It was time to go back to the travel clinic for my one remaining vaccinations: yellow fever and pick up my prescriptions for malaria and an antibiotic.
I did not take careful enough notes the first time because apparently I was suppose to bring my vaccination card with me…..I don’t remember ever getting one. This time the nurse was pressed for time and everything was a blur. I remember getting the shot for yellow fever and tasting it in the back of my throat for a while. I had to sit in the hall to make sure that I didn’t have an adverse affect to it, I don’t know what “adverse” meant since I left all my literature at home and the nurse was real busy. So, as I waited I tried to pay attention to everything that was going on inside of my self and at the injection site incase I noticed anything “adverse”. Apparently I was fine because the nurse came back out and looked at me and said my time was up and I could leave. I guess adverse means that she would be able to tell by looking at me from 20 feet away (adverse must be bad!)
I then left feeling slightly invincible since now I am immune to yellow fever, typhoid fever, malaria (sort of) Hep B and Hep C. I still had to watch out for Dengue fever and the rogue lion, but that I think is manageable.
In conversation with my dad he was inquiring what my out of pocket costs were going to be, he still is a little perplexed by all of this, but he has always supported me even during the crazy times. I told him my plane ticket was costliest and it getting costlier as gas prices continue to soar. The school also asks that I help offset food costs by kicking in $10.00 per week for food. When I told my dad this there was a pause on the other end of the line and then he said, “Kelly that’s a lot of ants.” I really don’t think I will be eating ants, but it did get me thinking about what I would be eating……..
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Nothing but Net.
During March Madness as I was watching my team (Michigan State University) get drilled, I also was responding to an email from the Olyset Company regarding their mosquito nets. They were very helpful in directing me to the proper vendor for purchasing these nets. I initially tried to buy a mosquito net here in the US and the only ones I could find were the polyester ones that you had to spray the insecticide on yourself. The ranged from $20.00 to $45.00. Apparently the nets that have insecticide put into them during the manufacturing process are hard to get a hold of in the US. I read one site that said the FDA has not approved them for sale here, but I could not verify that. The Olyset company asked where I would be traveling and the route I would be taking and I gave them a brief itinerary and they sent me back an email address of a retailer in Arusha, Tanzania. They also forwarded my email to them. I heard from Divyesh Ramanandi in Arusha within a couple of days asking how he could help me. I told him when I would be in Tanzania, kinda/sorta dates and I was looking for a mosquito net. He sent me their sizes and price list and when I did the Tanzania shilling conversion to American dollars these state of the art nets would cost me about $8.00. It pays to shop around. This will work out better buying the nets in Tanzania because they do take up some space in the luggage and when I leave I can just leave it with the school. The best part is that I am also helping the local economy by buying the net there. That is a win-win.
Here are the websites for Olyset Company:
http://www.sumivector.com/content/view/18/37/
A new Olyset joint venture in Arusha opens in 2008
http://www.olysetphotos.com/Documents/Arusha_Pressrelease.pdf
Here is another way to help, ironically by the same name of what inspired this page in my blog.
http://www.nothingbutnets.net/
It is very exciting to use new technology that is being made in Tanzania by Tanzanians for the betterment of their country. Now I have to decide, how many nets do I buy? MSU could have used a few extra nets tonight.
Peace.
Here are the websites for Olyset Company:
http://www.sumivector.com/content/view/18/37/
A new Olyset joint venture in Arusha opens in 2008
http://www.olysetphotos.com/Documents/Arusha_Pressrelease.pdf
Here is another way to help, ironically by the same name of what inspired this page in my blog.
http://www.nothingbutnets.net/
It is very exciting to use new technology that is being made in Tanzania by Tanzanians for the betterment of their country. Now I have to decide, how many nets do I buy? MSU could have used a few extra nets tonight.
Peace.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Travel Clinic, prepare for information overload
Going to the MSU Travel Clinic was a mixed bag of great information and an overwhelming appreciation for how amazing our life is here in the United States since we found sanitation. I received three shots while at the clinic the day I went and left with quite a bit of reading material. I am beginning to develop quite the folder of information.
