Aug 30. 2014. MONEY

My Tanzania cash goes off into the distance… I am running short of money. My both bank accounts were affected by fraudulent activities, so I had to shut down both cards. How can I withdraw the cash without cards? Both banks told me that they already sent new cards to Tanzania, but it has not still arrived for a month. When I found out that someone in Canada stole hundreds of dollars in my one of accounts, I could not know where my bank information leakage happened. But I realized later that the other account had the same problem as my first one, so I know where the problem came from. I used both cards from the ATM, located in the expensive hotel (unnamable to avoid defame their reputation…) in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Now I regret why I had an act of sheer bravado to have an expensive meal there just before leaving Sierra Leone. I wished I wanted to have a good memory with the best food in the best place in Sierra Leone, but unexpectedly, I am kicking up a fuss every time when I try to contact both banks through Skype to explain my situation. I have never worried about the confidentially of my bank information, but now I am worrying where I will have to withdraw money with the card to avoid those fraudulent acts any more.

There are many things that we cannot buy. Probably, I am punished for squandering money at the last minute. I artificially wanted to make the best memory of Sierra Leone, and it was an improvised and unscheduled visit. Before I knew it, I might have wanted to thrust unpleasant memories of Sierra Leone into the limbo of forgotten things by experiencing the finest class of food, facility, and mood. I believed that spending much money should be irrelevant to proving who I was, but you know, sometimes we want to be given a warm reception, boasting of the strength of MONEY, just like we seem to have everything… We may delude ourselves that we can do everything we want with the piece of paper, MONEY.

There is a great old movie, <Indecent Proposal> by starring Demi Moore. The movie was screened more than 20 years ago, in 1993, but I watched it through Netflix a year ago. A lovely couple got married and tried to live a happy life. But the reality was that the man could never have a job in the aftermath of recession hit, and they could not even receive financial aid because of bad personal credit. They were clutching at any straw to earn the MONEY. Their last choice was to expect the miracle; going to Vegas to win the MONEY. Surprisingly, they won all the MONEY in the beginning, and they seemed to reach their maximum happiness on the bed littering with enormous scraps of dollars. But, there were no limits to man’s greed; they needed more, stayed in Vegas longer, and they came across a millionaire. The millionaire had a crush on that married woman, so he ended up with suggesting indecent proposal to married husband that if he could borrow her just for one night, paying one million dollars. Can we buy everything what we want? Can we even buy love and win someone’s heart within a night with a $1,000,000? A millionaire had everything but love, and he believed he could also use his money to achieve his love. What do you think?

We want better things. Not always, but mostly. Normally, we can get the better one if we have more money. Better home, better car, better school, better food, better condition… At some point, fancy visible materials have become absolute criteria to judge people. Someone is driving a car manufactured at the blah blah, someone are earning how much money at the blah blah, someone’s family own how much property blah blah… It would be endless to enumerate. What is the criterion for happiness? Maybe, all individuals have different standard that can make happy. But those varieties have become unification, to the MONEY. I cannot deny that MONEY is connected to everywhere. Be that as it may, MONEY does not have to be everything for our lives.

TFR is inversely proportional to education level, and education level may be directly proportional to wealth. But it is hard to say if MONEY is proportional to your happy index. Here is the Happy Planet Index (HPI) that ignores money-related figures, such as GDP and HDI. Is our ultimate goal is to be rich? Or to be happy and healthy? Although HPI is not the measurement of which country is the happiest, but the function of subjective life satisfaction, life expectancy, and ecological footprint. And it is interesting to see that Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Cuba ranked within 10^th out of 151 countries whereas the U.S. ranked 104^th.

<Happy Planet Index>

http://www.happyplanetindex.org/data/

There should be something that leads us to our ultimate satisfaction. But it cannot be MONEY. Yes, waiting night and day for mails from U.S. banks irritates me. My automatic payment has all stopped, my wallet is so empty, and I am afraid to be famished. But I want to believe that this unpleasant experience itself should be invaluable that I cannot even pay for. Experiencing Ebola outbreak in the epicenter, Sierra Leone certainly dropped me into emotional fatigue. But it will be the biggest asset I have had because not everyone had chance to see what it was at close range. And nobody would pay to see it. Perhaps, finding something that we cannot set the price or value would be the most precious property that we have to pursue for our entire life. So, let’s play hide-and-seek to find it!

The last moment to leave Sierra Leone.
What memory of Sierra Leone do I have? What memory should I cherish?

