Drugs

Happy New Year! Over Winter Break I have had the opportunity to read and catch up on life. One book that I recently finished was Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. It was a truly fantastic read. Probably its best quality was that it made me think and reflect about how lucky we have it in the United States and how much more we can do for our fellow humans around the globe.

The reason why I am posting about Half the Sky on this blog is the amount it focused on the plight of Africans and how sorry the medical system is. Here is a picture of all the medications that I took with me to Africa, not to mention the 4 shots that I had to get from a sketchy walk-in clinic in the hood of Silver Spring:

Thankfully, I didn't have to take all of these while I was there, but it was still a lot. From left to right, Albuterol (I'm an asthmatic), prescription strength Pepcid (didn't have to take), mega-kill-all-the-bacteria-in-your-body antibiotic (didn't have to take), doxycyline (prophylaxis anti-malarial that also incidentally fights anthrax), acidophilus to replace the good bacteria that doxycyline kills that I could not get from my diet because dairy is SUPER dodgy in CI, generic Claritin, and generic Benadryl. I felt like my Granny who used to have two purses: one for her regular purse-things and one for her medications.

And, of course, I could not drink the water. Granted, I know that many of these medications are because I am a weak Westerner, but it really makes you think and wonder about how people can survive in developing countries without a modicum of health care. Reading Half the Sky gave me insights into how much the medical system has failed Africa, but also inspiration that it can be different. I am really excited to have my students learn about all of the opportunities available to help people across the globe. I just hope that it's not lost on seniors in high school!