Is This Paris?

The trip always starts in the mind. First, there is the contacts with the Country Office (CO), and the resulting agreement on when to arrive, etc. Then, Mr. Franko provides a itinerary for my review based on the dates that I need to arrive and depart. In this case, he placed me on a new airline, Air France, and had me waiting in the Charles de Gaulle airport outside of Paris for one of the infrequent flights to Bamako, Mali.



I will be traveling overland to our CO in neighboring Republic of Guinea. But I have over eight hours between connecting flights between Paris and Mali. Even this is more than enough time to explore the huge airport. So, I did my research on how to take the RER train that originates within the airport, and to venture into the heart of Paris. Now then, 8 hours seems like a lot of time, but I can not miss my flight to Mali. What, with the possibilities of getting on the wrong train, passing through security, etc. I figured that I had 1 1/2 to 2 hours at best to wander Paris. I was also hoping to pick up a geocache (www.geocaching.com - think GPS treasure hunt) find a few blocks from the Notre Dame Cathedral on the Isle de la Cite.

The train was a piece of cake, especially since I exchanged some U.S. dollars for Euro's before I left Sea-Tac airport in Seattle, WA (my departure location. I am home-based in Arlington, WA - no, a much smaller town than Arlington, VA)). I knew that from my pre-departure research that most U.S. generated credit cards lack the embedded security RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) chip that European Union-issued credits cards have. I needed hard cash. The train whisked me along until I saw a sign outside the train window at an underground station. Hey, I'd better get off!



I popped up from a tunnel and there I was. The courtyard before Notre Dame. Visions of Victor Hugo and Charles Lawton's portrayal of the Hunchback (classic Hollywood movie produced in 1939 - I am a big 1930's film fanatic) loomed before me - in reality!



I was stunned. But I was also tired. I had been up for about 30 hours (not too unusual on my trips). I was lugging around nearly 20 pounds of briefcase. I have developed this habit of becoming self-sustaining during my travels after my last loss of luggage. I keep all that I would need to survive, minus water, to last several days. An extra pair of under garments, medicines, a full set of PDA training tools (cables, chargers, data synchronization docking stations, portable PDA batteries, spare laptop battery, granola snacks, spare contacts, first aid kit. Yes, I have not yet learned to travel light. This is in addition to my fanny pack which is always within 18 inches of my grasp, which contains, cash, credit cards, 3 PDA's, spare PDA battery pack, passport, medicines, tiny first aid pack,etc.

These are not just tourist trips. I always fear that my luggage will get lost, or someone will pilfer my brief case while jammed in a crowded developing nation airport as I try to quickly pull my luggage off of the baggage conveyor. I also carry in my fanny pack a flash drive with all files needed to do my training. With those items and my 3 PDA's, I could get by. I have to be prepared. The expense and time of my trips for Save the Children have to have risks mitigated to ensure that time is not wasted.

So, my arm was falling off having lugged everything around since yesterday morning. It is now early afternoon the following day. I tried to gain entrance to the American Airlines Admirals Club that I am a member of (a great location of respite between exhausting flights). I might of convinced the Club to securely hold my briefcase for me while I ventured into Paris. But, alas, the club was in a terminal that I did not hold a boarding pass for. Ah, security.

I walked back across the Seine onto the right bank. I never did gain a foothold on to the Rive Gauche, or Left Bank. This is more than just wanting to visit the traditional bohemian side of the Seine. Left in French is gauche, which means awkward. Yes, us south paws are always bumbling along in life, twisting our arms and hands trying to accommodate right-handed (dextral) appliances and door frames. The word sinister also is derived from left. Left handed persons in the Middle Ages (not in the Orient, though!)were considered strange and twisted. A snail whose shell is coiled to the left is termed sinistrial. Us left handers do not have a chance, hence my desire to congregate with my sinister fellows on the Left Bank of the Seine....

The geocache which i wanted to locate was in the St. Gervais St.Protais area of Paris. A geocache is typically a small container (an old 35 mm film canister perhaps) that a person with a Geographic Positioning System (GPS) enabled device (I always carry one to record the entrance to train stations) hides and then posts the exact (within 3 meters) location on the internet. This particular geocache internet posting wonderfully described this side street in the heart of Paris which contained buildings from the 15th century.



I never did find the cache, of which there are over 500,000 cleverly hidden all over the world. After one does find a cache, there is typically a small pad of paper and a stubby pencil within to jot down your name and date. Later, you are able to access the caches' web page and record it as a find. I have over 100 finds all over the world, but I know several persons with thousands of finds. My main interest in geocaching is that it takes to places that I would not normally locate. Not the weathered griffins along the edges of the church in the square near the undiscovered cache.



