Boo!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Today,
in honor of this marvelous holiday
five members of my team and I will
do door to door fundraising in Williamstown
to raise money for our team and to get treats for ourselves.
Woooo...ha....ha....ha....ha......!

Anopheles Attack!!!!!!

MALARIA: Where it's found and how to keep yourself healthy!

Malaria is preventable!
All deaths due to malaria are preventable!

Malaria is a fatal but curable disease that is caused by the bite of a female Anopheles mosquito. Malaria is caused by one of four protozoan species of the genus plasmodium:
1) Plasmodium Falciparum
2) Plasmodium Vivax
3) Plasmodium Ovale
4) Plasmodium Malarie

The female Anopheles mosquito injects the infective sporozite plasmodium forms which multiply in the liver cells and become hepatic shizonts that rupture and release merozoites into the bloodstream.
Malaria begins immediately after incubation, which can differ from one Plasmodium species to another, usually 6-30 days.

Other ways to contract:
1) Blood transfusion
2) Hypodermic syringe sharing
3) Mother to fetus

Malaria is prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa!
Malaria is very prevalent in Benguela, Angola and is the number one cause of child mortality under the age of five.
Where there is warmth and water, there are mosquitoes!

The only malaria free zones are North America, Europe and Australia!

How to Protect Yourself:
1) Prevent the breeding of mosquitoes near your living space by covering pools of stagnant water, wells, open containers, latrine and garbage.
2) Prevent yourself from being bitten by:
- Wearing long sleeves/clothes that cover your entire body
- Use insect repellent on exposed skin (DEET works well, but is highly toxic)
- Sleep under mosquito nets
- Dwell in well-screened areas
-Anopheles mosquitoes are nocturnal feeders. Transmission occurs between dusk and dawn. Avoid being outdoors at these times.
- Use a parathyroid- containing flying insect spray in living and sleeping areas (once again, these are highly toxic)
- Take your malaria medication before, during and after traveling as prescribed by a doctor
-If bitten know the symptoms and seek early treatment

Symptoms:
- Fever
- Chills
- Headache
-Lethargy
-Body Pain
- Muscular Aches
- Nausea
-Diarrhea
-Vomiting
* Treat the symptoms of Malaria early because Placsmodium Falciparum infections can cause Kidney failure, coma and death.

For more information regarding Malaria, contact the Malaria Hotline at 404.332.4555


The above is a presentation that I gave today for volunteers preparing to go to Zambia, Angola, Mozambique and Namibia. I'm in the process of translating this presentation into Portuguese so that I can present it to people in my community in Benguela. It will be difficult though. Not because of the language barrier, but because I don't know how to seriously look at a group of people who have lost their children and loved ones to Malaria and tell them something they already know, and have no control over. There is no money for mosquito nets, there is no money for pills, there is no money for fancy sprays and there is no money for screens. I am looking into mosquito net alternatives, I am looking into natural mosquito repellents, but it looks bleak.
If anyone has any helpful hints or tips, please let me know.....
Muito Obrigada!

winterization

Time is flying.
We just said goodbye to the May Team. They are off to Mozambique, Malawi or South Africa. It's so weird because they were just starting when I arrived in July. Now we have a new team coming, the November Team and my team has a approximately three months left. Time goes by so quickly.
This week-end was another building week-end and we winterized our facility. Plastic is covering the windows and the bases of the buildings have been wrapped in insulation and it's just in time because today has been COLD! Definitely around forty degrees (only).
This week I'll be preparing for fundraising trip number three in New York City. Yay, I get to go back home to New York. Hopefully it will be a money maker!

EPF

I just received my official job description.
From February 2008- August 2008, I'll be working at the Escola de Profesores do Futuro em Benguela ( school for future teachers of benguela).
The focus of the school is to train teachers from the primary schools in rural areas. The education is progressive in its approach and rigorous.
I'll be responsible for teaching some of the following courses (in Portuguese) : English, Mathematics, Science, Communications, The World Today, Angola Today, Geography, History, Arts, Economics, Philosophy of Education, Didactic, Pedagogy, Psychology, Ethics, Sociology and School Administration. (Needless to say, I think I'll leave the Math to someone else!)
I'll also be doing political Theatre Workshops, Gardening Club, Health Club and English Club (where i'll teach English through popular songs ;0) ) and depending on how my studies go, I may hold HIV/AIDS and Malaria prevention workshops (time will only tell).

I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

long lost photos

I've been spooked!

