Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Falling in Love - in the back of a pickup
Finding love in the back of a pickup truck. Yeah it sounds kind of dirty but it's the truth. I'm falling in love with this country from the back of the "bucky".First off I should explain this country is COLD right now. Not canadian winter cold but when you're dress code is long skirts and you've got only thin sweaters 7 degrees leaves you feeling popsicled. I should also point out that the second leading cause of death here is the crazy traffic. So I had my first "TIA" or this is africa moment when someone told me I'd get a lift into Masoyi in the back of the truck. There we were... 12 of us... 3 white girls with 9 locals. Some nurses... Others just health care volunteers and people like me to observe. The first ride was awful... I was a little bit terrified. By the end of the next day, I can't imagine getting around any other way. The rolling hills with so many homes... Shacks, stone houses with carefully swept dirt patios, young people everywhere in bright blue school uniforms, the too cool guys with their hats off to the side, gigantic roosters everywhere, women carrying all kinds of things on their head... It doesn't feel third world...just different world. And for all the horror stories it is also stunningly beautiful.The entire day was stunningly beautiful. Just before lunch I met Zodwa. A mother of 2 and a home based care worker in the community of Nthimba. We sat outside the clinic talking, for an hour as I waited for the truck.Zodwa is one of those people you meet that leaves you feeling just so full of awe. Her entire life now is about all the orphans. Children living alone throughout her community because their parents are dying.Its very difficult, she tells me. They all need to eat - who is going to make sure they eat.We talked and talked...I couldn't stop with the questions. She is grieving the loss of her husband...but talking to me she smiled so often. Many time she had me in tears. When the truck came we hugged... I explained I was a journalist and was here for 2 months with a camera. She asked me to come back to Nthimba to meet all of her kids. " Let people see them, love them. We need help". I'm still awed by this soft spoken woman... To see the love and courage flowing from her.... I am very very lucky to have met her.*In SA an orphan who has lost one parent receives 200 rand per month (even if the other parent has split long ago)*An orphan that has lost two parents receives 700 rand/month up until age 15*Orphans do not have to pay school fees but must buy a uniform - at a cost of 220 rand. (About 30 canadian)* The price of bread has jumped from 2 ran a loaf to 7 ran* An apple has gone from 50 cents to one rand 50Tomorrow: I'm scheduled to work at the Lula Centre with Ma Beauty. A daycare/pre school center operated by Hands. Thursday: Off to the community of Cork... A community with more problems and fewer programs. Laying ground work for the launch of the young moms program. We will be looking for new Moms for the program...in primary school. Young orphan girls age 9,10,11,12 are vulnerable to pregnancy... Because, I'm told I "they're craving love"
This is real now
What do I do now that its real for me? Day one and I can't help but wonder what I've done. 24 hours ago this was still a world away problem... Something that I believed to be true but didn't really exist to me - personally.
Now I've gone and looked and in a way that makes me feel terrified and overwhelmed tonight...things have changed.
I spent the day with a health care volunteer today in what seems like a sprawling city slum. Picture something like stand off...the size of brooks.
Three patients...three people...three probable AIDS cases but no hope because each one of them refused to be tested.
The first woman was fairly healthy... But at 40 something she had shingles and wasn't getting better.
The second man was thin, sweating and trembling...he was being treated for TB but wasn't getting better. Again and although AR drugs are available and could still save his life ... He refused to consider HIV as his possible ailment.
But it was house #3 where I finally really looked into the eyes of this horror story.
In a house the size of a bathroom with only a matress and a few stools we walked into fine a tiny remnant of a man laying in the dark. His eyes were wide and the white was so bright. He smiled at me and said hello, how are you in english. Then in his language he spoke with the health worker.
I couldn't understand what was being said but it was clear. I was looking at a man, dying of AIDS alone in Africa. He was looking right at me. He was born into a nightmare... I was born into a winning lotto ticket but for 1/2 an hour we sat in the same room.
He couldn't admit that he was HIV positive until it was too late. I was asked to pray for him at the end of the visit. Not really knowing what to do I stammered something out.
I keep repeating that prayer now in my head... Alone with AIDS in Africa. Its actually real...no closing my eyes to it now
Now I've gone and looked and in a way that makes me feel terrified and overwhelmed tonight...things have changed.
