Adventure time!

The Malaria presentation went well! I think that we provided a lot of important information to the crew onboard. A lot of the sailors were confused about the Malaria prophylaxis that they were being told to take, and we had the opportunity to answer their questions and clear a lot of things up. So now hopefully everyone on board is taking their doxycycline correctly and we will not have to worry about any Malaria incidents. We got some really good feedback from the pharmacy staff and some of the doctors onboard to help us in our future presentations. Also, a few hours after our presentation, a message went out to the whole ship containing some of the important information that we had gone over. It felt good to be able to make a positive impact here on the ship, since most of my personal impact has been on shore at the MEDCAPs. For the past two days we prepped the pharmacy, organized all of the medications that are going out to the MEDCAPs, and printed labels in Khmer (the main language in Cambodia). It was a good deal of work because three of the MEDCAPs are “RONs”, which means Remain Over Night, so we had to prepare everything ahead of time and box it up on pallets to be transported to the sites. We dropped anchor in the port of Sihanouk, Cambodia this morning so a lot of our supplies for the MEDCAPs have already been taken ashore. The three RONs are 5, 7, and 11 days long, and they are very far inland (one of them is over 300 miles), so it would be impossible to return to the ship every day. And guess what?! I was chosen to go on one of these missions! As if I hadn’t already been having the experience of a lifetime, now I get to go on an even more exciting adventure! For the next five days I will be at a MEDCAP in central Cambodia. Tomorrow morning we will be flying by helicopter, or “helo,” to a high school that is the site of the MEDCAP. We will be camping overnight on cots with mosquito netting until June 21st when we will return to the Mercy. I am really excited!! We are not really sure what the conditions are going to be like, but we were told that it is a newly built school so hopefully it won’t be too primitive. School is in session right now, so there will be classes going on in some of the other buildings and we think that they will have electricity; however they will likely turn it off in the afternoon when the school day is over. Also, our OIC (Officer in Charge) for this mission informed us that there is a member of the Peace Corps who has been living here and teaching English at the school for a few years. He is really excited about us coming and he wants to help translate for us, which will be a huge help! He hopes that his students will be able to help as well, to practice their English and gain some experience with translating. Hopefully they will be able to teach us some words and phrases in Khmer too! I am so excited for this mission! And it will be my first helo ride!! Apparently the ride is about 45 minutes, and hopefully I will have a good view out the window so I will be able to see some of the landscape and jungle! I’m sure it is a gorgeous country and I can’t wait to see it, but we will also have to be very careful while we are there. Throughout Cambodia there are still some landmines in remote areas. Don’t worry though, we aren’t going to stray too far from the school, which is obviously a safe area. Also, I will be applying DEET insect repellant several times a day to keep away the mosquitoes, and taking my doxycycline religiously. I’m not trying to bring home any tropical diseases with me! My helo ride takes off at 9am tomorrow morning, and we should be at our site and setting things up before 10, so hopefully we will be able to see some patients tomorrow afternoon. I am going to stay up late again to watch the Brazil vs. Korea World Cup game. I guess when soccer and sleep go head to head, it is clear which one wins out for me. Though, this whole time difference thing is truly a massive inconvenience. Oh well! So I will not be posting for a few days, but don’t worry, I promise I will be safe! And the next time you hear from me I’m sure I will have some great stories to tell! (written June 15)