Hit the Ground Running

As an intern for the Emergency and Humanitarian Action Department at the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office, my secret hope was that a very small, low-impact disaster might occur during my two-month stint.  Nothing involving casualties or extensive infrastructural damage. Just some minor flooding or a fire that could demonstrate how organizations like the WHO go about handling such an event.  To get real experience on the job. It didn’t seem too unrealistic, given our proximity to the Ring of Fire. Such a thought sounds silly and naïve in retrospect, only two weeks later. As any mother would tell you, “Be careful what you wish for.” 

Day 1: Arrive in the office at 7AM and begin monitoring for events, essentially a broad web search to see what is going on in the world. Earthquake in Vanuatu, no reported injuries or damages. Cyclone in the middle of the ocean. Typhoon heading toward Palau at alarming strength. Category 5. Oh… that might be something worth reporting to my bosses at the morning meeting. The typhoon managed to brush Palau, but gathered strength as it moved on toward southern Philippines.

Day 2: Typhoon Bopha hit the eastern coast of Mindanao at 4AM. Spent the day furiously searching for any kind of information about the event. No news is good news?

Days 3-4: Several deaths reported. Meeting with the WHO Country Office to determine course of action. Meeting with the Dept of Health cluster to coordinate among NGO partners. Still little news.

Days 5-14: News starts pouring in. 1000+ casualties. 200+ damaged health facilities. 200,000+ damaged homes. Entire villages washed away. Hundreds of thousands of evacuees. No power, water, or communication in the hardest hit areas. Missing fishermen. Reports of disease outbreak. $450M in damages.

A week ago, I sat at my desk around 4:30PM on a Friday, excited to get out early after a week of 12-hour days, even though I knew I’d still be working over the weekend. From the depths of the office I heard “Earthquake in Japan!”. A quick Google search brought up the headline “Tsunami Warning Issued after Earthquake in Japan,” posted 20 minutes prior. It happened just off the coast hit by the March 2011 quake. “No no no no. Not now.  This is NOT happening,” I insisted, to no one in particular. My workmates hovered around to hear the details. Further inquiries found that the tsunami warning was for 50cm-2m. I began to laugh uncontrollably, both at my relief that it would likely have no impact and at the ridiculousness of the whole thing. I’ve found this is one field that if you don’t laugh and make light of the situation, you may just end up crying.

I am thankful for the strong leadership on the part of the WHO and my bosses, for their willingness to throw me into the situation, trusting me to report the most up-to-date information on which they can base their decisions.  My classmates in Boston are studying away, with finals beginning on Monday. I cannot fathom a more dissimilar scenario. The experience I am coming away with will serve me more than any course could. Learning not only how to react to disasters but also understanding teamwork, coordination, hierarchy, formalities, bureaucracy and government as it plays a role in health and emergencies is invaluable.

I rarely say that I am proud of something I have done, but my decision to come out here and to secure this internship is one time that I feel it is truly justified. While my boss had no intention of throwing me in the deep end quite so forcefully, the sink-or-swim scenario pushed me to work my hardest, make mistakes, ask questions, and trust my instincts. 

And I’ve still got another six weeks to go…

Reaping the Benefits

I write to you this afternoon from the comfort of my lovely foldout couch. Yes, folks, I made it back to Manila in one piece!

When I left off, I had just spent three weeks in Indonesia. Moving onto Thailand, I landed in Bangkok on Monday afternoon. A city 30-some years ahead of Manila, Bangkok is sleek, fast-pace and energetic. With two days of pedal-to-the-metal, camera-totting tourism, I only saw a very brief glimpse into this complex culture. Most of my siteseeing involved wats (Buddhist temples). The dizzying gleam of the reds, greens, blacks, and golds. The large-than-life Buddhas. The robe-clad monks. Even the most modest proved intricate and fascinating.

On my last night in the city, I met a few Peace Corp volunteers who were in Bangkok for vacation. Eating the street food and hearing about their experiences helped to peal away at the facade the Thai so carefully put up. It also deepened my respect for the goals and accomplishments of the Peace Corps, whose flagship program started in Thailand 50 years ago.

The following morning I hopped on a 6AM train to the border of Thailand and Cambodia. Armed with some advice I read online, I managed to escape the visa scam the Thais have going on their side of the border. Victory! A train, two tuk tuks, multiple immigration lines, and a cramped bus later, I made it to Siem Reap around 5 PM. 11 hours to travel 250 miles? Let’s count that as a success as well…

It was Thanksgiving and I was staying at a hostel run by a few Americans. While I didn’t manage to get any turkey, we did celebrate in style (read: rice, beer pong, and a dance party). My plan had been to leave for Phnom Penh by mid-day Saturday, but I decided to put it off a day.

