medical students had a patient that was complaining of blood in the stool. He did a fecal smear to test, aka, sticking his finger in the guy’s anus to get a sample. The test came back negative because, as he later found out, the bleeding had stopped two weeks earlier. Stephanie, a fourth year, had a patient that was complaining of a bump on her clitoris. She had gone to the clinic and was given a shot, which caused her to miss her period. Stephanie did a pelvic exam and could not for the life of her find the mysterious bump. After much frustration another translator overheard the conversation and informed Stephanie that her patient actually had a cyst on her ovary and the shot was a treatment for that.

We had some other really interesting cases too. One guy came in with the complaint of sores on his legs. I took him into the back room to have a look. Turns out it was actually a large mass (think the size of a cantaloupe) on his inner upper thigh. It had been there for 10 years but we weren’t able to tell if it was a femoral hernia or a lipoma. We told him that he should go to the hospital to get it checked out and return in March when the surgery team would be here.

I was also able to see a case of pancreatic cancer. The patient was very jaundiced with bright yellow eyes and had a palpable tumor in the epigastric region. After discussing it with Gabi it was decided that it would be best to tell the head of the household and to keep the diagnosis from the patient and the women. Another case of mine was a woman who had lost a leg to diabetes. Her blood pressure and blood glucose readings were extremely high. We gave her three months worth of medications and told her to come back a few days later to see if they were working. Thankfully when she came back her blood pressure was already improving.

New Years Eve brought more excitement. We started out the evening with a very sick woman. She had a very high fever and was dehydrated. We put in an IV and transported her to the hospital. The team got back around 9 pm that night and we started celebrating. Two hours later a baby was brought in. His twin brother had already died and the parents had come to us to try to save him. Thankfully the people that needed to be sober were while the rest of us ran around finding the things that they needed. We started him on a nebulized albuterol treatment, among other things and after about an hour transported him to the hospital for further treatment.

The New Years had rolled in without anyone taking notice. Instead we celebrated an hour later on the roof under the stars in a small village in Haiti. A friend of mine used to say that how you spend New Years is indicative of how the rest of your year will go. If that is true then I have one hell of a year in front me.

We ended the week with some exciting animal run-ins. We were warned before we showed up that there was a family of bats that made themselves a home inside of the mission house. Luckily they seemed to have moved out but did visit us on a couple of occasions. There were also a couple of mice that liked to rummage around our rooms at night. They also enjoyed running around on the roof and jumping off into the trees. I was sitting up there by myself when one of the mice ran full speed into my back and apparently threw something at me in the process before running off. I guess they don’t like guests. On the last clinic day we also had a visit from a tarantula. I almost stepped on it when walking to the pharmacy. I thought maybe it was someone’s pet so I didn’t think much about it but I guess it was just a wild tarantula that had wandered in. One of the locals stepped on it and killed it.

The last night the local high school students put on a show for us. They did a couple of skits including one about cholera. They also sang a couple songs for us and their band played a few tunes. Dr. Weis then presented the students with three trumpets and a trombone to help them expand their ensemble.

I think this is a good time to go back and talk about what the long-term goals of this project are and where your money is going. Jacsonville does not have much of a healthcare system. There is a clinic and hospital in nearby Pignon but it is poorly staffed and lacks a lot of equipment and training. For now a medical team will be going to Jacsonville every 3 months in order to ensure continuity of care. Patients will be given three months worth of medication for chronic illnesses. If they have any problems they can talk to Gabi or go to the hospital. Every time a group goes down we will bring more supplies and medications with us in order to make the clinic as fully functioning as possible. On occasion surgeons, dentists and other specialists will join us and offer their services. In the meanwhile the extra money raised will go towards a fund to build a permanent clinic and hospital in Jacsonville staffed by Haitians. Our goals at the moment are to establish a good healthcare system that we can pass over to them in the future.

What was interesting to me is that the community seems to be putting a lot of faith in us as healthcare providers. In some ways this is a really good thing. It means that we are doing a good job and that they trust us to give them medications and treatments that will help them. However, We are not in a facility that can accommodate much in terms of trauma and serious illness and we are definitely not a facility that has beds for people to stay.

We packed up the pharmacy after the last clinic day and headed to the airport in shifts the next morning. When we were all in Port-au-Prince they took us around the city to show us what it is like. The devastation was immense with buildings in shambles and tent cities set up everywhere. We stopped at the hospital and walked around but didn’t have a chance to go inside. Alison had worked here for a while after the earthquake and told us where all of the different wards were.

After the tour we went back to the airport and headed home. It really was a great trip. I learned a lot about medicine and got to see some really interesting cases. I also got to see first-hand what the earthquake has done to this already ravaged country. I am hoping to go back again someday and continue to support this project. Thanks again to everyone that donated money. It really does help!

Who says you can't go home?

2010-03-26T12:51:00.001-07:00

March 26, 2010

So I realized that it has been over a month since I updated this. I stayed in Abel Tasman for about a week doing not much of anything. They moved me to a tent which was much cheaper than the dorm beds but also further away from the Stray camp. I would head over there at night to see who came in on the bus and catch up with people that I had met earlier. I had the opportunity to play some volleyball in town. The guy that owns the sailing company and his friends play every week and invited me to join them. It was great to play again although some of the competition wasn't very good. We played a group of high school girls and as the first serve came hurdling at them, a few of them let out a scream and ducked out of the way.

Toward the end of the week I was no closer to having a job and no closer to figuring what I wanted to do with my last month in New Zealand. I had already seen most of the two islands. So I decided that it was time to head home again. I hopped on a bus and spent a night in Nelson at one of the best hostels I've ever stayed at called Golden Lodge. The next morning I was back on the bus and found my way back to Amberley where I went to stay with Jon for a few days before my flight home. We went into Christchurch one day to watch a cricket match, which, now that I understand the game, was quite exciting. I also had a chance to visit Tara again. She was getting ready to head to Australia for a bone scan that would determine when and if she could have surgery.

The latest Tara news is that she did end up having the surgery and it was very successful. She had a full knee replacement to get rid of the tumor and is currently undergoing one last round of chemotherapy to get rid of the remaining cancer. She really is a special girl and I can't wait to go visit her again.

Anyway, I flew home on March 2nd. I spent a week in San Diego visiting Warren and his family. We went out to eat a lot and I started my half-marathon training. Monday night Warren, Rashad and I went and played volleyball and Tuesday night I went bowling with Warren and some of his friends.

After San Diego I flew to Colorado Springs to visit my twin sister Briana. After a bunch of training she is now stationed at Fort Carson. We went out to eat a few times and worked out on post. We went to the Army Air Force hockey game on Friday night and on Saturday we went out to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with her friends and tried to get everyone to stay out until midnight to celebrate pi day (our birthday 3.14). On Sunday we slept in, went to see The Princess and the Frog at the movie theater and went out to eat at Red Robin.

From Colorado Springs I flew to Fargo and stayed with my brother Matt for a few nights. My mom then picked me up and we headed over to Minneapolis to visit Tiffany. We did some shopping and helped Tiff decorate her new house. Mom and Autumn also got their hair done by Tiffany at the salon she is now the assistant manager of.

We drove back to Langdon on March 21st and I spent a few days getting my stuff together. I went in to speak to the kindergarten class about my travels and told them about how I got the scar on my forehead and showed them pictures of me bungy jumping. I also went out to lunch with Nathan and caught up with some of the staff at both the elementary and high school.

And now I am in Bismarck at my dad's house. I will be staying here for at least two months and possibly more. I am looking for a job right now or at least something to keep me busy. I am running the Fargo half-marathon at the end of May with my sisters Tahnee and Briana and am still hoping to go to Peru in June. We'll see what happens. In July I will be working some volleyball camps and in August Medical School starts down in New Orleans. I'll try to update this every so often and let you know what I'm up to. Hopefully this job search goes better than the last...

Abel Tasman

2010-02-22T17:27:00.000-08:00

February 23, 2010

A few of the group left us at the National Park in hopes of doing the Tangariro crossing a few days later when the weather cleared up. I should have stayed with them but instead I headed down to Auckland with the rest of the group. Nick, the trainee, was our driver that day and we played some games on the way including one where you put in your earphones, turn on your iPod, turn up the volume and sing your heart out. It was quite entertaining.

When we got to Wellington it was raining. Since I had already visited the Te Papa national museum I decided to go for a run. I forgot to check what street the hostel was on as I was leaving but since it was on a main road I figured I would be able to find it quite easily. On the way back I turned off a street or so too soon. I still had an idea where the hostel was and asked one of the locals for directions. I got pointed up and around the corner. When nothing looked familiar I again asked for directions and was told to go straight down the street. After a while I was in a very residential area and asked for directions once again. This time I found the hostel although it had taken me an extra half an hour to do so.

That night we went out for Indian food. I’d never really had Indian before but it was quite nice. We all ended up sharing different curries with the person sitting next to us. Metro and Brad went out and bought four bottles of wine, which we drank with our curries until the restaurant closed down for the night.

The next morning we caught a ride on the Stray bus to the ferry. They played two movies on the way to Picton including one of Autumn’s favorites Tinkerbell. The other movie was a documentary about a singing group called Young at Heart, which is comprised of people mostly over the age of 65.

From Picton we loaded up the bus and headed out towards Abel Tasman. We stopped for wine tasting, which I passed on since I had done it previously, before driving to Nelson for pick-ups and drop-offs. After a brief stop to talk to Milan, who runs the sailing company, and another stop for those that wanted to go kayaking, we arrived at Old MacDonald’s Farm. They have a special camp for the Stray people and on the way you walk by chickens, cows, llamas and, of course, sheep. I went for a run that night before cooking up a small meal and having a few drinks.

The next morning I was up early and after saying hi to Daisy (my last bus driver who was staying next door at the Barn), I went on a full day sailing trip. Our boat was appropriately called the Stray Cat. We saw some seals and a penguin and had some magnificent views of the coastline. We stopped for lunch at Anchorage and picked up those that were doing the half-day sail and walk. On the way back we jumped out of the boat to take a picture on Split Apple Rock.

We returned to camp around 5 pm and after showering went out to the café for my leaving the bus party. Metro had gone into town and bought party hats, party poppers and balloons. Only Metro, Liz and I knew what the party was for, although Steve was also invited. We gave one of the hats to the kid at the next table who was celebrating his birthday as well as to the waitress that Metro knew and the Latino DJ that showed up later. It was a great party.

The next day the bus left but I stayed behind. I decided to hole up here for a while. The accommodation is fairly cheap at $15 a night and the weather is absolutely gorgeous. There is also volleyball. Milan had told me that the guys play beach every Sunday afternoon and indoor every Tuesday in Motueka. So Sunday afternoon I headed out to the beach for a few hours but no one showed. Instead I spent the day on the beach reading and chilling out. I think it was exactly what I needed.

That night a new Stray bus came in and some of my friends that had gotten off of Metro’s bus earlier were there. I nipped a bit of food from there BBQ but also cooked up some chicken korma curry that Liz and Metro had left me.

On Monday I had planned to go into town with Rob but slept in too late to catch him. Instead I went skydiving. It was kind of on a whim but I was in the mood to do something crazy. So a little after 2 the bus picked us up and took us into Motueka. The suited us up, and next thing I knew I was up in this little plane with 7 other people taking in the beautiful scenery. I wasn’t very nervous until they opened the door and I watched my friend Greg disappear from view. I was the last one in the plane to jump. The freefall was intense and I went from being scared to happy to scared and back again. They got the whole thing on video and also sent us away with almost 100 pictures and a t-shirt.

That night I saw a group of guys playing beach volleyball. I started walking over there but then stopped myself thinking that it was almost dark, they were playing two on two and I didn’t know them. I found out later they were looking for me and I’m still kicking myself for not going up to them and asking to play.

This morning I got a ride into town with Rob on the Stray bus. Debs was supposed to come with as well but was a no show this morning, which gives me the day to myself. I ate at a cute little café and made a little bit more progress on the book I am reading. They also have free internet at the library and adjacent park, which I plan to take advantage of. I also need to do a grocery shop and buy some new shorts, but the thing I’m looking forward to the most is volleyball. Apparently the Marahua guys come into Motueka on Tuesdays to play in a 6 on 6 indoor league and they invited me to join them. It’s been a while but it will be nice to play again.

I’m not sure how long I will stay here but long enough to clear my head and sort some things out. I might try to find work for a couple of weeks but it’s becoming a bit pointless to find a job. You can’t say I haven’t tried.

North Island

2010-02-16T15:18:00.000-08:00

February 17, 2010

It has been an eventful past week and a half. After having my own private Super Bowl party I cooked up some fried noodles and caught up with John and Stu. I had wanted to see Tara, John’s niece, to see how she was doing but she was in the hospital for another round of chemo. Apparently the tumor is not shrinking the way they had wanted it to and it looks like they are going to have to take her leg. She’s an amazing girl though and has a really good attitude about everything.

Fruit picking was supposed to start on February 20th in the Nelson region and I had signed up for it when I went through Abel Tasman last time. So I figured that I had enough time to go up to the North Island and get back to the Nelson region just before February 20th. I called up Stray and a bus picked me up the next morning.

We headed up the east coast again and stopped in Kaikoura. I signed up to do the whale watching but it was cold and rainy and the boat didn’t go out. I went for a run instead and that night our bus went across the street for the pub quiz. We didn’t do very well but it was fun. The next morning we were off to Picton to catch the ferry over to Wellington. The ferry took 3 hours but they played a couple of movies and the time went quite fast.

After we were dropped off at our hostels we headed over to Te Papa, which is a natural history museum. I learned all about the wildlife, geological formations and history of New Zealand. Very interesting stuff. The next morning we were off to Auckland and after twelve hours of driving had a meal and drink at the pub. We went out barhopping that night and had a grand old time.

The next morning we headed out toward Hahei. When the tide is out they have a hot water beach where you can dig holes in the sand and sit in your very own hot pool, heated by the geothermal activity in the area. We then went over to Cathedral Cove, which was absolutely gorgeous. I went for a run on the way back and we had a big group BBQ that night.

Next up was Raglan, surfing capital of New Zealand. I didn’t feel like spending money on surf lessons so I just went down to the beach for a while and sat in the sun. We stayed at a really cool backpackers that night called Karioi Lodge. The rooms are set up on a hill with awesome views of the ocean. They also have a free low ropes course and flying fox.

Our driver’s name is Metro (really cool guy) but we also have a trainee on our bus named Nick (Stray nickname TBA). Basically when they hire a new driver they send him around the country on one of the buses to learn the ropes. They also have to do some crazy stuff including a naked flying fox at Karioi Lodge. So after dinner that night, when it got dark, we all went out to watch the initiation.

The next morning we headed to the Waitomo caves. They have a half price deal on a trip called Haggas Honking Holes where you get to abseil down an underground waterfall, climb up rock faces and see glowworms. The glowworms look really cool and when we were underground our guide told us about what they really were, cannibalistic shagging maggots with shiny shit.

After we were done caving we headed over to Maketu for our culture stop. We stayed at a place called Uncle Boy’s Cabin. After eating some traditional food we went next door for a performance. Since we were a visiting tribe, the local tribe had to make sure that we came in peace. They attempted to scare us with spears and loud shouts before laying a twig in front of our chief (the eldest male on the bus). If the chief picks it up it means we come in peace. If the chief steps over it, it means we want war. If that happened I think it would have been a good idea for all of us to run and get the bus out of there as soon as possible.

