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Message |
Aid Workers Exchange
| | Posted on Monday, November 25, 2002 - 01:19 am: | |
Aid Workers Exchange - October 16, 2002
On The Road Again
by Terry Clayton
Most people who work in development travel a lot. It might only be locally where you are on-and-off para-transit or out in the fields half the day. Perhaps you commute between a home base and one or more regular destinations. You may be in Sussex/Sydney/Seattle/Singapore this week and a/b/c/d the next.
Whatever the journey, it takes its toll. On mind body and soul.
So fight back! Tune in to On the Road Again regularly at AWN.
Our first topic: Ten Best Things to Take on a Trip
Send your list in the following format:
- Who are you?
- What are you doing now?
- What type of trip are we talking about?
- What ten things to take on this kind of trip and why?
Your list can have less than 10 things on it but not more than ten.
You could use this form to send your list, or e-mail terry.clayton@aidworkers.net
http://www.aidworkers.net/exchange/20021016.html |
Wendy Tabuteau
| | Posted on Friday, January 17, 2003 - 10:08 pm: | |
The RedR sample packing list is a good starting point for relief assignments.
http://www.redr.org/members/being_prepared/packing_list.htm
Wendy
Wendy Tabuteau, Operations Manager
RedR, 1 Gt George St, London SW1P 3AA, UK
Tel +44 (0)20 7233 3116 fax +44 (0)20 7222 0564
Web site www.redr.org |
Sue Viney
| | Posted on Friday, January 17, 2003 - 10:11 pm: | |
I'm preparing for a trip to Malta as a public sector reform technical advisor - great contrast to my usual work in PNG and the Solomon Islands
It is a trip to the capital city of a developing country, eg Honiara, for an extended period
I will take the following:
1. Foam orthopedic pillow - luggage straps and the suitcase lid will squash down almost flat!
2. Herbal eye pillow, filled with lavendar.
(1 & 2 mean that I can get a good sleep whatever the sleeping arrangements turn out to be.)
3. Medicine kit from a Travellers Medical Centre, with instructions on diagnosis of eg malaria, dysentry and with syringes and medication - what hospitals there are generally do not have medicine available and certainly not syringes to be trusted.
4. Twisty clothes line (doesn't need pegs) and concentrate washing liquid - to get things clean and dry for working in public sector offices!
5. A laptop with an integrated DVD player and CDs and DVDs - worth the extra weight, for long nights in hotel rooms in countries where it's unsafe to go outside!
6. Bathers and a snorkel - even if I can't swim in the sea, I use the snorkel in hotel swimming pools which might not have been cleaned for some time - it reduces the amount of polluted water I swallow!
7. 30+ sunblock, a hat and strong insect repellant!
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Alex Weir
| | Posted on Friday, January 17, 2003 - 10:19 pm: | |
Who are you?
Alex Weir, Freelance Software developer, appropriate technologies, Mechanical Engineer, Agricultural Engineer.
What are you doing now?
Between jobs
What type of trip are we talking about?
Usually a trip to Europe for some months to do a programming contract, but sometimes a trip to Rwanda or Cambodia to do a programming or engineering contract.
What ten things to take on this kind of trip and why?
1. WORLDSPACE SATELLITE RADIO with shortwave and FM capability also (US$ 80 - 300), HITACHI KH-WS1 http://www.worldspace.com - has reception throughout India, China, Middle East, Africa and Europe - but not in USA, Canada or Australia. Provides BBC, CNN, RFI, WRN, NPR, Bloomberg etc
etc..
2. Compass - Tiger Store, Norreport, Copenhagen, US$ 2-00 - useful in city, country, motorway, bush and jungle
3. 300 Watt one-plate miniature electric stove for discrete and careful use in hotel rooms (Brasov Romania US$ 8-00); alternatively miniature electrical immersion heating element - can be used with non-glass cafetiere as below for coffee making; alternatively an electric kettle with the water chamber above and separate from the heating element - can be used for boiling eggs and even for boiling vegetables etc..