I then happened upon a small shop which offered paper items, such as stationary, real ink pens (the ones that you must dip in a bottle of ink to produce characters) called Melodies Graphiques. The owner was so gracious. After a purchase of a couple of book markers (where did I leave off reading last night?) and a packet of stationary and envelopes crafted from handmade paper, the owner tenderly wrapped them in colored tissue paper.



I then headed or the train station to return to the airport. Wonderful day!

Destination: Mali

In some ways, this is perhaps the most exciting part of any trip. It is early morning the day of the flight. The emails, the work development, the itinerary - and the packing (did I forget anything? is always the question, isn't it?). I shall certainly not forget the research that I do before departure. In some ways, one arrives before the physical setting foot upon the ground. This is how have traveled most all of my life - in my mind. I have used the venue of the library and lately the internet to first travel to an exotic destination.

Speaking of exotic destinations, here is an excerpt from one of my security reports:

Arriving in Mali can be quite a shock. As you step out of the air-conditioned cocoon of a modern jet at Bamako's dusty, decaying airport, you may feel as though you've left civilization behind. But first glances can be deceiving. If you look beyond the rusting terminal, you'll see the real Mali: distinctive mud dwellings inhabited by flamboyantly dressed Malians going about their business. In many ways, little has changed since Mali's days as the site of great empires. Travelers willing to brave the heat and dust will find that they have entered an impressive civilization, where life today is much as it always has been.

My connecting flight is through Charles de Gaulle airport outside of Paris. I am thrilled at this since Air France is a new airline for me and I have only set foot in Paris within my mind. I am indeed a francophile, that being helped along by four years of French language in high school (I forgot most all of it). I am going to see about taking a train into central Paris since I have a 7 hour layover (thank you Mr. Franko! Most persons thinks it odd that I do not mind long layovers to explore airports. I always give up an aisle seat to be able to look out the airplane window). I have been watching the security reports that I receive from three different sources (SOS MedicEvac, Department of State, FlightLock) and it sounds like the youth rights have calmed down. There were only 138 vehicles burned to cinders last night to the north of Paris. Interestingly, my only security concern on this trip is within a developed nation.

THF (Travel Hint for Free): take photos of your luggage and place a printed color copy on your person. It is oh so helpful in convincing a airline luggage person to allow you to search with them in the luggage hold area. I keep a copy of this photo on my PDA along with a listing of the luggage tag numbers (those little tag stickies can fall off of the ticket holder).

I am sensing that our Sahel Country Office (ShCO) can really use some help. I do not have any particulars, but my research shows that Mali is the fifth poorest nation on earth. Mali is north, and adjacent to, Guinea. The latter has access to the Atlantic Ocean. The two nations are collectively, and historically, known as the Sahel. Timbouctou is located in the north central portion of Mali. I would dearly love to visit this fabled trading stop, known for it's early universities filled with crumbling scrolls and books of Muslim learning from the 14th century. This city was a central trading vertex for overland trade of salt and gold (the two are connected!). This trade was interrupted by the Portugese forging water routes, thus bypassing the hazardous overland trade routes.

I feel so confident now tht I purchased my SOS MedEvac insurance. Thoeretically, they will drop a helicopter down anywhere in the world to evacuate one out to a decent medical facility.

THF: Research through your medical insurance the doctors that have agreements in your destination city. Print this list out with addresses and phone numbers and keep them on your person. Give a copy of the list to your host when you arrive. I also keep it on my PDA in Adobe Acrobat format.

Well, I had better head for the airport! The trip has commenced.

The Interior is Not Very Far....

Choices, choices. Is not that what defines being alive. I just did not know what to choose on our "out" day here in Panama during the NetHope conference. There was an all day trip to the Chagas National Park. I am still operating in that pardigm of assuming long distances over horrible roads while in developing nations. I am being continually surprised by Panama. I have yet to hit a gravel road and the potholes are not noteworthy. Disappointed? No.



I chose the 1/2 day trip to the village of San Antonio hosted by the NGO WinRock. In about forty minutes by tour bus from our hotel on the Pacific Ocean terminus of the Canal, we exited from a well-paved highway for maybe ten minutes and parked at the entrance to a reserve. This was jungle like I had not seen before. My forays to Latin American countries that should have had tropical rain forests had all been deforested long ago. How could those people in non-Panamanian countries do such such a thing to the environment, disdaining good environmental stewardship? Oops, I have retreated to my North Ageneralized viewpoint once more. Oh yes, those de-foresters were merely trying to survive....