Luckily our chief decided to pick up the twig and we greeted the local tribe by shaking hands and touching our noses. They then performed a few songs for us before splitting up the men and women. The women learned the poi song and dance while the men learned the Haka, which is meant to scare other tribes. We then performed our dances for each other. The boys were quite amazing and got really into it. That night we sat outside for a few drinks and then all slept on the floor of the performance room.

The next morning it was off to Rotorua. The smell there is awful (think rotten eggs) but there is a really cool rafting trip that a lot of the group did that includes a 7-meter waterfall. Since I already did white water rafting when I was in Africa I passed and instead went on the internet for a few hours and made some phone calls. After everyone was back on the bus we headed to Taupo. I was hoping to do a skydive there but the weather was quite bad. Instead I went for a run and went out for burgers. Then the group decided to head out to the pub for a pub quiz. The questions were tough but we had a very smart group with us and we ended up winning the quiz and getting two pitchers of drinks for free.

This morning we left Taupo at 7 am. We were hoping to do the Tangariro crossing, which is rated as the best 1-day walk in New Zealand and possibly the best in the world. Unfortunately it was raining yet again and the walk was cancelled.

I really don’t have a plan for the rest of my time here yet. The fruit-picking place didn’t call me back so I started calling them about two weeks ago. They didn’t answer the phone so I left them lots of voicemails. Finally they emailed me back saying that there were no jobs available. I applied for a few other jobs that were listed on the backpacker’s board, and although I heard back from one, it doesn’t sound very promising. I head to Wellington tomorrow and then back down to the South Island. I’ll figure the rest out later. Miss you all!

Deep South

2010-02-07T12:20:00.000-08:00

February 8, 2010

On Monday morning Lara and I got up early to go bungy jumping. We waited at the bungy station in town for about half an hour before the bus came and took us to Karawau Bridge, a 43 meter bungy. After weigh-in, Lara went while I videoed and took some pictures. As soon as she was done I went over to get harnessed up. It goes quite quickly after they start getting the bungy rope tied to your feet and before I knew it I was standing at the edge of the platform waving to the cameras. They did a quick countdown and I jumped. Right after I jumped I remembered thinking what the hell did I just do. But by the time that thought was completed I was already slowing down and getting close to the water. I wanted to get dipped in the river but ended up about a foot short. The rest was absolutely amazing and I cannot wait to do it again.

That afternoon Monia and I walked around for a bit looking for work. I dropped off my resume at a few places but nothing sounded that promising. They are lots of opportunities to work for accommodation but it seems hard to find a job that pays for such a short period of time. That night I decided that I would get the Deep South loop done with and take a few more days to figure out my next move.

We left early the next morning and headed to Milford Sound. New Zealand is located on a fault line between two tectonic plates. As one plate slipped beneath the other, the Southern Alps were formed. Glacier movement in the area carved out deep basins that led out into the sea. Together these forces created the beauty that is Milford Sound. The deep blue water runs out into the sea amongst high cliffs dotted with stunning waterfalls. In the background the snow-capped Alps can be seen.

We did a two-hour cruise through the Sound, followed by some picture and swim stops, before heading over to Gunn’s camp for the night. The camp was nice. They even had a sense of humor about the abundant sandflies there (my legs are covered in bites). The dorms were basic and the electricity was turned off after dark. We cooked a large group meal on the grill of bangers and mash before spending some time around the fire.

The next morning we were on the bus by 6 am for the drive to Invercargill. We did a few picture stops on the way but were on the ferry by 11 am. The day was cloudy and after an hour on the boat we checked into our hotel. I was exhausted and opted for a nap. Unfortunately this made the trip to Stewart Island a bit pointless. I did go for a walk that night but the next morning I got back on the ferry and headed back to the mainland.

We then drove over to Dunedin for the night. There was a Speight’s brewery tour that some of the group went on. I went out for pizza and some drinks that night at the bar. We ended up playing pool and singing karaoke where I ended the night with a rendition of Whitney Houston’s “I Want to Dance With Somebody.”

The next morning we were on the road after a quick stop at the World's Steepest Street. After that the drive was fairly boring into Queenstown although we did stop to see where the Riders of Rohan sequences in the Lord of the Rings movies were taped. We also stopped at a fruit shop for real fruit ice cream. That night I met up with Monia and we went out to eat at a pizza and pasta place before wandering around for a while and since the next day was a national holiday we stocked up on alcohol. After some stargazing from the balcony we called it a night.

I slept in the next morning, which felt amazing, and after a quick stop at the grocery store had a wonderful lunch of chicken cordon blue (slightly overdone) and a huge Caesar salad complete with chicken, olives, tomatoes, pistachios, croutons, carrots, onion and cheese. After a quick stop for the internet, we had a few drinks on the beach before going to the circus that was in town.

On Sunday morning it was on the road yet again heading over to Christchurch for the night. The drive was uneventful and fairly boring with a very North Dakota feel to the landscape, flat with fields and a few trees. After getting dropped off at the hostel I had some dinner and went out for some drinks. This morning it was back to Amberley to figure out my life. Fruit picking starts in about two and a half weeks and I’m hoping to go over to the Nelson region to do that. I’ll give them a call today and see where things stand. As for now, I’m off to the supermarket to get some snacks for the Super Bowl.

West Coast

2010-01-30T19:41:00.001-08:00

January 31, 2010

On Monday morning I went in and signed up for fruit picking. Unfortunately they don’t have any jobs until February 20th. I went for a quick run that afternoon and then met the Stray bus and headed to Marahua. The town of Marahua is located just outside Abel Tasman National Park and the backpackers I stayed at was only 1 minute from the entrance to the National Park. Five other people and I stayed in a large tent that was slightly cheaper than the dorm rooms.

We had a barbeque the first night, which included chicken, pork sausages, beef, a giant salad, hashbrowns and mussels. I tried the mussels although I have to say I was not a big fan. That night we went for a walk on the beach. The tide was out and we were able to walk a long way. We walked back in the dark and then spent some time by the fire.

The next morning Alex and I went kayaking on the coastline of Abel Tasman. It was my first time kayaking but I enjoyed it very much. After a few beach stops for some snacks, we landed at the watering cove and had some lunch. The sun came out and we sunbathed for a bit and just before we were about to leave a bumblebee stung me.

The walk back to the backpackers was quite scenic with golden beaches, lush rainforest and bright blue waters. It took us about three and a half hours but after the first hill it was relatively flat. That night, after a three-hour nap, we celebrated Laura’s 20th birthday with leftovers, ice cream and candles.

The next morning we were on the bus early. We stopped at a few spots for pictures and went to see another seal colony. We also stopped at a place called Pancake rocks. The rocks are layered and form blowholes where the water spurts out at the top. I think it was low tide when we were there so I didn’t get to see that but I think I could have sat and watched the waves crash against the rocks all day.

Next stop was Barrytown. Stray always stops here and they have a theme party that night. They have a room full of old clothes that you can use and bins full of accessories. Our theme was heroes and villains and we had people dressed up as Super Stray, Super Tourist and Hitler among others. I used eye shadow to create a mask and used my sarong as a cape. We played some drinking games and I ended up playing the piano at the end of the night.

The next morning I went for a run down to the beach. When I got back they announced that the winner of the dress-up contest was Hilter, which was sort of bad considering it was the anniversary of Auschwitz. We then got on the bus and headed to Franz Joseph. We stopped at a Jade factory on the way where they turn the green stone found on the beaches into fine jewelry and sculptures.

Franz Joseph was absolutely stunning. It is a small town on the coast with the Southern Alps rising up behind it. The Franz Joseph Glacier is close by and attracts thousands of tourists every year. Most of the people on the Stray bus and I did the full day glacier walk. We walked through the valley and then up the steep rock pile before hitting the ice. Then we spent over five hours exploring the caves, crevices and fresh water pools that have been formed. At the end of the day Lara and I spent three hours in the hot pools across the street.

The next morning we were on the road early. After a stop at the stunning mirror lake (too bad it was cloudy and raining) we traveled through the Haast pass to get to Makarora. Half of the group went on a jet boat ride down the river (half price!) and afterwards I had the most amazing meal of lamb chops, mashed potatoes and peas all smothered in gravy. After a quick shower we all met at the pub for some drinking and karaoke.

The next morning we were on our way to Queenstown. We stopped at a town called Wanaka where they had a place called Puzzle World. Lara came with me and we had a great couple of hours going through the maze and checking all of the optical illusions. Later we stopped by the A.J. Hackett bungy site in the Kawarau gorge. Some people jumped today but others, like Lara and me, will be throwing ourselves off the bridge tomorrow morning. Wish me luck.

My friend Monia and I will be hopefully staying in Queenstown for a while. Tomorrow, after the bungy jumping, we will look for work and try to find a cheap place to rent out for the month. I think Daisy, our male driver, is going to help us look since he has lived here for 4 years. That’s it for now. The travels are going well and I really hope I can find a job here and make at least some money.

On the Road Again

2010-01-23T13:36:00.000-08:00

January 24, 2010

Change of plans. The job hunt was not going well and the constant rejection and sitting around doing nothing all day was getting to me. So I have decided to start traveling. I bought a Ron pass from the Stray travel company, which covers the whole South Island. If I make some money I would like to upgrade to the Bret pass, which would allow me to see the rest of the North Island before I leave.

I booked the trip on Tuesday and was to depart from Amberley the next morning. They sent me a confirmation email that stated they would pick me up on Wednesday January 20th in front of the Amberley public toilets at 9:45 am. John took some time off work to bring my bags and me to the pick-up point and waited with me for the bus. We were there about half an hour early and finally called Stray at 10:15 to check if the bus was coming. They put me on hold for a long time and eventually came back on and told me they would call me back. John went back to work and I waited for another hour and half before I called them back to ask if I should be waiting for a bus or not. Apparently they knew that I needed to be picked up they just didn’t know where and had passed through Amberley before we got to the pickup point. They offered to put me on a public bus that night but I opted to wait for the next Stray bus on Friday.

Wednesday afternoon I went shopping at the local grocery store (not cheap) to get ingredients for a couple of meals. The food is slightly different here and I had to make a lot of substitutions. The only hashbrowns they have are like the ones you would get at McDonalds but I did find some shoestring french-fries. I could find reasonably close substitutes for the rest of the ingredients and headed back to the house. After watching some NCAA basketball (on every afternoon for 4 hours) I started making porcupine meatballs and cheesy hashbrowns. The porcupine meatballs were looking good but after 45 minutes in the oven I noticed that they were burning on top. They were supposed to cook for another hour and a half. Suddenly it occurred to me that the ovens in New Zealand use Celcuis, not Fahrenheit. I quickly turned the heat down to low and hoped I hadn’t done too much damage. Luckily the hashbrowns turned out well and the meal was okay.

That night I prepared some sausage brunch and put it in the oven the next morning. I was not able to make caramel biscuit rolls due to lack of biscuits but the brunch turned out well. Thursday night Nicky and her kids came over for dinner. Sammi is 7 years old while Gibson was 5. They had boundless energy and enjoyed dragging us outside to show us the tricks they could do.

Friday morning I packed up again. Stu was going to drive me over to meet the bus at around 9:20 but at 9:05 my phone rang and the bus driver informed me that he was already there.

We stopped once for food on our way to Kaikoura. After that stopped our driver, Mambo, split us into four groups and we had a trivia game about New Zealand. The winning team got a bottle of wine. My team did not win although we did get a bonus point for out team name, Naked Sheep for Gollum. When we got to Kaikoura we drove out to see a seal colony before checking into our hostel. My new friends, Naomi and Elko, and I went for a walk and sat for a while on the rocky beach. That afternoon I went for a short run before taking a nap. For dinner I had some free vegetable soup followed by a delicious Hawaiian burger. That night I watched the end of the sixth sense and then read until I fell asleep.

The next morning we rode to Picton. Half of the group got on the ferry and headed to the North Island while the other half of us checked into our hostel and went to explore. I asked around a little bit about work but it didn’t seem like there was much available in the area. That night we went down to the waterfront for the Maritime Festival. There was a live band and fireworks. Afterwards we headed back to the hostel and talked for a couple hours before going to bed.

The bus picks us up in about an hour. I am going to ask to be dropped off in Motueka and will stay there for the night. In the morning I am going to go to the fruit picking office and see what the have available. If I am not able to start work right away I will either go to Nelson and look there or to Marahau for the next leg of my Stray pass. I am hoping I will find a job in the next couple of days. I will then work for 5 weeks before continuing on my travels. I’ll keep you all updated.

The Job Hunt

2010-01-17T14:03:00.000-08:00

January 18, 2010

Well the job hunt has not been going very well. I had responded to around fifteen online job listings but only heard back from one. The ad said modeling and that woman and couple models were needed. I’ve always wanted to try modeling so I requested more information. I got a response the next day saying that it was nude modeling and that if I was still interested I should email back for details.

I had also applied for a job with Greenpeace that sounded promising. It was to raise awareness about Greenpeace and their projects throughout New Zealand. The training was done in Christchurch, which is only 50 km away, and I would then get to travel. They wanted a minimum commitment of three months, which meant I would have had to extend my trip by a few weeks but the pay was quite good. They were supposed to get back to me within 48 hours but I haven’t heard anything yet.

John has been calling around to the local businesses for me to see if anyone had any work. No luck there either. Usually there is a lot of work in the vineyards but the grapes are not ready to be picked and no one is hiring. I guess they are having financial troubles. John did find Stuart (John’s son) and I a day job cleaning out a shed for a local woman. She said that we were hard workers and that she had more work for us to do. We gave her our numbers but haven’t heard back from her.

On Friday I went around town and inquired about any employment opportunities. The local grocery store and the restaurant across the street gave me applications to fill out but it didn’t sound like they needed me anytime soon. I can still try the local preschools and there is one other vineyard employer but it just seems like no one is hiring around here.

This morning I went on the internet to check for jobs in Queenstown. I didn’t find much there but I went onto picknz to look for fruit picking jobs. When I went on the website earlier this week it said that no one was hiring in any of the fruit picking districts. I had also sent an email to one of them and was informed that they had enough workers at the moment. Today, however, the website said that there were jobs available in all of the districts. I sent emails to the south island districts asking about job availability and accommodation. Hopefully I will hear back from them tomorrow.

Besides the job search I have spent some time at the library since they have free wireless internet. John and Stuart have taken me into Christchurch a few times and I have an opportunity to get to know some of John’s family. On Saturday night I went to a BBQ hosted at his sister’s place where I met at least 15 of his family members. I ended up exploring the yard with John’s nieces and playing Life and darts with them. They had lots of animals including a dog, a cat, chickens and a peacock.

One of his nieces, Tiddles, has cancer in her knee. She was between chemo sessions when I met her and had a decorative green and red cast on her leg. She recently lost her hair, which prompted John to shave his off as well. She is generally a happy girl and gets around well on her crutches. I am supposed to have pizza with her at some point before I leave although she's not supposed to have take-out due to the higher chance of food poisoning.

On Sunday the family invited me to go on a train ride with them. It wasn’t the nicest day but it was cool to see the countryside. That night Tiddles went back to the hospital. She starts another round of chemo today.

