More on Chemiless Town/ Setting up the Experiment and Air Sampling
By Tessa Somermeyer Japan
Wow I haven't written for awhile, but I blogged while i was there so i'll finish posting my blogs that I wrote ^_^ Can't believe summer is over, it went too fast and I miss Japan everyday.
The Chemiless Town Project. Before people begin to live in the Chemiless Town, the researchers are analyzing the environment of the four different houses; this is done by taking air samples in two different rooms within each house, a classroom setting, and one sample outside one of the houses. Two different air-sampling machines are set up in each sampling spot. One machine samples for 11 different aldehydes and another samples for 30 different VOCs (volatile organic compounds).
Before they begin to sample they come early in the morning and open the windows for 1 hour to exchange all of the air in the rooms. They return to close all the windows and then turn on the sampling machines, which take 5 hours to warm up. Around 3pm the sampling tubes are placed in the machines and the air samplers are turned on. They will collect for 24 hours. Photo-documentation is made after each sampler is setup. After 24 hours all of the sampler tubes are collected and are then sent to a lab for analysis.
The companies that designed the houses were told to construct houses that are natural and healthy to live in; each house has its own unique design depending on each company's idea of what they think a "healthy environment" means. The people who will stay in the houses are people who suffer from Sick Building Syndrome, which is a set of conditions that is caused from prolonged exposure to certain VOCs. People who experience Sick Building Syndrome have one or more of the following symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, nausea, a soar throat, and asthma. In the future, when people stay in the houses, they will stay for 1 night or up to week. To make sure that the house does not make their symptoms worse, the participants will be taken to one of the houses earlier in the day to stay for an hour.
This experimental town has been constructed under the idea of "Environmental Preventative Medicine" where they will hope to improve the health of future generations. When participants stay in the Chemiless Town, the hope is that their symptoms improve or disappear. The research hopes to find a way of building indoor environments, which are healthier to live and work within as well as a solution to prevent the occurrence of Sick Building Syndrome.
Hello again!
As many of you know, I have finally returned back to the states. I mentioned in my last blog, (posted on July 4th) that I was including a few photos, but unfortunately they didn't attach. Here are a few photos and some captions from my time in Uganda. I will also be adding some videos and more photos next week. I hope you enjoy.
Doing a field experience this summer has been one of the best things that ever happened to me. To me it's been more of a major learning experience than anything else. It took me out of my usual comfort zone into a real world work scenario dealing with major public health policy issues. It was a new and challenging experience and I embraced it all in one.
After my first presentation like I mentioned earlier, my colleagues and I were charged to do a joint presentation using six countries namely Uganda, Burkina Faso, Fiji, Philippines, Niger and Ghana as case studies and this was to end my scope of work. We based our analysis of the countries' policies partly on the Landscape Analysis which is a World Health Organization's (WHO) ongoing analysis and evaluation of countries' readiness to speed up their nutrition action. This ongoing analysis also seeks to support these high-burden countries in developing an operational plan after developing nutrition policies. In addition, countries will be supported in understanding where and how best to invest in expediting the reduction of maternal and child undernutrition. To me, this is very crucial work in ensuring that countries are able to set their nutritional priorities right and to invest appropriately and it's great to be part of this important ongoing work! So now let me tell you about some of my adventures of exploring Europe when I am not working as a full time intern!
The Saturday prior to our big presentation, my colleague and I decided to take a trip to the famous Nestle chocolate factory in Broc-Fabrique (in the Fribourg region of Switzerland) known as the Cailler of Switzerland and then later headed off to Gruyere to explore the cheese factory known as "La Maison du Gruyere" to eat "fondue" right from the source. I was particularly excited about trying the fondue because a lot of people had described it so well that I just wanted to try the original meal from a cheese town! Sadly to say, it happened that the fondue was more like comfort food eaten mainly during the winter months to keep warm because it is a very hot food made from different cheese types with wine and spices eaten with either bread in bite sizes or boiled potatoes. It is also usually prepared in some special crockery which was beautifully displayed within the factory's forecourt. Since it was summer and very warm we were advised not to take a cold drink right after eating but rather drink wine or warm beer if we dare get the fondue. This is because it may take forever to digest. Since as tourist, we didn't have the pleasure of time (We needed to catch the next available train to get to Geneva in good time) we didn't try it so I will still be looking out for it. After taking a self-guided tour of the cheese factory and going through the various stages of cheese making through a very fancy mobile earpiece and various work stations we headed up to the Castle known as Chateau du Gruyere which is a very ancient castle housing the counts of Gruyere years ago. Upon entering the Chateau, it was a very different scene! The castle was very much alive with several souvenir shops and restaurants surrounding the forecourts bustling with throngs of tourist with a fountain right in the middle of it. One thing that caught my attention was how people will come by the fountain; dip their hands into the water and splash water on their foreheads or on their heads in a sacred cleansing manner! I am not sure what powers or blessings therein but I guess belief makes all the difference.