After disembarking, we soon saw two motorized boats coming towards us across a wide expanse of vegetation-choked shallow waters. Entering these water craft carefully ("stay low"), we arrived within 7 minutes to the dock of a small village called San Antonio, which consisted of maybe a 1/2 dozen thatched dwellings and 2-3 small concrete buildings. The purpose of the tour was to see an internet kiosk developed in partnership with Intel and Winrock to provide internet connectivity to this community of 30 persons. As I have seen all over the world, a more lasting solution to poverty is education. If your school age children lack access to the internet, you are at a disadvantage with your academic peers (e.g. research, etc.). We had the opportunity also to purchase handcrafted items constructed from articles from the surrounding forest.



We afterwards took a short hike into the jungle. I was thrilled to have my sharp-eyed friend Mark from Family Health International spot a sloth up in a tree. I also saw a couple of anteaters. The latter were drawn to the trails of leaf-cutter ants carrying their fungal incubator stock over their heads along the jungle floor. The village is apparently on an island about 2/3 of the way from the Pacific towards the Caribbean side of the Canal. I noted the increased heat and humidity that we lacked on the Pacific side.



On our return to the tour bus across the protective moat, we quickly caught up to the first boat tranversing the lagoon, since we had to take two separate boats for our group. They had snagged a submerged log on their exit. I shouted out a un-thoughful comment of, we'll send food back!. I once again have spoken without thinking, but my comment of dispair was based on the influemce of my recent completion of an account of Theodore Roosevelts' (he is much on my mind this trip - I own, and have read repeatedly, a first edition of his African Game Trails.) ill-fated trip down an Amazon river where this stout heart despaired of such jungle conditions that he contemplated taking his own life to avert negative affect on his fellow travelers.



We all arrived safely, with myself confident of long-term survival in case of mishap due to my obvious well-fed nature (the caimans would head for me first!). Nearby, we stopped at the Gamboa resort hotel who generously provides the wireless internet connection to San antonio. What a place! I need to return here with my wife for an extended stay.

Panama - A Paradigm Shift

I have arrived in Panama City to attend the biannual NetHope conference at the Ciuadad de Sabre (City of Knowledge). I am staying at the Country Suite Hotel immediately adjacent to the Pacific terminus of the Panama Canal.

This was an easy trip, especially to Central America. A short 6 hour flight from Seattle (yes, short) to Miami and then three hours to Panama. I've been flying a lot in the last 4 years so my mileage on American Airlines earned me a coupon to stay free at their Admirals Club. A bit over-rated, but definitely more pleasurable than the main Miami terminal. Plus, free coffee! That's a bonus to keep expenses down, and a boost after taking the 10:30PM red-eye flight out of Seattle!

I always love returning to Latin America. The culture is so easily engaged, plus I have a barely functioning grasp of Spanish (that is in positive comparison to my knowledge of most languages of the countries that I visit). Also, El Salvador, a couple of countries to the north, was my first trip out of the United States for Save the Children. That trip changed my occupation and future outlook on life globally. It also changed how I viewed myself. I am still pretty much a whining, self-centered norte americano fully entrenched in rampant consumerism. But I have noted some changes...

Panama is distinctly different than Honduras, Guatemala or El Salvador. I can see that it is much more stable here politically and financially. This is going ot be fun.

Field Testing in Tranh Hoa

Our training concluded at the Hanoi Country Office in Hanoi on Wednesday. Khahn, the Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist caught on very quickly. I soon discovered that he has a broad background in the PC database application Microsoft Access. This helped him to write the form scrips that enabled the skip questioning and other form objects that extends the basic design software.

By the end of the day, we had pretty much completed the test form which we were to take out to two health centers in the Tranh Hoa province about 4 hours south of Hanoi. During lunch I learned that Khahn is married with two boys, the youngest being less than two months old. With less than an hour until office closure on Wednesday, I could see that 90% of the form was finished, but could use some tweaking of a particularly elegant navigation script that was not quite working. I could see Khahn valiantly trying to change it to become functional. He, at last succeeded, but was running out of time to make the form fully usable in small ways. I suggested that I finish it up, but his work ethic was making this suggestion uncomfortable to him. Knowing he had a wife at home with two small children, I pulled rank on him as the consultant and told him it would be complete and loaded on 5 PDA's by the morning.