Well the job hunt will continue and hopefully I will have news of my great new job soon. Miss you all!

Bay of Islands

2010-01-13T18:20:00.000-08:00

January 11, 2010

On Wednesday morning Warren and I woke up early, checked out of the hostel, put our extra bags in storage and caught the 8 am Stray bus to Paihia. On the way we made several stops for food and gas. We stopped by the beach and were given a glass-bottomed boat tour. After eating lunch by a waterfall we arrived in Paihia around 4 in the afternoon. We got settled into the dorm room and joined the others for a BBQ. After a few drinks at the bar we went for a walk along the beach and called it a night.

On Thursday most of the group that traveled with us the day before went on a day trip to Cape Rienga. Warren and I decided to do that trip the next day. Instead I went in to the clinic to get some antibiotics (I just can’t stay healthy) and we spent the rest of the day on the beach reading or in the room sleeping. We met up with the rest of the crew when they got back and sat in the hot tub before having a drink at the bar. I had some trouble falling asleep that night. The bar is located next to the dorms and I could hear everyone partying.

Friday morning we were up early and on the bus by 7:15. After a few more pick-ups we stopped to grab some brunch and headed onto 90-mile beach. The beach is actually 64 miles long and is used as a road with traffic cruising along at a whooping 60 mph. After some picture stops we hit the sand dunes for some sand boarding. The climb was not easy but Warren and I managed to drag our boogie boards up to the top three times and race back down.

The trip continued with a stop at Cape Rienga, the northern most point of the north island. The Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet here and the views were stunning. On the way back we stopped at a fish and chips place to eat. Back in Paihia we went out for garlic cheese pizza and some dessert. The next morning we checked out of the hostel before 10 am and went to get some breakfast pizza. After a little time on the beach watching a family obstacle course race, we got on the Stray bus back to Auckland.

I was not a big fan of ACB Base where we had stayed earlier so when we got back we got our bags from ACB and checked into Snow and Surf down the road. After getting settled in we went out for ice cream and then settled in for the night. After some more Prison Break we called it a night. Again I had trouble falling asleep. The window was open and there were many people enjoying Auckland’s nightlife.

On Sunday morning we checked out of the hostel, grabbed some breakfast and went souvenir shopping. We hung out at the hostel a bit longer before grabbing some pizza at Adana’s (fantastic!). We then got on the bus to the airport. Warren had a 6 o’clock flight back to the United States while I had a 6:30 flight to Christchurch. After checking in our bags we watched one more episode of Prison Break before saying our goodbyes. I’m really glad Warren was with me this first week and a half. I’m going to miss him a lot. I feel bad that we didn’t get out of Auckland more but I hope he enjoyed his time here. For those of you who were wondering, Warren and I are now back together. ☺

The flight into Christchurch was quite scary with the worst turbulence I have ever experienced. However, we did land safely. John Hodgens met me at the airport. He had worked at the farm with Van during the harvests of 2001 and 2002 and had kept in touch with the family. He brought me back to his place in Amberley where he lives with his son Stewart. I cannot express how grateful I am to John for letting me stay at his place until I get things figure out. He is even helping me look for work around Amberley.

Monday morning Stewart, his girlfriend Mel and I went into Christchurch to run some errands. I took my phone in to get unlocked and bought some shampoo and conditioner from the supermarket. I spent the afternoon at John’s office looking for jobs on the internet. I sent out quite a few applications and will hopefully hear back from a lot of them in the next couple of days. The job service at ACB was not nearly as helpful as I had hoped and I have pretty much decided to find work on my own. We’ll see what happens.

That’s it for now. Hopefully my next post will be filled with adventures from my new job. Miss and love you all!

Adventures in Auckland

2010-01-07T23:01:00.000-08:00

January 5, 2010

Interesting trip so far. My first flight went smoothly besides having to wait an hour for the plane to de-ice. I sat in the very last row and was able to sleep for part of the flight. I met Warren at baggage claim and we walked over to the international terminal. We went up to the food court and got something to eat. On our way to find somewhere to charge my computer we saw that the ticket counter was already open. After waiting in line Warren was told he could not check in unless he had a printed itinerary proving he would be leaving New Zealand. I almost got in trouble for chucking my bag a couple of feet when told that I should wait over there until Warren got back but I should put my backpack in the plastic bag provided.

We scored exit row seats on the first long flight and after a 3-hour layover in Fiji got on the final flight to Auckland. After we landed, went through customs and immigration, changed money and got our bags we found the bus and were dropped off in front of the hostel. They couldn’t find my booking right away and when they did they had me down for a 38-night stay. They tried first to charge us full price for the double room. I eventually went and printed out the confirmation page they sent me with the nightly rate from when I booked the room.

After we got settled in we explored for a bit. The hostel has a great location and we just blocks from Sky Tower and minutes from the harbor. We went back to the room and got ready for the night out and went out to eat at a nice restaurant. Later that night we checked out the Globe bar and then went to find a spot to view the fireworks that brought in the New Year.

Warren’s family believes that the way you spend New Year’s Day is indicative of how the rest of your year will go. For that reason, we tried not to spend very much money and instead spent most of the day exploring the city. We walked down to the harbor and spent the afternoon reading on a bench near the water.

On Saturday we got up and bought tickets to Rangitoto, which is a young island that was formed from volcanic activity. We walked up to the top and around the crater where the volcano used to be although it is now covered with trees. After walking to the top we checked out the caves. A couple of kids volunteered to show us the way through. We then headed over to the lighthouse and the beach for an hour before going back to the ferry. I enjoyed the views of the city but was less than happy on the hour and half walk from the beach to the ferry. It was hot, I was tired, I was thirsty and we ran out of water. So thanks Warren for putting up with me.

Sunday morning we slept in and then got dressed up for lunch reservations at the Observatory, which is located at the top of Sky Tower. They had a lunch buffet that Warren took full advantage of. We also got to see a couple of groups do the skywalk and the skyjump right beside where we were eating. After lunch we went to the observation deck, took some pictures and then headed back to the room. We were going to go out to Minus 5 (an ice bar) but I ended up not feeling well that night and we ordered some pizza and stayed in the room.

Monday morning we slept in again and went to a local park in the afternoon. We got some cookies and some ice cream and then spent the evening in. We spent a lot of time watching Prison Break and also refined our chess skills. On Tuesday I finally met with the job placement agency (Monday was a holiday). They weren’t very helpful but they seem to think I have a promising future in fruit picking. Warren came with me that afternoon as I set up a bank account and applied for an IRD number. We also tried unsuccessfully to get my phone unlocked. That evening we booked a trip to the Bay of Islands, did laundry and cooked dinner at the hostel. More to come about our exciting trip…

Christmas

2009-12-31T13:44:00.000-08:00

The dogs
My dad's basement
Tahnee and Nick
Matt and Carri
Briana, me, Tahnee and Autumn

December 29, 2009

I am currently sitting at the Fargo airport awaiting my flight to Los Angeles. It was nice to be home for a while and I got to spend some quality time with my family. After a few days at the Scott’s in San Diego I flew back to North Dakota and spent the first week in Langdon at my mom’s house. I went in to help out with basketball practice a few times because the high school team is severely hurting for players this year having only eight girls on the varsity, one of whom is an eighth grader. I also went in to play with the pep band and met up with Mr. Kram to play some saxophone duets.

I spent the next two weeks at my dad’s house in Bismarck. I ran some errands during the day and went to my sister, Tahnee’s house in the evenings to workout. The rest of the time was spent relaxing in front of the TV, sitting in the hot tub or working on paperwork for the Army or Navy. For those of you who don’t know I am planning on joining the armed forces in order to pay for my medical school. I was supposed to have a physical done with the Navy over the break as well as a physical fitness test. Unfortunately this didn’t happen and I am now forced to wait until the end of May to get started on the Navy application. The Army, however, has been very accommodating. I finished up some paperwork for them right before I left home and should be good to go with them.

Christmas brought a little bit more excitement. The original plan was for my three sisters, my stepbrother and me to meet in Bismarck for Christmas Eve. Early Christmas morning us four girls would head up to Langdon to open presents and then go to Munich for a big family gathering. Mother Nature had other plans.

Matt made it to Bismarck early evening on the 23^rd. Briana had flown into Minneapolis early that morning and when Tiffany got off work they started the long drive. They got out of the city late and ended up stuck in traffic for hours. A little bit after Fargo they hit the ditch. Luckily a policeman was close behind them and called them a tow-truck. They finished the drive going a whopping 45 mph and got to the house around 3:30 in the morning.

We spent the next two and a half days stormed in at my dad’s house. I’m just glad everyone made it to at least Bismarck. On the 26^th we all went our separate ways. Matt headed back to Fargo and Tiffany back to Minneapolis. Briana and Tahnee rode together back to Langdon while I took a detour and stopped in Rugby for the night to see some old friends. The big family gathering in Munich was held that day but unfortunately we did not leave Bismarck in time to join. Tahnee, Briana and I opened our presents on the night of the 27^th. The next day Tahnee drove back to Bismarck while I finished packing before heading to Fargo for the night with Briana. We ate at Applebee’s (thanks for the gift card dad!) and went to see Avatar. We spent the night at Matt’s house and after a few errands and a stop to see our uncle Russell this morning; she dropped me off at the airport.

I am not as nervous about traveling this time. I think this is partly because I’ve now done an extended trip in a foreign country by myself and partly because Warren is coming with me for the first week and a half. We will spend the first week in Auckland. On January 4^th I will meet with the employment agency and hopefully by week’s end I will have a job. I will be in New Zealand for 11 weeks. On March 22^nd I fly to Santiago, Chile where I will spend the week. On March 28^th I fly to Lima and then up to Cuzco the next morning where I will start my four weeks of Spanish lessons. The last four weeks I will be doing a service project in Cuzco with mentally and physically disabled children.

It was really good to be home for a while but I think I am ready for the next phase of my trip. Keep tuned for more updates!

Beaches and fireshows

2009-11-29T13:23:00.000-08:00

Favorite spot on the beach
Fire show!
Cute girl on the beach
My alcoholic picture. Hong Thong with a straw. Don't worry there's coke in there too.
Scott and I at the club

November 28, 2009

Last Saturday we left Lumtaphern Dam and drove to a hotel in a nearby town. After a little bit of internet time we met up to go have dinner. Four of us, Scott, Imogen, Sheena and myself, opted to pay for our own meal and got some pizza. It was beyond fantastic. After dinner we did a quick stop at Tescos to pick up some beverages before heading back to the hotel. There was a club connected to the hotel that had live performances so we went there for the night.

The next morning we met the rest of the group that had been teaching and headed to the island of Koh Samet. Scott and I rented 4-wheelers for an hour one day and on Wednesday the group went on a boat trip that consisted of snorkeling, fishing and sunbathing. The rest of the week consisted of mostly eating and lying in the sun. In the evenings we would all eat together and a live acoustic band would perform. They put out small tables on the beach and we sat on the floor. After the band was done performing they would have a fire show on the beach. The restaurant also had a club where the band would perform. We were there almost every night.

On Saturday we left the island and headed back to Bangkok. We had one last meal together and then went our separate ways. A lot of the group is continuing on in their travels and almost half will be in either Australia or New Zealand in the coming months. The rest are heading home and so am I. For a month anyway. I changed my flight a few times but I am very excited to be coming back to the states. I will be in California for a few days starting on December 1st and will be in North Dakota that Saturday.

I was able to do a lot of things here in Thailand. I learned about Buddhism, visited many temples and even had the unique opportunity to stay with the monks. I ate a lot of rice and other Thai food and met some friendly locals. I went trekking through the rain forest, explored some caves and camped out under the stars complete with meteor shower. I went to the zoo and got to feed the giraffes and take pictures with the monkey-humans. I went on a bike ride through Singburi and spent a day at Dream World. I spent a week on the island sunbathing, snorkeling and chilling out. But most importantly I met some really cool people that I am going to miss a lot. If any of you are reading this, good luck with everything and make sure to keep me updated. I will let you know if I ever make it to England. And for those of you at home, see you soon!

Trekking and Stargazing

2009-11-21T00:16:00.000-08:00

Old Tractor that made me happy
Happy jumping by the dam
The girls taking my hair out

Our transportation

The Waterfall

November 21, 2009

On Monday eight of us drove out to the first campsite in Phutoei National Park. The other four headed back to the eco-house to teach. After setting up our crappy tents, we had a wonderful dinner of fried rice and pineapple. We spent the rest of the evening playing card games and chatting. The next morning we packed up and headed out to the starting point.

The first day was not too difficult. We stopped often and had lunch on the way out of a bag. We saw a few waterfalls and even climbed up one. Our leader, Joe (as in G.I. Joe), was one of the park rangers and cleared the path for us using his machete. Egg was the other ranger with us and Paris also joined. After three hours of hiking we came to the last waterfall, Taperngkee, and stripped down to our bathing suits for a shower. After that we hiked the last ten minutes to our campsite and set up camp. I spent the rest of the day sleeping, eating and enjoying a cultural dance performed by the children of the local hill tribe.

That night there was supposed to be a meteor shower. We woke up at 4 am to see it. I saw about 5 shooting stars in a short amount of time but the others were not impressed. I guess they expected all the stars to be shooting at once. One girl even asked me if one of the stars that were already there would fall. Not the smartest group I am traveling with.

On the second day we left at 10 am to explore some caves. One of the dogs even joined us for the adventure. The first was easy to walk through and although we saw a few bats was not very exciting. We were able to explore a bit further in the second one and even climbed up on top of the ridge. A Buddha image could be found in this cave as well as the third one.

The third cave was by far the coolest. Five of us, Imogen, Scott, Nicky, Maryanne and I, accompanied by Joe made the trip. There were a few parts where we had to crawl and there was a lot of going over and under rocks. We saw a few bats and had to crawl right by one of them. We got to a dead end and Joe told us all to turn off our lights. I decided that would be a good time to let them hear my Phantom of the Opera scream. On the way back out I was leading for a little bit. We had to crawl by the bat again. I shined my flashlight on it so I knew where it was. It moved so I decided to crawl past it as quickly as I could. Soon I heard Scott yell “it’s moving…IT”S FLYING!” and soon after the bat flew out of the narrow opening right by my head. After every calmed down we preceded to the exit.

Back at the campsite we had a delicious dinner and then played some more card games. That evening most people retired to their tents but Scott and I drug our sleeping bags outside and stargazed. I only know a few constellations but we had fun chatting and making up our own.

On Thursday morning we trekked up to the top of the nearby mountain. It is around 1200 meters above sea level and took us just over an hour to reach the top. On the top of the mountain there is, of course, a Buddha image. We took some pictures, had a snack, enjoyed the view for a bit and then headed back to the campsite. After lunch the rangers convinced us to go see Dragon Cave. What they didn’t tell us was that tennis shoes and a flashlight would be necessary. I ended up climbing up and over in my broken flip-flops, getting fed up with the situation (I didn’t trust these guys in the first place) and walking back to the truck. That night we ate spaghetti and garlic bread and then played card games. Seven of us stargazed although most headed in around 8:30. Scott and I stayed out until midnight and then called it a night.

