Quick update because I'm not feeling 100%. The clinic has been really busy the last few days. It's often frustrating because we don't really have the proper resources or equipment. On top of that, many of our patients are middle age to elderly women who may be hypochondriacs. At the same time though, we are doing some legitimate good helping kids get better. It's worth dealing with the frustrating patients for the people that you really can do a good job healing, especially when the condition is easily treatable and clear cut.
This past weekend I went to Uganda. Uganda's really beautiful with incredible landscapes surrounding Lake Victoria and the Nile. I bungee jumped for the first time in my life. I don't know if I've been more scared in my life. My brain was telling me it was safe but every subconscious nerve fiber in your body tells you not to. It was fun but not something I'm looking to do anytime again soon. All the blood rushed out of my limbs. They also gave enough slack so the top half of my body plunged into the Nile which the bungee was above.
After that I went rafting. It was definitely the most intense rapids I've ever seen in my life. Virtually every boat flipped at least once, ours included. Being in the Nile is an interesting experience because it's always been this exotic faraway river that was so vital for civilization that you learned about in your history classes.
I got some pretty bad sunburn though and that made me physically sick yesterday and I'm still feeling pretty dumpy today.
Anyways, hope all is well.
Ben
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Kenya!!
Although I still have a lot to say about Senegal and Mali, I just wanted to give a quick update on Kenya.
Kenya is a completely different world. It is extremely lush, more modern and overall doesn't have quite the same desperate quality as Senegal and Mali. The people are not nearly as in your face, the country is cleaner and economically, although not good, much better off. It doesn't look like people are starving as much. I can see how people can focus on health care here as opposed to West Africa where it was hard to think about health care with so many more pressing issues.
I also started working at the clinic today. It is a really cool group of med students working here from all over, including a couple from the UK. We really do act like doctors here, writing up prescriptions for meds and everything. So far people mostly have Malaria or Typhoid. It's pretty much the equivalent of how often I see diabetes and hypertension at the Free Clinic I work at in Columbus We have one doctor here who will be leaving tomorrow basically leaving med students in charge. We have a fifth year student from Scotland who will carry much of the burden but we will probably also have to refer more people to the local hospital.
Today flew by. The work is exciting and interesting. I like that I'm getting into a routine that will include some downtime to read and hang out. Traveling was fun but it was also exhausting and crazy at times. Hopefully I'll get to explore Kenya soon.
Kenya is a completely different world. It is extremely lush, more modern and overall doesn't have quite the same desperate quality as Senegal and Mali. The people are not nearly as in your face, the country is cleaner and economically, although not good, much better off. It doesn't look like people are starving as much. I can see how people can focus on health care here as opposed to West Africa where it was hard to think about health care with so many more pressing issues.
I also started working at the clinic today. It is a really cool group of med students working here from all over, including a couple from the UK. We really do act like doctors here, writing up prescriptions for meds and everything. So far people mostly have Malaria or Typhoid. It's pretty much the equivalent of how often I see diabetes and hypertension at the Free Clinic I work at in Columbus We have one doctor here who will be leaving tomorrow basically leaving med students in charge. We have a fifth year student from Scotland who will carry much of the burden but we will probably also have to refer more people to the local hospital.
Today flew by. The work is exciting and interesting. I like that I'm getting into a routine that will include some downtime to read and hang out. Traveling was fun but it was also exhausting and crazy at times. Hopefully I'll get to explore Kenya soon.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Waiting for Bamako or Sleeping Under the Stars
The last time you heard from me, I was at a mattress store/ cyber cafe killing time before heading into Mali. For the last week, I've been traveling throughout this giant country. I called my blog "Ben's Adventures in Africa" for a reason. My biggest adventure so far was the two day bus trip between Dakar, Senegal and Bamako, Mali. I think it helped to get a good part of visiting Africa out of my system.