We discovered that the native Windows Mobile keyboard lacks sufficient Vietnamese accented characters. This was of great concern to me, but Khahn said that the Vietnamese characters are Latin-based, but understandable, to most all people even lacking the accents. The forms were fully translated into Vietnamese, sans accent marks, for our field testing on Thursday and Friday. Ngoc anh would accompany us, and she would provide logistical support for our trip in order to allow Khahn his full focus on the field testing. Ahn is a health program assistant and also very fluent in English. She will also conduct some of the interviews on our first day. I appreciated that I would be able to observe the differences in how the mothers experienced interviewers from both genders. I love this part....

I had also wanted to place a branding logo for Save the Children at the beginning of the form, as well as the form title. This might seem like candy-coating, but those PDA screens are tiny compared to a big sheet of paper. It is simple to determine the form your are going to select while in an air conditioned office, but not so for a health worker in the clinic environment.



We arrived at the Bach Lim hotel, which was rather nice, early in the afternoon. It was very warm and humid, but I was delighted to see an air conditioner in my room. I am finding that hot water is irrelevant in many tropical locations since the water is already warm. After a brief rest, we packed up and headed for the first health center.



But first we would stop at the District Health Clinic to meet the Director and his staff. Save the Children partners with the Ministry of Health providing management of the health program and technical assistance. I was soon to discover that protocol and visibility was important, especially for a foreign visitor - me!



After a demonstration of the PDA's, the director wedged into our vehicle and we arrived at the first health clinic as the mothers were arriving. Pre-planning was evident, with two tables set up outside the clinic for the interviews. One by one, them others sat with either Anh or Khahn and went through the interview.



We had placed a digital signature field on the form asking for each respondents permission to conduct the interview. I have added a data security and data privacy section to my training package, so here was another opportunity to see how trust is engendered between interviewer and respondent with technology squarely in between.





We quickly went through the 20 interviews and I thought we would then depart. Was I wrong. Khahn inidcated that we would have a summary meeting. It was towards the end of the interviews that I saw the director walk over and greet a newly-arrived group of men. I now found out that this was the People's Committee for the village.

Now then, in 1970, after finishing hish school, I awaited my lottery number that would determine if I would be drafted unvoluntarily into the U.S. Army for a trip to the southern portion of this then-partioned country. I had strong feelings, like many students of this era about going, however I am not confident of my altruisitc beliefs at the time. I did not want to go. A high draft number kept me at my production assistant job for an electronics firm (not bad for just out high school. My father had me working part-time with him at small electronics companies since I was 14 (post-high school, I was able to avoid a fast food franchise income like my friends).



So, here I was professionally representing one of the largest NGO's in North Vietnam, and the local Party leadership had come to see what was going. I knew that news of my arrival had been given to these particular men before I had ever disembarked off of the plane. I had emailed my Statement of work and a copy of passport for the visa application process. Now, they wanted to see in person who I was and what I had come to do. This was fascinating.



We all sat at a table as I listened to dialogue which seemed more like speech-making ot me - ery formal and deliberate. It was hot and humid and it had been a long day and I was ready to go. But, I knew that this was, once again, a rare opportunity to represent not only Save the Children, but also America. I am very aware of this representation. I, unlike most toursits, often travel to remote locations where the polite stares tell me silently that, other than on CNN, I am the first glimpse of a Westerner. A chance not to be passed up.

Ahn was translating for me as the speeches continued. I knew what was coming, so I opened up Pocket Word on my PDA and began jotting down a few remarks. Sure enough, Ahn asked me during a pause in the conversation if I would like to say anything.



I do not know how well it translated, since my translators all over the world oft freely adjust my comments to our mutual benefit. After thanking thme for allowing us to conduct the surveys, I told them that I was impressed with their leadership for encouraging this pioneering effort in their village. This seemed to go over well, and smiling faces and eyes turned my way. The People's committee leader directed refreshments to be brought and we soon toasted each with Vietnamese beer (Halida).
Grievences redressed, at least on a personal, local level.



We returned to the hotel and went out for dinner at a nearby eatery. Khahn in particular has enjoyed watching me encounter various foods with an abundance of invertebrates. Aha, but he did not realize that I was passionate about invertebrate zoology in my first college foray. In fact, I described to him how my personal email address is actually the genus of a nearly universally-distributed fresh water snail (the cloak comes off...) which happens to be rare in that it's shell whorl is left-handed (yes, I too, am a south-paw). My rule overseas, is if my hosts eat it, I will eat it. Except for those fried chicken feet in the Philippines (I don't knw where those chickens had been walking!)