Aug 29. 2014. The King of Father

I saw a surprising total fertility rate (TFR) – the number of children that would be born per woman – statistics from the World Factbook, released by Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the U.S. Among 224 countries, South Korea ranked 220^th with 1.25 of TFR. That means every Korean woman only gives birth to the average 1.25 number of babies. There are only 4 countries that have lower TFR than South Korea: Hong Kong (1.17), Taiwan (1.11), Macau (0.93), and Singapore (0.80). TFR in the U.S. is 2.01, ranked 123^rd; Sierra Leone is 4.83, ranked 19^th; and Tanzania is 4.95, ranked 17^th. Interestingly enough, African countries take up almost all top 50^th ranks. Number one TFR country is Niger (6.89), which means every woman has about 7 children.

<Country comparison: total fertility rate>

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2127rank.html

While I was researching TFR, I found shocking news that population in South Korea will begin to decrease to 10 million in 120 years and eventually, Korean population would become extinct in the year 2750. In other words, if a low birth rate in South Korea would continue, the entire Korean population will disappear 736 years later. Lowbirth and aging is a serious social issue in South Korea; David Coleman, the Professor of Demography at University of Oxford already nominated South Korea in 2006 for the first population extinction country in the future. That is scary estimation. It must be really hard to raise children in South Korea for several reasons.

However, the direct opposite situation is happening in Africa. Who did associate happiness with riches? Having about 5 children is normal to them. Every time I heard someone in Africa has 5 children, I am so surprised how it is actually possible. What’s most surprising was that African fathers all look young. Whenever I met male WV African staff, I anticipated their ages should be around 20s. Literally, they all looked like 20s. They had no distinct wrinkles on their faces, and their hair style were all short, so they had a healthy appearance.

When I saw Mr. Musa for the first time, I thought he must be late-20s. He was thin and small frame and bald-headed, but somehow, I guessed he could be near my age. What a laugh! He turned about to be 60s who had 10 children, 5 boys and 5 girls! When he was born, his parents could not have his birth certificate, so nobody knew when exactly he saw the light for the first time. So his official birthday was made by a rough estimation; when he was born, the weather was not raining much, which indicated the dry season, and the year was presumably 1950s. Deciding exact year and date must have been tricky, but he decided his birthday by himself as 19 April 1950, which was the same date as Sierra Leone’s independence day, 19 April 1961.

People feel happy when they are told estimation of their age is lower than their actual age; but that one would be at the most 5-6 years subtraction. But I miscalculated no less than 40 years of his ages…! After I came to Tanzania, I have met many WV male staff. They were too, looked so young. Mr. Kilimba was also one of them. At some point, I concluded that he must be late 20s, the similar age as me. What a laugh! My anticipation was wrong again. One day, Mr. Kilimba and I were left in the office, and I asked him whether he has a kid. He said, “I have 5!”

“Wow… really…?”

“Yes.”

At first, I could hardly believe my ears because he usually joked with people. But at this time, he was a serious look, so it could not be a joke. So I asked that how old the first kid was.

“19.”

“Really…? Then, how old are YOU?”

Oh man… he was 49. I could not even imagine he already had 5 kids and he was 49-year-old father. It was truly amazing for me that having 5 children is normal to African people.

“Mr. Kilimba, you are the king of Father!”

I just wanted to say the highest praise for his reproductive potential to him. He laughed and said,

“5 is not enough, I want 3 more! I will be the king of king of father!”

Wow, that was the greedy father. The more kids, the more happy life! This has great implication for people, for country that has seriously low birth rate. We are all just trying to earn a crust, so we are doing is only to feed ourselves, not sharing anything with others. In the country where I was born, youth unemployment and prices are always both high, so people could not even conceive the idea of having more than one baby. But what is happening in Africa, Tanzania? This big difference of TFR does not seem to be related to GDP. Are we not falling into extreme egoism that only myself should eat well to live better? Or, how can we have children as many as we want no matter what private expenditure for education makes life difficult? It is complicated. I cannot still find out the correlation between level of happiness and number of children, but at least, I believe that TFR should be sufficient enough to maintain the existence of Korean tribes. Happy 5 TFR in Africa attractively belies my old thought that ‘life is tough, but it is tougher when we have more children.’

If I may, I would want to praise all of the King of Father!

Aug 28. 2014. -aches

There are many words finishing with –aches: headache, stomachache, and backache… I think we can add any part of body with –ache to make something+ache. Aching somewhere is a natural part of our lives, so we can simply take some painkiller and go to bed early to recover from that ache. But the –aches that we did not take it seriously can disguise themselves as a life-threatening red alert.

Ebola Symptoms - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Last night, I was awakened from sleep at 2am. I felt that something must be wrong with my stomach. I had an upset stomach! I went toilet in and out all through the night, but I could not get over the stomachache. Then, a deadly fear swept over me. ‘Is this Ebola?’

