The Good Stuff

Hello again!

So some of you may have read my previous blog about my trip to the travel clinic. In that blog post I mentioned that the doctor warned my thoroughly about the drinking water in Malawi, as well as swimming in any of the fresh water. And because water has been such a hot topic lately in the world of Indevours, [my class of international development students] especially with the amazing water conference recently organized by some of classmates, I decided to jump on the band wagon and yes, blog about, water.


I accidentally found this video made for World Water Day this year, when trying to find a "how to boil and sanitize your water" video. I first watched it with my roommate who, after a few glasses of wine, was brutally honest. She immediately told me to turn it off because she found it far too depressing, and I guess it was killing her buzz. So I turned it off and finished it this morning.

I found some of the marketing tactics used in the video to be rather interesting. It first beings with depressing music, accompanied by some very saddening facts about the lack of access to water around the globe. 'Poor households across the developing world waste hours collecting water everyday. This can prevent children from attending school. Where there are no clean or private toilets people are forced to defaecate in the open. Not only is this an indignity, it puts women and girls in danger of sexual violence as well as disease. Drinking dirty water can cause diarrhea, keeping adults out of work and children off school. It also kills 4000 children every single day. This is more than AIDS, malaria and measles combined.' Then the video puts this huge number into perspective and explains that 4 children have died from unsanitary water related diseases since you started watching the video one minute and 39 seconds ago. Can you imagine dying in Canada just from getting diarrhea? This simply does not happen. This is one of the most treatable conditions in the world, and yet 4000 children are dying EVERYDAY because of it. This is unacceptable.

After the video has caught your attention, and engaged you emotionally, it begins to provide you with hope. I think this is an extremely important aspect of development when raising awareness. People don't want to know that a problem is irreversible or impossible to eradicate. This video then switches to a more upbeat song, and shows images of children drinking fresh water from pumps and taps. These are examples of how and where these programs have been successful! Finally, a light at the end of the tunnel! And at the very end of the video it urges you to take action. As we have learned in my marketing class this semester, social marketing is an amazingly powerful tool in the marketing world. It is generally free, and the most effective way to reach out to as many people as possible all around the world. The video uses symbols that are identifiable around the world for twitter and facebook calling you to action to simply repost the video and continue to spread the word. They have ingeniously harnessed one of the easiest ways to publish a video for free: YouTube!

This blog post was originally going to be about how much I take water for granted, and how much of a culture shock it's going to be when I can't just turn on the tap and chug that beautiful resource down the way I do here now. I am going to have to prepare every glass of water I wish to drink by boiling it for at least 3 minutes! This may not seem like a long time, but lets be honest, because I have become so accustom to my brita filter always full of cold, wonderfully filtered H2O goodness, I am going to be seriously dehydrated. Everything is so very convenient in my life right now, and I am finally coming to the brutal realization this will all be changing drastically, very soon. I was born in Canada! Could I be any more spoiled when it comes to fresh water supply?! Our toilet water here is even pristine! [Not that I am suggesting anyone drink from the toilet, not even the dog.]

All this recent talk about water just makes me so very grateful to have the access to clean drinking water that I currently do. I'm not much of a juice girl; milk and I aren't friends ... water is my number one.

Well, I don't know about you, but I sure am thirsty! Cheers!

News From the Travel Clinic!

UPDATE! I have been to see the travel clinic doctor! ... And wow, did she ever scare me for life in Malawi. Please note, I am paraphrasing here, and as many of you know I have a tendency to over exaggerate slightly, but I promise this story is told to the best of my memory.

So first the doctor and I went over the several vaccinations I will need just to survive while I'm there. This list wasn't as scary or long as I had originally anticipated. 1 MMR = measles, mumps and rubella shot; 1 meningitis shot; 1 Hep A; 1 yellow fever shot. So I'm thinking okay, sounds simple enough, four shots wont be so bad. Piece of cake, bring on Africa! Then the doctor explains to me that Lilongwe is in a malaria prone zone. I replied "Okay, can't be so bad, I'll take a shot of that too!" ... If only it were so simple.

The doctor then explains to me there are a few options for malaria preventative pills I can take. Option 1: "This one is 5 dollars a day and you have to take it everyday you're there. You can't afford this one." Option 2: "You only have to take this one once a week, but some side effects may include depression, insomnia, vivid dreams..." I swear she went on to say weight gain, and also weight loss, heart failure, brain damage, death; anything that could possibly go wrong, could potentially be attributed to this pill. I stopped listening at this point and said "NEXT." The doctor continued. Option 3: "You would have to take this one everyday, some side effects may include vulnerability to the sun." I replied "I'm a white girl in Africa. I've come to terms with burning. But which one do you suggest?" The doctor replies, "well with option 2, very few people actually suffer from the side effects." So I question, "So you're saying option 2 is my BEST option?" ... A brief pause... the doctor speaks again, "well its just that with option 3 I would  have to calculate ALL the days you would be away for, and that's a lot." In my mind I'm now thinking, aren't you suppose to be insanely smart? You went to medical school! You've completed at least eight years of post secondary school! You're practically a genius, and you're worried about calculating how many days are in 8 months? I'll do the math for you if it means I don't have a chance of suffering from insomnia! So I calmed her stresses and said, "I got this," or something equally as suave. After adding the number of days I will be away, plus the weeks I have to take the pills before and after my trip, we rounded the number to 280 pills. Excellent, just add it to my tab.