The air conditiong went out late at nightr after Khahn and I made some last minutes changes to the forms. all had gone realy well, and my PDA field feedback notes that I took during observation indicated no problems. In fact, I was surprised at how easily the forms worked and the respondents interaction with them. The next morning everyone asked how I slept, partly in curiousity in how a sweating Westerner took the heat. I actually fell asleep quickly and awoke refreshed. A quick breakfast of Pho and we were off for an early start to our 2nd health center.



The People's Committee leadership was noticeably absent, so the beer and my well-translated speech did the trick. This time the interviews were to be conducted by the health workers (HW), therefore we would quickly train the HW's to the PDA's and how the forms work. I just love this part, because it is at this level of interface all of my work proceeds.



I watched as Ahn and Khahn expertly emonstrated the use of the PDA's and the intend and function of the health questionnaires. I noticed four of HW's trying to look over their shoulders, so I grabbed another PDA and gently approached them from the side. Now, before all of this started I noticed a rather severe dispositioned lady walk in. She stood nearly a head taller than the rest (my height) and seemed to be the senior member. When she entered the room and looked and me and made a comment without smiling. I asked Ahn, and she told me that the lady asked if I understood any Vietnamese. Put into my place again. Anyway, as I began to demonstrate, the serious lady moved immediately towards us and displaced me with her newly-acquired knowledge of the PDA form and began instructing the HW's. Instead of a slight, I just moved away and reveled at the success of peer-to-peer training unfolding.



Oops, it is late Sunday night, I must do a little packing before I head into the office for a final bit of training and my summary and recommendations presentation to the CO Director and his staff.

This is why I do this work:



More later on my visit to the huge, elaborate mausoleum/museum (etymologically related, those two words?) of Ho Chi Minh, and the Army War Museum to view downed U.S. planes....

In the City....Vietnam

As I had hoped, the staff here at Save the Children have let me gain liberty to do it on my own, albeit very selectively. It is a very safe city. I needed some Vietnamese currency, so the hotel suggested I walk to an ATM a block away. This was very fortunate since ATM's are few and distant here. The hotel doorman walked outside onto the street and just pointed down a side street. One must constantly be aware of traffic, even on side streets. This city is filled with hordes, no armies of motor bikes going everywhere! I used my credit card to withdraw some Vietnam Dong for our visit to the countryside - 4 hours to the south by vehicle. I also wanted some extra money for shopping this weekend, etc. So, by pulling a couple of hundred US dollars equivalent, I found myself a millionaire by Vietnamese standards: 2.6 million Dong! I also took a taxi both to and from the office today. I am enjoying this city unlike all others. Very exciting, clean and safe.

By the way, in the picture above, the bowl on the left is filled with tiny live crabs - very fresh!

When I returned to the hotel this afternoon, the fresh bowl of fruit had been replaced with a different variety. Usually, it contained what appeared to be small chestnuts, but actually something like tiny kiwi fruit. These did not interest me and they must of noticed my lack of interest. Today, it was filled with short, stout bananas. Now, I often see the banana type all over the tropics which are the starchy plantains used for cooking. I thought that these were those. Oh, to my delight, this was absolutely the most succulent, delicious bananas I have ever had anywhere in the world. Not only were the bursting with flavor, but seemed combines with flavors of peach, cherry, orange. They were incredible. Vietnam has delightfully surprised me.



Above is a picture of my partner, Khahn, studiously and earnestly developing his health form for testing the next two days. I put a few touches to it this evening, so all ready....

Oh, And I Almost Forgot....What Almost Happened

8/12/2007 - London Café,
Addis Ababa Airport, Ethiopia

Well, I almost pulled a Jack Nicholson from Five Easy Pieces. I sat down and looked at a menu and finally decided on a egg sandwich. Hoping to make it quasi-McDonalds, I decided to ask for it with cheese, since I noticed that there was also a toasted cheese sandwich on the menu. When the waitress inquired as to my order, I replied that I would like the egg sandwich with cheese. Confused, she asked if I wanted the toasted cheese sandwich or the egg sandwich. I replied that I wanted an egg sandwich with cheese, to which she solemnly shook her head. I then began to suggest that since they had both a toasted cheese sandwich and an egg sandwich available in the kitchen, could they not simply take the cheese from....and there I stopped myself. I paused, smiled, and said, "just the egg sandwich and a water, please". That was close.....

The waitress brought this huge egg sandwhich with ripe tomatoes, sliced hot peppers and french fries. After two Ethiopian oranges sodas, I was amazed that it came to only $5.00 US.

If you are wondering what connection this episode has to do with Jack Nicholson, you would need to see the movie mentioned above with the interaction between Jack and the diner waitress...