I spent the day with a health care volunteer today in what seems like a sprawling city slum. Picture something like stand off...the size of brooks.
Three patients...three people...three probable AIDS cases but no hope because each one of them refused to be tested.
The first woman was fairly healthy... But at 40 something she had shingles and wasn't getting better.
The second man was thin, sweating and trembling...he was being treated for TB but wasn't getting better. Again and although AR drugs are available and could still save his life ... He refused to consider HIV as his possible ailment.
But it was house #3 where I finally really looked into the eyes of this horror story.
In a house the size of a bathroom with only a matress and a few stools we walked into fine a tiny remnant of a man laying in the dark. His eyes were wide and the white was so bright. He smiled at me and said hello, how are you in english. Then in his language he spoke with the health worker.
I couldn't understand what was being said but it was clear. I was looking at a man, dying of AIDS alone in Africa. He was looking right at me. He was born into a nightmare... I was born into a winning lotto ticket but for 1/2 an hour we sat in the same room.
He couldn't admit that he was HIV positive until it was too late. I was asked to pray for him at the end of the visit. Not really knowing what to do I stammered something out.
I keep repeating that prayer now in my head... Alone with AIDS in Africa. Its actually real...no closing my eyes to it now
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
HIV/AIDS - could it be our problem too?
"Don't lean on your own understanding... things are not what they appear to be."
The team has been busy training. 11 or 12 sessions in 3 weeks! Every few days we gather in a living room or the building behind the Westside King church and my eyes are widened, my head is filled and more often than I imagined- I'm moved to tears.
The sessions have been developed for short term teams by a missions committee through a west calgary church. The term "mission" is pretty strange to me - I don't attend church on a regular basis, I don't pray out loud or tell people they should let Jesus into their lives. That stuff - I believe - is personal and something I'm still making my mind up about.
Good news to that discomfort - is that we're not learning about evangelism. . We've instead learned about conflict resolution, personalities and why we do "missions". We've shared our "life stories" as a means of trying to quickly turn a group of strangers into a cohesive team. We've learned about cross cultural undertanding and we spent a morning talking about spirituality - after all - we're a room of people with a wide range of beliefs and backgrounds (although this particular group has all come with at least - some kind of christian frame of reference).
We've also had two sessions that have shocked and frightened me.
Two sessions that have made me realize just how little I know. Last Monday we talked about Grief and Loss... and last night - for close to 5 hours - we talked about HIV/AIDS.
I'll write that quote again:
"Don't lean on your own understanding- things are not what they appear to be."
That profound little piece of advice came last night from Dr. "B". A practicing doctor here in Calgary - with a practicing interest in HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections. She's also from africa (*and has asked for her name not to be used)
I didn't expect to be surprised last night about the facts surrounding AIDS. I grew up in the 90s... AIDS was everywhere. There were characters with HIV on TV. Stone died of AIDS on general hospital and his girlfriend Robin was infected. Dwayne fought with Joey Jeremiah in the bathroom of Degrassi High. He started bleeding and freaked out. "I have HIV," he shouted - crying. "And I got it from a chick." Melrose Place, Life Goes On ... everyone was "tackling" the AIDS issue and everyone wore those red ribbons.
This is my understanding.
Everyone knew you couldn't get it from a toilet seat, you didn't have to be gay to get the virus and as pre teens we knew we had to ALWAYS use condoms. But then... over the last decade, it stopped being our problem. Nobody really talks about it now - unless we're talking about Africa. Why bother? There are brilliant new treatments and people live with HIV for years and years and years.
We don't need to talk about it... we know how we get it, how to protect ourselves and how to treat it.
I went into last night's meeting thinking: I know this stuff, the people in Cork must not - therefore I guess we need to tell them.
That was my first mistake because guess what, my understanding is pretty limited.
Here's what I now know that I didn't 24 hours ago:
- Most people in Africa know about AIDS... little children can draw you a picture of what the virus looks like and everyone knows about condoms (but they're not widely used)
- There is way more than one kind of HIV strain and people can easily become infected with different strains. Therefore people constantly become resistant to these life saving antiretroviral cocktails. (Referred to as HAART for Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy)
- A person doesn't qualify for free treatment until their healthy virus fighting cell (CD4) count drops from the healthy 500 level to below 250. (Usually the level where a person is going from HIV to AIDS)
- HAART therapy doesn't work without food and most of the cocktails Africans are taking come with brutal side effects. These side effects prompt some to stop taking the medicine. This is dangerous because it leads to drug resistance and creates a new more powerful kind of virus that can and generally is - passed around.
