Sunday, April 17, 2011
The Seedy Underbelly of Preparing for Africa...sort of. 03/17
I finally have my plan tickets and know when I'll be in Africa! I leave June 8th and return August 2nd. I tried to apply for a VISA for Sierra Leone, I found out that you need your Yellow Fever Card. You get a Yellow Fever Card when you get the yellow fever vaccine, and it tells when you were vaccinated and a serial number of the shot, which is also required for the application. I decided it was time to bit the bullet and get my vaccines. I was told I could get them all at the same time, since there were only three that I needed. I was fine after I got them Thursday morning, but by the late afternoon they'd knocked me out. Lots of muscle ache and tiredness most of Thursday. I felt a lot better Friday, except that I was pretty tired most of the day. Today's Sunday, and I feel fine. I guess I'm actually lucky that I didn't get more sick. A few of my friends said they got very sick for almost a week from the yellow fever vaccine. I guess it's a small price to pay for being safe from desease in Africa.
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Dear Ali, I am so excited for you to have this opportunity. We are so proud of you and I am thrilled to be able to follow your blog and hear about your experiences in Sierra Leone. No doubt you will learn a great deal about how their hospital runs, but you will also have the opportunity to learn about the people of the region and their culture. It will enrich you in many ways. We have a growing community of western Africans in Columbus and in fact their are alot of them employed at the hospital (OSU) where I am treated when I get sick. I met a young lady from Sierra Leone just a few weeks ago during my last stay. Her father is a pharmacist back home and she has relocated with her mother here in the states and is currently working full-time in "housekeeping" at the hospital as well as going full-time at the local community college. Her aspirations are the be as pediatrician. Good to hear that you are making progress with the preperations for your travel and visa requirements. Looking forward to hearing more about you "goings on". Love, Aunt Rebecca
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