"And now we're going to take about travelers diarrhea. You will get it." Oh, okay, great. We collectively add up how many times we think I'll suffer from travelers diarrhea, a fun conversation to have with anyone really, calculate how many pills I need to buy, and move on. Now that I'm officially broke, I ask, "is there anything else I should know?" This opens up the floor to the doctor who then instills a deep rooted fear into the very core of my being.

"Do you have any dietary restrictions?" Oh boy, here we go. I quietly whisper while staring down at my lap, "I'm a vegetarian, and I can't really drink milk or many dairy products." She looks at me like I'm a stuck up little hippie. "Well you might be able to get some fish." She says with a tone of disapproval. "Actually, fish is also meat, and therefore I don't eat fish either," now proving her assumption that I am indeed a stuck up little hippie. "Well then what exactly do you expect to eat?!" She says like a frustrated mother who can't get their children to finish their dinner plate. Head still down I say softly, "vegetables?" The doctor reacts immediately, "and just what kind of vegetables do you think you're going to find there? They don't have the variety we do here!" I now look terrified, knowing Africa will be the best weight loss diet I've ever been on whether I like it or not. The doctor looks me up and down and thinks, well luckily she's still carrying some holiday weight. She breaks the silence, "you'll be able to get yams! You can have yams!" Although I enjoying seeing her attitude change from, 'you're an ignorant North American', to 'yay yams!' I'm not thrilled. "Yum!" I shout with excitement. We look blankly at each other and thankfully the topic changes, but only to continue with more lecturing.

"Well you wont be able to wear those shorts you have on when you're there." Head down I nod feeling like a modern day floozy.


"Don't touch ANY animals you see in the street. You may think the dog skipping by is cute, but do not pet it. You will get rabies."

"Under no circumstances do you swim in ANY fresh water, at all! You will get parasites."

"Learn to boil all your water and keep it in jugs. Do not drink the water. Ever." She looks me sternly in the eye.

"Spray everything you own in bug spray. Bring lots. There is an African sleeping fly. People die from it quiet often. If you start feeling drowsy or you notice one of your friends losing conscientiousness get them back to North America immediately." I pause and yell, "I'm sorry... WHAT?!"

"Don't just go for jogs in your neighbourhood. Bad idea. Go to a sports track if you want exercise." I think to myself, exercise is the least of my worries at this point lady, if I make it past a week I'm basically immortal.

"Buy all of you drugs and medicine here in Ontario. You have no idea what you're buying over there." Oh, great, comforting.

She continued with a couple more pointers on how to stay healthy and safe, my brain still stuck on the African sleeping fly. Then she printed out what looked like a novel of information for me to take home and read. This trip to the clinic, although very informative, made me feel incredibly ill prepared for my move to Africa and for the first time a little frightened. However, this meeting did not deter me in the slightest! I suppose we can only hope for the best and prepare for the worst! Bring it on Africa! ... But seriously, please go easy on me.

Unlock the Intelligence, Passion, & Greatness of Girls

When I'm feeling frustrated with a paper due, or I'm cramming like crazy for a big test, I often look at myself in the mirror and think, 'Ummmm... are you nuts?!' Why do I consistently put myself through  all of this? I swear I found a gray hair the other day. Wrinkles? YUP, already got them. The intensity of this university life is aging me significantly by measurable amounts. So when I'm trying to figure out my accounting homework, or staring at stats like its a different language, I often need to stop and remember what it is I'm doing here.

And then I see something like this:
http://www.ted.com/talks/leymah_gbowee_unlock_the_intelligence_passion_greatness_of_girls.html
And it all comes flooding in.

Leymah Gbowee is a Nobel Peace Prize winner, and an activist that speaks out about women and girls around the world. Her efforts contributed greatly to the end of the Liberian Civil War in 2003. She is an incredible example of the type of women I hope to become - helping to empower others to reach their highest potential. She sees the wrong in what is happening to females across the globe and has worked her entire life to help change the outcome for these women. She is such an inspiration to me that yes, I even blogged about it.

I have been extremely passionate about the protection of human rights, with a special fire for women's rights. Knowing the kinds of things that are happening to girls around the world genuinely hurts my soul. Ever since I was a little girl with a big mouth in elementary school I have been a self proclaimed feminist and female rights advocate. I even opened my grade 8 yearly speech quoting Helen Reddy with, "I am strong, I am invincible, I am woman." I then went on to boast about all the important influential women in history and why I thought they were amazing... Some things never change.

Leymah has a divine way of providing hope, where there is very little. Not only in the girls she empowers on a personal basis, but also to those she speaks to publicly around the world. She is an extraordinary woman who truly sets an example of just how powerful women can be. Leymah, with many other strong willed and courageous women, worked long and hard to bring peace to Liberia after a fourteen year civil war. They got a promise out of Liberia's former president Charles Taylor for him to attend peace conferences in Ghana and even staged a sit in until a resolution was found. This group of women fearlessly fighting for peace, with peace, also helped the first female Liberian head of state come into power, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. These women were active contributors to bringing peace to Liberia.

In the link above, Leymah speaks about the young women who worked together to create a voters registration in a rural area of Liberia and asked each candidate what they would do for the women if they were in office. She gives real examples of how brave and intelligent these women are and how we really CAN make a difference! I get excited when I hear these stories. They give me hope when I am being told things like "Rach, you'll never be able to CHANGE the way things are there. Its just the way things are!" Maybe I, on my own, wont be able to change the world and solve all of our problems - a tough pill to swallow, but I'll take it. However, if I can help to empower and enable women, youth, and men to stand up and make changes that we see are indeed possible, then, well, all of this cramming and frustration would have all been worth it.