Early symptoms of Ebola are fever, headache, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain, unexplained bleeding or bruising, joint and muscle pain, weakness, and lack of appetite. Ebola patients normally start with ordinary symptoms that we experience ordinarily; fever, headache or cold. Thus, it may not possible to distinguish between a slight cold and early symptom of Ebola.

The date was August 27 at dawn, which has almost one month passed since I was exposed to Ebola affected area, so I should be okay to think I am Ebola-free man. Nevertheless, I was prepossessed with dodgy idea that the maximum “21 days” of Ebola incubation period may not apply to me. I could be an outlier! I could be a real oddball whose Ebola incubation period is 30 days! If I would die of Ebola now, I would contribute to update that period as 2 to 30 days. I know I am such a crybaby but I was reluctant to be because we do not know the exact information of Ebola yet. To declare Ebola outbreak is over, two consecutive incubation periods, 21 days x 2 = 42 days, should be passed without even single Ebola case from the date of the last Ebola case. I may also need 42 days to say with confidence that “Oh, this stomachache result from overeating every day!”

2014 Annual Progress Report: These mails
will be sent to sponsors all over the world

It was true that I worried myself about this stomachache could be Ebola symptom, by any chance. Sore pain in the stomach bothered me all day long, and I lost my appetite. However, I did not give up eating because there was free food at Nam Hotel. World Vision sponsorship team was preparing for sending mails in the Nam Hotel’s conference room to those who are sponsoring Tanzanian children. Each mail was enclosed with an annual progress report that explained how sponsorship have helped sponsor’s child during a year. Sponsors would receive news about their sponsoring children how they are doing. I did eat last lunch at this place two days ago, but nobody complained of a stomachache, so I assumed that this food did not cause my stomach pain. So I ate, a little less yesterday.

I did not want to make a great fuss about that, so I decided to wait until today morning to see if the pain still does not go away. I was confident that this should be simple upset stomach. I had a long and boring sleep and arose from slumber. My stomach? Oh yes, it was fine. It was confirmed that my stomach has been tired of eating new style of food in Africa for 3 months, so it must have become ill. There is an old saying, “Once bitten twice shy.” When you have had experienced some unpleasant accident, you may be much more startled by similar experience next time. Staying in Sierra Leone was not easy, and the experience in that country has still been making me fray my nerve. Whenever I felt or saw some abnormal symptoms, all kinds of slight –aches, slight scratch on my skin, unfounded red rash, diarrhea, and exhaustion, I was suddenly suspicious, ‘Is this Ebola?’

It was not so funny; my chronic fatigue, regardless of physical, mental, or nervous, and muscle pain from pushup hectored me that this could be an Ebola symptom. Luckily, I have never had serious symptoms – fever, vomiting, bleeding – and combined big symptoms – diarrhea + joint pain – so I considered myself that I should be fine. A combination of stomach pain and lack of appetite just for 1 day did not threaten me enough to go to the hospital to ask "Is this Ebola?" I realize again about the importance of body management; exercising every day to keep myself in good shape and to treat myself right. The stomachache caused by overeating anything did frightened me; I may have to eat in moderation from now. Merely, I am just sad by the thought that I would not ask Niongeze Kidogo! (좀 더 주세요!) again to use portion control.

Aug 27. 2014. 7-Eleven

When you see the word “7-11” for the first time, how would you read it? July 11^th? November 7^th? Seven dash eleven? Or 7-Eleven?

It is a World Vision’s Health and Nutrition (H/N) 7-11 strategy; it pursues a behavior change communication (BCC) approach to have a positive impact on individual, community and environment level by 360 Degrees of Support. Among the 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that were established by the United Nations in 2000, MDG4 is to reduce child mortality by two thirds, and MDG5 is to improve maternal health by three quarters by 2015. The 7-11 strategy is to improve Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) to achieve MDG4 & 5. This year is 2014, so we have only 1 more year to achieve those goals by 2015. Unfortunately, only 9 out of the 137 countries have achieved MDG 4 & 5 so far, so World Vision launched Child Health Now (CHN) campaign in 2009 to boost up the speed of reaching our global goals. In align with this effort, AIM-Health [Access: Infant and Maternal Health] Programme has been implemented in 10 Area Development Programmes (ADPs) of five African countries: Kenya(1), Mauritania(2), Sierra Leone(2), Tanzania(2) and Uganda(3).