Horrifying stuff really... but none of this shocked me. I expect AIDS to be a nightmare "over there".
What shocked me is when Dr. B talked about what she was seeing happen HERE AT HOME.
Here we know to use condoms or to abstain from sex to avoid STI's and HIV.... right? We know this for vaginal sex anyways. However, I know - as a recent teen myself - the most common form of sex among teens is oral sex and Dr. B says too often kids are not using condoms while they're having oral sex. I definitely believe that - and it made me think about my own experience with sex ed ... even in the 90s with AIDS everywhere.
I don't think I was ever told... in a way that I remember anyways ... to use condoms during oral sex. I guess I knew that a person could get HIV or an infection through unprotected oral sex but for some reason - I remember getting the impression that oral sex was different. Safer somehow.
"They still consider themselves virginal," she told us, "if they've only had oral sex."
And so... armed with this false sense of security. Dr. B says she sees girls come in with thrush mouth from yeast or candida infections. Chlamydia, gonorrhea... to the mouth. Girls tell her they don't use condoms because the boys don't like it.
This scares the hell out of me.
She says she's seeing new cases of HIV infections within young people -
here at home...
all the time.
"Its all over the north east, its in Forest Lawn, its in Three Hills Alberta, its in Brooks.... its in MacKenzie Towne."
"Its the girls in youth groups, that go to church."
This shocked me.
I came home late last night and went onto the HIV Calgary website
In 2007 there were 2.5 million new cases of HIV. This isn't shocking - I think of Africa.
In 2006 (no data from 2007 was posted) there was only 197 new cases of HIV in Alberta. 197! That's nothing... so why should we be concerned?
Now I have these questions... and maybe we should all be asking them.
Its 2008. Our city is growing and changing and we are talking about AIDS and HIV less and less. Are we using condoms every time? Are our kids? Are our kids using condoms when they have oral sex? Who are we having sex with? Are we not a city full or newcomers?
Will we be surprised in 10 years by an outbreak of HIV because we "forgot" about it?
Could it be that AIDS is our problem too?
The team has been busy training. 11 or 12 sessions in 3 weeks! Every few days we gather in a living room or the building behind the Westside King church and my eyes are widened, my head is filled and more often than I imagined- I'm moved to tears.
The sessions have been developed for short term teams by a missions committee through a west calgary church. The term "mission" is pretty strange to me - I don't attend church on a regular basis, I don't pray out loud or tell people they should let Jesus into their lives. That stuff - I believe - is personal and something I'm still making my mind up about.
Good news to that discomfort - is that we're not learning about evangelism. . We've instead learned about conflict resolution, personalities and why we do "missions". We've shared our "life stories" as a means of trying to quickly turn a group of strangers into a cohesive team. We've learned about cross cultural undertanding and we spent a morning talking about spirituality - after all - we're a room of people with a wide range of beliefs and backgrounds (although this particular group has all come with at least - some kind of christian frame of reference).
We've also had two sessions that have shocked and frightened me.
Two sessions that have made me realize just how little I know. Last Monday we talked about Grief and Loss... and last night - for close to 5 hours - we talked about HIV/AIDS.
I'll write that quote again:
"Don't lean on your own understanding- things are not what they appear to be."
That profound little piece of advice came last night from Dr. "B". A practicing doctor here in Calgary - with a practicing interest in HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections. She's also from africa (*and has asked for her name not to be used)
I didn't expect to be surprised last night about the facts surrounding AIDS. I grew up in the 90s... AIDS was everywhere. There were characters with HIV on TV. Stone died of AIDS on general hospital and his girlfriend Robin was infected. Dwayne fought with Joey Jeremiah in the bathroom of Degrassi High. He started bleeding and freaked out. "I have HIV," he shouted - crying. "And I got it from a chick." Melrose Place, Life Goes On ... everyone was "tackling" the AIDS issue and everyone wore those red ribbons.
This is my understanding.
