marklesparkle

marklesparkle

Hello! My name is Mark and I am an American journalist, filmmaker, and global health advocate currently working for Partners In Health in Malawi. Please feel free to get in touch with me to discuss prisons, global health, whale sharks, or anything else that comes to mind :)



Travel Blog Posts


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marklesparkle
December 24th 2012

In my previous post, I alluded to a list that I made as a young child with one hundred goals that I wanted to achieve before I die. To this day, I am still not sure where this list is- probably tucked away in a box somewhere in Florida with my parents :/ Nevertheless, I have no doubt that, in addition to seeing Victoria Falls, another one of my goals was to do a safari in East Africa. So, with two days left before I head back home for the holidays, I decided to cross the Zambia/Botswana border with Erin and Beth to get my first safari experience in Chobe National Park in northwestern Botswana. While the safaris of Botswana are not as renowned or popular as those in Kenya, they are still (from what I've ... read more



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marklesparkle
December 22nd 2012

After four months in Malawi it is sadly time for me to say a temporary 'goodbye' to my friendly yet admittedly taxing "second-home." My experience at Partners In Health thus far has been nothing short of life-changing. In addition to getting an inside look at the drug procurement process - which is unfortunately plagued with corruption, customs problems, and routine stock-outs - I have also been inspired by my clinical experiences here to think seriously about pursuing medicine as a second-career (more on this later...). While I will thankfully be returning to my post at PIH in March, this temporary departure is still somewhat bittersweet. When I return in March, the weather will be much cooler, and the bugs will be much more manageable; but I will nonetheless miss some of my colleagues who will be ... read more



PIH/APZU Malawi Flash Mob!

Published: December 19th 2012Africa » Malawi » Southern
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marklesparkle
November 14th 2012

Following the "flash mob" craze of 2009/2010, I always secretly dreamed of being part of a flash mob myself. There was one flash mob in particular that inspired me the most, which was organized by a volunteer in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake: http://youtu.be/1Bm2UBQQdX0. This past week, I was finally able to accomplish this life-goal, thanks to the help of a few other PIH volunteers/staff members and a whole hoard of Malawian children. With World AIDS Day only a few weeks away, a group of fellow PIH-ers and I decided to create a flash mob here in Neno as a 'challenge' to other global health groups working around the world. The song, we decided, would be Taio Cruz's "Dynamite." After a few days of choreographing and practicing, we finally decided to institute our flash mob during ... read more



Lisungwi - "The Wild, Wild West"

Published: December 3rd 2012Africa » Malawi » Southern
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marklesparkle
November 5th 2012

After a brief and relaxing vacation at Cape Maclear, the time has finally come for me to begin my duties for Partners in Health. To be honest, I still feel like I am in a bit over-my-head. Despite having an 'academic' background in global health, I have never actually worked in a health facility before, and the challenges of working in an area as poor and remote as Lisungwi will likely be even more difficult than normal. Just to recap a little from my first blog entry in Malawi, Partners in Health was invited to the country in 2007 in order to help support a number of health facilities in the country's poorest district of Neno. Much of the reason behind the poverty here is (I think) a result of geography. Neno is the only district ... read more



Cape Maclear = An Azungu Paradise

Published: November 12th 2012Africa » Malawi » Southern » Cape Maclear
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marklesparkle
November 1st 2012

I knew that life in rural Malawi would be difficult, but I don't think I fully understood the extent of the challenges and difficulties involved until I actually arrived and experienced it first-hand. Living in rural Malawi is definitely not for the faint of heart. Electricity is sporadic, running water is rare, and the insects are about 3-5 times larger than they are back in the states. In light of these lifestyle changes, three co-workers and I decided to take a weekend away from Neno to "live it up" in Malawi's most popular tourist destination, Cape Maclear. Cape Maclear is a rare oasis in Malawi, providing tourists with an impressive array of beach 'resorts,' bars, and tourist activities. The town is located on the southern tip of Lake Malawi (the third largest lake in Africa), a ... read more