In the “7-11,” “7” means the number of intervention for the mother (adequate diet; iron/folate supplements; tetanus toxoid immunization; malaria prevention, treatment access and intermittent preventive treatment; birth preparedness, healthy timing and spacing of delivery; de-worming; access to maternal health service: ANC, PNC, SBAs, PMTCT, TB/STI screening), and “11” means the number of intervention for children under 2 (appropriate breast-feeding; essential newborn care; hand washing with soap; appropriate complementary feeding; adequate iron; vitamin A supplementation; ORT/zinc; prevention and care seeking for malaria; full immunization for age; prevention and care seeking for ARI; de-worming). So we are saying “Seven Eleven Strategy.”

When I first heard “7-11,” I suspected that why it must be “7-11.” I mean, it reminded me of the convenient store, “7-Eleven.” There must be so many other interventions for mothers and children, so it could also have been “11-11,” “9-11,” or “10-10.” I wanted to ask about the origin of this name to Erin, but I did not because the question sounded so silly. :-) So I do not know the history how this name was created. Probably, World Vision staff made this name as “7-11” deliberately to make it familiar and rememberable. Anyway, I can pronounce it easily and nicely. “Seven Eleven!” During this week, I have been reviewing World Vision’s all basic concepts and strategies to strengthen my background about 7-11 conceptual framework. And I tried to find the hidden meaning of 7-11, beyond just memorizing what interventions World Vision are dealing with.

Every year, 8.8 million children under the age of 5 die of preventable disease: pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria and undernutrition. To me, diarrhea was temporary one night troublesome phenomenon. How diarrhea kills children? I was so surprised. However, for malnourished children, diarrhea is life-threatening disease because it leads to severe dehydration. Every year, up to 500,000 women die during pregnancy or from childbirth-related complications. 99% of cases have been occurred in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

To achieve the goal of improving MNCH, World Vision focuses on 3 Child well-being outcomes (CWBO).

1. Mothers and children are well-nourished.

2. Mothers and children are protected from infection and disease.

3. Mothers and children access essential health services.

It looks good. All of them make sense. Everyone will be happy if we reach those outcomes. But if we think these in a different way, we realize that mothers and children in developing countries are not nourished well, are exposed to all kinds of infection and disease defenselessly, and they have no access to essential health services.

If your friend is sick, you may advise him/her, “You’d better to go to hospital.” So, we can go to hospital, receive medical treatments from doctors and nurses if necessary, go to pharmacy to get some medicine. You may be hospitalized or you go back home to take some good rest. All activities seem to be normal. (Of course, we also have to have medical insurance…) Anyway, the point is that we take it for granted that we can go to hospital 24/7 whenever we have an emergency and give birth to babies.

But, this normality that we considered it as a common behavior never applies to sub-Saharan Africa. For example, whole number of populations is 28,791 in Sherbro Island, Sierra Leone. There is only one hospital that surgery is possible, named Bonthe Government Hospital. In that hospital, there is only one medical doctor who can perform a surgery. That means, 1 surgeon is taking responsibility for 28,791 populations’ health. To make it matters worse, no one wants to go and work there as a nurse or doctor because people think living in the island is like being in prison and feel isolated. Although there are 10 peripheral health units (PHUs) and 110 community health workers (CHWs) for Sherbro people, no one can save their lives when they are in danger of medical emergency except a medical doctor. If pregnant women who need immediate help but that only one medical doctor is not available, they have to be referred to Mattru Jong Hospital located in the mainland right away. It takes 1 hour for taking speedboat, and 1 another hour to reach that hospital, but more seriously, they do not have money to purchase fuel for a speedboat. Referring to the hospital is delayed for one reason or another; even if they finally succeed in reaching the hospital, after that is too late. Prolonged or obstructed labour caused death of a baby inside of the womb, and mothers’ lives fall into in hazard.

We can see 7-Eleven anywhere. Even if you do not know where it is, you can ask a passenger “Where is 7-Eleven?” and find it within 10 minutes. You are so thirsty and famished, so you buy a Coke and bread. After quenching your thirst and hunger, and you buy some vitamin and soap to improve quality of your life. This would be normal to you. But somewhere in Africa, this is not normal. They even never know what 7-Eleven is. They have no hospital, no ambulance, no water, no essential drug, no electricity, no vitamin, no soap, and no bread. They do not even notice their children are dying because they have never heard of the symptoms of diseases. Mothers are also dying of anemia, tetanus, HIV/AIDs, tuberculosis, STIs, and neglected tropical diseases. All of diseases are preventable, but they are still suffering from those only because they have no “7-Eleven” near to their home. That is why. To me, World Vision’s “7-11” tells me that it sounds familiar but it is something that I should not take that for granted. Food, iron/folate, TT, malarial pill, vitamin A, medicine, soap, and hospital… All of them seemed to be a matter of course, but they were actually life-saving tools that should be an indispensable part of our lives. So, I would like to see that 7-11 should also be in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, just like U.S. people easily see it, then everyone in the world would enjoy life-saving benefits and take it for granted in the near future.