Everyone knew you couldn't get it from a toilet seat, you didn't have to be gay to get the virus and as pre teens we knew we had to ALWAYS use condoms. But then... over the last decade, it stopped being our problem. Nobody really talks about it now - unless we're talking about Africa. Why bother? There are brilliant new treatments and people live with HIV for years and years and years.
We don't need to talk about it... we know how we get it, how to protect ourselves and how to treat it.
I went into last night's meeting thinking: I know this stuff, the people in Cork must not - therefore I guess we need to tell them.
That was my first mistake because guess what, my understanding is pretty limited.
Here's what I now know that I didn't 24 hours ago:
- Most people in Africa know about AIDS... little children can draw you a picture of what the virus looks like and everyone knows about condoms (but they're not widely used)
- There is way more than one kind of HIV strain and people can easily become infected with different strains. Therefore people constantly become resistant to these life saving antiretroviral cocktails. (Referred to as HAART for Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy)
- A person doesn't qualify for free treatment until their healthy virus fighting cell (CD4) count drops from the healthy 500 level to below 250. (Usually the level where a person is going from HIV to AIDS)
- HAART therapy doesn't work without food and most of the cocktails Africans are taking come with brutal side effects. These side effects prompt some to stop taking the medicine. This is dangerous because it leads to drug resistance and creates a new more powerful kind of virus that can and generally is - passed around.
Horrifying stuff really... but none of this shocked me. I expect AIDS to be a nightmare "over there".
What shocked me is when Dr. B talked about what she was seeing happen HERE AT HOME.
Here we know to use condoms or to abstain from sex to avoid STI's and HIV.... right? We know this for vaginal sex anyways. However, I know - as a recent teen myself - the most common form of sex among teens is oral sex and Dr. B says too often kids are not using condoms while they're having oral sex. I definitely believe that - and it made me think about my own experience with sex ed ... even in the 90s with AIDS everywhere.
I don't think I was ever told... in a way that I remember anyways ... to use condoms during oral sex. I guess I knew that a person could get HIV or an infection through unprotected oral sex but for some reason - I remember getting the impression that oral sex was different. Safer somehow.
"They still consider themselves virginal," she told us, "if they've only had oral sex."
And so... armed with this false sense of security. Dr. B says she sees girls come in with thrush mouth from yeast or candida infections. Chlamydia, gonorrhea... to the mouth. Girls tell her they don't use condoms because the boys don't like it.
This scares the hell out of me.
She says she's seeing new cases of HIV infections within young people -
here at home...
all the time.
"Its all over the north east, its in Forest Lawn, its in Three Hills Alberta, its in Brooks.... its in MacKenzie Towne."
"Its the girls in youth groups, that go to church."
This shocked me.
I came home late last night and went onto the HIV Calgary website
In 2007 there were 2.5 million new cases of HIV. This isn't shocking - I think of Africa.
In 2006 (no data from 2007 was posted) there was only 197 new cases of HIV in Alberta. 197! That's nothing... so why should we be concerned?
Now I have these questions... and maybe we should all be asking them.
Its 2008. Our city is growing and changing and we are talking about AIDS and HIV less and less. Are we using condoms every time? Are our kids? Are our kids using condoms when they have oral sex? Who are we having sex with? Are we not a city full or newcomers?
Will we be surprised in 10 years by an outbreak of HIV because we "forgot" about it?
Could it be that AIDS is our problem too?
Monday, May 5, 2008
1 month
I got to the meeting late, of course. I should have left earlier - the westside king church is well, way on the west side and although I've been there before the church is hidden and I couldn't remember how to find it. So, 10 after 7 - I was the last to arrive to our very frst meeting as a team.
It meant that when I walked inside the small house behind the church... there they all were. 12 other people sitting around 3 tables in a little U formation. 12 people that I - right now - know nothing about but will soon, likely, think of as family. Its odd to look at a room full of strangers and realize that together we are about to share an experience that I probably can't comprehend right now. Intense. Heart Breaking. Stressful. Inspiring. I imagine what's ahead will be all of those things.
But... what do I really know right now?
I learned tonight that 43 million people have HIV/AIDS around the world andmany of them are in Africa.