4. Paracetamol and asperin - US$ 1-00 per 100 tablets, Harare, Zimbabwe - very expensive in Europe.
5. Elasticated Eye Shades for sleeping on lit trains, buses or planes during overnight journeys - free on planes.
6. Harissa - chile in a tube - for spicing up food - from discerning supermarkets - fits in your jacket pocket
7. Mobile Phone(s) - preferably prepaid mobile phones or sim cards for several or most of your destination countries - primarily for incoming calls only - use http://www24.brinkster.com/alexweir/xref.asp free contact service to let your contacts know how to contact you
8. Metal or plastic spoon for eating food from supermarkets
9. US Dollars cash in US$ 50 or US$ 20 notes (not US$ 100)
10. String or thin electrical cable for drying hand washing in hotel room and for many other possible uses (e.g. repairing luggage, improving shortwave radio reception etc..)
11. Non-Glass (i.e. unbreakable) Cafetiere for making decent coffee (Lavazza or equivalent - pure Arabica only) at work or hotel
12. Industrial Ear Muffs to enable you to concentrate while working in open office environment.
13. Text Books; and CD's with my own software and also package software (especially language translation software if you are doing a job in a non-native-language environment).
14. Under-shirt bodybelt for cash, credit cards, passport, documents - like a shoulder holster.
15. Universal rubber sink/bath plug for use in cheap hotels
16. Traveller's Alarm clock for cheap hotels with no morning wakeup service
17. Traveller's Sewing Kit
18. Small plain screwdriver - for electrical plugs etc - but put in hold luggage not hand luggage or will be confiscated; same comments apply to nail scissors, cork opener and maybe even to sewing kit.
19. ORT (oral rehydration therapy) mixture in small plastic pill bottle - salt and sugar mixture in case of diarrhoeia - to mix with bottled water
20. Incense sticks and cigarette lighter to banish bad spirits in event of disturbed dreams
21. Digital photos of important documents on a non-linked web page in case of robbery, loss or damage
22. Small battery powered ceiling-mounted smoke alarm - US$ 5-00 in the UK, US$ 40-00 in Germany (!) - useful most places and especially in cheap hotels with no or non-working smoke alarm system - attach temporarily with blue-tack or sticky-stuff.
Mr Alex Weir
tel +263-4-301 047 and +263 23 824 045 (mob)
http://www24.brinkster.com/alexweir
global email and msn messenger: alexweir@hotmail.com |
Ramya Vivekanandan
| | Posted on Friday, January 17, 2003 - 10:25 pm: | |
Who are you?
Ramya Vivekanandan
What are you doing now?
Education Project, with Save the Children (US) in Malawi. Living in a small town called Mangochi.
What type of trip are we talking about?
Field visits to villages.
10 best things to take on a trip (some of these are obvious I'm sure) --
- lots of bottled water
- Laughing Cow or other non-perishable cheese (I am a vegetarian and never know what kind of food I can get in rural areas....with this cheese, I can get my calcium and some protein as well)
- peanut butter (for the same reason as above)
- anti-bacterial hand sanitizer gel (for "washing" hands and disinfecting cuts/scrapes/bruises)
- jump rope (can exercise with it anywhere!)
- flip flops (for grimy bathrooms)
- toilet paper (call me a spoiled American, but hey...)
- flashlight
- good music
- cassettes/Walkman or CDs/Discman, which I love to play for people I meet....music is one of the greatest gifts that one can share with others!
***
Ramya Vivekanandan, Ed.M.
IFESH International Fellow
QUEST for Learning Project
Save the Children Federation (USA) - Malawi
rvive@mw.savechildren.org |
Richard Clark
| | Posted on Saturday, January 18, 2003 - 01:48 am: | |
Who are you?
Richard Clark
What are you doing now?
semi-retired
What type of trip are we talking about?
short term missions to 3rd world
What ten things do take on this kind of trip and why?
- as little as possible
- spare passport photos for local bureaucracies
- adequate stock of ongoing treatment medicines
- larium or whatever suits you best if going to malaria zone
- remember laundry is usually good, quick and cheap
- if working in rural areas - Polaroid camera for village visits
- traveler cheques rather than credit cards or of course cash other than for local airport taxes (often in dollars) and tipping
- personal address book for family & friends postcards - passes the evening or weekend time - costs next to nothing and makes recipients ridiculously happy - usually their cards arrive after you are back from your mission
- plenty of professional (not personal) business cards
- an introduction to named person in local office of your donor organisation and/or national embassy/consulate |
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Aid Workers Exchange