The nurse that I say that day new her stuff and she was able to answer most of my questions I had about traveling to a third world country. The clientele she gets there goes to many other places of Africa, especially Ghuana, I told her I purposely chose not to go to Ghuana because of all the attention and assistance that they are getting currently. I think that has more to do with my personality as wanting to operate under the radar rather than follow the mainstream than anything.
There are lots of things to be wary of in Tanzania and she had colored maps of what diseases were prevalent there, most of these maps were darkened. I won’t be in the TB belt though; it looks much like our snow belt in Michigan on a map although it describes the incidence of TB rather than lots of snow. Her phrase to me over and over was if you can’t peel it (there is a special to do this too), cook it (for a very long time) or open it (from a sealed container, like beer/wine/water) don’t eat or drink it. She also had the sage advice to ask the locals that I became acquainted with (if I couldn’t find an English speaking person that had been in country for a while) where in town I should not eat. She said if it made the locals sick to eat then it would for sure make me really sick. She also said that don’t let the looks of the place deceive me. Just because it is a fancy hotel doesn’t mean the folks that work there practice impeccable hygiene and that is what is required in a third world country in order not to get TD (tourist diarrhea). The last advice she offered, as far as avoiding getting sick (I felt like I was Luke Skywalker talking Obi-Juan Kenobi) was to keep a lid on my bottled water at all times and to place my tooth brush in a container so flies didn’t land on it. It is their feet and where they have been walking through is what you need to be concerned about.
The conversation then turned to safety and the advice is pretty much like it is in Detroit. Don’t go anywhere at night unless you are with a large group, don’t go into the “bad” neighborhoods and don’t take anything to eat or drink from a stranger because it could be drugged. Apparently you can make eye contact with folks though. Good to know.
We talked about bug spray (Deet, you don’t need 100%, in fact she advised against it because it is pretty toxic) and spray for our clothes (Permethrin, you can spray this on and it will last through several washings, I think that means it could last through my entire 7 week stay since I don’t know how often I will be washing my clothes)
She also said the things I kind of knew: where a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses; sunscreen (put the Deet over the top of it not the other way around); carry copies of your documents at all times and keep the originals some place safe and make copies for my family before I leave and the last advice was to procure “emergency evacuation insurance”. I will check to see if Farmers Insurance can get me a rider for this, but she also provided me with some names of places that provide this, sort of the Triple A of international travel, instead of providing you with a wrecker to take your car to a shop they provide you with a plane to get you to a “real” hospital.
With my head buzzing from the crazy amount of information she gave and my shoulders were hurting from the: Polio booster, Hepatitis A shot, and a flu shot, I left with my two prescriptions (one for my typhoid vaccine and the other for antibiotics to take in case of TD). I paid for the visit and made my next appointment for my Yellow Fever shot and to pick up my malaria medication. There were three choices for this and the prices vary by hundreds of dollars.
With another hurdle jumped I now have to make it "real" by buying my ticket.
The nurse that I say that day new her stuff and she was able to answer most of my questions I had about traveling to a third world country. The clientele she gets there goes to many other places of Africa, especially Ghuana, I told her I purposely chose not to go to Ghuana because of all the attention and assistance that they are getting currently. I think that has more to do with my personality as wanting to operate under the radar rather than follow the mainstream than anything.
There are lots of things to be wary of in Tanzania and she had colored maps of what diseases were prevalent there, most of these maps were darkened. I won’t be in the TB belt though; it looks much like our snow belt in Michigan on a map although it describes the incidence of TB rather than lots of snow. Her phrase to me over and over was if you can’t peel it (there is a special to do this too), cook it (for a very long time) or open it (from a sealed container, like beer/wine/water) don’t eat or drink it. She also had the sage advice to ask the locals that I became acquainted with (if I couldn’t find an English speaking person that had been in country for a while) where in town I should not eat. She said if it made the locals sick to eat then it would for sure make me really sick. She also said that don’t let the looks of the place deceive me. Just because it is a fancy hotel doesn’t mean the folks that work there practice impeccable hygiene and that is what is required in a third world country in order not to get TD (tourist diarrhea). The last advice she offered, as far as avoiding getting sick (I felt like I was Luke Skywalker talking Obi-Juan Kenobi) was to keep a lid on my bottled water at all times and to place my tooth brush in a container so flies didn’t land on it. It is their feet and where they have been walking through is what you need to be concerned about.