Friday morning we loaded up into the back of a pick-up truck and headed to Lumtaphern Dam. The place we stayed was nice. We had mattresses to sleep on and a shower. I took my braids out and lost about half my hair in the shower afterwards. They also stocked up on drinks and snacks for us and had a karaoke machine down by the water. We had a drink or two and stargazed that night but the bugs were bad and we were all inside by 10 pm. That’s it for now. I’ll try to post one or two more times before I leave Thailand. Miss you all!

Dream World and the Zoo

2009-11-21T00:05:00.000-08:00

Dream World!

White Tiger (for you B)

Snake

Monkey-humans

Snow World

November 15, 2009

Friday we decided to switch things up a bit and go to Dream World, which reminds me very much of Disney World just a bit smaller. Scott, Nicky, Jackie and I split off from the rest of the group as soon as we entered the park. We started our day with some pictures in love town and then moved on to other cutouts that included James Bond, the Flintstones and Superman. After that we ventured into the Giant House. I felt really small for once and thoroughly enjoyed climbing into the giant boots and onto the giant chair for a picture.

After a quick snack we went into the haunted house and onto some other rides including Hurricane, Raptor, Bumper Cars and Space Mountain. They even had a hanging roller coaster and a log ride that ended in a giant splash. Not a bad thing on such a hot day. We had lunch at KFC and ended the day with an action show, some time in Snow World and a 4D picture show. Snow World is an indoor play place where you can build a snowman, sled and take pictures next to the North Pole. They give you a jacket and boots to wear since it is -2* C inside. Reminded me a bit of home. For the 4D picture show they gave us 3D glasses and then made us feel like a part of the show by spraying us with water among other special effects. On the way home we stopped again for KFC and enjoyed a DVD showing of Prison Break Season 1.

On Saturday morning we got up and headed to the zoo. We were able to take pictures with a couple of monkeys that were dressed up as well as with some baby tigers. Further over they had two giant snakes. After lunch we went to see a 100-year old market in Samchuk. It was crowded but a cool thing to see.

On Sunday I got up early to watch the first half of the Notre Dame football game. We were losing 10-3 when I left. We then packed up and drove to the resort where they had a pool, Thai massage, a golf course, a basketball court and Internet. They also provided entertainment that night in the form of a cultural dance. The rooms had air conditioning and I spent most of my time there sleeping. Up next: trekking through the rainforest. Should be fun!

Buddhism and bikes

2009-11-13T04:41:00.000-08:00

Giant Buddha.
Me being happy in front of happy monk (he's happy cause he's fat...).
We got bored of temples so we took this picture.
Following monks to get food. Yes we all had to wear white and yes we do look like escaped mental patients.
Me and my bike.

November 13, 2009

Monday morning we woke up at 5:30 to go feed the monks. Every morning they walk around and collect food from the villagers to eat for their breakfast and noontime meal. Girls are not allowed to touch monks, so we scooped the rice into bowls they had with them and put the rest of the food in a basket on a cart.

Instead of going back to bed like everyone else I decided it was time for me to start running again. I was finally feeling healthy and honestly I just miss working out. It is extremely hot here even at 6 in the morning but I managed a twenty-minute jog. I got back to the house and sweated it out for another twenty or so minutes then showered and rested until breakfast. The rest of the day was spent learning about Buddhism and visiting another temple featuring a giant Buddha, happy monk and pictures of the different heavens and hells of Buddhism.

For part of our Buddhist education we watched a documentary about the Buddha, his life and his teachings. The Buddha, born Siddhartha, was a prince and grew up in a palace. His father tried to protect him from the outside world and prevent him from becoming a religious person because at his birth it was foretold that he would become either a great spiritual leader or a great king. Obviously his father wished for him to follow in his footsteps.

Siddhartha got married and had a son but soon after got his first glimpse of human suffering. He left the palace shortly after to seek spiritual truth. After a long journey of self-discovery he found meditation to be the way to enlightenment. Henceforth he was known as the Buddha, or the fully enlightened one. Even though the Buddha preached about not worshiping idols he has become one of the most worshipped figures in history. Maybe worship isn’t the right word. It is more like respect as shown through money offerings, chants, incense and prayers.

Buddhism today teaches that there is no creator god and that the path to true enlightenment lies in following precepts that were set out by the Buddha and of course, meditation. The five precepts that everyday people are to follow are similar to the Ten Commandments:

1. Refrain from killing (both human and nonhuman).
2. Refrain from stealing.
3. Refrain from sexual misconduct.
4. Refrain from lying.
5. Refrain from drugs and alcohol.

There are also three more precepts that can be undertaken which include no eating after noon until the sun rises the next morning, no wearing jewelry, lotion or other cosmetics, no listening to music, dancing or attending entertainment performances and no sleeping or resting in ornate places. We were supposed to follow all eight during out temple stay Tuesday night.

We got to the temple around 4 in the afternoon and after a brief walk around town and of course another temple visit we returned to our temple for the evening. We joined the monks in evening chants and then practiced meditating with them for half an hour. It was hard to do because the head monk kept interrupting to give us instructions on how to meditate but it was also very calming. The rest of the night was free. I

The next morning we got up and followed the monks around as they got their daily food. We then slept for a few more hours and then got up to eat. After that we fed the fish in the pond the extra rice and helped clean part of the temple. We had one more meal around 11 and then got a final blessing from the head monk. Overall the temple stay was all right but not nearly as insightful or demanding as I had anticipated.

In the past year or so I have been moving away from religion. Some of it just strikes me as false while other parts of it seem to cause more harm then good in the world. I have been hoping that this year would give me some insight into not only other religious beliefs but also into my own religious beliefs. I really believe that religion is something that everyone must figure out for him or her self and that the religion you are born into needs to be questioned before taken as being true. I guess I am still questioning what is true for me. I know this much: that I believe there is a God and that religious tolerance is the only way people will get along in such a globalized world. I also know that a part of me misses organized religion but it feels fake to go on pretending that I believe in it all. Hopefully I will figure it all out soon.

Thursday morning we went over to Lemon house to check the tents that we would use for camping. I wasn’t sure why we would need to check the tents until we got them out. They are old US army tents but the poles were all put into buckets that we had to dig through in order to find ones that were the correct size and not broken. A lot of the tents also have holes in them or zippers that are broken. We managed to find some decent ones but it could be interesting camping next week.

Most of the group then went for a bike ride around town. We stopped for lunch, which was delicious. It felt good to get a workout in other than running. The rest of the day was spent in Singburi. We went to the pool for a few hours before eating out at KFC and having dessert at Dairy Queen. I know it’s very American but it’s been a while since I have had food like that and it tasted quite good. That’s it for now. Miss you terribly.

Monkeys and waterfalls

2009-11-09T17:28:00.000-08:00

Royal Temple and stairs (happiness, love, wealth)
Giraffes!
Bridge over the River Kwai
Superpeople at level 7 of Erawan waterfall
Monkeys at the monkey temple

November 10, 2009

On Friday morning we went to Lopburi to see the monkey temple. The monkeys receive free food and can go wherever they want in the city although they tend to stay near the temple area. They will sometimes jump on you or try to steal your stuff but they were definitely nicer than the baboons in Livingstone.

After eating lunch at a local Thai restaurant (sitting on the floor) we went to yet another temple. This was one of the royal temples and was called Wat Phra Buddhabat, located in Saraburi province. To get up to the temple there were three sets of staircases. The first represented happiness, the second love and the third wealth. After picking a staircase you hold your breath and walk up. I picked happiness. This was one of the most beautiful temples we have seen and housed the Buddha’s footprint, although we could not see it because it had been covered in order to preserve it.

After getting back to the house we ate and went across the street to the bar. I had my typical two orange juices and we played cards. Around 9:30 a group of about twenty people from the other house showed up in cowboy and Indian costumes. I still wasn’t feeling that well and went to bed early.

Saturday morning eight of us got up early, got in a taxi and rode to Erawan National Park to see the waterfall. We were dropped off around 10:30 am and given until 4 pm to explore. The waterfall is gorgeous and has seven levels with hiking between each one. We took our time but eventually made it to the top. On the way up we stopped at level 5 to swim and besides being nibbled on by the fish it was quite fun. On the way down we stopped to swim at level 3 where you could go sit behind the waterfall. I really wanted to stop at level 4 where the rocks were used as waterslides but it was really busy so we skipped it.

That night we stayed at a fairly nice guesthouse. The showers were hot, there was a pool and the food was good. We wandered around a bit that night to explore the city of Kanchanaburi. Maryann and I stopped for a drink at the bar and then called it a night.

The next morning we woke up and drove to the bridge over the River Khwae. The railroad and bridge were built by POW's of the Japanese during WWII. Over 100,000 people died in the construction of the railroad thus leading to the name the Death Railway. Toward the end of the war the bridge was bombed and destroyed. Later the railway was sold to the Thailand government and eventually rebuilt.

For the afternoon they had told us that we were going on a safari, which sounded very exciting. Unfortunately in was just a ride through the zoo where you could feed the semi-tame animals. One exciting part was the giraffes that stick their heads in through the window looking for the food. After the “safari” we explored a bit more of the zoo and went to a couple of shows. They don’t treat the animals very well here. We went to a dog show where the man hit the dog in front of us because we wouldn’t do one of the tricks. And then there are the tigers that they keep chained up so you can take pictures with them. We ended our zoo trip with a crocodile wrestling show where I am almost certain the crocodiles were drugged. We then drove back to the house and chilled for the evening.

The next few days are devoted to learning about Buddhism. We will stay at a temple to learn about their beliefs and practices. I am excited to finally learn about the religion instead of just visiting the temples.

Elephants and temples

2009-11-04T22:07:00.000-08:00

Asian Elephant ride
Old temple ruins
19 day-old baby elephant
Oldest Buddha
My Krathong

November 3, 2009

Yesterday I was awoken at 5 am by Thai music and public announcements. Apparently that is how they wake people up here. I went back to sleep until breakfast, which included hard boiled eggs, fruit and toast with jelly. After breakfast we had a quick meeting and then our leader, Paris, took us around town. We saw some crocodiles, some really cute puppies and got to see how people in the village live.

When we got back to the house we hopped in the back of a truck/bus and headed to a local restaurant for lunch. It was quite good and we met another group doing a similar program. After lunch we went to make coconut bracelets. Mine ended up being an anklet although I also bought a bracelet with my name carved on it in Thai alphabet. On the way back to the house we stopped by the local market and bought supplies to make a krathong.

Loy Krathong Day is celebrated annually during the full moon in the month of November. Krathongs are made or bought at the local market and floated down the river. They are made of banana leaf, flowers, a candle and incense. You add a piece of your hair and your nails, put in a small coin, light the candle and incense, make a wish and put it in the water.

To do this we traveled about an hour from the house to the fairgrounds. There were carnival games, praying, fireworks and even a main stage where concerts and pageants were being held. Basically something for everyone. After we floated our krathongs we wandered around for a bit and then headed back to the house.

Earlier that evening some of the local children stopped by the house to throw us a welcome party. They performed a drum dance for us as well as a candle dance and a cane dance. At the end they invited us to join them. They had on traditional clothing and had their hair and makeup done.

I woke up around 8 am this morning and had breakfast. We left at 10 am to go see some temples. We saw four in all. They are all very different. The first included some very old ruins and next to it was a newer temple. The third temple had one of the oldest Buddha statues in it and the fourth featured a giant reclining Buddha.

We also had the opportunity to ride on some Asian elephants and visit the elephant city. The elephants here a slightly smaller than the ones in Africa, and have smaller ears and more coloration. Their trainers sit on their heads and control them with a stick that has a poker on the end. We even got to see a 19-day-old baby elephant.

The day ended with a dinner cruise and karaoke. The food was good and very filling. Karaoke was interesting to say the least. Overall the cruise was cold and rainy but still a good time. We then drove the hour and half home and headed over to the bar for a snack.

November 4, 2009

Yesterday morning I woke up feeling feverish, stuffed up and generally not good. I had had a sore throat for the past couple of days and when I looked at my throat noticed some spots on my tonsils. We had a Thai language lesson at the house in the morning but I spent most of the time lying in bed. That afternoon we went to see a temple and then went to Singburi. After dropping everyone else in town Paris and I went to the private hospital to see the doctor. They did a blood test, throat swab and tested me for H1N1. The tests came back negative but I was given antibiotics, Tylenol and an anti-inflammatory.

I asked Paris a little bit about the medical system here in Thailand. The government pays for public healthcare. Patients must pay just one dollar for consultation and treatment. The downside is the long lines and possible lower quality of health care offered. The private sector, however, is very nice. The doctor I saw studied in the United States and spoke very good English. They did the tests quickly and got the results back almost instantly. It did cost a bit more ($50) but probably worth not waiting in line all day.

That evening we ate out and had Thai-style BBQ. They brought raw meat, including pork and squid, vegetables and a Thai grill for us to cook it on. They also brought us out green curry, fried rice, noodles and dipping sauces for the meat. It ended up being a very good meal. When we got back to the house I crawled into bed and stayed there until the next morning.

Today I am feeling a little better but my throat still hurts. We visited a school today to play with the children. I took a few pictures but mostly just sat and watched. This afternoon we have another Thai language lesson followed by a Thai cooking lesson. I am planning on attending these but we’ll see how I feel.

Thailand

2009-11-01T03:54:00.000-08:00

Chinatown
Thai baby
Luke and I (and my new hair)
Royal Palace
Temple of the Emerald Buddha

October 30, 2009

I am currently sitting at the Hong Kong International Airport waiting to get on my final flight to Bangkok. It is a beautiful airport with even more beautiful scenery around it. The floor to ceiling glass windows give wonderful views of the mountains surrounding the airport on three sides and the Pacific Ocean on the other.

Johannesburg was wildly uninteresting. I got picked up from the airport and taken to Mzibi Backpackers, which is basically a fairly nice house that has been outfitted to accommodate guests. I got a free upgrade to a room with a queen-sized bed. I ventured out of the house only once to go grab a pizza at the local pizzeria. The rest of the time was spent watching satellite TV, sleeping, going on the internet and eating the snacks I had packed from Livingstone. It still managed to cost me around $75 for the two days but at least I was safe. I could not sleep on the flight (all twelve and a half hours of it). There was only two people in the middle four seats, which would have been great if the other five foot nothing woman did not decide she needed three seats to herself. I ended up watching movies, documentaries, comedy shows and playing some games that were included in the in-flight entertainment.

November 1, 2009

The flight to Bangkok went well and I made it to the Royal Hotel without incident. I met two of the other girls, Rachel and Becky, at the front desk and we went out for lunch. I spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping and then went down to the lobby at 8 pm to meet up with everyone else. There are eleven of us in total, two boys and nine girls. The age range is 18-26 and everyone else is from England. After getting slightly lost we backtracked and found the famous backpackers street, Khao San Road. We ate, wandered for a bit and then went to listen to some live music at a third floor bar.

Saturday morning I got up for breakfast and then attended the group meeting at 9:30. After a quick stop at the ATM, Luke and I went to the Royal Grand Palace to see the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Everything was plated in gold and was very ornate. It was quite stunning to be honest. After the temple we headed over to the dock to catch a boat to Chinatown. The boat cost us 13 Baht per person (about 50 cents). It was very crowded in Chinatown and we had trouble finding a restaurant so we hired a tut-tut (motorized three wheel vehicle) to take us back to the hotel.