I learned that in the communities we will be in, the men work far away - hundreds of miles from their families and often those men sleep around when they're gone
I learned that women are labelled sluts if they insist their husbands wear condoms
I learned that people in these communities spend their weekends going to funerals, the way we spend our weekends going to the mall.
I learned that often young teenagers are left to be the head of the home with no choice but to raise their orphaned siblings.
And I learned that for the most part ... people pretend nothing is wrong.
"They'll admit to having TB. They won't admit to having AIDS"
On our team- a father and daughter. Two college students. A newly retired couple. A Fanshaw multimedia student and her Mom. A former respiratory tech turned stay at home Mom... and me. 13 people. 11 women. 2 men. 1 month of training. 3 weeks together in a village of 40 000 in the south east part of South Africa. "Cork".
Over the next month we will be learning about the programs Hands at Work implements. Programs for youth, orphans and vulnerable children, programs for the very sick and dying education and literacy programs and we will be launching a new program for young mothers.
Tonight's meeting was less than 2 hours long, I have another on wednesday, a 3 day retreat in Banff this weekend and it continues like that up until we leave. After 3 weeks that team comes home but I'm staying put. At least until the end of July. My backpack of gear is almost ready to go. I've been nervous about my technical abilities and asking the very talented photographers I work endless questions. I have assembled a little rig - a camera, tripod, light and reflector, a laptop with final cut and some microphones. Everything I need to try and share with all of you the stories of the people I'm about to meet.
People that right now - I know nothing about - that maybe somehow you'll think of as family.
It feels like I've been thinking about doing something like this forever! Planning it for ages... and now its finally getting started. I'm very grateful to be here... and anxious to see what the future hold.
* * *
A Night for Africa
Kits on 16th Avenue N
Calgary, Alberta
May 30th
Doors 6:30 pm
Featuring the music of:
Smith on Sunday
McKinley Matters
Jay Bawcott
Dean Morrison
A[Soh-Shuhl] Art
Tara Warburton
Tickets $25
*All money raised will come with us to Cork!*
It meant that when I walked inside the small house behind the church... there they all were. 12 other people sitting around 3 tables in a little U formation. 12 people that I - right now - know nothing about but will soon, likely, think of as family. Its odd to look at a room full of strangers and realize that together we are about to share an experience that I probably can't comprehend right now. Intense. Heart Breaking. Stressful. Inspiring. I imagine what's ahead will be all of those things.
But... what do I really know right now?
I learned tonight that 43 million people have HIV/AIDS around the world andmany of them are in Africa.
I learned that in the communities we will be in, the men work far away - hundreds of miles from their families and often those men sleep around when they're gone
I learned that women are labelled sluts if they insist their husbands wear condoms
I learned that people in these communities spend their weekends going to funerals, the way we spend our weekends going to the mall.
I learned that often young teenagers are left to be the head of the home with no choice but to raise their orphaned siblings.
And I learned that for the most part ... people pretend nothing is wrong.
"They'll admit to having TB. They won't admit to having AIDS"
On our team- a father and daughter. Two college students. A newly retired couple. A Fanshaw multimedia student and her Mom. A former respiratory tech turned stay at home Mom... and me. 13 people. 11 women. 2 men. 1 month of training. 3 weeks together in a village of 40 000 in the south east part of South Africa. "Cork".
Over the next month we will be learning about the programs Hands at Work implements. Programs for youth, orphans and vulnerable children, programs for the very sick and dying education and literacy programs and we will be launching a new program for young mothers.
Tonight's meeting was less than 2 hours long, I have another on wednesday, a 3 day retreat in Banff this weekend and it continues like that up until we leave. After 3 weeks that team comes home but I'm staying put. At least until the end of July. My backpack of gear is almost ready to go. I've been nervous about my technical abilities and asking the very talented photographers I work endless questions. I have assembled a little rig - a camera, tripod, light and reflector, a laptop with final cut and some microphones. Everything I need to try and share with all of you the stories of the people I'm about to meet.
People that right now - I know nothing about - that maybe somehow you'll think of as family.
It feels like I've been thinking about doing something like this forever! Planning it for ages... and now its finally getting started. I'm very grateful to be here... and anxious to see what the future hold.