Our bus was scheduled to leave at 4am and arrive in Bamako 24 hours later. We decided to go with the bus options and forgo the more standard method of transportation in Africa, the "sept place". The sept place is a station wagon that is crammed with seven people. It is extremely uncomfortable and younger people generally need to sit in the back. I took one back and forth between Theis and Dakar, a three hour, hot and miserable trip. We decided for a different option.
We decided to go with the big, air conditioned, "express" bus. This was partially due to the fact that we needed to go back to Dakar to pick up our Malian visas that were supposed to take an afternoon but actually took 2 days to process. At the embassy they had advertisements for this bus company.
We needed to pick up our tickets from the station that afternoon. There was no ticket counter or window, just some guys with a folding table that we bought our tickets from. There was a range of buses from fairly decent to completely crappy.
We spent the night at our friend, the Belgium's, house. In the middle of the night we packed up and headed for the bus station. It was a real mess with people grabbing your bags and trying to put them on top along with about 100 other peoples’. Once on the bus, we quickly realized it wasn't one of the nicer ones. It didn't have air conditioning, or even windows that really opened. They also retrofitted the bus with an extra row of seats in the aisle. Max and I were lucky enough to get normal seats. People also had giant pots and other wears on their laps for what was supposed to be a 24 hour bus ride to Mali.
After a hour and a half delay, we were off! 48 hours later we would arrive in Mali, exhausted, smelly, and on our second bus. I'm going to highlight some of the events that transpired on my bus trip.
We visited many different towns along the way. At many, people would get on and off. Each stop took about an hour. These delays were the most frustrating part of the whole trip. I didn't mind the slowness or our bus getting passed as much as not moving at all.
Although most of the towns were decrepit and filled with beggars and people who would swarm and try to sell any white person anything they had, one town stands out, Kowlack. Kowlack was the dirtiest place I have ever seen. Their lake is filled with trash. Flies were everywhere. Although other towns were crappy, getting out of Kowlack made everywhere else seem first world. It's normal to see dirty towns because people will just throw their trash everywhere. There are no trash cans for the most part and its really difficult to find anywhere else to throw stuff besides right on the ground. I think not only is this terrible because of the environmental consequences to things like drinking water but it also probably contributes to some of the attitude of anything goes and not caring about your surroundings.
We had to get on and off the bus four times for passport/customs/border checks. Each check would take about an hour. Although we were given no problems each stop took time in order to work out the proper "fee" to give the border crossing. We also frequently had to stop for road block checkpoints. Each of these lasted about 15 minutes.
When we eventually ended up getting to the Malian border, it turned out to be closed for the night. This was partially due to two flat tires our bus suffered along the way. We were forced to get off the bus and sleep under the stars. Conveniently there was someone renting out mats. If this was America, people would have been outraged by the constant delays. In Africa, there is a little spirit of "C'est Afrique" or "This is Africa" (you might have heard this before in the movie Blood Diamond). An elderly African woman actually said this to us on the bus after one of our many stops.
I actually didn't mind the stopover. It was a little fun and I got to speak with many of the different characters on the bus who I'll get to later. I don't know if I'll ever forget just hanging outside with some of the African guys speculating on when our bus will get there.
On this journey I ate lots and lots of street meat. I haven't made my mind up yet on street meat. It is very tasty and greasy (generally lamb) but makes my stomach feel a little off. Also, although drinking tons and tons of water, I pissed like once on the trip due to the constant sweating.
One really interesting thing along the journey was the constant cell phone towers juxtaposed to the smallest, shanty villages. People live in literal mud huts without electricity and running water yet brand new cell phone towers abound everywhere.
By far the most exciting part of the trip though, was crossing the Senegal river. After a short time in Mali, we had to stop for about 2 hours when we had to switch buses. This was due to the fact that the last bus "can't cross water". I took this to mean that there was a bridge that our bus couldn't cross. Max took this to mean we would be encountering big puddles. Instead, we actually had to cross the Senegal River. This is not a small stream but instead a giant wide river hundreds of yards across. The bus was up about 2 or 3 feet in water as it crossed on this make shift elevated road in the river. It was exciting crossing while people next to you were crossing in boats.