In my course of duty, I also got the chance of speaking with people from other departments and had the singular honor of speaking with the Deputy Director General of WHO, Dr. Asamoa-Baah. It was more of an informational interview and future directions for public health and my career trajectory. He was very pleasant to speak with and I think I ended up smiling throughout the entire conversation and oh yes! He was that pleasant and intellectually stimulating at the same time! I took lots of pictures along the way and during other activities and hope you enjoy the slide show.
I finally returned home! I have only been gone for a month and a half but home seems like a completely new place to me...an amazing place. I actually spent time discussing how awesome napkins and garbage cans were yesterday to my family. By the way, napkins and garbage cans are awesome inventions. Between the horrific bouts of jet lag I have started reflecting on my experience in Uganda and have come to some conclusions about the lessons I learned.
This past few weeks have been incredible, with several activities going on. Even though I knew working at the World Health Organization (WHO) will be more of a multicultural experience, it has been more of that even outside of the office. The week started well with me doing a desk review of the National Health Policy (NHP), Food and Agriculture Sector Development Policy (FASDEP I & II) as well as the 5-Year Program of Work (5YPOW) of Ghana which I was due to present during an upcoming Team meeting. This involves reading the available policy documents either soft or hard copies and strategically analyzing the information in terms of the time frame of the plan of work, the scope of coverage of vulnerable population sub groups, issues on infant and young child feeding, multivitamin deficiencies and programs to address them. In addition, I had to do an analytical review of what policies they had on elimination of infectious diseases like HIV/ AIDS, TB and malaria as well as policies on agriculture, trade and the state of legislative code on the marketing of breastmilk substitutes in the country. This has all been very interesting since it shows me a broad and multi-faceted approach in dealing with public health nutrition issues. Ghana is described as one of the 36 high-burden countries as described by the Lancet Nutrition Series having more than 20% rate of stunting. During the 1992 International Conference on Nutrition (ICN) in Rome, member states agreed to develop National Plans of Action for Nutrition (NPAN) which will address major nutritional issues in their countries in terms of the priority areas. A global consensus was reached to address the following objectives or working areas that was of priority at the time. The themes were:
· incorporating nutritional objectives, considerations and components into development
policies and programmes;
· improving household food security;
· protecting consumers through improved food quality and safety;
· preventing and managing infectious diseases;
· promoting breast-feeding;
· caring for the socio-economically deprived and nutritionally vulnerable;
· preventing and controlling specific micronutrient deficiencies;
· promoting appropriate diets and healthy lifestyles;
· assessing, analysing and monitoring nutrition situations.
A review of Ghana's NHP and 5YPOW indicated that each of the nine working areas and objectives had been considered and programs have been developed to address some of the issues. This is still very much work in progress with the Ministry of Health as the main implementing and coordinating body and the Ghana Health Service as the main operational face of the ministry. Different 5YPOWs have been developed over the years and the current one spans the period between 2007 and 2011. This living document has been developed at a time when the government is accelerating its efforts towards wealth creation and poverty reduction as part of its goal of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The priorities and strategies spelt out have been developed within the framework of the government's development agenda as stated in the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy papers and the three priority areas of transforming Ghana into a Middle Income Country by the year 2015 which are Private Sector Development, Good Governance and Human Resource Development. Other stakeholders and agencies like the United Nations World Food Program (UNWFP), WHO, UNICEF, GAIN and FAO serve as developmental partners offering financial and technical support for these nutrition intervention programs in the country. I will bring you more of what my work entails and how this whole global nutrition policy review began and how this crucial work will help countries scale up actions towards nutrition.
working cheerfully behind my desk on a bright sunny day
Life after work is so much fun and very multicultural as well. I thought I was going to be immersed in a lot of European culture and yes! I get more of that when I am in town as well as WHO where I hear a lot of people speaking French or German or Italian as well as their mannerisms. On the other hand though is my encounter with the Kenyan culture. My hostess is a Kenyan and she has a large group and network of friends who are Kenyans as well working in various UN agencies and the Kenyan mission here in Geneva. She had recently moved into her new apartment and organized a house-warming party where I ate among other things "chapati", more like tortilla made with unbleached wheat flour and "Pilau rice" made with chicken and the Pilau spice which is a very typical meal in Kenya. It was so fun meeting a lot of very friendly Kenyans. I even made a new young friend called Prince.
