My mother has been on the executive board for 9 years. I'd been aware over the years of
the travel my mom had done. She'd come back from board meetings excited about
projects and told me about them - she knew I was interested.
As I went through my university years, I began to ask her more questions. This year, my
mom decided because it was her last year on the board, she wanted to do the international
trip to Tanzania. She didn't want to go alone and my father wasn't able to go with her so
I was the next logical choice.
I finished my Biomedical Science degree last year and was very adamant about traveling
this year along with working. Going to Tanzania was a perfect opportunity!
It was a great trip and another international experience for me. I had never been to Africa
before. It's so different than North America - a new culture and a new language. The
landscape and the animals were breathtaking. It would be hard to recreate a trip like that
again.
One of the days that my mom was at board meetings, a group of us went out on the
Indian Ocean in "dhows", traditional sailboats. I love boats and just being out on the
water. We also went snorkeling on a small reef and most of us got stung by many tiny
jelly fish. Despite the jelly fish bites and the sea-sickness though, I really enjoyed myself
that day.
We also visited some of MEDA's projects. We visited clinics, retailers and net
manufacturers. They've established their mosquito net voucher program all over
Tanzania. We visited one of the largest factories that MEDA is partnering with where
they were making the long lasting nets as well as the regular insecticide treated nets.
There were many men and women making the nets on a large assembly line. There was
also a sewing room, a folding room and an area dedicated to quality control where they
were making sure there were no holes in the nets.
We also went to a clinic to meet some of the women who were getting the vouchers and
then to visit a retailer who sold the nets, where the women could redeem their vouchers.
Most of the time the nets were available in small shops called "dukas" or small
pharmacies that also sold basic medication and toiletries. It was a joy to see women
receiving the nets.
We went to one large hospital where we met a group of about 7 women who were there
for their prenatal appointments and to receive a net voucher. There was a very positive
feeling - the women looked healthy and seemed happy to be there for a regular check up.
I am so thankful to have been able to experience such a rich trip with such a variety of
experiences. I never would have been able to plan a trip like that on my own. It was a
great mix of learning more about MEDA, learning about one specific project that I have
some personal interest in, meeting some great new people and experiencing a new
country through the travel itself.