I am delirious right now. Want to know why? I’ve been haunted. Day three of sleeping alone in my haunted room and I had a supernatural experience.
I am completely serious. Here are the hard facts:
Last night around 12:30 am I went to bed.
I sleep on top of my bed in a sleeping bag now that I am alone because I get maximum coverage and it's easy for me to burrow and hide in the event of an occurrence...
So, I'm in bed, lights are off, I'm holding my flashlight and I'm trying to go to sleep,
all of a sudden, my fan on the nightstand next to my head turns on. I didn't do it. My heart is pounding in my chest and I'm panicking under my sleeping bag and I'm afraid to look because I don't want to see what might be there. Then the fan goes off. Then it comes back on again. Then my bed begins to shake. It's like a slow rumbling quake. I'm freaking out. I'm still burrowed in my sleeping bag. Then it stops. I wait. All I can hear and feel is my heart beat. Quickly, I jump out of bed, run to the light-switch across the room and turn on every light in my room. My bed is slanted on an angle, but I see nothing else unusual. I spend the rest of the night (literally) awake in bed, with the lights on, the ladybugs buzzing, listening to my i-pod writing. I didn't sleep at all. It sucked!

And now to change the subject, I will be published in "About Time" magazine this November. I wrote a travel narrative about my experiences volunteering in Ghana and my upcoming project and it will be published. You can pick up a copy at your local news stand or online.

And now it's time for me to do my malaria research...

Post from 10/20

We arrived back on the mountain this morning at 4:30am. The drive was a blur, I just remember being stopped halfway up the mountain because an enormous tree fell across our path. Poor Sergio had to get out and toss it to the side so that we could continue our way up our two-mile driveway to get home.
I spent the night alone for the first time since I moved to haunted Brook House. I didn’t really sleep until six when the sun came out. My two roommates weren’t back yet. I was also greeted with a ladybug infestation. About 100 (literally) dead ladybugs were scattered across our room and maybe twenty were flying/crawling around. Yep. We all know how I feel about bugs, ladybugs are no exception.

All in all, my team did really well in Rochester/Buffalo. We exceeded goal ;0-)
We finished last night with a concert at Starry Night Café in Rochester. My friend Liza performed a little benefit concert for us. Much obliged Eliza.

I can’t get over how absolutely beautiful Western Mass is in autumn.

Today we had a special program presented by the May team. They are almost finished with their six month training period and will be leaving in another week ;0(
So before each team goes, they need to plan an unforgettable evening and today was their day.
We had a concert this afternoon by a punk/folk/ bluegrass band called Bread and Roses. It was really cool. I now want to learn to play the Mandolin and the Ukulele (I’ll put that on my post-Angola checklist).

Afterwards, we had a candy hunt in our woods. Mind you we are on acres and acres of woods and the candy was spread so far out. I only found four pieces. I fell twice (flip flops are no good on moist leaves and branches).
Then there was hot apple cider and pumpkin pie.

At eight o’clock we had our haunted trail walk. We have this really creepy trail that’s like forty minutes long and I only walk it when it’s really really bright outside but today in the rainy dark chilly weather we went in.

Old Post from 10/21

Today was just fantastic!
I began the day with a hike through the woods with Jai and J.T.
We discovered a new trail and hiked for about three hours uphill. It was so beautiful outside. I love Sundays, my commune with nature days. We sang Broadway show tunes as we hiked.
Open Sushi bar was our dinner. Can you say delicious!
Then to end the day off right, Tracy, Iliana, Jai and I had an interactive RENT the movie viewing party. We sang, we danced, we delivered powerful monologues… It was a Tony award winning scene.

ring a ling ling

My ears are buzzing. I set off the ADT alarm system about forty minutes ago when I arrived home from fundraising. It was terrible. There were lights and the noise kept changing decibels and I couldn't cut it off. I have such a headache right now. It took the police about 20 minutes to arrive, just to say they could do nothing. Luckily my drivers licence matches my home address otherwise I'd be in the back of a squad car right about now. So the officer is in the house trying to figure out how to cut the power to silence the screaming machine and suddenly, after a half an hour of agony, it hit me, I remembered the code. I punched it in and there was sweet silence. The officer looked at me like I was an idiot, which, well...um...er...

Fundraising was a success
my team is on the right track
we move in to Buffalo tomorrow until Friday

The weather is beautiful again
I'm ready to finish strong

Today
instead of going to Buffalo
Makiko and I tried a new technique
two person door to door
and it worked like a charm
we did so well
we basically
walked around from door to door from 10:30-7pm
and fundraised
super
duper!!!!!!

boa noite

AAAgh! I'm so tired!
Today was our first day fundraising in Buffalo and it wasn't so great. It was cold and people weren't too friendly or in the mood to donate money.
We're still staying in Rochester due to the fact that we haven't been able to secure housing which is great for me cause I'm staying at home.
Today we made great strides in our food fundraising efforts. Krispy Kreme donated two dozen donuts to us this morning. And i'm afraid to say, that the four of us ate them all, a half of a dozen each.
Then we fundraised diner at the Hard Rock Cafe in Niagara Falls. We have a Brazillian and a Japanese on our team who had never been to the falls and they really wanted to go and since we weren't exactly making money today anyhow, our team leader decided it was time for a mini-excursion. We toured the American and the Canadian sides. It was cold, but relaxing.
Long drive home, which brings me back to the beginning and being tired...

GLOBAL EMERGENCY

Support the (RED) Campaign!!!