The delicious pilau rice
beautifully sliced chapati
Party time!
with my lovely new friend Prince
Within that same week on Friday, Joseph, our Kenyan friend who is interning at the UN headquarters invited us for a Kenyan dinner of "Ugali". We were so excited that my colleague at work, Giulia (Italian) who was not familiar with eating with the bare hands and fingers ended up making the chicken sauce that was to go with the Ugali! In the end, she mastered the art of eating Ugali and chicken without cutlery! We had so much fun after which we watched a movie and ate some delicious chocolate ice cream for dessert. It was just a nice way to round up the week and enjoy a Friday night!
Giulia and I busy in the kitchen
Jacquline, Joseph and Giulia
Saturday was no different and the fun continued. My uncle's friend whom I had met at WHO as a Health Systems Adviser, took his nephew and I round for a ride and later to the famous lake parade of Geneva and this was definitely a crossroad of cultures! The lake road was filled with people from all over the world and people dressed in funny clothing happily moving about and dancing following the trucks that carried people with live music. Other trucks also seemed to be advertising for one product or selling drinks to people who were thirsty long the parade route and others just sat along the road to watch it all.
Dr. Dovlo and I at the parade
Rudy and I with the Jet d'eau right behind us e-none" style="" />
After completing my scope of work I left the small town of Ssembabule to travel around Uganda. First I went to the capital of Kampala, which after spending over a month in a small village was incredibly overwhelming. Ssembabule is the Thief River Falls as Kampala is to Minneapolis, except picture Minneapolis with twice as much traffic (and pollution from diesel fuels), more people, and sans traffic signs (of any kind%u2026so no stop lights or signs). I was able to go shopping at the craft market downtown, which was my first time really haggling as a consumer. I had heard that to buy the item at the price it is worth you should be able to bargain down to one-third of the original asking price. I was never even able to bargain down to half price so now I realize how difficult it is to haggle. I feel pretty fortunate that I was able to make it through the day without being hit by a mutatu (public taxi van) or a boda boda (motorcycle taxi) and also left with some cool souvenirs for my family.
I have taken stance on my blogs to just write about what I see, positive or negative. Regardless of all the negatives I have blogged about recently I am absolutely loving my time here.
Currently I am in Aura, perhaps my most favorite place i have ever traveled. the people are overly welcoming and polite. The peaceful mix of Sudanese, Congolese, and Ugandans along with hints of Ethiopian, Indian, and western peoples has made this place overly diverse and full of life. The food is also delicious. I had a full and scrumptious Ethiopian meal last night for about $1.45. the taste of the food is just as wonderful as walking on the streets. You see men and women wearing beautiful fabric from Nigeria, Congo, and Uganda while carrying mixes of fresh avocado, a variety of mangoes and bananas, jack fruit, watermelon, and many food items that I have never seen before. All of my senses have had their curiosity of the unknown fulfilled from the seemingly endless markets.
It is wonderful place to visit even though there are no tourist attractions here. AS soon as I finish this blog I'm going to walk down the street to meet Anna and Mac for Indian food. Tomorrow I will be sad to leave but happy to be on the road to lay my eyes on the rest of the pearls of this country. This weekend will entail rafting in Jinja and after I will bus East to the mountains of Fort Portal.
Those are the words from an experienced Ugandan Development Professional that I will call John, this is not his name but he asked to not be identified. He felt that exposing his name could be harmful to his career.
Corruption is a leech. Incessantly and quietly it insidiously and maliciously sucks the resources from those who need it most. Jeffery Sachs and I are in disagreement because I believe corruption is one of the hindermost problems for development. The problem with corruption, in general, are that the issues that surround it cannot always be labeled as good or bad, right or wrong, or black or white, but, corruption from the top down can be easily be given the label of stupidity.
