Wash your Hands!

Since today is friday, it was the last day to spend with the school kids. In the morning we arrived and split up into teams to complete 3 tasks that we had to complete before we were able to spend time with the kids. Chris and Matt went on a hike up to a water source; they did not return till noon, they left at 9. Dr. L and Bobby went up to a site that was given for the possiblity of new school construction to do a percolation test. Mike and Rich finished up collecting some final data of the area surround the school to create an accurate map. Sandy and Meghan got to use glo-germ. Glo-Germ is a system to teach kids how to wash their hands by putting artificial germs on their hands, which can only be seen when using a blacklight.

After the official business was finished, the team had some time to spend with the kids and there is nothing better than that. It is hard to explain how much the kids love interacting with us, we may be among the first "white man" they have ever seen. Actually, it seems like everywhere we go people stare and wave at us. Anyway, we gave the students all of the gifts that we bought for them. It turns out that that the school was in desperate need for some school supplies and they were very thankful for everything that we were able to give them.

The team left at noon and crammed into a single cab to get back to the hotel... quite the bonding experience. We stayed in the hotel an renergized for a little bit and them went on a taxi adventure. Although we intended to go to a restuarant that was about a 10 minute taxi drive, the guy who negotiated our taxis directed the drivers to a restuarant with the same name but about an hour(at least) away. It took us roughly 45 minutes of going in the wrong direction to realize that it was not right.

Eventually we managed to turn the drivers around... after a lot of confusion... but we had a very nice dinner. If anyone has been wondering what we have been eating, dont worry, Mike has taken a picture of just about every meal so far.

The internet connection here makes dial up seem speedy, so uploading pictures is turning out to be quite a challenge. I apologize but am going to try to find some way to do it now. Cheers.

The stages of poverty
1. Shock
2. Acceptance
3. Sadness
4. Crazyness

This trip is really showing us about the real world and the poverty in third world countries. Above is the stages that we have been going through so far. When we first arrived, I think we were all in shock at what we were seeing. Then we accepted how bad it was and were focusing on solutions. After going through some of the health surveys, we really saw into the lives of the people and it was very sad and depressing. Now, It is safe to say we are all going crazy. I dont think we can go more than ten minutes with cracking up with laughter.