The conversation then turned to safety and the advice is pretty much like it is in Detroit. Don’t go anywhere at night unless you are with a large group, don’t go into the “bad” neighborhoods and don’t take anything to eat or drink from a stranger because it could be drugged. Apparently you can make eye contact with folks though. Good to know.
We talked about bug spray (Deet, you don’t need 100%, in fact she advised against it because it is pretty toxic) and spray for our clothes (Permethrin, you can spray this on and it will last through several washings, I think that means it could last through my entire 7 week stay since I don’t know how often I will be washing my clothes)
She also said the things I kind of knew: where a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses; sunscreen (put the Deet over the top of it not the other way around); carry copies of your documents at all times and keep the originals some place safe and make copies for my family before I leave and the last advice was to procure “emergency evacuation insurance”. I will check to see if Farmers Insurance can get me a rider for this, but she also provided me with some names of places that provide this, sort of the Triple A of international travel, instead of providing you with a wrecker to take your car to a shop they provide you with a plane to get you to a “real” hospital.
With my head buzzing from the crazy amount of information she gave and my shoulders were hurting from the: Polio booster, Hepatitis A shot, and a flu shot, I left with my two prescriptions (one for my typhoid vaccine and the other for antibiotics to take in case of TD). I paid for the visit and made my next appointment for my Yellow Fever shot and to pick up my malaria medication. There were three choices for this and the prices vary by hundreds of dollars.
With another hurdle jumped I now have to make it "real" by buying my ticket.
Time to Dream and a Time to Work
After the dream how do you decide where to go? When I began having “my dream” I knew the population I wanted to work with; children and women affected by AIDS. I also knew that I wanted to work within a setting where I could have some autonomy in what I taught and how I taught. The last criterion I operated from was I did not want to go with a “tourist/volunteer organization. After looking into several of them it appeared to be less about the people you were there to help and more about making money from the Americans/Europeans that they could get to sign onto the tour. I wanted to become part of the place that I was working without it costing me more money than I could truly afford. Safety was an overarching theme as well so I didn’t even explore opportunities in some countries; I’ll save that for the young ones.
I found this amazing site called www.idealist.com and began my search. This site has a wealth of information on all types of places and organizations that are making a difference in this world in which we live. From this website I found Meru Peak School.
I contacted Scott Morgan and within days he had sent me back an excited email and telling me about the school and the people that run it.
I contacted many other schools and orphanages, but it became clear that Meru Peak was going to be the best fit for me.
I have included several websites that help explain and describe Meru Peak School.
http://www.changemakers.net/en-us/node/4078
http://www.volunteermatch.org/orgs/org80590.html
http://www.huntingdogsafaris.com/
http://mopfa.org/MPS%20Final%20Draft.pdf
Now I needed to figure out when I was going and how was I going to get there…..
I found this amazing site called www.idealist.com and began my search. This site has a wealth of information on all types of places and organizations that are making a difference in this world in which we live. From this website I found Meru Peak School.
I contacted Scott Morgan and within days he had sent me back an excited email and telling me about the school and the people that run it.
I contacted many other schools and orphanages, but it became clear that Meru Peak was going to be the best fit for me.
I have included several websites that help explain and describe Meru Peak School.
http://www.changemakers.net/en-us/node/4078
http://www.volunteermatch.org/orgs/org80590.html
http://www.huntingdogsafaris.com/
http://mopfa.org/MPS%20Final%20Draft.pdf
Now I needed to figure out when I was going and how was I going to get there…..
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
On The First Day There Was Fright, and it was good.
The next step in getting to the dream is to get a Passport and Visa.
The passport I had, the Visa I didn’t. I have to check and see if I need a letter from the school in order to get the Visa, Tanzania is getting more selective in who teaches in their country now.
I am fortunate that I live near a major university, my Alma Mater, Michigan State University. Within MSU they have a travel clinic which assists travels in being current on their vaccines while traveling to different parts of the world.
Their website was very helpful. http://www.travelclinic.msu.edu/beforeappt/index.html
It also has links to the Center for Disease Control, CDC, website which has all of the agonizing details and hazards of traveling to a third world country.
Wow is there a lot of material. Did you know the Traveler’s Diarrhea as an acronym? TD, who knew?