I didn't mind the new bus because it had windows that opened. This helped to cool the bus and also reduced some of the stink from the tons of people. I could sleep easier with a breeze in my face. Although this was nice, some people were forced to stand in the aisles (this bus didn’t have the extra row of seats) for the entire 20 hour bus ride to Bamako.
Now I'll quickly mention some of the characters on the bus.
Guy from Benin: This was a nice guy who spoke really good English. He was the one who helped keep me abreast of what was going on. In Mali, he was scheduled to change on another bus ride that would take a few more days.
Crazy Lady: This lady is pretty unremarkable but for the fact at some random town, she started going crazy. The people working on the bus tried to calm her down but she wouldn't have any of it and continued screaming about something for like a half hour.
Nigerian: This group of guys were cool and spoke broken English even with each other. They had a long long trip ahead of them back to Nigeria and other countries around there. They kept on saying on delay after delay "this would never happen in Nigeria" and "this is worse than anything that happens in Nigeria". Bold claims. They also paid the toll at the border crossing for the next family.
Giant Family: There was also a big family who was moving all of there stuff on top of the bus. We didn't really understand this until we arrived in Mali and dropped them off at the side of the road but they brought everything they owned. Their fridge and mattresses and everything was on top of the bus. They refused to pay all of their tolls for all their luggage so in order to keep moving the Nigerians paid the toll (to my understanding). They also had a sweat little girl who I bonded with.
Congo Guy: There was also a guy making his way to the CONGO. That is very very far away. He told us that he was going to the Congo to escape his family because they kept all the money that he made. This is a common occurrence in Africa that one member of the family supports the rest. Africa isn't dominated by individualism like America.
Dowda: This was probably the nicest guy we met on the trip. He ran the bus. He was chill and spoke some English. Like many of the Africans you get to know, eventually he wanted us to send him something from America. This is understandable considering the little for the most part they have here.
That's all for the bus characters we met. I was shocked by those who had days and days more of bus rides coming. I also really got to talk with some Africans along the way which was interesting. In America, law-suits would have been filed and free vouchers would have rained upon us. In Africa, situations like these are accepted as part of life.
When we arrived, we quickly went to a hotel the guide book said was "nice" and after a long shower (it took forever to wash the grime off) we went to bed only to wake up the next day to another wild adventure.
Im going to stop writing for now because this post is getting out of control long. In my next post, I'm going to talk a little more about Mali including, Dogoon country, other cities of Mali, the crazy day of getting a tour guide, and Bamako versus Senegal.
Tonight, I leave for Kenya. I'm most excited about settling down someplace and getting some sort of routine going. I'm also saying goodbye to my friend Max as my travel buddy. He's been great to travel with to help show me the ropes and also to act as my translator. We've had some memorable moments and some great conversations (mostly consisting of would you rathers, and other hypotheticals)
In the end, West Africa has been an eye opening experience. In lots of areas here, things are really really bad. Many are economically depressed to the point of not having enough to eat. When you go into a market, you get swarmed by people trying to sell you stuff. You always have to be wary about being ripped off or robbed. It is extremely dirty; hygiene and health are very poor.
That being said most of the people I have met have been extremely hospitable and friendly. They seem to enjoy life and don't obsess about things they don't have. In all, this society doesn't seem to be as materially obsessed as the US. I've made some good friends that I will have for years to come. I would definitely come back to further explore the cities I've been to and others I have yet to visit.
See you in Kenya,
Ben
Our bus was scheduled to leave at 4am and arrive in Bamako 24 hours later. We decided to go with the bus options and forgo the more standard method of transportation in Africa, the "sept place". The sept place is a station wagon that is crammed with seven people. It is extremely uncomfortable and younger people generally need to sit in the back. I took one back and forth between Theis and Dakar, a three hour, hot and miserable trip. We decided for a different option.
We decided to go with the big, air conditioned, "express" bus. This was partially due to the fact that we needed to go back to Dakar to pick up our Malian visas that were supposed to take an afternoon but actually took 2 days to process. At the embassy they had advertisements for this bus company.