"I do not think there is a word for evil in Buddhism. I think this is something you must ask real Buddhist scholars. But we speak of ill will, we speak of ignorance, we speak of greed, but we don't speak of evil as such. There is no evil, just stupidity." - Aung San Suu Kyi
The news papers are lathered with stories about corruption in Uganda. Just yesterday there were headline articles about the selling of the Entebbe airport from the government of Uganda to a Ugandan governmental minister. A separate headline in a different paper explained how many of the government staff have brand new overly elegant vehicles but none of these government officials seem to know where the money came from to purchase the cars. These depressing situations are a norm here, laced into society like an addictive drug.
John told me that President Museveni surrounds himself with his relatives and close family from his origins. Chief justice, tax collections, and revenue authority positions have been magically filled by those closest to Museveni. Let's not fail to mention that Museveni has been in control since the 1980s and is responsible for ridding of presidential term limits. The list continues to stretch.
In the 2007/2008 fiscal year John explained how there was 1.3 trillion Ugandan Shillings available to fix and construct new roads. I can safely tell you that that did not happen (check out my transportation and public health post). The roads here are a death trap. Another newspaper that I saw yesterday had a bloody and grotesque photo of a car accident that killed a number of people. This is infuriating. If the money was placed correctly and responsibly Uganda could have a wonderful road system like Rwanda, its neighbor to the south.
That money could have been used to pave new roads, fix the potholes in the presently paved roads that make everything appear as if it had been bombed, employ more traffic police, install more traffic signs and lights, and more. Instead the alternative exists where people die stupidly every day. It is stupid that the government misuses aid money designated to provide treatments for individuals living with HIV/AIDS, it is stupid that the salaries are so low here that people are often forced into corruption, it is stupid that Museveni is one of the richest leaders in the world while there is Famine in the north of his own country, it is stupid that girls of low SES here have to resort to prostitution just to get an education while government staff have new cars. I'm going to put it as simple as I can, corruption kills.
Corruption does not only exist in the government here, it is on all scales, as explained by John. Local police, headmasters of schools, NGOs, and more have all been known to harness the hands of corruption. The problem starts from the top because it sinks from the top. It sinks into all reaches and no one is immune. In Nigeria the slang term for corruption is dashing and in Swahili it is kitu kidogo. We have it in the USA and so does every country and corner of the world. The discussion can go on for ages but the question should be where does a country, such as Uganda, go from here?
Well not everything here is sinking or stupid. Even the government has performed well in certain cases. For example, Uganda has generally low rates of HIV/AIDs compared to its neighbors because the government took an active role in confronting the virus when it first appeared (Google the ABC program of Uganda). There are also many wonderful individuals and NGOs working to make a fix. John is one of those individuals. When I asked him what needs to changed here is the list he said, "People need to adhere to rules, no one can be above the law, people need to be reprimanded equally, and leadership is supposed to be exemplary." With people like John in the country there is hope for change. Maybe our roll should then be to make sure that people like John are supported and allowed to set the example, and not the stupid people that make society sink.
The means of conducting high quality and successful work in the field
international health and development (IHD) have long been discovered.
Currently I am at the MIHV site in Sembabule with Anna and Sarah. This
past week I have been assisting on a variety of projects including the
reorganizing of the sites' library. It is full of MIHV documents and
papers, brochures, reports, books, and magazines about IHD. This was a
tedious task full of aged dust that pairs lovingly with an already
heinous cough. It was a lovely experience. During a state of boredom I
happened to randomly flip open a book and word for word below is what
I found.
While my Twins cap was likely the only evidence of baseball in the district, titillating reveries of The Dome danced in my head while passing through Chenggong County--an enormous farming community that lies just outside Kunming proper--for the first time two weeks ago. With foothills in the distance, our bus floated through an abyss of greenhouses that stretched for 5 miles.
Before I left for Tanzania, I already knew that things rarely turn out the way that you plan them. It appears as that goes double for things in Africa. The few plans that I had for my time here didn't seem to materialize, and the project I came to work on turned out to be vastly different than I had imagined. But that is life.