In summary what I have learned so far about visiting a third world country is: Don’t eat anything that hasn’t been cooked to sun surface hot and served to you at that temperature. Don’t eat any fresh fruits or vegetables unless you, yourself, wash them in clean water and then peel them yourself. The knife at that point has been contaminated and you must then disinfect that somehow, I am thinking more boiling water for at least 1 full minute.
Never eat anything from a street vendor, just smile and keep on going. Don’t drink any water ever. Only drink bottled water or water that you put through a nine-point disinfection regiment. Apparently the filter systems on the market are ok, but you have to analyze the “pore size”. Microns matter. Mosquito netting is a good thing especially if it has some insecticide infused in it, but all of the websites want you to contact them directly for pricing. What is up with that? I’ll let you know if I have to buy in bulk and if they price according to income level or country in which you reside. The good news through all of these days of cramping, bloating, and loose stools is that beer and wine appear to be safe to drink. As long as you don’t pour them into another container and never add ice. Drink them straight from the bottle or can, whipping off the can or bottle with alcohol preps first.
OK, I must admit that the CDC website was a little scary and not too shy on the, Oh My God, are you kidding me, scale. Thank goodness I decided to call the MSU travel clinic and set up my first appointment right away. The steady and non-hysterical voice on the other end of the phone was very reassuring and when I told my destination was Tanzania there was no intake of air or “are you sure” response so I felt mollified. My first appoint is in two weeks and they said they could draw blood to see what I was immune to and therefore could stream-line my vaccines, amazing.
The passport I had, the Visa I didn’t. I have to check and see if I need a letter from the school in order to get the Visa, Tanzania is getting more selective in who teaches in their country now.
I am fortunate that I live near a major university, my Alma Mater, Michigan State University. Within MSU they have a travel clinic which assists travels in being current on their vaccines while traveling to different parts of the world.
Their website was very helpful. http://www.travelclinic.msu.edu/beforeappt/index.html
It also has links to the Center for Disease Control, CDC, website which has all of the agonizing details and hazards of traveling to a third world country.
Wow is there a lot of material. Did you know the Traveler’s Diarrhea as an acronym? TD, who knew?
In summary what I have learned so far about visiting a third world country is: Don’t eat anything that hasn’t been cooked to sun surface hot and served to you at that temperature. Don’t eat any fresh fruits or vegetables unless you, yourself, wash them in clean water and then peel them yourself. The knife at that point has been contaminated and you must then disinfect that somehow, I am thinking more boiling water for at least 1 full minute.
Never eat anything from a street vendor, just smile and keep on going. Don’t drink any water ever. Only drink bottled water or water that you put through a nine-point disinfection regiment. Apparently the filter systems on the market are ok, but you have to analyze the “pore size”. Microns matter. Mosquito netting is a good thing especially if it has some insecticide infused in it, but all of the websites want you to contact them directly for pricing. What is up with that? I’ll let you know if I have to buy in bulk and if they price according to income level or country in which you reside. The good news through all of these days of cramping, bloating, and loose stools is that beer and wine appear to be safe to drink. As long as you don’t pour them into another container and never add ice. Drink them straight from the bottle or can, whipping off the can or bottle with alcohol preps first.
OK, I must admit that the CDC website was a little scary and not too shy on the, Oh My God, are you kidding me, scale. Thank goodness I decided to call the MSU travel clinic and set up my first appointment right away. The steady and non-hysterical voice on the other end of the phone was very reassuring and when I told my destination was Tanzania there was no intake of air or “are you sure” response so I felt mollified. My first appoint is in two weeks and they said they could draw blood to see what I was immune to and therefore could stream-line my vaccines, amazing.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
In the beginning their were children singing, always.
Have you ever dreamed of a place where you have never been? Or of a people whom you have never met? I have; over and over and over. It began in my twenties I would sleep and hear children singing and giggling in between the words, which were not English words. I would always smile back and feel as if I were home. As time went on I could see their faces: bright, yearning, hopeful, and beckoning. As I attended college and later raised my own children I came to realize who these children were…..my future students. You see I am a teacher by profession and a searcher of soul fulfillment by destiny. With my children mostly raised, I still have a 16 year old at home, my dream is about to become actualized. I am excited and curious to see if the dream and the reality are the same.
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