We needed to pick up our tickets from the station that afternoon. There was no ticket counter or window, just some guys with a folding table that we bought our tickets from. There was a range of buses from fairly decent to completely crappy.
We spent the night at our friend, the Belgium's, house. In the middle of the night we packed up and headed for the bus station. It was a real mess with people grabbing your bags and trying to put them on top along with about 100 other peoples’. Once on the bus, we quickly realized it wasn't one of the nicer ones. It didn't have air conditioning, or even windows that really opened. They also retrofitted the bus with an extra row of seats in the aisle. Max and I were lucky enough to get normal seats. People also had giant pots and other wears on their laps for what was supposed to be a 24 hour bus ride to Mali.
After a hour and a half delay, we were off! 48 hours later we would arrive in Mali, exhausted, smelly, and on our second bus. I'm going to highlight some of the events that transpired on my bus trip.
We visited many different towns along the way. At many, people would get on and off. Each stop took about an hour. These delays were the most frustrating part of the whole trip. I didn't mind the slowness or our bus getting passed as much as not moving at all.
Although most of the towns were decrepit and filled with beggars and people who would swarm and try to sell any white person anything they had, one town stands out, Kowlack. Kowlack was the dirtiest place I have ever seen. Their lake is filled with trash. Flies were everywhere. Although other towns were crappy, getting out of Kowlack made everywhere else seem first world. It's normal to see dirty towns because people will just throw their trash everywhere. There are no trash cans for the most part and its really difficult to find anywhere else to throw stuff besides right on the ground. I think not only is this terrible because of the environmental consequences to things like drinking water but it also probably contributes to some of the attitude of anything goes and not caring about your surroundings.
We had to get on and off the bus four times for passport/customs/border checks. Each check would take about an hour. Although we were given no problems each stop took time in order to work out the proper "fee" to give the border crossing. We also frequently had to stop for road block checkpoints. Each of these lasted about 15 minutes.
When we eventually ended up getting to the Malian border, it turned out to be closed for the night. This was partially due to two flat tires our bus suffered along the way. We were forced to get off the bus and sleep under the stars. Conveniently there was someone renting out mats. If this was America, people would have been outraged by the constant delays. In Africa, there is a little spirit of "C'est Afrique" or "This is Africa" (you might have heard this before in the movie Blood Diamond). An elderly African woman actually said this to us on the bus after one of our many stops.
I actually didn't mind the stopover. It was a little fun and I got to speak with many of the different characters on the bus who I'll get to later. I don't know if I'll ever forget just hanging outside with some of the African guys speculating on when our bus will get there.
On this journey I ate lots and lots of street meat. I haven't made my mind up yet on street meat. It is very tasty and greasy (generally lamb) but makes my stomach feel a little off. Also, although drinking tons and tons of water, I pissed like once on the trip due to the constant sweating.
One really interesting thing along the journey was the constant cell phone towers juxtaposed to the smallest, shanty villages. People live in literal mud huts without electricity and running water yet brand new cell phone towers abound everywhere.
By far the most exciting part of the trip though, was crossing the Senegal river. After a short time in Mali, we had to stop for about 2 hours when we had to switch buses. This was due to the fact that the last bus "can't cross water". I took this to mean that there was a bridge that our bus couldn't cross. Max took this to mean we would be encountering big puddles. Instead, we actually had to cross the Senegal River. This is not a small stream but instead a giant wide river hundreds of yards across. The bus was up about 2 or 3 feet in water as it crossed on this make shift elevated road in the river. It was exciting crossing while people next to you were crossing in boats.
I didn't mind the new bus because it had windows that opened. This helped to cool the bus and also reduced some of the stink from the tons of people. I could sleep easier with a breeze in my face. Although this was nice, some people were forced to stand in the aisles (this bus didn’t have the extra row of seats) for the entire 20 hour bus ride to Bamako.
Now I'll quickly mention some of the characters on the bus.