Aug 26. 2014. MOM IS WOW

In the reception desk area, a large painting was hanging on the wall. A mother was carrying a baby on her back. I am a prosaic – emotionally barren – man, so painting does not normally inspire me. But the interesting thing was the sentence above this painting.

“MOM IS WOW.”

I say that again. “MOM IS WOW~!” It seemed to have a profound meaning. This slogan made me see the painting again. She was also poising a basket on her head; I assumed she was trying to sell those vegetables to feed her baby. The baby looked so big enough to stop receiving exclusive breast feeding (EBF). You baby, now you have to receive complementary feeding. “MOM IS WOW~~!!” When I say that third time, I found something. When you turn the word “MOM” upside down, it becomes “WOW!” The painting now has just become special to me. Because I agree that MOM IS WOW.

Everyone must have passed a bundle of joy. Well, none of us has memory about that. Infant days completely depend on MOM’s dedication and love (of course, with DAD’s love as well), and thankfully, we went through those total-vulnerable times safely. The sad thing is that I never know how I grew up during those times because I might not even realize myself whether I was actually human being or not at that time. Now, I was finally able to behave as a person should, by graduating my beyond memory of toddlerhood. Won’t you believe that your MOM had you tied to her back all the time just because you cannot remember or could not see yourself where you were at that time? Won’t you believe in God only because you have not seen with your naked eye? I know… belief without seeing must be hard. Many times, trust and faith are totally covered with dark clouds because we always want to see the thing through our pupil. Do you still have to see your infancy to realize how much your MOM loves you? Thanks to her love, we have been free from various diseases and have attained adulthood healthily. Now, it is your responsibility to keep your health from so many diseases in the world. If you are in Africa, please be careful of Ebola, Cholera, and mosquito diseases just now.

Recently, I read an absurd, funny, extreme, but sad Korean news article about mom and daughter. I cannot help telling this story. A mom (somewhere in South Korea…) set a fire to her daughter’s school uniform and blanket in the house because she was so angry at her daughter’s behavior that she meet her boyfriend. A daughter was so shocked and ran to the police station to get immediate help. She did not mean to report it to the police, just fearing so much that something would be going to happen to her mom. All that happened at 3:20am. The article only delivered this fact. But when I read the comments under this online article, many readers reinterpreted this situation, just like I do add my thoughts into Ebola news. Many comments, surprisingly, were defending mom’s position. Readers were guessing with confidence that her daughter never study and fool around her boyfriend. You see? The time was in the middle of dawn. A mom must have been waiting for her all night without sleeping, and she did an extreme behavior in a fit of anger. We could imagine her innermost feelings from fire, and that fire might exactly speak of her miserable burning mind.

Can you blame her? As always, we understand how much MOM love us. But many times, the way of her love is inquisitive, so we may feel uncomfortable to answer all of her curiosity. We know. This is the way of her expression how much she is caring about us. Notwithstanding, what I still carefully want to say is that children may also want MOM’s love in their way, not MOM’s own way of love. MOMs always want to give everything to their children without regret, but sometimes her ungrudging love can be poison to them. Have your MOM ever asked you that “How can I love you? What kind of love are you willing to receive?” Maybe not. Like an eaglet finally learn how to fly by themselves and leave the parental roof, MOMs should also know when they have to release her children to allow them fly high in the sky. Of course, their precious children may get hurt from somewhere and whine severely; but those difficulties will absolutely make them stronger and become a spiritual nourishment for being leaders among ruthless eagles in the future. It is all about trust. Just like infants showed trust to their MOM 100%, MOM can show her full trust to her already-grown-infants (it must be hard for her to believe…) to allow them find their own way.

In South Korea, the localized severe rainstorm has caused damages of many houses, subways, trains and cars in the southern province. This downpour has also produced at least 5 losses of lives. The daily precipitation was 242.5mm in Changwon, the city where my parents live; I knew they should be okay, but I sent a Kakaotalk text message to them to check if they are okay. Usually, I do not say hello to them because I am a bigger boy.

“We are okay, don’t worry. Are YOU okay?”

My mom asked me in return. She is always much concerned for my safety, even more than her safety. Sometimes, her apprehension lays a burden on me. I think I am already grown-up, so I consider myself that I can seem to do everything without her help; but it seems that I am still a young child who is on the back in her deepest mind. I do not know. I often talk back to my parents now that I think myself I am older, but I may be an little child forever in their memory who needs lifetime fundamental support. It may be true. A child never know how deeply concerned his parents are about him. I may finally understand heart of my parents a little better when I become a father myself.