My trip to Karatu fell through, which is pretty disappointing for me. However, it gave me an extra day of being on safari where we visited Tarangarie National Park, home to nearly 3,000 elephants and many other animals such as giraffe, lion, leopard, wildebeast, waterbuck, warthogs, tree pythons, zebra, baboons, ostrich, elant, mongoose (which I should get extra credit for spotting and correctly identifying), monkeys, impalas, and water buffalo. This was on Sunday, after we had spent the previous day at the Ngorogoro Crater where we saw many of the same animals, in addition to a black rhinoceros. hippos, pelicans, hyenas, flamingo, cheetah, and a good show of lions mating.
As for my project, I definitely learned a lot about public health issues in Tanzania and about appropriate technologies that are being developed and implemented to help improve public health. I was hoping to work on something that I would be able to see go into practice here, but it was just not possible within the time frame that I have had here. I would guess it's my background working in social services that compels me to want to dig it and help as many people as I can, but as we learn in public health, the first and most important step is to listen and develop relationships with the community. With only five weeks, that was a task that could not be accomplished. So I will take the lessons I have learned here and apply them to the rest of my coursework at the SPH. Perhaps I will be able to return again one day to work on the issues that I have discovered to be important and of great interest to me.
I will post photos when I return home to Minnesota at the end of the week.
It is amazing what people can get used to. I am at a point where I do not think twice about bucket bathing or going to the bathroom in a hole in the ground. I haven't even thought about the fact that there is no refrigerator basically since I got here. Although it would be nice to be able to store food, it is also nice being able to buy all my food fresh each day. I think the reason for this is that they don't eat food here that needs to be stored. The downside to this is that the food selection is extremely limited and I would kill for a brownie.
Although it is still frustrating, I am getting used to working with limited resources. The unreliable electricity and internet force me to use my time wisely and it has been a great lesson for me to learn how to produce quality work with so little. I think this is a lesson in patience and hopefully I will bring it home with me.
Another thing I am getting used to is all the animals/bugs that live in the vicinity of my bedroom (and by vicinity I mean within 30 feet and the grossest ones live the closest). I have learned that bats are the grossest looking creatures that ever lived, but I am not as afraid of them as I once was. The cockroaches are awful but I am actually getting used to seeing them around. Goats, cows and chickens are often wandering around our site in the middle of the roads and no one seems to think twice about it. Whose animals are these? I also have a Gecko that likes to sleep in my bedroom that I have tentatively named Henry. At first he made me nervous but Geckos are everywhere in Uganda (restaurants, in people's homes etc.), so now I kind of enjoy his company. In addition, we have three roosters living in our site right now that we plan to slaughter and eat. I have never seen my meat slaughtered in front of me, but I plan to try to watch the entire ordeal. I think it will be very difficult to watch them get killed but am also okay with it for two reasons: apparently roosters do not only crow at dawn; they crow all the time and especially at night while I am sleeping, and two is that I think they have had a better life than the majority of the chickens in the United States.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, it is also amazing what Americans are used to that Ugandans are not. Part of my scope of work is to complete staff development trainings and I have focused on computer skills. I recently taught a "file saving and file organization," training as well as an "Excel" training to the Ugandan staff at our site. Some of the staff had never used a computer before. It was awesome to teach them something new since the majority of my trip has been spent learning new things from all of the staff. Even more exhilarating was how intently they listened and wanted to learn. In addition, cars are a luxury in Uganda. It is not considered a necessity here as it often is in the States, and even if it was most people could not afford them. It is probably a good thing more people do not own cars here because the roads are very hilly and rough and they tend to drive in the middle of the road while approaching a rough hill. Lastly, I don't think any Ugandan would know of the word "privacy." The idea of your own space does not seem to exist here. I often wonder when I get back to the States if it will be hard for me to be alone because I do not think I have been alone for more time than it takes in the bathroom.
I spent the day helping out with an English class at PeaceHouse. As I wandered about the classroom, I was cheerfully greeted by the students, "You are welcome!" and promptly bombarded with questions. "What do you like about Tanzania?" [Everything! the people, the food, the environment!]. "Why did Michael Jackson want to become white?" [Michael Jackson had a skin problem where his skin was many different shades, he was just trying to fix it.] "Can I study both accounting and science?" [I don't see why not! Go for it!] "What causes muscle cramps?" [A buildup of lactic acid in your muscles. I mean, an imbalance of chemicals in your body. Be sure to stretch and drink lots of water prior to exercising]. "Why can girls get pregnant but not boys?" [Girls have different body parts that allow them to be pregnant. You'll learn more about this in Life Skills class.] "Does the U.S. have a prime minister in addition to a president?" [Nope. Obama is our president. We have congresspeople and senators as well--have you learned about these branches of American government?] "What color of skin do people have where you come from?" [All different colors!] "Your skin is like an albino Tanzanian!" [Yup!] "Do you speak Swahili?" [I'm trying to learn!] "What is New York City like? [Big, full of lights, exciting]. "Do you hand wash your clothes?" [Sometimes, but I also use a washing machine.]