* * *
A Night for Africa
Kits on 16th Avenue N
Calgary, Alberta
May 30th
Doors 6:30 pm
Featuring the music of:
Smith on Sunday
McKinley Matters
Jay Bawcott
Dean Morrison
A[Soh-Shuhl] Art
Tara Warburton
Tickets $25
*All money raised will come with us to Cork!*
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
2 Months
I have a swollen itchy arm from a pile of vaccines and a clearer picture of what the first 3 weeks in South Africa will be like.
From what I understand so far - I'll be working with a team of 12 in Cork, South Africa. A rural village made up of refugees from Mozambique. Our team leader who acts as our liason with the NGO Hands At Work (http://www.handsatwork.org/) just sent out this update with the first set of real details.
She writes:
The focus of this trip will be education, psycho-social support and teaching
HIV/AIDS awareness--educating on the stigma of AIDS and how it devastates a community. This program is called Better Choices
Home Base Care --HBC is supporting volunteers who have chosen to make a difference in their community by caring for the sick and dying. We will walk through the village and visit homes with the HBC workers who have some medical training from Hands at Work.--we may also add to this training by doing workshops
Young Mum's Program--we will be launching this program with a Hands At Work volunteer named Bosie who started this program in Masoyi a few years ago and is now ready to launch it in Cork--we will work with young Mum's 15-25 yrs old. teaching parenting skills and health assessment skills--also helping them build relationship with one another for continuous support--some of these mum's are very sick themselves and will need to make decisions on who will care for their children when they are no longer able to do.
Orphan and Vulnerable Care--called OVC--we support children who are raising themselves--they have been abandoned by their parents or their parents have passed away usually due to AIDS
Literacy--we will be using a phonemic awareness program designed here in North America --we will teach this program to volunteers who will use it in the preschool program as well as the after school homework program.--we will also demonstrate this program in the preschool.
This is what Hands at Work has asked of us so far-
the supply list so far
Tylenol, Motrin, Advil--pain relievers
Children's vitamins
Latex Gloves
hand sanitizer
gauze
medical tape
alcohol wipes
thermometers
antibiotic creams--burn creams
polysporin for eyes
anti fungal cream
Children's crayons,markers, scissors, glue--craft supplies for pre schoolers
children's toothbrushes
bar soap (small--hotel size)
baby powder
any small sample size items for women like--lipsticks, perfume, eyeshadow etc...
small prayer books or devotional books--inspirational bookmarks etc...
Lisa (the team leader) has been on a few project before. Sometimes they bring hockey bags full of supplies but they can also buy alot of this stuff over there. Obviously - the second choice is easier.
What I'd like to do, is host a fundraising/going away party. A very talented musician friend of mine (www.myspace.com/smithonsunday) has agreed to donate her bands time and the time of 3 other bands for a concert. I've got a tentative date (May 30th) and I'm still searching for the right venue. So keep it in mind kids... I'd love to see you all there. Details to follow.
From what I understand so far - I'll be working with a team of 12 in Cork, South Africa. A rural village made up of refugees from Mozambique. Our team leader who acts as our liason with the NGO Hands At Work (http://www.handsatwork.org/) just sent out this update with the first set of real details.
She writes:
The focus of this trip will be education, psycho-social support and teaching
HIV/AIDS awareness--educating on the stigma of AIDS and how it devastates a community. This program is called Better Choices
Home Base Care --HBC is supporting volunteers who have chosen to make a difference in their community by caring for the sick and dying. We will walk through the village and visit homes with the HBC workers who have some medical training from Hands at Work.--we may also add to this training by doing workshops
Young Mum's Program--we will be launching this program with a Hands At Work volunteer named Bosie who started this program in Masoyi a few years ago and is now ready to launch it in Cork--we will work with young Mum's 15-25 yrs old. teaching parenting skills and health assessment skills--also helping them build relationship with one another for continuous support--some of these mum's are very sick themselves and will need to make decisions on who will care for their children when they are no longer able to do.
Orphan and Vulnerable Care--called OVC--we support children who are raising themselves--they have been abandoned by their parents or their parents have passed away usually due to AIDS
Literacy--we will be using a phonemic awareness program designed here in North America --we will teach this program to volunteers who will use it in the preschool program as well as the after school homework program.--we will also demonstrate this program in the preschool.
