Saturday, February 25, 2012

Vaccinations

It is time to start thinking about the vaccinations that I will need before traveling to Liberia. MD Travel Health recommends:

All travelers should visit either their personal physician or a travel health clinic 4-8 weeks before departure.

Malaria medications

Vaccinations:
Hepatitis A - Recommended for all travelers

Typhoid - Recommended for all travelers

Yellow fever - Required for all travelers greater than one year of age

Polio - One-time booster recommended for any adult traveler who completed the childhood series but never had polio vaccine as an adult

Hepatitis B - Recommended for all travelers

Rabies - For travelers spending a lot of time outdoors, or at high risk for animal bites, or involved in any activities that might bring them into direct contact with bats

Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) - Two doses recommended for all travelers born after 1956, if not previously given

Tetanus-diphtheria - Revaccination recommended every 10 years

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Big news!

"Congratulations! It gives me great pleasure to inform you that your proposal was selected for funding under the 2012 Teacher Creativity Fellowship Program."
Today begins a 16 month journey that I am very much excited about!
My proposal is to travel to Liberia, collect local folk tales and bring them home to be transcribed. I hope to share the stories with my students so that they can compare them to stories with which they are already familiar.
While in Liberia I also plan to meet with some of the local teachers for a short teacher training session. I am excited to reconnect with family and friends and to enjoy the culture!
I plan to leave in early July and stay approximately two weeks. If you are interested in joining this great experience, please feel free to contact me for details!

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Greetings from Liberia,
We are already working and planning for your trip to be a very special time.

For the nurses: We have arranged for you to work at the Women's and Children's free clinic/hospital
They have a malnutrition unit/ICU/labor and delivery(most are by C section because midwives deliver normal births) and surgery for other types of pregnancy related needs.
We also hope to have it arranged for you to work in a regular communiy clinic in the neighborhood.
For the teachers: We are arranging for a free teacher training workshop to be held in a new school(to be dedicated on March 3rd) and open to any interested teachers. It would be good to have some sort of idea about what you want to do and we will give them a certificate of completition for their resume.
What to bring:
Capri pants, slacks, jeans are all acceptable attire except for church. then you need a dress with cap sleeves, sandals are appropriate for dress as well. The local attire has changed alot in the past 10 years. Nurses, you may want to bring some whites with you. I know they wear them in the hospital but may allow you just to wear scrubs which would still be very comfortable. Same with shoes - comfort is the key. Lots of stairs and concrete floors.
A water bottle is a necessity, I like the Rubbermaid ones with the screw on cap and flip top lid. They don't spill and are still easy to use. "Bottled water" can be purchased in the bottles but it is almost $1.00 per bottle. However, we purchase bagged water packaged in plastic bags and the transfer it to our water bottles. A plastic bag of "bottled water" sells for about 10 cents.
You will need a current passport and a visa to enter the country. You can go on the Liberian Embassy website nd complete the visa form to send in. It generally only takes a couple of weeks but allow a month to be on the safe side.
We will have beds, bedding, mosquito nets and towels for you here. So you don't have to worry about weight on those.
You may want to include; Insect repellant (I like the towelettes really well)
After bite itch relief - you will get bitten by something - even ants.
Lots of patience - things do not move quickly here in Liberia.

YOu will be staying with us in our home in one of the communities in Monrovia called Barnersville.
It is a very typical environment and you will be right in the middle of the community. The homes around us are varied from woven mats, corregated tin, dirt block and concrete block. They people are very friendly and will enjoy practicing their English with you. Tell them when you don't understand them and ask them to do the same. I still have o do that with Timothy at times. Your ear will get tuned to them before long.

More to come, and we await your time with us.
Anne