So… I can say out loud that again. LOL. “MOM is WOW~~~!!!”

Aug 25. 2014. Ebola and Cholera

Today, I got several surprising news.

First of all, the Democratic Republic (DR) of Congo confirmed 2 Ebola deaths yesterday. DR Congo is located in Central Africa, which borders Tanzania to the East. What’s more surprising was that the cases in DR Congo are unrelated to Ebola outbreak in West Africa that has claimed more than 1,400 people’s lives so far. This is the 7^th epidemic of Ebola only in Congo. Ebola virus was first discovered in Zaire, the old country name of DR Congo, in 1976. What does this new Ebola epidemic in DR Congo tell us? During 40 years of history, Ebola epidemic has occurred continually, especially 7 times in the same country, DR Congo. The important thing is that we have to try to profit by our mistakes. Even if DR Congo may have acquired experience to contain Ebola virus from the 6 previous Ebola epidemics and have capacity to handle with that, how can we explain the reality that the same disease in the same place has been occurred over and over again until now? The best policy is not to contain the disease quickly, but to prevent a recurrence of the disease. Ebola in Africa repeats a routine endlessly and goes round and round, just like a hamster run in tread wheel again and again. From now, I really hope we will be able to break the Ebola vicious circle.

< Ebola outbreak in DRC: same virus, but different>

http://www.dw.de/ebola-outbreak-in-drc-same-virus-but-different/a-17875656

Second news is that cholera outbreak has been killed at least 67 people in Ghana since June, mostly in the capital city, Accra, and more than 5,000 people has been infected. Everyday, around new 300 people are still being infected. West Africa is never quiet; Ebola plus Cholera make West African countries I was surprised to hear that cholera outbreak has occurred in the one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies, Ghana, because this contagious disease is caused by unclean water, poor sanitation and hygiene. If most of the cholera victim cases have occurred in the capital city, how can we see the hygiene situation in the rural area? It seems like just yesterday that I visited community every night to conduct nutrition education and distribute soap to community people in Ghana. It was actually 2 years ago. Maybe, (No, it should be…) they had already used soap I gave, and I believe they must have received another one from the next year public health team. I was wondering how Allyson in Ghana was doing, so I said “Be careful of Cholera!” to her on Skype.

“Ya, I am trying! I hate touching the money etc these days - worried I'm going to get sick! You heard about it all the way in Tanzania?”

Africa is suffering from many diseases; Ebola and Cholera are the top epidemic now. Many endemic diseases in Africa are brushed aside. Either endemic or epidemic, diseases are always here in Africa. So, all people in Africa are also exposed to all kinds of neglected tropical diseases as well as familiar diseases. What should we do? Please do remember. Wash your hands with soap! You can prevent up to 70% of all kinds of waterborne diseases, including possibly Ebola as well.

<Ghana cholera outbreak kills 67, infects 5,000: health officials>

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/ghana-cholera-outbreak-kills-67-infects-5-000-article-1.1914226

Aug 24. 2014. 불편한 진실

I left my lodge early in the morning. It was Sunday at 7:30am, but shoeshine man already took his seat and waited for customers. Every morning, I was busy to walk to the office and passed by him, but I approached him to have my shoes cleaned this time.

“Good morning!”

I said hello to him in English because using Swahili is my inconvenient truth. I gave words of blessing to him that he began working so early even on Sunday, but he did not seem to understand me. Instead, I asked how much it was to polish the shoes. He said, “Five hundred!” 500 Tanzania Shilling equaled to 30 cents. I sat on the chair, then, he hurriedly took out many different sizes of flip-flops and tried to find the most suitable one for me. I changed my feet, and passed my shoes to him. Since my shoes were black, he took out black shoe polish and began polishing it single-mindedly.

His work reminded me of my time in the military. When I was a military recruit, I used to polish combat boots really hard every night. When a drillmaster detected at least one dirty combat boots, he knocked over the boot rack out of anger and ordered recruits to clean them again whole night until he became satisfied. The combat boots should be bling-bling, like a glittered with star in the night sky. You may wonder what is the relationship between dirt on the combat boots and the battle? Recruits would have to roll in mud next day, and the shoes would get dirty again a few hours later. Should the combat boots function as nightglow so that soldiers can walk so easily in the darkness? It was all about establishing military discipline. 각잡힌 군대! Because the victory from the battle lies in soldiers’ habitual mental attitude. If that mindset relaxes, you must be defeated in the war. So I was bordering on obsession with making everything perpendicular, 90 degrees of blanket, 90 degrees of folding laundry, 90 degrees of walking (직각보행)… When I entered some training center for receiving moral education, all drillmasters sang with unity, “발 굴려어~~~!!!” (Roll feet!) So I had to roll my feet continuously until I found the seat, and I had to sit 90 degrees upright during the whole session.