This is what Hands at Work has asked of us so far-
the supply list so far
Tylenol, Motrin, Advil--pain relievers
Children's vitamins
Latex Gloves
hand sanitizer
gauze
medical tape
alcohol wipes
thermometers
antibiotic creams--burn creams
polysporin for eyes
anti fungal cream
Children's crayons,markers, scissors, glue--craft supplies for pre schoolers
children's toothbrushes
bar soap (small--hotel size)
baby powder
any small sample size items for women like--lipsticks, perfume, eyeshadow etc...
small prayer books or devotional books--inspirational bookmarks etc...
Lisa (the team leader) has been on a few project before. Sometimes they bring hockey bags full of supplies but they can also buy alot of this stuff over there. Obviously - the second choice is easier.
What I'd like to do, is host a fundraising/going away party. A very talented musician friend of mine (www.myspace.com/smithonsunday) has agreed to donate her bands time and the time of 3 other bands for a concert. I've got a tentative date (May 30th) and I'm still searching for the right venue. So keep it in mind kids... I'd love to see you all there. Details to follow.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Here we are...
Welcome to "The Other Blonde Reporter" version 2.0 - my public blog as I get set to do something a long time coming.
On June 6th, I'm going to Africa. I can't tell you how good it feels to finally be able to say that definitively. For those of you that maybe don't know me... I'll back up a little bit.
My name is Heather, I'm 26 and for the last 5 years I've worked as a news reporter for a few different tv stations. Right now I work for Global News in Calgary - a station that I'm a big, big fan of - - and not just because I work there ;). Every day I go to work and realize how little I know. I'm given an assignment or talk to an incredible person and my eyes open a little bit wider. Then, I scramble to do what I can to make your eyes open a little bit wider too.
Okay - so thats maybe overly romanticizing the gig - but its the goal.
So now its time for me to have my eyes opened in a part of the world that I've often heard described as hopeless.
When we talk about Africa on the news, we talk about violence and malnutrition. We talk about corrupt governments and brutal genocides. We talk about refugees and HIV/AIDS, crippling debt, insane inflation, lost boys and child soldiers.
In so many words it sounds like a backwards hell.
It makes me wonder, how can we relate to that? How can we as journalsts tell you as viewers what is happening in a way that doesn't seem like world away wall paper of the dark and depressing. How can we see that world as anything but hopeless?
I don't know.
But this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to Africa on June 6th for 2 months ... maybe (and quite possibly) longer. I'm going to work with the group Hands at Work. I'm going to bring a video camera and a microphone and I'm going to try and give a voice to people I meet so that I can find a way to relate our world with that world. I'm going to post pictures, videos up on my youtube channel (newsgirl7) and blog compulsively, as I always do.
What this will do... again, I don't know.
But it shall be interesting.
Thanks for joining me.
On June 6th, I'm going to Africa. I can't tell you how good it feels to finally be able to say that definitively. For those of you that maybe don't know me... I'll back up a little bit.
My name is Heather, I'm 26 and for the last 5 years I've worked as a news reporter for a few different tv stations. Right now I work for Global News in Calgary - a station that I'm a big, big fan of - - and not just because I work there ;). Every day I go to work and realize how little I know. I'm given an assignment or talk to an incredible person and my eyes open a little bit wider. Then, I scramble to do what I can to make your eyes open a little bit wider too.
Okay - so thats maybe overly romanticizing the gig - but its the goal.
So now its time for me to have my eyes opened in a part of the world that I've often heard described as hopeless.
When we talk about Africa on the news, we talk about violence and malnutrition. We talk about corrupt governments and brutal genocides. We talk about refugees and HIV/AIDS, crippling debt, insane inflation, lost boys and child soldiers.
In so many words it sounds like a backwards hell.
It makes me wonder, how can we relate to that? How can we as journalsts tell you as viewers what is happening in a way that doesn't seem like world away wall paper of the dark and depressing. How can we see that world as anything but hopeless?
I don't know.
But this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to Africa on June 6th for 2 months ... maybe (and quite possibly) longer. I'm going to work with the group Hands at Work. I'm going to bring a video camera and a microphone and I'm going to try and give a voice to people I meet so that I can find a way to relate our world with that world. I'm going to post pictures, videos up on my youtube channel (newsgirl7) and blog compulsively, as I always do.
What this will do... again, I don't know.
But it shall be interesting.
Thanks for joining me.
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