Your voice is needed!

*NOTE: The following information was taken from the ONE.org website. Please read this information, take it seriously and TAKE ACTION!!!!!!

THE JUBILEE ACT

The Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation of 2007 For decades, many impoverished countries were spending billions of dollars each year repaying debts to donor countries and international financial institutions. Many of these loans were given for political reasons during the Cold War to prop up particular governments, and in many cases, were wasted by corrupt and unaccountable regimes. These large debts became a serious impediment to poverty reduction and economic development. Countries began taking on new loans to repay old ones.

Debt Cancellation Works

• Mozambique used its debt service savings to vaccinate children against tetanus, whooping cough and diphtheria, as well as build and electrify schools.
• Nigeria is using the $750 million in debt service savings from 2006 to train and recruit new teachers.
• Cameroon used its debt savings to launch a national HIV/AIDS plan for prevention, education, testing and mother-to-child transmission abatement.

WHY DEBT CANCELLATION IS CRUCIAL

For the world's most impoverished countries, the cost of debt overshadows their ability to provide access to clean water, education and basic healthcare. Some countries spent as much as 25-30% of their annual budgets servicing their debt, more than was spent on education and healthcare combined. Debt cancellation would help ensure funds were used for poverty reduction, ultimately decreasing poor countries dependence on foreign aid. While the debt crisis is far from over, the U.S. and other industrialized countries have taken action to relieve debt burdens in many of the most impoverished countries and these commitments have proven effective. Debt relief has been extended through two initiatives: the Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) Initiative and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI). However, only 21 of 40 countries that are eligible for the HIPC program have obtained 100% cancellation.

The majority of the 19 remaining countries have been delayed by the requirement that they comply with harmful economic reforms, including moves to privatize water or restrict spending on health care workers. For every dollar African countries receive in aid, they still pay out $2.30 in debt service.

KEY PROVISIONS OF THE JUBILEE ACT

• Calls on the U.S. Treasury to support 100% cancellation of bilateral and multilateral debts
• Calls for an audit of other outstanding debt claims, to determine the odious and illegitimate origins of impoverished country debts
• Prohibits specific structural adjustment conditions including the imposition of user fees on health and education and mandated privatization of water
• Contains a provision that governments should allocate 20% of their budgets on social services and development, including education and health care
• Debt cancellation would be financed through the IMF and World Bank's existing resources to the extent possible

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Ask your Member of Congress to cosponsor the Jubilee Act (HR 2634) - sponsored by Reps. Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Spencer Bachus (R-AL) - which will extend debt cancellation without imposing harmful economic conditions on all impoverished countries that are required to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

OK NOW THAT YOU'VE READ THIS, HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN DO...
I just sent a message urging my representative to support the Jubilee Act, which will relieve some of the debt that keeps many developing nations trapped in a cycle of poverty.

You can help this important bill move forward by taking action here: http://www.one.org/40days/

Grata!
Start your week-end out with an act of good-will!

Careful What You Wish For!!!!!!!

Fundraising in Rochester has actually been successful. Personally I have made goal for everyday that we've been here, granted one day I made seven dollars and another two hundred and seventy eight, but so it is.
Well after my rant about the weather being oppressively hot hot hot, the weather decided to become cold cold cold. We dropped from almost 90 degrees to under 50 degrees in one day, literally. And I was outside to observe the shift. It has been raining also, violent thunder and lightning storms. These are crazy times!

I got my beads and jewelry back from Studio 34 and they were fantastic. It seems I am a natural jewelry maker/artisan. My glass blown beads were particularly beautiful. If anyone is ever in the Rochester area, you should really take a class at Studio 34 on Elton street (off of University), it's a great jewelry studio.

Alright, bringing on day number six of fundraising, wish me luck...

fundraising II

Fundraising part II.
So far so good. Individually I've had a lot of success and am way over goal. As a team, we are under goal though :-(.
I'm very lucky to be able to stay at my own house this time around instead of the accommodations provided for the team because the accommodations are sketchy at best. Yikes!
We've been in front of Wal-Mart for the last two days and the people have been so receptive.
Problem:
It's October and in being autumn, the weather should be a nice mild 60-70 degrees, so why, please someone tell me is it almost 90???? It's so hot! It's too hot! I've had enough heat, enough of being outside in the scorching sun. I've got about five different erratic tan lines. I'm going to turn into a wrinkled old lady called Magda soon. Enough is enough! I'm ready to wear a sweater and romp through the leaves.
My tantrum ends here!

beads

Special thanks to Studio 34 in Rochester for allowing me to learn to make jewelry. I've had so much fun creating beads out of glass and learning the ins and outs of jewelry making. I feel ready to begin planning my income generating project. It will, surprise, surprise, involve making jewelry, bracelets, necklaces and earrings.

* Let's all send positive thoughts to my college roomie and good friend Lizzy who has fallen ill while serving in Uganda in the Peace Corps
GET WELL SOON CRAZY GIRL!