Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Worlds Worst Travel Diseases

Here is a link on the worst travel diseases and how to prevent them...

God, please don't let anyone get sick on this trip!

Friday, January 2, 2009

Resources

Well I am obviously doing some "net" searching today with the general google topic "Ghana" (or combinations of "Ghana Blogs", "Ghana, elections", "Ghana Rehabilitation"). I have come across a few great resources for those traveling to Ghana (a few I wish I had before my trips), or for others who are just interested in the rehabilitation in developing countries. The first is a blog by an Irish teacher volunteering in Ghana. His most recent blog entry provides an insightful view on how "white" people (or westerners in general) are viewed in Ghana and what this means. He also provides some good packing tips for travelers.

The other resources are books which I have found on Amazon. The first is Disabled Villiage Children which I have been eyeing for a while but finally purchased. It was written over 20 years ago, which has been my main hesitation in purchasing it. But on the cover is a boy walking with a wooden walker, and I can't help but imagine us needing to make-shift some similar devices while we are in-country (or teaching others how to do so).


Another book I found is called Helping Health Workers Learn: A Book of Methods, Aids, and Ideas for Instructors at the Village Level. Again, it was written in 1982, but I think the concept of empowering people to meet their own needs and the needs of their community is key to the work I/we hope to do while we are in Ghana.

The last book is a general travel guide for Ghana. When I went to Ghana the first time I took with me a guide to West Africa, which only had one chapter on all of Ghana. I found myself envious of my fellow travelers who had a guide book just about Ghana. They had a much better grasp on local places to go and thing to do. Here is the most recent travel guide I could find; it is by Bradt and was published in 2007.

If anyone knows of other good resources please pass them along!