After lunch and a nap we went back to Khao San Road. I bought a skirt and a couple of shirts and then decided to get my hair done. I paid way too much for it but wasn’t in the mood for bartering. My hair is now braided and reaches to my waist. There are even pieces of blue braided in. We then enjoyed dinner and went back to the hotel to drop off our bags. It was Halloween and even though we didn’t dress up we decided to go out. We went to a couple bars and headed back around 1:30 am. It was a really fun night.

This morning I ate breakfast and packed up. We were picked up around 1:30 pm and driven out to the Brown house. It is located about 12 km outside of Singburi. They cook three meals a day for us but it is all vegetarian. They have internet and a television. There are lock boxes for our stuff and we have keys to the rooms. The rooms have bunk beds in them and a bathroom with a shower and western style toilet. We took a quick look around the village today but it looks like we have a fun couple of weeks planned to get us acquainted with Thai culture.

That’s it for now. Miss you all!

Goodbye Africa

2009-10-26T02:42:00.000-07:00

Netebe Village
Yuyi and random baby at HIVE
Brave getting us Mahuluhulu
Sam and the Mahuluhulu (aka best fruit ever)
Saxophone marching in the parade

October 26, 2009

For my last post from Zambia I thought I would start with some random things that have happened in the past few weeks that I haven’t written about yet and then end with some general comments on the trip as a whole.

Last weekend there was a regatta being held out by the African Queen boat club. The rest of the volunteers were either at Chobe for the weekend or helping with the Indian festival being held at Amit’s sport’s club so I went to the regatta by myself. I was one of the only Mzungus (white people) there but it was a lot of fun. Each race featured three or four teams. The captain would down a coke and then run and jump in the raft. They then paddled down and around some buoys and back and then jumped out of the boat, grabbed their flag and ran to the master of ceremonies. The winners of each round then proceeded to the next round until they had a champion.

Last Monday while building at Maanu Mbwami School the vice president of Zambia came to speak to the community. Naturally Sam, Malou and I stopped building and went over to listen. His speech was less than inspiring. He promised to fix the broken water well in the community but also took credit for building the roads that the Japanese government was building in Livingstone. He even gave the government credit for building the new school buildings. That we were building. Brilliant. I found out the next week that the ruling party lost the local elections.

Last Wednesday morning while I was weighing babies at Linda Clinic, a program was being held by the government to give bikes to a peer-mentoring group. The group goes around to local communities and teaches children things like alcohol awareness and the dangers of drugs and alcohol through music, skits and talks. The bikes will help them reach farther away communities. The mentoring group started the program with a drumming and dancing bit where a few of the guys were dressed as woman. Then a few people spoke and the program ended with a skit and the presentation of the bikes.

Last Friday morning we went out to Netebe community. It is a rural village that has very little access to health care. Four of us went out to do home-based care while the other four volunteers stayed at the school to give health talks. We saw only five patients but did plenty of walking in between. It was not as gratifying as I thought it would be but it is mostly because two of the patients had no complaints and the others were chronic unknown problems that weren't life threatening and we weren't really able to treat.

Friday night we all went to eat at Ocean Basket. It was quite pricey but the food was fantastic. Afterwards we went to Fezbar for dessert. I had the apple crumble but there was also chocolate cake. We played some pool and then headed over to Limpo’s for a few drinks. At one point Charlotte went up to get us another round, which left me sitting by myself. A grown man tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to buy him a lager. I said no and then proceeded to ignore him but it seems that white people cannot go anywhere in Zambia without being asked for money or gifts. After Limpo’s five of us made a quick stop at Step Rite for some chicken before heading to a dance club called Fairmount. Around 3:30 am we called it a night and headed home.

The next day was Independence Day. We wandered into town in the morning to watch the parade but I was soon back at the house. I spent most of the day sleeping but apparently there were numerous festivities going on all around town. They included mostly music, dancing, speeches and alcohol.

Sunday morning I got a cab early and went to Zambezi Sun. They have a breakfast buffet that runs from 6:30 to 10:30. I sat down around 7:30 and did not leave until 10. In total I had six courses that included cereal, fruit, meat and cheese, muffins, an omelet, some breakfast meats and three glasses of fruit juice. When I went to get my first plate I loaded it up with fruit and then went to get some cereal. I had to put the fruit plate down to put milk in the cereal and it ended up falling to the floor. So, not only was everyone in the place looking at me but the plate had landed on my big toe and it was bleeding fairly significantly. I stood there for a while debating what to do. I decided that the hotel staff could clean up the plate so I hobbled back to my table with the cereal. I wrapped my toe up in the napkin and wiped the blood off of my sandal and proceeded to eat my cereal as if nothing had happened.

Today I am just wrapping up some stuff around the house and around town. I might possibly go swimming this afternoon and will probably go out tonight. I need to remember to pack too. I tried to exchange some of my old clothes at the curios market but they kept wanting money on top of what I was giving them and I really do not want to spend money on souvenirs right now. I stopped by the post office as well but the package mom sent me is still not here (guess you’ll be getting back some really old cookies in a month or so…).

Back at the house the staff is on strike. Guess I will not be getting my lasagna tonight. Hopefully things get resolved. I would really like to see the drivers and rest of staff before I leave tomorrow. I have loved getting to know this town and the people in it. I am going to miss it. But I will be back. Someday.

That’s all until Thailand. I fly out tomorrow around 1:30 and will then be staying in Johannesburg for two days. On Thursday I fly out to Bangkok with a short layover in Hong Kong. I will be travelling around Thailand with eleven other people. I will post when I can but internet might be a little bit trickier there. Miss you all!

Bad Day

2009-10-24T09:53:00.000-07:00

African Dancers at Linda Clinic
Charlotte teaching Life Skills
Maanu Mbwami School
Kids at Mwandi School
Maramba farm

October 24, 2009

This last week has been by far the toughest of my time here in Zambia. I have seen projects fail due to a lack of community support and I have been greatly disappointed in my own ability to help others. I have had some of my own ideas shot down and witnessed how some people within the organization don’t seem to care about the people we are working with.

On Monday I helped out with a building project at Maanu Mbwami School. They used to be taught in thatched roof mud huts that leaked during the rainy season and made learning difficult. They also lacked adequate classroom space for their pupils and, as a result, different class levels were forced to rotate classroom time and spent only a few hours a day in school.

We have already completed a one-room schoolhouse and are currently in the process of creating another two-room classroom block next to it. The leader of the school, Pastor Smokes, has recently been complaining that we were not working fast enough, but the biggest problem we have is that the community is not helping us build the school. There are only nine volunteers currently at the house and we are therefore unable to send more than two or three to the building project a day. When we were working at the last building site, Malota School, we had three or four men from the community helping us everyday. We need the support from the community not only for the sheer man power but also because if they take part in the building they will feel a sort of ownership towards it and take more pride in the building.

On Tuesday I was supposed to go to Mwandi community and help with home-based care, but the caretaker did not show up. This is one of the only projects I had not done here and I was excited to finally get the chance to do it. It is a poorer community, much like Nakatindi, and lies on the outskirts of Livingstone. Unfortunately the community support for the farming project and home-based care initiative is not there. A man named David had been running the farm and home-based care, but no one else was stepping forward to help. Last month David started taking classes at the local college. This meant that there was no one to take us out on home-based care and no one to tend to the farm. We have temporarily pulled out of the farming project and home-based care is receiving their final warning before we also pull out of that.

On Wednesday afternoon I helped out with a Life Skills Class for adolescents. During the course they learn about how to write a resume, interview skills, first aid, drugs and alcohol awareness and HIV prevention and awareness. I think it is a great class but we started late and were forced to end early when the kids were being pulled from the class to play in the nearby netball and football games. I did not teach the class the next day but a similar thing happened with the class ending early so the children could practice marching for the upcoming Independence Day festivities.

Thursday was a particularly depressing day. In the morning I went to Nakatindi community home-based care. One of the patients was a single mother of two. Her husband had left while she was pregnant with her second child and never returned. Both her and her 3-year-old daughter Elizabeth were HIV+ and taking ART, meaning that their CD4 counts were already below 300. The baby was 11 months old and his HIV status is currently unknown. He had tested negative at the age of 5 months but tested positive 3 months later. They took a third test but because the test samples for children under the age of 1 have to be sent to Lusaka they have to wait another two months for the results.

There is a chance that an HIV+ mother can transmit the virus to her child during childbirth, during birth or when breastfeeding. The mother can take medication right before birth to help prevent transmission and the baby takes medication soon after birth that is supposed to impart partial immunity for the first few months of life. Since almost no one around here can afford formula and the nutrients in breast milk are so important for the baby’s growth and development, mothers are advised to exclusively breastfeed for the first 6 months. Giving the baby other foods while breastfeeding may weaken the immune system and allow HIV transmission. After 6 months HIV+ mothers are told to stop breastfeeding and look into other food options for their baby.

Now try explaining this to a woman who is unable to afford enough food for herself, let alone her two children and has no source of income. When Elizabeth was a baby a group of nuns from the Catholic Church had brought formula and other food to the house but when those nuns went back home there was no one to continue the program. The baby had also just finished a round of TB treatment while the mother and Elizabeth still had a month left of theirs. They had been treated for a cough but it was still present while the mother also suffered from severe chest pain.

We advised them to go to the clinic, although they had already been there many times and have run into problems with either the clinic not having the medications they needed in stock or just not being able to help them. We gave them some Panadol but there was not much else we could do. It is so hard to see a family in a situation like that and be so powerless to help them.

Sure, I could give them money or buy them food, but what good is that going to do them when I leave? Like the nuns it would be a short-term solution to a long-term problem. The children will most likely be orphans soon and being HIV+ and on ART so young, their future is bleak. I could sponsor one of the children (which I have thought about) but then I think about all of the other children out there in the same situation and it all seems so hopeless. What good am I really doing here? I give someone Panadol for a few days or a week of multivitamins or clean and dress their bedsores once and then what happens? What if we aren’t able to send someone to home-based care? Do the caretakers go out in the field without us? They have no supplies of their own and although they are supposed to be trained to handle and treat the things we see, when we go out in the field with them they just translate and show us to the next patient.

I agreed that home-based care needed to be changed. The patients, the caretakers and the community are too dependent on us. If we are not able to be in the field, there is no one left to do it. I was involved in the writing up of the new home-based care sheets and I agree with some of it, but I think we went too far in the other direction. They cannot help themselves as much as we want them to be able to. They cannot go to the clinic every few days to get painkillers and vitamins and they cannot afford to buy dressings for their wounds or to buy antibacterial creams. Our new policy of limiting medication and telling everyone to go to the clinic seems both uncaring and naïve. It makes it seem as if African Impact has no idea what life must be like for them.

And it is not just during home-based care that I wonder what good I am doing. In the clinics, what good does taking someone’s vitals do if the doctor isn’t going to look at it? We are supposed to help ease the load on understaffed clinics, but when a nurse asks me to come help her with baby weighing and then leaves in the middle because she is tired, or I go to find a nurse to man the pharmacy and find three staff workers hanging out in the back room, I find it hard to see how we are helping. I could say similar things about many of our other projects as well, like when the teacher sends her class over to art club because she is tired and wants to take a nap.

Things aren’t all bad here. The Maramba farm and home-based care projects are excellent. There is a dedicated group of community members that run the farm and go out to visit patients in the morning. The food from the farm is either given to patients in the community or sold at the market. The proceeds then go to maintain the home-based care program and also to help orphans in the community. Adult Literacy and HIV education classes are also held at Maramba farm and are excellent programs that promote lifetime learning and sharing of knowledge in the community.

Another excellent program is the home-based care course. This 10-week course is designed to train the next group of caretakers. They learn about a large range of topics including wound care, counseling, physical therapy and medications. The hope is that we can work together with them as a team and that they can function on their own when we are not around.

We also have some new project ideas in the works. One idea is to do health talks in the mornings at the clinics instead of just helping with vitals and filing. The topics of the talks range from nutrition and hygiene to HIV and opportunistic infections. The nine volunteers at the house have all taken a topic and will prepare two pages worth of notes for future volunteers to use for these talks. My friend, Sam, is working on another idea. He wants to contact Food International and see if we can work as a referral company for them. We would identify patients that are in desperate need of food and give Food International the name and address. They would take care of the rest.

I think as you get to know an organization better it gets easier to see the flaws in their philosophy and their programs. Sometimes it also gets harder to see their good points. A major problem for the organization is consistency. With such a high turnover of volunteers every month it is difficult to make sure that every one stays consistent with the guidelines. It also makes progress within projects difficult. For example, the sports volunteers have had some great programs in the past including one called Come Play Girl that encouraged girls to become more involved in athletics. Eventually though the volunteers that started the program left and the program stopped.

I believe in a lot of things that African Impact is doing for the community. I see a willingness to fix programs that do not work and put on hold projects that are not helping the community or are not sustainable. I really have enjoyed my time here and I feel like I have learned a lot. I am still sorting out in my mind how much good I have done but if nothing else, at least I have had this experience and will hopefully be able to use what I have learned.

An African Funeral

2009-10-18T05:02:00.000-07:00

October 18, 2009

I have seen a lot of death here in Africa. The day before I left for Malawi I heard that one of the guides who bring tourists across the Falls to Angel’s Pool died. One of the tourists got into trouble when they were crossing a bit of water and the guide went in to save him. Unfortunately the guide ended up just taking the man’s place and drowned. I heard that his body remained there for a while and eventually washed over the Falls.

When Mark and I were in Malawi we passed by a car accident involving two large semis. One was completely overturned and sideways on the road while the other’s cab was slightly skewed but was being held upright by the trailer. It seemed like everyone in the small town was there. A dead body could be seen in the ditch with a sheet covering the upper half. I don’t know if he was one of the drivers or a pedestrian that was walking in the wrong place at the wrong time.

And finally, last Saturday one of our night guards died while on duty. I was still on my way back from Malawi but apparently he collapsed and started throwing up blood. They called the paramedics but he was pronounced dead soon after they left the compound. His name was Noel and I had talked to him on numerous occasions. In fact he was the last one that Mark and I talked to before we left for Malawi and he wished us happy travels. He was young too. Maybe in his mid-20’s although he looked much older. He was HIV+ but I never did find out exactly what killed him.

His funeral was held Tuesday morning. Many of the volunteers including myself attended. We were driven first to the funeral home where they collected the body and put it in the casket. We then led the motorcade to the Catholic Church across town where they held a mass in his honor. There was much singing and an offering was taken to help the family with the funeral expenses. They had communion and toward the end some family members and close friends got up and told stories about Noel and the life he led.

At the end of the ceremony the casket was carried to the back of the church and left open as the mourners filed past. The immediate family left the church last. The women wailed and some of the men even broke down crying.

We loaded up the vehicles again and drove out to the cemetery for the burial. Again there was much singing. The priest said prayers and read from the bible. Noel’s fellow security workers lowered his casket into the grave and after a blessing of the first shovelful of dirt, filled it in. Since gravestones cost a lot of money the dirt is piled up about three feet above ground level to identify where someone is buried. At the end people were called forward and given a flower to put in the grave. They began with the parents, then grandparents, siblings, other relatives, coworkers, neighbors and church members. African Impact was even called and Sam stepped forward to do the honors. The ceremony ended with speeches from the family, his church and his security company along with thanks to those that had provided transport.