That was an inconvenient truth. I had to maintain a permanent state of tension to prepare for defense by rolling my feet and making my life at an angle of 90°. When I indulged in memories, a shoeblack just finished his job. My shoes were so shiny, and it looked almost new. I paid him 500 TZS and said, “See you next time!”

As soon as turning on my heel, I felt bad for him. He just earned 500 TZS, but it was only 30 cents. In the afternoon, I bought Wali Nyama for lunch. It was 2,500 TZS. He would have to polish shoes 5 times to have this lunch. ‘Has he met other customers? Does he have enough money to buy some food?’ I stared at my blameless shoes. Oh… the tip of my shoes has already got some dirt. I flipped a speck of dust off. Faced with an inconvenient truth, I slowly ate them all. I am so lucky man who never catches typhoid. I have always liked to eat local food since I was in Sierra Leone, but I am invulnerable to eat any kind of food. Some foreigners here do not enjoy eating local food, or they are too sensitive to eat new food and get typhoid, so they take the trouble to do cooking or buy food at the hotel restaurant. Morning hamburger was 6,000 TZS, and Chinese food was more than 15,000 TZS in the fancy restaurant. I could save my money thanks to my durable body, but it was still an inconvenient truth that I did not still understand what Swahili said in the local restaurant menu.

I came back to the office and finished up the report. I was using my laptop, MacBook Air. It was a small sized laptop that I have been using almost 2 years. Many people in the U.S. were using this computer, so I thought I was one of many users. But I am not a normal person here. The MacBook that has a bitten apple logo is unprecedented in kind in Africa, so people feel novel and usually ask me how much it is. Beside my laptop, my Samsung Galaxy S III that I have been using for more than 2 years is ardently charged. Around my wrist, my G-Shock watch is ticking away the seconds silently. I look like a rich, every inch of me. I came here for health in Africa, but now I breathe exotic fumes to them. Over several days, I had seriously thought whether I should put them in the luggage and get some old phone and old laptop in Sierra Leone. But once in a blue moon, I found Sierra Leoneans who was using the newest phone, Samsung Galaxy S5, so I just decided to use my stuff. Because it is me who use those. People also ask me how much my phone is, and how much does it cost to live in South Korea or in the U.S.

Once upon a time, there was a sketch, “불편한 진실” in the popular show Gag Concert in South Korea. Comedians raised a laugh by catching some inconvenient truths that happen around us all the time but cannot be blurted out for shame. But my situation is not for a gag; I really must be extremely careful about saying that. It is a sensitive issue, so I could have suppressed this inconvenient truth. But saying nothing would become more an inconvenient truth, so I am saying the fact.

Is helping people easy or hard? Through World Vision, many people sponsor a kid in Africa by donating $35 every month, but let’s look around us. You can see starving homeless people just right in front of you within 10 seconds. Who will you help? People who are almost dying of hunger around you or a poor child who has no money to attend the school in other parts of the world? 등잔 밑이 어둡다… Why am I here by taking multiple-hour of airplane without knowing anything about people’s life here? How much am I helpful to them with what sort of qualification? There is also enormous number of refugees in Baltimore, the place I had recently stayed, but I did nothing for them and came to Africa. Many friends who have not been to Africa vaguely think and tell me that it must be really cool and incredible for me to be here. That is another inconvenient truth to me. Where on earth is Chulwoo Park going? I do not know the answer yet. This is just irony.

‘이기적인 세상 속에서 나눔과 베품은 정말이지 어려운 문제인 것 같다. 난 얼마나 남들을 위하고 사랑하는지 모르겠다. 나의 얼만큼을 버려내야 사람들을 진정으로 생각한다고 말할 수 있는지도 모르겠다.’

I said Korean sentences in my blog for the first time. Because writing in second language, English, is also my inconvenient truth…

Aug 23. 2014. Burial Boys

I read online Ebola news from many mass media every single day. I bookmarked WHO Global Alert and Response (GAR) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever websites, and check to see if Disease outbreak news (DONs) has been updated. WHO has been updating DONs periodically, almost every other day, and provide the total number of cases and deaths of Ebola virus disease (EVD).

<World Health Organization Global Alert and Response: Ebola Virus Disease>

http://www.who.int/csr/don/archive/disease/ebola/en/

Ebola cases were found in Sierra Leone when I was preparing to go, but I took decisive action to board an airplane. It was a long story why I could not change my mind. Though 21 days of self-monitoring has been passed without any symptom, I do not want to say out loud, “I am free from Ebola!”  Even if my body is fine, my Sierra Leone friends are still there. I cannot simply ignore Ebola anymore only because I am safe in East Africa.