This press conference-like atmosphere lasted all class. I tried to sneak in a question here and there--what is important to you? [Education! Food!] What are your hobbies? [Soccer!] etc. Next, I attended volleyball club, which was a lot of fun. These students are such great kids; I wish I had more time here to get to know them better.
On Monday we visited a children's village called Food, Water, Shelter (FWS). It's a newer NGO which was started by five women from Australia about five years ago. You can read more about it at http://www.foodwatershelter.org.au/ It is still in the development phase, so the residents have not moved in yet, but the mamas have been selected and the hope is that they will move in with their children by the end of August. The mamas are women from the community who will live at FWS and raise a group of children from the Arusha area who are orphans. Each mama will have their own living space that they share with the children under their care so that attachment can be fostered and a parent-child relationship can be developed..
The most interesting part of FWS is that it has been developed to be eco-friendly and self-sustaining. They have nearly every eco-friendly technology I have seen so far at their site. We saw the rainwater collection system, the aquifer they are building, the organic garden they have planted (which they hope will eventually feed all 60 residents there), the tilapia pond they dug and now eat fish from, and the cows they have for their waste generation to use for bio-gas. We learned about the sanitation system they will be using for human waste. They will use urine as a nitrogen source to grow banana trees and will compost solid human waste to be used as fertilizer for the fruit they will grow. It was great to see so many self-sustaining systems being employed all in one place.
Yesterday we went to the new Arusha Lutheran Medical Center in town to meet with the woman in charge of the subsidized orthopedic surgery program that is operated out of the hospital. The woman in charge, Sarah Wallis, does outreach in communities where she finds children with physical disabilities. She meets with their families and tells them about the program at the hospital where the children can come and get operated on and then stay for the entire time of their recovery. The surgeries performed include cleft palate, club foot, and burn scars. Parents must pay 100,000 shillings for the surgery (approximately $90 USD) so that they have an investment in the medical care. Sarah is hoping to start another program that is focused on education about burns and includes the development of an acute burn unit at the medical center. She explained that she sees a lot of burn scars in the communities, mostly in the Masaii areas because the dwellings that the Masaii live in, called bomas, have a fire in the middle which can easily lead to children getting burned.
Tomorrow we leave for a weekend safari near the Serengeti. On Friday we will do a site visit at a community that will be installing a new water system for irrigation soon. The NGO Global Service Corps will be digging a hafir there so the engineers on our team are going to look at the site and give their input. We will then spend Saturday at the Ngorogoro Crater. On Sunday, I will leave the group and bus to Karatu where I will do site visits and be hosted by Minnesota International Health Volunteers. Monday I bus back to Arusha and then on Wednesday Kat and I will be busing back to Dar Es Salaam for our departing flight on Thursday.
I have finally arrived at the point in my field experience where my remaining days in-country are numbered and time is moving fast. There are still so many things that I want to do and see before I leave, so hopefully there will be time for the important things. I will hopefully be able to post again before I leave next week, but internet access will be limited. I plan to write some follow-up posts when I return home and have the ability to post pictures.
"I feel good about this--I think she'll let us summit," Frank says, gazing up at the glacier atop Mount Kilimanjaro. We've been hiking for four days; three of them above the clouds. The vegetation has changed from rain forest to moorland to alpine desert. During the day, the equatorial sun beats down in potent UV rays--during the night, the air is frigid. Everything--everything--is coated in mountain dust. Everyone is filthy, coughing chronically from the dry air, peeing constantly from the diarrhetic altitude medication Diamox, and radiating heat from sunburns...and loving every minute of it. The trek has been brilliant, the views comparable to medieval art depicting heaven.