Instead I headed to Angkor Wat (literally 10 minutes away) to explore the temples. The largest Hindu temple complex in the world, it dates back to the 12th century.

I first visited the most famous and largest, Angkor Wat but then moved onto the temple Ta Prohm, used in the movie “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.” It may be one of the coolest places I’ve seen on this trip (man, that list is getting long…!). In the afternoon, our hostel took 15 of us on a boat trip to the floating river and onto Tonle Sap Lake – the largest freshwater lake in SE Asia. The floating river is a bit touristy, with young kids floating in boats trying to get you to buy things or take a picture with their snake for a price. But swimming in the lake and watching the sunset from the boat was definitely worthwhile. Ending the day with a trip to the night market, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.

The rest of the week became a running joke, as I kept putting off my trip to Phnom Penh. “I need a bed for one just more night” I would tell the front desk girls. I just felt really at home in Siem Reap. No surprise, I never made it to the capital and flew out of “the Reap” Thursday night.

Yesterday was my first introduction at the WHO. I won’t go into it now, but it looks like this is going to be an intense two months…More details to come.

Hope you all are enjoying the holiday season. Manila is decked out in lights, fake pine trees and holiday cheer, not to mention 90 degree heat!

Bali Hai

"There are 84 families that make up our family," Aji tells me. That would explain why everyone I've met is either a cousin, uncle or nephew. "The Brahmans used to have multiple wives. That's become too expensive." Ha touché. Aji introduces me to family member after family member at the subdued Balinese wedding reception. Each has the same reaction: Mira? I bear a striking resemblance to my cousin. Or so I'm told, we still haven't met. When they realize I'm not Mira, either because of my blue eyes or lack of a distinguishing tattoo, the questions pour out. "She's your niece?" they ask Aji Gusky. No one knew his wife Karen had a sister with kids. Until July, Karen and Gusky didn't know either.

When I found out I was coming to Southeast Asia, I decided to look up my mom's half sister in Bali. The two grew up separate, meeting only once many years ago. Karen backpacked to Indonesia after college, met a Balinese man and made a life for herself there. So how to find her? I did what anyone my generation would do - I googled her. I had no idea what I'd find. Part of me thought I may just end up wandering around Bali asking for the white woman, no not Liz Gilbert, who'd married a Brahman. That much I knew. But of course Google wins again. Search 'Karen Waddell Bali' and you find her food blog "Kitchen Insurgency," her company Bali Good Food's website, and quite a few (praising) reviews. I shot off an email saying hello from her niece in CA and hey do you want to grab coffee when I drop into Bali. The response? Utter exuberance.

And the love and warmth have just kept coming. Aunt Karen and Aji (uncle) Gusky as they are affectionately known now invited me to stay with them. What had been planned as a week trip has turned into 3 weeks. I really may be living a dream. A lovely house in Sanur with a pool, Internet, A/C, and a beach. Two maids and a driver. Delicious food at one of their 5 restaurants. A three-night stay at their pristine inn in Ubud where the beds really are the most comfortable in Asia. Hindu temples galore. A week in the Gilis getting scuba certified. And family. Lots and lots of incredible, welcoming, generous family. Not to mention Aunt Karen is great! One of the most accomplished and yet down-to-earth beings I've ever met.

Needless to say my time here has been perfect. I leave on Monday for Cambodia via Bangkok but I'll be back in Bali for Christmas with family :)

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! Please enjoy some extra turkey and fixins for me.

A Sigh of Relief

First off, let me apologize to anyone who was concerned about my whereabouts this past week. But let me back track a minute and I will explain…

It’s been a wild, yet oddly calm few weeks. Having returned from Guimaras, I had about 10 days in Manila filled with serious paper writing, important interviews, visits from friends and of course, excessive relaxation. My Wednesday afternoon consisted of a debate between hitting up the open market, taking a swim in my (albeit small) rooftop pool, or just continuing to hang out at Friendly’s, maybe popping open a San Mig (I managed two of the three). It’s moments like those when I stop and wonder what my friends at home must be doing, thinking Oh yes, wisely you chose.

But you’ve got to work hard to relax hard. Saturday night I met my professor and some of her Japanese counterparts to catch a 4:30AM flight down to Negros Occidental, one of the larger islands south of Luzon. It was only upon arrival that I discovered we actually had nowhere to be until the next morning. My frustration however was fleeting – we happened to catch the last day of the Masskara festival in the capital city, Bacolod.

