Travelling in Africa- MALARIA Workshop !& East Africa

The Africa Faith Caravan -Part Two : East Africa-

Summer Rains Revive
Autumns Fire Winters Sorrows
Compassion Blossoms .

Haiku for Two - Written in Kampala. October 2007.

Since the last three or four years I’ve been meditating on East Africa - particularly Tanzania. This month I got a chance to make a dash for it and scout the land. After surfing the net I discovered a very cheap return ticket to Mombassa from Gatwick Airport. For 280 quid ( English Pounds ) or 550 dollars I managed to get a portal into East Africa. During my frenetic scouting mission from Mombassa to Mombassa I visited the main centres of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania as well as some places off the beaten track.

The funny thing is that 25 years ago I was a hitchhiking travelling dope-smoking hippy and saw things with different eyes completely… now I’m a “ stable’ born again Christian - albeit hippy Christian searching for the promised land still.

Perhaps we never will find it on this earth . Still we have to keep looking. The journey is the important thing not the destination. In SWAHILI : the word SAFARI means :’ to “travel”(Arabic root word) in terms of self discovery’… here the white man is called : Mazungu… which apparently means’ a madman who wanders around aimlessly…’ be that as it is ; I resolved to give it my best shot- Even though it may look as madness to the locals.

I shortly arrived at Mombassa airport after an 8 hour flight and took a taxi into the town centre arriving at the “ Blue Room’- a restaurant and internet place where I spent some time acclimatising to the sudden change in temperature from the cold of London to the sweaty heat of the coast of Africa. Tired but not discouraged I went to visit a local school to see how they do things in terms of Education… ( appalling really- its mostly rote learning) - some day when I am able I really wish to set up a proper educational system that can deliver education that will enable children to think for themselves… this is my vision for the rainbow schools of living light. Naturally, as a Christian I wish to create a Christian curriculum as it is important to shape young minds to be able to walk in the fear of the Lord and the understanding of how the universe truly works.

The problem comes in with other faiths and other ways of thinking… I think in this regard it would be helpful to find ways to accommodate each others views - but to have a central authority that governs a particular school. That I believe would be up to the governorship of that particular school. Consensus needs to be reached to give fairness to all. Some may opt for Secular Humanism , others Christianity, other Judaism, others Islamic syllabuses - that obviously would depend again on the Council of each school. Each school would have its own council and members would be invited by others to find out how best to create a good school policy that serves the interests and purposes of that school.

After visiting the school I left Mombassa island by ferry to Diani Beach which is around 75 kilometres south. There used to be a lot of hippies in the old days hanging out at this beach… today - I found none. Even Lamu Island has become popularised by Kofi Annan ( the ex head of the UN)and a few other film stars buying up properties there.

I asked the driver to find me a cheap place stay : he brought me to the “ Stilton” - A guesthouse built on stilts… I slept in a tent for around 8 dollars! -that’s how the prices have gone up over the years… in the old days it cost around 8 dollars a week. That’s mass tourism and the mazungu effect.

Last time I visited Mombassa it was quite a hedonistic place - the New Florida Night Club was the place to be - Africa’s den of iniquity - sailors and prostitutes abounded… but after the HIV revolution… things changed … but the prostitutes didn’t give up …! Many wanting to escape poverty decided that the best way out is to sleep with and marry a foreigner… and thus it was…
Welcome then to Ali Barbours and the 40 thieves… the latest beach den … well, I spent two nights in Diani beach… The coral was virtually destroyed by mass tourism … there is however a coral reserve just off the coast on Wahili island …they tell me it rates favourably with places like the Red Sea and the Maldives.

I must mention here two things: firstly : the heat… its HOT and the sand is WHITE… and the sun is BRIGHT… very BRIGHT… wear cream - a good cream… you will get roasted…! I was scorched on the first day- it took me two weeks to recover the first day… and I was only out for around 2 hours…! -the sun reflects off the sea and the sand… and especially after a long hard night of partying make sure you wear sunshades!

And now for a workshop on Malaria:

Very dangerous disease! And its growing!
It kills a shitload of people every year( millions) - and most of those are under the age of 5 years)… other people just get it once or twice a year and it is one of the reasons that Africa has trouble developing itself. East Africa is definitely one of those badly hit by this scourge.
Now this is my advice: Dr. Denton.. at your service ! Ive travelled all over the world in most malaria regions of the world and Ive got Malaria once… ( in Mozambique aged 6 ) It’s a terrible sickness. You sweat , you get hot , you get cold… you shiver , you shake… you get terrible headaches… and well if you don’t treat it properly… you die.