Guy from Benin: This was a nice guy who spoke really good English. He was the one who helped keep me abreast of what was going on. In Mali, he was scheduled to change on another bus ride that would take a few more days.
Crazy Lady: This lady is pretty unremarkable but for the fact at some random town, she started going crazy. The people working on the bus tried to calm her down but she wouldn't have any of it and continued screaming about something for like a half hour.
Nigerian: This group of guys were cool and spoke broken English even with each other. They had a long long trip ahead of them back to Nigeria and other countries around there. They kept on saying on delay after delay "this would never happen in Nigeria" and "this is worse than anything that happens in Nigeria". Bold claims. They also paid the toll at the border crossing for the next family.
Giant Family: There was also a big family who was moving all of there stuff on top of the bus. We didn't really understand this until we arrived in Mali and dropped them off at the side of the road but they brought everything they owned. Their fridge and mattresses and everything was on top of the bus. They refused to pay all of their tolls for all their luggage so in order to keep moving the Nigerians paid the toll (to my understanding). They also had a sweat little girl who I bonded with.
Congo Guy: There was also a guy making his way to the CONGO. That is very very far away. He told us that he was going to the Congo to escape his family because they kept all the money that he made. This is a common occurrence in Africa that one member of the family supports the rest. Africa isn't dominated by individualism like America.
Dowda: This was probably the nicest guy we met on the trip. He ran the bus. He was chill and spoke some English. Like many of the Africans you get to know, eventually he wanted us to send him something from America. This is understandable considering the little for the most part they have here.
That's all for the bus characters we met. I was shocked by those who had days and days more of bus rides coming. I also really got to talk with some Africans along the way which was interesting. In America, law-suits would have been filed and free vouchers would have rained upon us. In Africa, situations like these are accepted as part of life.
When we arrived, we quickly went to a hotel the guide book said was "nice" and after a long shower (it took forever to wash the grime off) we went to bed only to wake up the next day to another wild adventure.
Im going to stop writing for now because this post is getting out of control long. In my next post, I'm going to talk a little more about Mali including, Dogoon country, other cities of Mali, the crazy day of getting a tour guide, and Bamako versus Senegal.
Tonight, I leave for Kenya. I'm most excited about settling down someplace and getting some sort of routine going. I'm also saying goodbye to my friend Max as my travel buddy. He's been great to travel with to help show me the ropes and also to act as my translator. We've had some memorable moments and some great conversations (mostly consisting of would you rathers, and other hypotheticals)
In the end, West Africa has been an eye opening experience. In lots of areas here, things are really really bad. Many are economically depressed to the point of not having enough to eat. When you go into a market, you get swarmed by people trying to sell you stuff. You always have to be wary about being ripped off or robbed. It is extremely dirty; hygiene and health are very poor.
That being said most of the people I have met have been extremely hospitable and friendly. They seem to enjoy life and don't obsess about things they don't have. In all, this society doesn't seem to be as materially obsessed as the US. I've made some good friends that I will have for years to come. I would definitely come back to further explore the cities I've been to and others I have yet to visit.
See you in Kenya,
Ben
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Mattresses and internet
Im back in Senegal killng some tme before my 24 hour bus ride to Bamako. Im in an 100 degree internet cafe/ matresses store dripping of sweat. Compared to Theis, Dakar is really put together. We took a set-place from theis to senegal which is a 7 person station zagon. Its about qa 3 hour trip with much of the time spent sitting in traffic.
I dont want to make senegal sound too bad though. It is a fascinating experience and Ive had the opportunityto meet some wonderful and friendly people. Everyone is willing to talk with you and weve only had one attempted pick pocket. Im really glad i came. Thats all due to me having to type on these crappy french style keyboards that are really frustrating to use.
Ben
I dont want to make senegal sound too bad though. It is a fascinating experience and Ive had the opportunityto meet some wonderful and friendly people. Everyone is willing to talk with you and weve only had one attempted pick pocket. Im really glad i came. Thats all due to me having to type on these crappy french style keyboards that are really frustrating to use.
Ben
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