I often ask WVSL staff through Skype if they are ok. I ask, “How are you?” Actually, those words, “How are you?” “잘지내?” have been totally empty of meaning so far. Those were just for the sake of formality. If I say “How are you?” you may say “I am good.” It was like a meaningless conversation formula that people give and take. In Tanzania, people like to greet each other. If I say “Habari yako?” they may say “Nzuri.” So then, what is the difference between this greeting formula and hip-hop singers? Those singers like to guide audience, “Say Ho~~~oh~~~” and pass audience a microphone and put their hands to the ear. It is a tacit suggestion. Then the audience did submissive(?) response and say “Ho~~~oh~~~!” Your tacit suggestion has been accepted. Then singers were excited to interact with audience, so they say some more advanced one. “Say Ho oh oh OH!!” Thankfully, audience answer, “Say Ho oh oh OH!!”

For me, I am not just saying “How are you?” in this case. Whenever I ask “How are you?” to them, I am wondering if they are really okay. But the greeting formula cannot be easily beyond the range of “How are you, fine, thank you, and you?” Even if they say “I am OK,” I assume that “OK” does not really mean “OK,” but it is just good answer for “How are you.” Moreover, I cannot feel the tone of that “OK” because Skype chat does not tell me their mood.

I am neither Ebola expert nor Ebola intern. My World Vision Fellow work is totally irrelevant to Ebola, but it has certainly affected my status of safety and my daily life. All foreign staff in World Vision Sierra Leone (WVSL) has already left, and I am here in Tanzania. What can I do for my friends in Sierra Leone and people in West Africa? There are hundreds of Ebola news every day, and we are living in a deluge of information. Many people (including me) are only interested in what is happening around them. It is true that we are busy with handling happenings on the periphery, not in the opposite side of the earth. If I were not in Africa, Ebola outbreak would never be my interest. Likewise, people may not know what is really happening in West Africa. Articles deliver only facts and emphasize only the number of death; we easily miss the hidden side of Ebola tragedy. I cannot say scientific theory or complicated biological/ chemical action of human body against Ebola. But what I can do is to reinterpret the article that I can transmit people’s real emotion about Ebola.

Here is the New York Times article about “The Burial Boys of Ebola.”

<If They Survive in the Ebola Ward, They Work On>

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/24/world/africa/sierra-leone-if-they-survive-in-ebola-ward-they-work-on.html?_r=0

They call themselves burial boys, and most of them are 20s, who are students and taxi drivers. This group of young men became volunteers themselves to take on the most dangerous and dirtiest work: finding and burying the dead bodies all across 9-hour distance of Eastern Sierra Leone every day. They have been trained by Doctors Without Borders and supported by Red Cross, and they are fighting against Ebola in the very front line of highest affected area, Kailahun District.

“I sacrifice myself for my country. If I don’t volunteer, who can volunteer to do it now?” Kandeh Kamara, one of volunteers asked back to the reporter.

“I am a solider because we are now on the battlefield. We are fighting with the virus.”

His family said he would be no longer welcome in his village, but he bulled his way to become a burial boy. He had to turn his back on his family and some village people who never understood him. After work, he had no money to buy food, so he begged on the street. The only reason why he takes his life in his hands to do this work is definite.

“I’m supposed to sacrifice myself for my country.”

Q. If you were him, would you also be willing to risk your life to fight against Ebola?

Q. If your children plead with you that “Don’t go there again!” would you still be willing to disobey them and go back to the hospital to treat Ebola patients?

Q. If your 15 nurse colleagues have died, would you willing to keep staying in that hospital to be the only Ebola worker?

The dead body is the most dangerous. People touch the dead body and easily get infected as well. What’s more, the burial boys do not wear full protective clothes. There is no enough equipment to protect themselves from Ebola. While many health workers are giving up and fleeing from Ebola, the burial boys are giving up their homes and families, fighting with uneducated village people, and finding and burying corpses to stop Ebola. They are fighting against both stigma and Ebola.

According to WHO, at least 129 health workers have died of Ebola, and 2,615 cases and 1,427 deaths have occurred in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria so far. The real number of victims must be much more than that.

“Until the Ebola virus is over, I will stay here. If I have a long life, I can go back to my people. I can talk to them I’m doing this job for you. Maybe they can understand me.”

“They [village people] are angry with us. Some of them are uneducated.
They don’t even believe that Ebola virus is real.” - The New York Times