Malawi - The Warm Heart of Africa

Published: October 26th 2012Africa » Malawi » Southern
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marklesparkle
October 11th 2012

While reading up on Malawi over the past few months, I repeatedly came across articles that said that Malawi was "the warm heart of Africa." And, quite literally, they were correct- Malawi is about as hot as a gorilla's anus. But despite the overwhelming heat (it is currently about 110 degrees here), the people in Malawi are indeed as friendly and hospitable as any you will find in Africa. I am always shocked at how happy and accommodating people are in places where the average person lives off of less than $1 a day. We, in the states, could definitely learn a lot from this... But I digress. About a month ago, I was fortunate enough to land a gig working as a Health Systems Coordinator (and videographer) for the global health organization, Partners in Health, ... read more



Fuji-san = Breathtaking

Published: September 7th 2012Asia » Japan » Shizuoka » Mt Fuji
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marklesparkle
April 3rd 2012

For those of you who are still following my blog, I am going to make this last entry short and sweet. Part of the reason for this is exhaustion...but perhaps an even more important reason is that the experience of seeing Mt. Fuji seriously cannot be captured in words. A few weeks ago, I told a Japanese man staying in my Tokyo guest-house that I was planning to visit Mt. Fuji during my last weekend in Japan. I incorrectly assumed that he had visited Mt. Fuji before, both because it was the largest mountain in the country and because it was known all over the world. Much to my surprise, though, he said that he, and many others in Japan, never visit Mt. Fuji out of respect for its awesomeness and religious/spiritual significance. It was a ... read more



Kyoto - A Glimpse into Japan's Past

Published: September 7th 2012Asia » Japan » Kyoto » Kyoto
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marklesparkle
March 31st 2012

Before I first arrived in Japan, I had a vague idea of what I expected to see. Based on the few books and films that I had read/seen, I (perhaps naively) expected to see temples filled with Buddhist monks and geishas walking the streets dressed in kimonos and serving tea. Needless to say, Japan as a whole is nothing like that; but Kyoto is something totally different. As I soon discovered, Kyoto is a rare relic of Japan's past, and a city that I feel everyone should visit to get a sense of what Japan was really like before the 20th century. Having served as the capital of Japan for over a millenium (from 794 to 1869 CE), the city is filled with literally thousands of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, which dot the city on ... read more



Rebuilding Iwaki

Published: March 27th 2012Asia » Japan » Fukushima » Iwaki
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marklesparkle
March 26th 2012

First off...for those of you are following my blog, I apologize that the past two entries have been a bit of a downer - I promise that the next two (from Mt. Fuji and Kyoto) will be much more uplifting! :) Anyway, yesterday marked my last day in Fukushima and, for some odd reason, I felt that it would be appropriate to take the opportunity to travel to the coast to see how the communities there were coping with the aftermath of the tsunami. Not surprisingly, the experience conjured up mixed emotions. While the situation there is extremely heartbreaking, there was also an undercurrent of hope that was both encouraging and inspiring. There are literally hundreds of villages and cities along the coast of the Fukushima prefecture that were affected by the tsunami. Logistically, though, many ... read more



The Children of Fukushima

Published: March 27th 2012Asia » Japan » Fukushima
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marklesparkle
March 17th 2012

Between the earthquake in Haiti in 2010 and the Great East Japan Earthquake last year, a lot has been said about the effects of natural disasters on the health and well-being of the communities that are affected the most. Much of the dialogue has revolved around how to rebuild these communities using limited (and sometimes nonexistent) financial and logistical resources from NGOs and foreign governments. While these discussions are immensely valuable, and usually succeeded by an initial outpouring of aid and volunteerism from the international community, they are usually somewhat short-lived. But, unfortunately, it often takes years, if not decades, to rebuild the lives of those who have lost their homes, loved-ones, and livelihoods. This is especially true in the case of Japan, where it is still unclear how long people will continue to feel the ... read more






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