The team will, pending injury or pulmonary edema, summit in less than 48 hours. It won't be a problem for the Scandinavian men on our climbing team--Frank, the bearded Norwegian explorer quite naturally stepping out of the frame of a National Geographic cover and onto the mountain. His adventure buddy, Daniel, a Swede enthusiasti ally referred to as "Supertall" by the porters, is constantly pausing to take photographs with his giant-lensed camera, yet never lags behind the group. Then there's Tammy, the big-hearted aunt of Amber; on the hike because "Amber made her." I'm the 5th team member and climbing Kili because it's a great personal challenge and a way to see gorgeous views of Tanzania. Somehow, these mountain experts--next up is Everest--and the three women make a good team.
We begin the trek wandering through the mountain rain forest, chatting about randomness and playing the Mountain Mens' favorite hiking game. We wonder where our guide--an expressionless Tanzanian man named Crispin was. Hakuna matata, we mutter, and forge on down the well-traveled path. The Mountain Men set the pace--a very slow and steady pace. Step. Step. Step. I had never hiked at such a slow pace but I begin to understand the logic. Groups that had zoomed past us hours ago were leaning against trees, wiping sweat from their faces, as we steadily march upward. We continue this processional through the next two days.
Today, Barafu Wall requires us to pack up the hiking poles and grasp rock hand grips as we scramble upward. Careful not to slip on ice-coated footholds or fall into glacial streams, we meander our way up the wall. I love the variation in the hiking--both scenery and style. The pretty, resilient little mountain flowers, the mist from clouds rolling into valleys, the trees that look like giant pineapples...and of course, the ever-present, majestic views of Kili's summit.
As grandiose and wonderful as this experience is, there is a dark side--the situation of the porters. These underpaid, underappreciated men carry the mzungo (I'm one of them) luggage: backpack, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, clothes, etc. plus the items for each campsite--tents, food, dishes, cooking utensils, pots, pans, lawn chairs--heavy, heavy stuff. And, unlike the mzungos wheezing their way up the rocks, the porters don't have camelbacks, hiking poles, microfiber long underwear, polarized sunglasses. The just put the heavy packs on their heads and scramble through the rocks. Do they like the job? It's probably good to have a job...but ouch, this one comes with a lot of pain. The dozen or so people that die on the mountain each year? Porters, mostly. But to get the more lucrative position of Guide or Assistant Guide, one must prove himself as a porter. Crispin did ten years. Yesterday, when one porter was feeling sick, the guides just were annoyed. It's a rough situation.
July 11, 2009
Unable to sleep, I sit up, alert in the freezing tent as my watch alarm beeps 11pm. It is time to begin the nightlong ascent to the summit. I layer clothing like crazy, switch on the headlamp, and join the group. The Mountain Men look prepared in their high-tech gear. Amber and Tammy toss in a few extra pieces of candy into their packs. I'm nervous--I feel like I was about to enter some sort of Viking battle. We quickly drink some tea and set off. The hill is steep, the footing rocky. I fix my gaze on Crispin's hot pink gaiters to keep pace.
Step. Step. Step. It gets colder. I grab the straw of my Camelback but it's now solid ice. No water. I start worrying about altitude sickness--or worse. But the worries drift like clouds through my exhausted body. It's 2am--our pole pole (pole-ay, pole-ay: "slowly") pace seems to be speeding up--we keep passing pale-faced hikers leaning on rocks for support. Breathing is a challenge: the 50% oxygen level, the arctic air, the physical exertion. I just want to rest...just for a second. But we continue. The usually chatty group is silent as the moonlight illuminates the glaciers above. Step. Step. Step. Just keep walking. My thoughts weave together with my mind radio. "Jump Around" pops into my mental playlist. Hours pass and Crispin pauses at the top of a ridge, his arms outstretched. "Congratulations, you've reached Stella Point," he says. Great, I think, but it's not the summit. I sit on a rock. Frank lends me his giant down parka. I want to take a nap, but it's time to continue to Uhuru Peak--the highest point in Africa.
I shuffle back into the rhythm. To the left is a beautiful, magnificent, blue-tinted glacier. "Wow," I whisper aloud (and then spend the next few minutes catching my breath). The ice looks so majestic--intimidating and peaceful at the same time. It's like seeing the night sky in a really dark place for the first time--the stars are a bit overwhelming. The team makes it to to the famous Uhuru Peak summit sign. However, we had ascended so fast that our summit didn't coincide with the sunrise as planned. We take celebratory photos in the dark and manage to convey, "Congratulations!" to each other through garbled, oxygen-deprived speech.
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