This is Dr. Dentons philosophy of the Malaria disease:

1. Don’t be stupid about it. ( Don’t trivialise it-take it seriously) - Ive had friends who have died or almost died of it. Its serious.
2. If you’re going to go to Africa for the first time…( and you ‘ve never been before)… take the vaccine. Take the JAB… THE TABLETS ARE A SIMPLE WASTE OF TIME.. they don’t work… I know of more people who have succumbed because the disease was not diagnosed in time for it to be treated. All the tablets do is suppress the symptoms of the disease… they do not PREVENT it !!!
3. That goes for all of them: Larium ( at 5 dollars a day)- that could feed an entire family for a week. Maloprim- Chloroquin and Maloquin… all of them are a simple waste of money and time. Also the tablets give you horrible side effects: loss of hair, appetite, headaches stuff like that. Therefore : PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE!... what does that mean …?

1. leave your Kurt Cobain and Black Sabbath t-shirts at home… don’t wear black in other words… b. take your own Mossie net… - don’t rely on the nets provided- many of them have holes in them because the hotel staff are too slack about replacing or fixing them. c. use a good skin care cream to prevent mossies biting you- one of them is natural- I cant remember now offhand- OH YES citronella!!!…( its natural so wont hurt your skin)-also eat garlic every day…! that helps to scare the buggers away… ! I met a Greek guy once who vowed a bottle of whisky a day helped to keep the bastards at bay… needless to say after 40 years he never got malaria - but he did die of liver disease instead. Oh yes, drink a gin and tonic or if you don’t drink alcohol… drink TONIC WATER… IT HAS NATURAL QUININE IN IT…

Finally think of the mossies like VAMPIRES…. They come out once the sun set and go to sleep once the sun rises… so as soon as the sun is setting get into the routine of changing from shorts to longs and thsirt to long shirt…I really had a problem once in Madagascar…. All my normal theories didn’t work here… so I want to recommend an extra method for Madagascaran Mossies… : THE ZAPPER!!! You can get solar powered Zappers - they are like a kind of blue light that attracts Mossies and Zaps they- that’s right - fries them on the spot…! Get a coupla them…
By the way, this advice may save your life…IF you think you may have malaria…
DON’T WASTE ONE SINGLE HOUR!
With each passing hour - it gets worse… as the parasite multiplies in your body…
Perhaps I’m being obsessive about this but always be sure that you are within reach of - even if its 12 hours journey… a place of receiving medical help.

4. Ensure your immune system is good and in working order… this helps to give you a fighting chance - in case you do get it… most fatalities are people who have weak immune systems… therefore… I urge you to eat fruit and veg and exercise and minimise the drug intake … ( by drugs I mean ALL kinds)
5. I have another philosophy of “M”- its I believe a way of spiritually cleansing the body…Its bad but it can also be a purge… if you do get it… and see it like a purge… not a pleasant one … but a purging none the less.

There are people that live long in Africa… they don’t all die young… and I have this theory that Malaria is part of the ecosystem… Mosquitoes are like the spiritual shamanic surgeons of Africa… But I like anyone would prefer there was no mosquitoes… at the end of the day… they are there… there are eradication programmes … probably the best is diesel on stagnant water. They have used DDT in the past but it is no good on the environment… Perhaps one day - when Africa wakes up from its sleep … perhaps the governments will do more to change that… certainly its peoples would benefit…

On my travels I discovered a totally full proof method of preventing Malaria( and other diseases)- which worked for me… so far…

Its this: Prevention is better than cure…. Rubber up!!!

The final note I want to let you know about Malaria is this: there is NO prevention… IF you get it it will be after 10 - 14 days of being in a Malaria area. In this case the first symptoms will be this:

1. Headaches. From the crown of your head down. ( this is subjective)
2. Aching Joints. It will feel as if you have the flu coming on… your joints will start to ache.
3. Hot and cold sweats. This is not the first symptoms but they will follow the first two.
4. Nausea… this is a common first symptom.
5. Diarrea and profuse sweating.


If you are feeling a combination of these symptoms the first thing you need to do is to get to a doctor. I once had all the above but it was FISH poisoning ( in the Amazon jungle) I hallucinated for several hours - I mean I saw lost cities and girls with flowers - but after taking the test - It was a negative…

And shortly after … the effects of the poisoning disappeared… BUT if they didn’t I would have gone for a second test.

Now the next step after ascertaining whether or not you have malaria is this:
Take the oral dose of tablets… usually it’s a quinine derivative anyway… Melodrin or Lotexcin . If that doesn’t work you can spend around 3 weeks on a quinine drip… it happened to a friend of mine and it isn’t pleasant - especially since he had hepatitis at the same time.

There is only one thing I’ve found that helps prevent malaria - in all my travels around the world… it’s a root called KALOOMBA… its found in Northern Mozambique… but even that is not full proof…
The best advice is still this…
BE AWARE! - DON’T FOOL AROUND with Malaria!

Thanks for your attention.

Robin. End of Workshop.
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