Thirty years ago, Negros Occidental had fallen on hard times, and the “City of Smiling People” found it difficult to live up to their name. The sugar cane production was doing poorly, Bacolodnons were out of work and to top it all off, a vessel with the mayor’s whole family on it sank. The city donned bright, smiling masks and paraded the streets to mourn the family and to show the world they could smile in the face of adversity. The festival has since grown into a 2-week event filled with costumes, dancing, and celebration. If there is one thing I respect most about Filipinos, it is their positive attitude in the face of even the bleakest circumstances.

The next morning we headed to Calatrava to a region where schistosomiasis (snail disease) is endemic. Crammed into the back of an old, covered pickup as we drove along a butt-numbing dirt road in the midst of a typhoon to a distant village in order to collect stool samples, I asked myself (not for the first time) what in the in the hell am I doing here? A question which is usually followed by I could seriously go for a burrito right about now and the occasional who really DID kill Roger Rabbit?

The first day of collection was long. I smeared stool samples back at our guesthouse until well after midnight. The following four days were a blur of long drives, local introductions, interviews on cultural practices, data collection, and lots and lots of rice.

Friday morning I finally checked my email to find multiple messages wondering where in the hell I was. Once I communicated I was safe, several emails caught my attention. First – GIANTS ARE IN THE WORLD SERIES!! Can’t believe I missed an epic end of the series against the Cardinals but it feels like a miraculous repeat of two years ago when I was in Ghana. Secondly I landed an internship with the WHO!!! But…I have to miss Christmas because the internship is slated for December/ January. Looks like it will be a belated celebration this year.

For now, I’m headed to Bali for a week, with a huge relieved smile on my face, ready to meet Aunt Karen. I head back to Manila next Saturday and will give myself a few days before heading out to spend November traveling SE Asia. Look out for the next exciting posts – I promise they’ll be memorable J

The Rum Diaries

It's a typical night at Friendly's. A hypnotic drum circle is led by Bob, who's not surprisingly dressed in his tie-die Bob Marley shirt. Two empty bottles of Tanduay rum sit on the far table, another being passed around the group. Smoke is blown by the fan and half-filled packs of cigarettes litter the table. Several dozen travelers, most from Western Europe and Australia, mingle on the terrace, intermixed with the usual Filipino crew. The Matrix in on the flat screen in the background. In an hour or two, Maki will lead the group to the local bar Penguin to enjoy some live music and consume a few super submarines (a pint of the strong lager with a shot of tequila in the bottom). If we're lucky, we'll make it home before the sun starts to come up. 

It's been a while since I last posted, mainly because for various reasons I was stuck in Manila for 3 weeks and I didn't have much to write about. My nights out don't vary much and pretty much exclusively start at Friendly's. Throw in a biker bar, some videoke, a bout of food poisoning, my purse being stolen, my first acupuncture experience, first mango pizza plus three typhoons and you more or less get an idea of the past month. 

Things started picking up again last week. Part of the program includes a community health financing class, in the form of a study tour. The field instructor and I take 3 mini trips and several local visits to learn how communities approach the rising cost of healthcare. For our first trip, we headed north of Manila to two well performing municipalities. This past week we spent 4 days on Negros Oriental, an island south of Luzon. In our 1991 Manual Toyota truck, we drove hours on rough terrain to visit rural health units and isolated community hospitals. Out in the boonies! (Interestingly, the word "boondocks" comes from the Tagalog word "bundok" meaning mountain). Currently, we're on the island Guimaras for a few days continuing the study tour and enjoying the white sand beaches a bit. Then finally next week I am interviewing a representative of the national health insurance program and visiting an indigenous community. Hands down the best part of the program so far!

And then there's parasitology. The course had a 3-day training a few weeks back, learning how to diagnose common Filipino parasitic diseases like malaria through lab testing. At the end of October I'll be heading back to Negros to test communities for schistosomiasis (the snail disease). Just can't WAIT to spend a week analyzing stool samples...! ;)

Of course my traveling can't only be limited to school trips. Last week, overcome by city fever (and quite possibly the smog), I took an overnight bus north to Banaue. Famous for its 2,000 year old rice terraces created with primitive tools by the Ifuago, Banaue is promoted as a lesson in sustainability. Especially green during the raining season, these terraces are known as the Stairway to Heaven. Incredible and awe-inspiring, it's no surprise that they have been given the coveted distinction of "World Heritage Site."