Things may be done differently here in Zambia but the Christian concepts of life and death are the same, even if they have to deal with it at a much younger age. Almost all of the 100,000 inhabitants of Livingstone are some sort of Christian and attend church every weekend. Mass is much the same except the music is livelier, with people dancing and clapping as they sing (including the alter boys), and mass is longer, sometimes lasting over two hours.

It is this faith that seems to keep the community together in times of hardship. They look not only to each other but also to God in trying to figure out why things happen as they do. And although it may take a long time for living conditions to improve here, I have no doubt that the friendliness and strength of these people will persevere.

Malawi 2: The Lake

2009-10-15T09:50:00.000-07:00

Cliff jumping at Nkhata Bay
Puppy on Chizimulu Island
Island children
The witch doctor and me
The cathedral

October 15, 2009

On October 2nd Mark headed back to Livingstone while I headed to the ferry dock with Art; a Peace Corps volunteer staying at Venice Beach who had just finished his work in South Africa. After first buying a second-class ticket for the Ilala Ferry I was persuaded to upgrade to the first-class deck ticket for the day and half journey to the islands.

The Ilala consists of three levels. The lower level is comprised of the second and third class passengers. There are men, mothers and children strewn out amongst the crates and barrels of produce and building supplies. It is a lot cheaper but is crowded, dirty and there is a real chance of theft. The middle level contains the cabins, a bathroom for use by first class passengers, a dining room as well as some crew lodging.

The top deck was very empty. There were approximately ten or so Mzungus plus a few well to do locals. A canvas covers half of the deck giving much needed shade. There is a bar that offers cold soda and beer and sells biscuits for a very reasonable price. They bring around a menu and take our breakfast, lunch and dinner orders all of which cost around $4. Mattresses may also be rented for $2 and can be used to sleep on the deck under the stars.

James, a medical student that just completed a medical rotation in Tanzania, Tyse, a backpacker who works with state of the art communications technology, Art and I hit it off instantly and spent the two days playing cards, drinking Carlsberg and telling stories about our travels. Art in particular had some interesting tales to tell including how to slaughter a cow and the usefulness of buckets and paper plates in relation to human waste. There were also a group of Spaniards on the deck and two Finish guys named Eli and Elikah.

We reached Chizumulu around 7:30 pm on Saturday night. Eli had approximately the same travel plans that I did and disembarked with me. Despite the fact that the place we stayed at did not have any running water and the electricity went off every night at 10 pm, it was very relaxing. I spent most of my time reading and playing a local Malawian game called Bow. On Sunday I took a walk around the island and met a local named George that invited me to come visit his family. He also introduced me to the boat maker and attempted to teach me some Chichewa, the local language.

Monday morning Eli and I walked to the other side of the island to catch the Dow that runs between Chizimulu and Likoma only to find out that it was not running that day. We trudged back over to Wakwenda Retreat to wait for the motorboat that would be coming that afternoon. It was crowded and hot but we figured it would be a short hour or hour and half ride between the islands. False. We stopped at three different ports on the islands before we finally got off at the fourth four hours later. A taxi had been arranged for us and we rode in the back of a pickup truck to Mango Drift. They didn’t have any dinner left for us but the showers were lovely and the beds were quite nice.

The next morning I woke up early and sat in the hammock and read. Eli joined me around 8 am and we went out to explore the island. First stop: the witch doctor. When we reached his compound we were required to take off our shoes. We then carried a stick in our left hands across the yard and gave it through a tree to a young girl. We then sat outside waiting, watching the monkey they had tethered to a pole and after a while we were invited inside.

The room had mats set out on the floor and Eli, our translator and I sat down in the front row. The doctor sat behind a pulpit on a strangely decorated stage. There were hospital signs as well as signs proclaiming that God is Love and God is Great. A pile of animal furs were heaped on the rafters and in front of the doctor was a bed with incense burning before it. Above the doctor’s head hung a picture of Jesus as the good shepherd. The doctor himself was dressed in black priestly clothing. What hair he had was kept long and in dread locks.

Many other people joined us in the room and the ceremony began with chanting and singing. He then took some time to explain to Eli and me how he had come to be a witch doctor. When he was young he was cursed by someone and was forced to drop out of school early. He got his knowledge of the plant and herbal remedies he used from the spirits but believed that it was only through the power of God (the Christian God) that people were healed. It’s a strange mix of traditional and Christian culture.

He then presented some cases of people he had healed. A young boy came limping forward that was completely unable to walk when he arrived. He also introduced us to a young woman who had been told she would lose her leg. He proclaimed her healed but she still had two giant sores on her foot. The rest of the ceremony consisted of a group of women giving thanks to the doctor for what he had done for them. They presented him with a chicken and basket of food. Singing and chanting ensued and a white powder was rubbed all over the doctor’s and the woman’s face.

Eli and I were then given a chance to take pictures with the doctor and since he is a very short man the people in attendance got a big laugh out of this. Eli then consulted the witch doctor on a problem he was having with his nose. He was given some white powder to snort and told to come back with some face lotion so that the rest of the powder could be mixed in with it. This would cost $20. If Eli were a black man he would have gotten piercings in his eyebrows where the medication could be injected directly. We left as soon after that as we could and headed to the other side of the island.

There is a large Cathedral on Likoma Island. In fact it is the second largest in Africa. The tall stone walls were built in 1905 and the newer tin roof was put over top in the 1980’s. The stained glass is dull and half missing but the church is in use and is generally well taken care of.

We explored town a bit longer and then headed back toward Mango Drift. The children we passed asked us for all sorts of things like water bottles, pictures and our addresses. My favorite, however, is when they held at their hands and said “give me my money” like you had stolen it from them.

On Wednesday morning we headed back to the mainland. We took the motorboat again although it was far less crowded this time. Empty soda bottles and items that would be sold at the markets in Nkhata Bay replaced the building supplies, full soda bottles and food products needed to supply the islands. It was a miserable seven-hour journey due to the sun and the fact that my stomach was cramping up again but we made it to the Bay before dark and walked over to Myoka Village Backpackers.

The next few days were possibly the most fun I’ve ever had. I met some really great people and there was so much to do. I went swimming the first morning and we took the rowboat out in the afternoon over to a beach to go snorkeling. That night we drank, told travel stories, danced and played pool. The staff at Myoka kept the music going all night and could be found dancing around the pool table, behind the bar and on top of the bar.

The next day we went on a boat trip to another beach. We fed some fish eagles, jumped off of a small cliff, snorkeled and played some beach games including volleyball. That night they had a giant BBQ buffet set out with steak kabobs, BBQ chicken, sweet potato fries, homemade garlic bread, vegetables and peanut sauce!

I met a fellow traveler, Graham that was going to Zambia the next morning and offered me a ride in the back of his pickup. I debated and then decided that it would be cheaper and I would get to Chipata much faster. The next morning we were on the road by 9 am and reached the border at 2 pm. Graham drove around Chipata until we found the bus depot and dropped me a resthouse about a block away. I spent that night reading and was on the 5 am bus out to Lusaka the next morning. I got duped again by the bus boys but got back to Livingstone by 10:30 pm. I even got to watch some interesting Nigerian movies on the way.

Overall my trip to Malawi was fantastic. I met a lot of amazing people and did some very unique things. My opinions about what is “nice” have changed considerably in regards to transportation, lodging and food and, like most westerners that come to Africa, I have learned about patience. The people of Malawi are among the friendliest in the world and most places I traveled were virtually crime free. But it is nice to be back in Livingstone again and get back into the projects. I’ve only got two weeks left here and I plan on making the most of it. Hope all is well back home!

Malawi 1: Mt. Mulanje

2009-10-14T10:45:00.000-07:00

Venice Beach Backpackers
Bicycle taxis
Mulanje Massif
Top of Sapitwa
Mark and Shanu resting

October 14, 2009

On September 25 Mark and I got on the overnight bus to Lusaka and began the long journey to Malawi. We spent Saturday night in Lilongwe and woke up early Sunday morning to catch the express bus to Blantyre. Unfortunately while looking for the bus an overly enthusiastic chap showed us to a more inexpensive bus that promised to get us there in the same amount of time. It would leave at 8 am and take 4 hours. Unfortunately the bus did not leave until it was full (around 9:30) and after six hours of travel we were still nowhere near Blantyre and since the bus was close to empty we were put on to a different bus. We arrived in a suburb of Blantyre around 5 pm and caught another minibus to Mulanje. I soon learned that this was typical of public transport in Africa.

If you are looking for an authentic African public transport experience there are a few things you need to have in order to qualify:
o A live chicken
o A breastfeeding mother
o Street vendors at your window at every stop
o No less than 25 people in a 15 passenger van
o People getting in and out via the back window
o Must take twice as long as stated time

After two and half days of travel we were ready to climb Mt. Mulanje. Well almost ready. We headed over to Chitakale and stopped by People’s to stock up on food and water for the trek. After that we went to Info Mulanje and hired a guide/porter and planned out our route. We left one bag of stuff at the office and set off up the mountain with our guide Shanu carrying the other bag.

We walked by the tea plantations that surrounded the mountain and up over the rolling foothills. The next bit was quite steep but after about three hours we made it up to the plateau. The Mulanje Massif is comprised of a large plateau region that consists mainly of open prairies and patches of forests. Above this rise twenty majestic peaks the highest of which is Sapitwa, meaning “don’t go there” in the local language. At 3002 meters it is the highest point in Central Africa and we set out to reach the summit. We spent the next three hours trekking across the plateau to the Linchenya Hut. We cooked up some macaroni and cheese and were asleep by 8 pm.

The next morning we woke up early and were hiking by 7 am. The morning was fairly easy and offered some fantastic scenery. We reached the Tuchila Hut around 10:30 am. Originally the plan was to stop off for a half hour lunch break before climbing to the summit. However it started to rain and we were still at the hut at 1 pm. I was a bit concerned that my shoes were not good enough and that the rain may have made things too dangerous but I eventually convinced myself to climb up to at least the first ridge.

It was quite steep and at times I wondered how I would ever get back down but when we reached the top of the first ridge the second ridge didn’t seem very far away. The next bit was my favorite part of the climb, going over and under branches, between rocks and jumping from rock to rock. When we got to the top of the second ridge we could see the summit and I knew I couldn’t stop now. So it was down again, over rocks, through narrow gaps and up until we reached the summit. It was chilly at the top and the cloud cover prevented us from getting a good view but it still felt good to have gotten there. There was a plaque at the top of the summit in honor of a Brazilian man that had died attempting the climb without a guide. Many of the locals believe that the mountain is cursed and will not go near it.

The way down was tricky but we made it back just before dark. A group of 15 Germans had just arrived at the cabin and we settled in for the night. The cabins themselves are very well kept. There is a caretaker present at each that takes care of the cleaning and provides drinkable water and firewood. There are, however, no showers and the only toilets are long drops that don’t have any seats.

The next morning we were up early and started the four-hour hike down to the forestry station. My legs were sore and walking downhill all morning was tough my knees. I was also experiencing stomach cramps but we made it down by 11 am and paid the hut fees. We then wandered into the nearby village to wait for a minibus to take us back to Chitakale. The first one was full and instead of waiting for a second one we decided to take bicycle taxis, which allowed us to take in the breathtaking scenery around the massif.

After picking up the other bag and getting some pizza we got back in a minibus and headed toward Blantyre. We found a bus that said it was going to Monkey Bay and would be there by 6:30 that night. We grabbed a snack and I was going to use the bathroom but it was honestly the most disgusting thing I have ever seen. There were feces all over the floor and women were peeing out in the open by the sinks and the doorway. I got out of there as fast as possible, deciding that I would rather hold it.

The minibus arrived in Mangochi at 8 pm and told us that it was the last stop for the night. We were quite upset. We were used to them lying to us about how long it would take but never about the final destination. The bus driver redeemed himself a little by driving us around until we found a place to stay. He even stopped by his house and showed us his pet monkey. We ended up at the Holiday Inn (not quite US standards) and I took a much needed shower.

The next morning we went to Monkey Bay and checked into Venice Beach Backpackers. We were the only ones staying there and had the beach to ourselves. It was nice to relax after so much climbing and traveling. I even got to help some local girls fish with a mosquito net. We wandered into town later that night to check the ferry prices and get some dinner. It was dark by the time we headed back but it’s a very safe area and the locals were very helpful on pointing us in the right direction.

The next morning Mark was gone before I woke up. He had to get back to Livingstone to work so I would be on my own for the next week. For more about my trip to Malawi stay tuned for Malawi 2: The Lake.

HIV/AIDS: Death and Dying

2009-09-24T12:40:00.000-07:00

September 24, 2009

Today we finished our HIV education course. All of the students passed with 80% or better with 6 of the 8 that showed up for the final exam scoring 20/20. Admittedly the test was pretty easy, but I think they still learned a lot. One of the questions that they struggled with was whether or not HIV was a punishment from God. They are a very religious people and believe that all is in accordance to God’s plan.

We had started the class by talking about the proper way to use a condom and since no one else would do it, I ended up demonstrating to the class how to correctly open and put a condom on a practice penis. (I wonder what the Catholic Church thinks about that…) Brave then followed with a very detailed description, which I got a very good video of. We finished off the session with the presentation of certificates and plenty of pictures. I am on strict orders to print these out and send them back so that the women that graduated the course can have a picture of themselves with their teachers.

Although I have seen a lot of sick people since I have been here, I was lucky for the first few months to not have to deal with death. Or at least be oblivious to it. There was one time about three weeks ago where a patient we were supposed to see at home-based care had died the night before, but I did not know the patient so her death had a minimal impact on me.

This past week though it seems to be everywhere. We ran into some women crying in the street this morning at Maramba HBC. I knew that something big had happened since it is very rare that Zambian women, men and even children can be seen crying. It turns out that their older sister had died that morning. At another home-based care this morning, Claudia found out that a patient she had been seeing fairly regularly had died. To top it off a patient that I had seen last week passed away yesterday. He had cancer and had large tumors and sores on his legs. We tended to the sores but there wasn’t much else we could do. He looked sick but not on the verge of dying and the news came as quite a shock to those that had helped with his treatment.

One of the driver’s at the house took the monster truck out this morning to carry the mourners for the funeral of a friend’s son. I’m not sure what an actual funeral is like here but I saw the funeral procession driving through town today. They fill up the back of big trucks and divide up between men and women. Then they drive through town singing songs, but not sad sounding songs, just African songs.

They deal with death a lot more here than we could ever imagine. It’s not just old people that die or the occasional freak accident. It’s children and parents and young men and women that have these horrible diseases. The treatment for HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria have gotten much better in the past years but there are still people we see that don’t have the means to get to the clinic or run out their medication and find out that the clinic has run out as well. To top it all off many of them don’t have enough money to buy the right amount and kinds of food to keep themselves healthy.

Africa is a tough place to visit and to work. It’s an even tougher place to live. I am continuously surprised by the strength of character that the people here show. The projects we are doing have their faults but I hope that we are making a positive impact.

