Of it all
I've been moving slowly through my Kinshasa days. While I seem to be almost entirely over the Malaria I caught quite a cold. Sigh.
Life in Kindu is naturally moving on without me (I will head back in six days). Two of my Indian friends are coming to Kinshasa tomorrow to hang out with me and 007. There is a cholera outbreak in Kindu that has killed 20 people and there were a few hundred new cases reported over the weekend. Cholera is transmitted through contaminated water, meaning that so long as I drink bottled water, I will be fine, which is a luxury that locals dont have. NGOs are moving into action to create treatment camps and also treat water that people are drawing for the river.
It's strange and sad to watch tragedy unfolding at home with the hurricane. Feels pretty helpless to be so far away, and quite ironic that i work in the field of emergency assistance. Most emergency situations in the world are caused by conflict and not by natural disasters, and I know more about responding to the former than the latter.
Finally, i would like to note the random fact that my 81 year old grandfather has apparently broken many landspeed records when he made it to L.A. from Atlanta in 2.5 days by car. Congratulations (though a bit tardy) are in order for this feat. he only got two speeding tickets on the way home.
Life in Kindu is naturally moving on without me (I will head back in six days). Two of my Indian friends are coming to Kinshasa tomorrow to hang out with me and 007. There is a cholera outbreak in Kindu that has killed 20 people and there were a few hundred new cases reported over the weekend. Cholera is transmitted through contaminated water, meaning that so long as I drink bottled water, I will be fine, which is a luxury that locals dont have. NGOs are moving into action to create treatment camps and also treat water that people are drawing for the river.
It's strange and sad to watch tragedy unfolding at home with the hurricane. Feels pretty helpless to be so far away, and quite ironic that i work in the field of emergency assistance. Most emergency situations in the world are caused by conflict and not by natural disasters, and I know more about responding to the former than the latter.
Finally, i would like to note the random fact that my 81 year old grandfather has apparently broken many landspeed records when he made it to L.A. from Atlanta in 2.5 days by car. Congratulations (though a bit tardy) are in order for this feat. he only got two speeding tickets on the way home.
posted by Sahara Sarah at 11:26 PM
3 Comments:
i guess we should give Kitty a mention too (puppy who accompanied uncle larry and baba on the crazy road trip...she's currently recuperating from a small accident but should be fine)
You haven't mentioned which stretch of the trip the puppy was driving.
Hey, your Grandpa may have beaten my old landspeed record between L.A. and St. Louis in 2 days. Does their 2.5 days include time for bathroom breaks, gas and beer, puppy chasing jackrabbits on Navajo indian reservations, copping a plea for leniency with various state troopers, and such? Uncle Larry and your Grandpa sound like two characters out of a Burt Reynold's Smokey & The Bandit film; very cool.
Good to hear that you are recovering in Kinshasa. There was an outbreak of something called the pneumonic plague in a remote diamond mining area (Libaku ya Suka) in Maniema Province of the eastern DRC. You can read more about it at IRINnews Sep. 25th. Stay away from people with a bad cough from that neck of the woods for awhile.
Gute Besserung und Gesundheit!
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