The Devil's Armchair

2009-09-19T04:01:00.001-07:00

Edge of the Falls
Jumping into Angel's Pool
Sunset Cruise
Sweet tan/dirt lines
Devil's Armchair

September 19, 2009

Last Saturday a group of fellow volunteers and I headed out to Victoria Falls to swim in the much-heralded Devil’s Pool. Turns out that it costs $50 to see the actual Devil’s pool. The take you across the top of the falls in a boat out to Livingstone Island and you can spend the day seeing the pool and hanging out on top of the falls. We went for a cheaper option. There are local guides that will take you across the falls to the edge of the falls and a pool called the Devil's Armchair (or Angel's Pool).

The guides are actually illegal but will take you out for as little as K10,000 a person (around $2) if you bargain with them. The water is quite low at the moment so crossing the falls is fairly safe. We stopped once on the way to the pool to take pictures near the cliff. The pool itself was a fair size. Earnest, our knowledgeable guide showed us where it was safe to jump in and then took some pictures for us. I jumped in twice and got some sweet action pictures and videos from the edge of the pool.

I spent the rest of the weekend on a sunset cruise, going to mass, relaxing and cleaning my room. The power system here in Livingstone is sketchy at best. When I first got here Thursdays were power cut nights and we would eat and play card games by candlelight until the lights came on again around bedtime. This week however, the power decided to cut out for a few hours on Tuesday and again for four hours on Wednesday. This isn’t a big deal except that I had plans to talk to my dad on Skype. I did eventually get a hold of him on Thursday evening.

On Wednesday Annaleen and I were filmed for a documentary. The film crew was from France and was taping a group traveling across Africa. They wanted to include a bit about what African Impact is doing in the community, so they came by to tape us doing a home-based care visit with a woman named Agnes. I’d seen her a few times before. She is bedridden and paralyzed on her left side due to a stroke a few years ago. The family has been instructed to do exercises to increase her range of motion and circulation and prevent bedsores.

The film crew taped us entering the house, taking Agnes’s vitals, interviewing her and the family to see how she was doing and giving her some medication to help with the pain. They also taped a bit of us walking around the community, interacting with the kids, and interviewed Annaleen. They told Annaleen that they didn’t want an American to do the interview. I guess the French really don’t like us.

I was working in Maramba Clinic yesterday morning. Normally this is a very busy place, but the morning was slow and I spent half of the time reading. About midmorning a ten-year-old boy came in wearing an old man farmer outfit. His ears stuck out under a big-brimmed baseball hat and he wore a plaid, collared, short-sleeve button-up shirt. He had on dark blue pants with a belt and black dress shoes. As I took his vitals I found out that his name was Zefania and that although he seems to be a normal height for his age he weighed only 16 kg, 3 kg lighter than when he came to the clinic last time. He was all skin and bones and seemed shy, although if you smiled at him his slight grin would turn into a big toothy smile. I’m not sure if he had some sort of genetic disease or if he was just really sick and unable to maintain his body weight. It’s hard to see cases like that where the young are so sick and it feels like there’s nothing you can do to help.

The rest of the week has been pretty quiet. Yesterday afternoon I taught the Adult Literacy Class and realized how hard the English language can be. I also realized how much I am not an English teacher. Most of the group went to Jungle Junction this weekend, but I opted to stay back, save some money and prepare for Malawi.

Zimbabwe

2009-09-10T09:24:00.000-07:00

Tombi, Tawanda and me
Me and a lion cub
Ostrich
Head wound a few days ago
Head wound right after it happened

September 10, 2009

I have managed to give myself a Harry Potter like scar above my right eye. Although not exactly lightening bolt shaped it is about an inch and a half long and begins at my hairline. I was thinking about doing something different with my hair anyway. Why not bangs?

How did I manage to do this to myself? Fortunately for me I at least have a good story to back it up. Last Friday fourteen other volunteers and I loaded into the monster truck and started the long haul toward Antelope Park. We got as far as Miombo Lodge the first day where we went on a game drive. We saw a giraffe with her baby, an ostrich crossing the road in front of us, and a herd of elephants at the watering hole. That night a group of Zimbabwean dancers came to the lodge to entertain us with their singing, dancing and animal impressions.

After the dancers left I went back to my room for a short bit before heading back over to the campfire. Martin was the only one there but informed me that the rest were over by the huts watching some bull elephants at the watering hole. I joined them on the steps of a small, elevated hut. Four of the elephants finished drinking and continued on their way, but one particularly curious one stayed behind. He had one tusk and was most likely the weakest member of the group since he was drinking last. He knew we were there and turned toward us on numerous occasions, particularly when someone would get up and leave.

Soon only our driver, Chris, and I were left on the steps. A few other people had just left and the elephant had noticed. He took a few steps towards us and started flapping his ears and trumpeting. Chris saw these as warning signs that the elephant was going to charge and took off running. I froze for a second debating what to do. I could stay on the stairs and wait to see what happened. Michelle had told us that the elephant couldn’t distinguish us from the building and would not charge us as long as we stayed on the steps. But at the moment I did not want to stay and find out if that was true.

I jumped off the stairs and took off at full speed. I could see the vertical support column on the other side of the hut and aimed to go just around it. Unfortunately it was quite dark and I didn’t see the horizontal beam that stuck out a foot or so further than the edge of the hut. I hit it. Hard. I stumbled a bit then remembered why I was running. I ran a few more steps and put my hand up to my forehead. I could feel the blood on my hand and running down my face.

Michelle heard me hit the beam, as did many of the other people around the fire. I was soon seated next to the table with a napkin held firmly against the wound. People spread out looking for fellow medical volunteers that may have brought a medical kit with them. I was told that the cut was quite deep but that under the circumstances it would be very difficult to get me to a hospital. The nearest healthcare center was four hours away, it was late at night and travel was difficult.

Luckily, one of the fellow volunteers, Owen, had his first aid kit. He also had a job in a hospital back home and had experience with wound cleaning and stitches. The bleeding had pretty much stopped. Guess I bashed it in a good place and avoided the major arteries. We decided against stitches due to lack of proper equipment and instead closed the wound with steri-strips. I stayed up for another hour or so to make sure that the bleeding was under control and I did not have a concussion.

I slept well and when I woke up the next morning the bandage was clean, the swelling was gone and I did not have a headache. We drove to Antelope Park the next day and set up camp. The original plan was to head to the clinic that day but the wound was doing well and Roy, the coordinator of the lion-breeding project, said he would look at it in the morning. He dealt with wounds like this all the time.

The next morning he took a look at the wound but suggested we go into the clinic to get the steri-strips taken off just in case the wound opened again. Michelle and I went into town while the rest of the group went on elephant rides and saw a lion feeding. We went to a 24-hour clinic in downtown Gweru, which is where Michelle spent a lot of her childhood. The steri-strips came off nicely and the wound was closed. They put a fresh bandage on, gave me some antibiotics and we headed back to camp.

The rest of the time at Antelope Park was spent walking with lion cubs, seeing the lion-breeding program and going on a bush walk where we learned about the medicinal properties of the trees and bushes. I also had a chance to go on an elephant ride. This elephant had one tusk, just like the one we had seen at Miombo, but her name was Tombi and she was a very gentle giant. The elephant behind me kept giving me gifts such as rocks and sticks in exchange for food.

We slept in tents and were cooked three huge meals daily. Monday morning we drove to The Great Zimbabwe Ruins. The drive took about twice as long as expected (over 4 hours) but the ruins were really cool to see. Tuesday we headed back to Victoria Falls. The fifteen of us spent the night at a hostel called Shoestrings and spent the next morning seeing the falls from the Zimbabwean side.

It’s good to be back at the house. My head is healing nicely and it doesn’t hurt. I’m thankful that it wasn’t more serious than it was. All in all it was a very exciting weekend. A special shout out to Russ Peterson. I saw you were a follower of my blog. I have meant to email you. Just haven’t. Well, hope all is well with everyone who is reading this.

The problem with Livingstone

2009-09-03T08:50:00.000-07:00

September 3, 2009

This morning I spent the morning doing home-based care in Nakatindi. Nakatindi is among the poorest communities in Livingstone. Instead of the brick houses that are typical in other areas, almost all the homes are built of sticks and clay. Michael, one of the volunteer caregivers, met us at Nakatindi School and we set off into the community. We saw around ten patients, most of who were doing well. Their major complaint was simply a lack of food. As I mentioned earlier, 1 in every 3 people in Livingstone is HIV positive. Once their CD4+ count drops below 300 they are put on anti-retroviral treatment (ARTs). ARTs are supposed to be taken with food. Unfortunately when food is not available and the drugs are taken the patient becomes nauseous. When vomiting occurs, the drugs cannot do their job.

I started asking Michael about his family as we walked back to the school to be picked up. He said that he has six children. The oldest boy completed secondary school but because he cannot find a job, he still lives at home. His oldest daughter completed the 9th grade but is unable to attend school anymore because Michael can’t afford the school fees ($165 a year). His wife sells fish products at the local market and he spends his time volunteering to help his community. Jobs are scarce here especially for those that do not have a good education. The money his wife brings in is spent on food for the next day’s meals. The children eat first and if there is enough left the parents will eat too.

It is hard to comprehend sometimes how little they have. They buy their food with 2500 kwatcha. This is equal to about $0.50. Some healthcare is free. HIV treatment, medication and testing are free as well as Malaria and TB treatments. Children under 5 are seen for free as are people over the age of 65. Any other treatment incurs a clinic fee of 5000 Kw. They also need to have a book to write their medical history, vitals and appointment notes. This costs them 1000 Kw. Transportation to the clinics can also be very difficult. Those that cannot walk must save up money to pay for a taxi. To top it all off, the clinics may refuse to treat the elderly or those that are severely ill.

All of this leads to a lack of quality medical treatment of those that need it the most. Clinics run out of ARTs and TB meds regularly. The waiting rooms are full of people waiting to see the doctor, if there even is a doctor at the clinic. A lot of clinics are staffed with only a few nurses with insufficient training.

I had a discussion today with one of my fellow volunteers. Lately male circumcision has been promoted as a way of preventing the spread of HIV. It sounds like an absurd thing to be promoting when it may cause a decrease in the use of condoms, but it turns out that it can decrease the transmission of HIV by up to 50%. The problem seems to be more in how the clinics are promoting it. It should not be presented as a cure but rather as another preventative measure that should be used in conjunction with other preventative measures like condoms. The other volunteer said that no one should promote male circumcision because the people here are not smart enough to understand the difference between a cure and something that decreases the risk of transmission. I was in favor of telling people the truth and letting them apply the knowledge. Just because these people aren’t educated doesn’t mean they are stupid. And despite everything that they have to deal with here, they are quite a happy bunch of people.

Botswana

2009-09-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

Elephant crossing the river
Hippos!
Lion!
Elephants crossing the river behind me
Water pump

August 31, 2009

Last week Mathias and I taught our first of five HIV classes. Topics covered include what HIV/AIDS is, how it attacks the body, how it is and is not spread, condom use, positive living, and treatment options. One of the local African Impact employees, Brave, assists us and translates for those that do not understand English well. I am really excited about this project because Mathias and I will be teaching the class the whole way through and will be able to see the progress the students make and see what information they learn from the course.

Last weekend the group headed out to Chobe National Park in Botswana. We stopped in town to pick up a few supplies and I was surprised by how much more developed Botswana was than Zambia. The roads were paved and free of potholes and the storefronts resembled those of home. While waiting in the monster truck for the rest of the group to get back we saw some warthogs and a random woman decided to stop and pee on the side of our truck. Very strange indeed. Friday night we camped out by the fire and ate a hearty meal of steak, sausage, potatoes and corn on the cob. After dinner we talked around the campfire and then headed to bed early.

Saturday morning we got up at 5, had breakfast and drove out to Chobe National Park. During the morning safari we saw water buffalo, impala, giraffes, an elephant and a lion. There are only twelve lions in the entire park so seeing one was really cool. After brunch back at the campsite we hopped on a boat for a three-hour river cruise. We saw crocodiles and water buffalo. There was a large group of hippos, half of which were grazing on land, which is a very rare sight when it is so hot out. The highlight of the cruise was seeing a heard of male elephants cross the river right in front of us, which is also a very rare sighting.

We got back Saturday night and Sunday was spent relaxing at Zambezi Sun. This morning I took vitals at Dambwa clinic and this afternoon was spent farming at Maramba. It took us about an hour to get the water pump (stair-stepper) working but I had some great conversations with Robbie and Ollie. Next week’s post will be a bit late. We are planning a week-long trip to Zimbabwe, which I will tell you about when I get back.

The Mighty Zambezi

2009-08-25T07:11:00.000-07:00

Sunset
Monkey at Zambezi Sun
Zimbabwe dancers
Victor and his cousin at art club
Human pyramid during sports day

August 25, 2009

Last week a man came into the clinic with a 6-inch machete wound to the skull. He had been attacked by a group of men at his night security job. I’m not sure when the attack happened but the wound had stopped bleeding by the time he came in. Apparently when you are attacked and the wound is not immediately life threatening, you must first go to the police station and pay to file a report. Then you must go to the clinic to confirm that the wounds match up with the report. Only after that can you go to the hospital to get the wound sutured. Seems a little backwards but that’s how they do it.

Last Wednesday night a group of Zimbabwe dancers came to the house to perform. I liked that they were authentic and came straight from one of the villages just over the border. A big part of their performance is getting the audience involved, so me and the other volunteers danced with them for the final three songs.

On Friday the whole group went out to Nakatindi for a sports day designed to promote the work of African Impact and other organizations. The morning included the singing of the Zambian national anthem, speeches, drummers and local dancers. African Impact had a station set up in one of the huts so people could ask questions and find out more about what we do. The rest of the day was spent playing sports. There was soccer, netball (sort of like basketball with no dribbling or backboards) and volleyball. I helped out with volleyball and got to play quite a bit. That night we went out for dinner and a movie. We watched The Hangover and then went out to eat at Olga’s in celebration of Marjolien’s birthday.

On Saturday ten other volunteers and I went white water rafting. I was on Team Girl and our guide was named Steve. The Zambezi is a grade 6 river although it only has one grade 6 rapid that we weren’t allowed to go through (rapid 9 known as Commercial Suicide). On rapid 5 (grade 5), known as the Stairway to Heaven, two people in our boat fell out. On rapid 7 (grade 5), known as Gulliver’s Travels, we flipped the boat. Two people were injured and three of them decided to stop after a half day of rafting. For the afternoon we joined the boy’s boat. We flipped the raft again on rapid 13 (grade 4), known as The Mother. We made it through the rest of the 25 rapids without incident.

Rafting was a lot of fun but I have to admit I have never been so scared in my life. The beach where the rafting finished was our campsite for the night. The rest of the group had driven out and met us there. We had popcorn, crocodile and steak for dinner before calling it a night and sleeping under the stars. The next morning we climbed back up the hill and headed back to the house.

The rest of Sunday was spent relaxing at Zambezi Sun. That night my stomach started to hurt so I went to bed early. Unfortunately I was up for the rest of the night with stomach cramps and diarrhea. The next morning I found out two others were also sick. I think it was from either some water we drank after camping or swallowing water when we went rafting. We stayed home from projects and spent the morning and afternoon watching movies and The Office (British version). I went to take a nap at 4:30 and woke up 6 hours later.

We are Africans not African'ts

2009-08-18T08:07:00.000-07:00

Given and I at home-based care.
Richard and I swimming with the children.
Rainbow at Victoria Falls.
HIV education at the football tournament.
Eating African crackers.

August 17, 2009

Mwa uka bwungi! Good morning! My morning projects last week included more clinics and home-based care. On Thursday we visited the house of a grandmother, father and son that all had HIV. The boy, named Given, was only 3 years old and taking anti-retroviral medications. He sat in my lap the whole time. I think I might look into sponsoring him after I get home.

On Wednesday I found myself back on a farm, although I must say it was quite different than home. Instead of massive fields they have a relatively small plot of land. Instead of giant tractors and combines they have handheld tools. The watering system is also very interesting. The water is pumped from the river and up the hill via a machine that works like a mix between an elliptical and a stair stepper. So as a person is working out on this contraption, the workers at the top of the hill can water the crops.

I also got to teach an adult literacy class. They are working on mathematics right now so it was right up my alley. I took the beginners along with Alicia. We worked on multiplication of 2 and 3 digit numbers. Some of them understood it quite well, some could do it when you helped them and others were a bit lost. The adult classes are a lot of fun because they really do want to learn, but it can also be frustrating because of things they don’t understand. I’d really like to take a class and teach every week. It would be nice to see the progress and I think it also gives the students more consistency.

On Saturday I went to Victoria Falls with Richard, Alicia and 13 local kids aged 15-18. We swam at the top of the Falls (not Devil’s Pool yet, but I will get there), climbed down to the Boiling Pot and got some great photos of the Falls. The kids were great and I’m really glad I went with them instead of just other volunteers. The rest of the weekend was spent finishing up the medical information sheets and sitting by the pool at Zambezi Sun.

Tomorrow we are putting on a football (soccer) tournament. We are combining sports with HIV education. The medics are setting up quiz stations and the teams can earn points in the tournament by doing well on the quiz. HIV education is really, really important here. 1 in 3 people have HIV here and there is a lot of false information out there.

August 18, 2009

I just got back from the football tournament. It was a bit unorganized. We were supposed to register teams from 8:30 to 9 and start playing at 9:30 but most teams didn’t show up until 10 and some didn’t show up at all. The owner of the pitch (field) we were supposed to play on said that we hadn’t talked to him and charged us 150,000 kwatcha ($30) to use it. Plus there was a slight misunderstanding about food. We were not providing it but some thought we were so a lot of the kids didn’t eat all day. To hold themselves over they ate something from the trees they call African cracker. I tried it. Not a fan. Anyway, once things got going the tournament went well.

The power is going to go off in about an hour so I have to keep this short. I’ll post more next week.

More to do than can ever be done

2009-08-11T09:32:00.000-07:00

At reading club with my friend, sunrise in the gorge, Victoria falls, Family support children

August 9, 2009

On Saturday I went to watch seven of the other volunteers bungi jump. They have a package deal where you get to do three different things. The first is a zip line across the gorge, the second is bungi jumping and the third is a gorge swing, which is pretty much bungi jumping but you swing out instead of falling straight down. I am considering doing it myself next month.

On the way out we saw some baboons. One of them started chasing after the woman behind us because she was carrying some fruits. I also got my first glimpse of Victoria Falls. They are majestic. I will go back another weekend to get a closer look and swim in the Devil’s pool.

Today was a very relaxing day. I slept in until 8:30 and then read for the rest of the morning. After lunch we went to Zambezi Sun, which is a three star hotel/resort near the Falls. I suntanned by the pool and jumped in a few times, although the water was quite cold. They also have zebras and giraffes in the park just behind the resort. The zebras wandered into the pool area and one ended up right beside me.

August 11, 2009

Yesterday morning I volunteered at Mahatma Ghandi Memorial Clinic. I took vitals for the first half of the morning before wandering back and sitting in with the Doctor. I was able to ask a lot of questions about the cases that came through and I’m hoping by doing this more I can get a better idea of how medicine works here in Livingstone.

Last night we went out to eat at an Italian restaurant in honor of Jessie’s last night. After dinner we went to the Waterfront, which is a resort of sorts with a bar. We returned to some disturbing news. Apparently when we dropped of a group of people after dinner they found one of the night guards in their room. A Nintendo DS turned up missing and they found a key to one of the girl’s lockboxes on the floor. The man ran and was chased after by the security company he works for. The Nintendo DS turned up the next morning in the bricks near the guard’s chair.

This morning I did home based care in Maramba. We saw an old woman named Alice who was bedridden. She was bent over at the waist so her head rested near her knees. Her legs were paralyzed do to a case of Kaposi Sarcoma, which is normally associated with HIV. They had taken her to the hospital on numerous occasions but she was ignored and not given treatment. Alice’s daughter said the medical staff wouldn’t even touch her. Because of the paralysis and the fact that she is never moved, she is developing bedsores on the bottom of her legs. There wasn’t much we could do but I plan on checking back in on her in a few days.

I am really enjoying my time here in Zambia. The other volunteers are really cool and I enjoy the projects we are doing. However, many here feel like they are not doing enough. My friend Jessie (she was from Bismarck, how crazy is that?) left today but left me in charge of a program she’s been working on. The plan is to have a laminated card with basic information on HIV/AIDS, malaria, TB, diabetes, hypertension and others that the volunteers can carry with them. That way when they are doing home based care they can give advice and do more in the line of talk therapy.

That’s it for now. Don’t worry about my safety. I am fine and we are switching security companies. I keep my passport and money locked up. The town is very safe during the day and we are required to take official taxis anytime we go out after dark. Miss and love you all!!

Let the volunteering begin

2009-08-08T04:03:00.000-07:00

August 5, 2009

Today was my first day volunteering. In the morning I took vitals at the Maramba Clinic. I did most of the blood pressures while my partner, Kirstie, did weight and temperature. One thing that I noticed was the body odor. I assume I will get used to it, but personal hygiene is not as much of a priority here as it is at home. I may have also been contributing to the stink. The water at the volunteer house was turned off last night or this morning, and no one was able to take a bath (I miss showers…)

This afternoon two other volunteers and I did family support. Turns out its just playing with a bunch of children for two and half hours. We brought a net, a basketball, a really old half deflated soccer ball, two frisbees and a bunch of paint, paintbrushes and chalk. The paint may have been a bad idea. Not only were the kids painting themselves, their friends and their shoes, but one adolescent boy also decided to paint “sex is good” on the wall. Three times. After I told him not too.

August 6, 2009

This morning I did home-based care. One other volunteer and I, along with three caregivers and a man named Victor that works for African Impact, walked from house to house checking on patients. We have a folder that includes notes from past visits and based on those notes we access how the patient is doing and if we should recommend they go into the clinic. We are also able to prescribe a mild painkiller, multivitamins and rehydration packets.

We got done with this early and waited by the Ngwenya school for the bus. A woman selling Manego, which is a local African fruit of sorts, offered us some for free. It took us a while to figure out how to eat it (split it open, take out the seeds, put it in your mouth, chew it and then spit out the rind) but it was an interesting experience. We also saw a crazy woman. She sat down in front of us to show us a sore on her leg, then started talking to herself, walking around and chasing other people. It is sad that she has nowhere to get help and that everyone is afraid of her.

This afternoon I did a reading club with the children at a small school. They were really sweet kids and it was a very laid-back time. It was, however, surprising at the education level they were at. Autumn reads better than kids five or more years older than herself. They simply just don’t have the opportunities that we do at home. Even their parents can’t help them because they are themselves uneducated or are just now taking classes.

We returned to the house and headed across the street for a friendly soccer game with the locals. I wasn’t in at first but ended up playing most of the game. I even headed one ball. It was fun and I think I did okay for my first time. The electricity is now out in the building but there was still hot water for a bath.

August 8, 2009
Yesterday morning I was assigned to work at the Maramba Old People’s Home. The first half of the morning was spent cleaning their dining room and lounge areas. After that I was told to move some chairs out into the open so the residents could play games. However, I got a little confused and instead of moving the small chairs that were in the dining room, I dragged the big chairs out from the lounge area. I got laughed at a little for that. There was also a worker there that said he didn’t like me and I should go away. One of the residents that was standing nearby laughed at me for that too.

Instead of doing volunteer projects in the afternoon, we packed up our stuff and headed out to the gorge to camp on the banks of the Zambezi. On the way there we stopped and picked up some Lusaka beer. It came in a milk carton and didn’t taste very good. At the gorge, they have a big cable car that will take you down but eight of us decided to hike it instead. It was a little difficult and I slipped a few times. I think I may have to invest in a good pair of hiking boots. We hired some porters to carry all of our blankets and cooking supplies down the mountain. When we were about halfway down they passed up with huge bundles on their heads. Some were even barefoot. It was impressive to say the least. When we got down to the bottom we found out that the sand squeaked when you stepped on it. Quite strange. Some of the group spent money to ride on a jet boat. They said it was quite fun but the water was cold. I heard later that the first two jet boats they had out here sunk.

I did take a quick dip in the river before it got too late. Apparently there are crocodiles in it but we didn’t see any. After that we changed into warmer clothes and started cooking. Neale (one of our leaders) cooked. We had bread, grilled and sprinkled with Italian herbs, to start with. He then cooked us up some crocodile meat. It tasted like chicken, but better. We ended the meal with some steak. I even helped chop the firewood. The rest of the night was spent playing games and watching the stars. They were absolutely gorgeous until the moon came up. Soon everyone settled in for the night. We made a ring of mattresses we brought from the house around the fire. The sleeping bag I bought worked very well, which was nice considering how cold it gets at night.

Everyone woke up around 6:30 this morning and packed up. Again most people took the cable car up but around ten of us hiked. It was a lot easier going up then going down and I sent my bags up with a friend in the cable car. On the way back we saw some elephants. I didn’t get a very good look though. We were driving by pretty fast and I had taken my glasses off for the ride. This afternoon I am going to near Victoria Falls to watch other people bungi jump and gorge swing. The rest of the weekend should be pretty laid back.

My cell phone number is 026-097-830-5476. I should be available most evenings, which is morning at home, if anyone wants to call me. I think incoming calls are free for me, but I’m sure you’ll have to pay.

Africa

2009-08-04T09:53:00.000-07:00

Well here are some pictures. The top left is my room (sorry it's sideways). The top right is a group of kids at the school. And to the left is the monster truck.

I am surprised at how emotionless I have been since leaving. During the week leading up to my departure I had been a bit nervous and mood swings were getting the best of me. Warren even put a rule of no crying at the airport. But when the time came to say goodbye and go through security I was remarkably calm. The travel was long but went relatively smoothly.

I landed in Zambia around 2 pm today. After obtaining a dual entry business visa (cost $80) I was happy to find that my bags had made it from London. Later, I found out that that was not the norm. Earlier, I had met a few other volunteers at the airport. After meeting up with the program representatives we packed into an old blue truck and headed off to the volunteer house.

On the way the disparity between the rich and the poor was evident. The roadside sported small thatch roofed huts next to large gated houses. The vehicles on the road ranged from trucks over-stuffed with school-aged boys to brand new red pick-up trucks. The house itself is modest but quite nice. I share a room with 2 other girls. The bathroom consists of a sink, a toilet and a bathtub. Apparently only 1 or 2 rooms have showerheads.

The food is good. They served macaroni and cheese for lunch and spaghetti for supper. Tomorrow they will take us around to see the various volunteer sites. In the afternoon we split into our three groups, medical, teaching and sports, and continue our orientation. On Wednesday we start in the clinics.

I felt like a little kid when I climbed into bed yesterday. I’m on the bottom bunk and my bed is surrounded by a giant mosquito net. If I sleep with my head all the way up by the wall I can just straighten my legs. I miss the extra long twin beds of Notre Dame. I made myself stay up until 10, so I slept well and woke up around 8.

This morning we did a general induction. After climbing into the big blue truck, dubbed the monster truck, we drove around to various sites we will be working at. The first was a large school of about 406 children. They were very happy to see us and held our hands as we were shown the new building that was just completed.

Our next stop was a small farm. They had just completed a well there and explained to us the type of work we might be doing there. We then drove by a few more schools and clinics and went back to the volunteer house. The afternoon was a lot less exciting, and for the medical volunteers consisted of a 3 and a half hour talk about what we will be doing.

I also bought a phone today. But I have no idea how much incoming calls will cost. It’s more for calling taxis here and texting the coordinators and whatnot. I’ll let you know if I figure out the call costs.

My address here is: C/O African Impact, PO Box 60896 Livingstone, Zambia. Just keep in mind the mail will take at least a week to get here.

Go time...

2009-08-01T00:03:00.000-07:00

I fly out tomorrow at 5:30 pm. I have a 12 hour flight, followed by a 7 hour layover, followed by another 12 hour flight, 2 hour layover and one more 2 hour flight. I'm excited but nervous. I think I am going to learn a lot this year but I am going to miss home too. I just set up my Skype account, username justinekaye.

The last week has been a lot of fun. I stayed with my old teammate Mal in Los Angeles and have been at Warren's house in San Diego the remainder of the week. I've been to Coronado, La Jolla beach, Sea World, Mount Solidad and just got back from a dinner cruise in San Diego harbor.

I am too tired to write anything else now, but I'll try to post within the next week.

Map

2009-07-19T22:39:00.000-07:00

So I made a map of my trip. I like how it just keep going and going and going...

View Around the World in 10 months in a larger map

I have started packing up my room since Autumn is moving in as soon as I leave. I have a little bit more shopping to do before I leave but generally I feel prepared.

Prep time

2009-06-15T18:01:00.000-07:00

Hello out there!

I have decided to start a blog so that all of those who want to follow what I'm doing this year can do so. I leave home in six weeks. My goal for the summer is to make some money. It sounds like a few of the programs I will be involved in have various side-trips to participate in such as a trip to Victoria falls, so extra money will be nice to have. Plus I owe my parents a ton of money already and calling for extra visa money or spending cash would not be good.

For anyone reading this who doesn't know what I'm doing next year, here's a quick summary. July 26th I fly to California. August 1st I fly to Zambia where I will be doing medical volunteer work for 3 months. The end of October I will spend a few days in South Africa and then fly to Thailand. The program there is broken into 4 weeks. The first takes place in Bangkok, the second up at a Buddhist temple, the third trekking through the rain forest and the forth week is on the beach. From there I fly to New Zealand where I will be working for 4 months. Not sure what kind of job I will have but the options include bar tending, cooking or working out at a kiwi farm. The final leg of my trip will take place in Peru (up by Cuzco). During the first month I will be living with a host family and taking Spanish lessons, while during the second month I will be volunteering in a program for disabled children. That takes me to the beginning in the June when I will fly back to the United States.

Needless to say I'm really looking forward to the trip. I'm hoping to learn a lot about the world and about myself. Find myself in a way. Also looking forward for an opportunity to serve others and explore my interest in medicine even further. Obviously I will miss you all while I'm gone so any emails, phone calls or letters are welcomed.

A little update on what has been going on this summer. The day after graduation I left for Italy with the Notre Dame volleyball team. We spent two weeks there touring and playing various Italian teams. My sister Briana met me in Rome the day the team flew home. From there we spent time in Rome, Vienna, Salzburg, Garmisch, Berlin, Paris and Dublin. It was a great time and also the most time I've spent with B since we went to college. This coming weekend my older sister Tahnee is getting married to we are preparing for the wedding this week. My only other plans for the summer are to work a couple of volleyball camps and help out around the farm.

That's it for now. Hope everyone is having a great summer!!