Researching Africa

I've been trying to prepare myself for Africa by reading anything I see on news sites, magazines, books and the like. I can't help but feel honored to be able to go on this trip. I just watched this report on CNN Video about how girls in Kenya, Africa are "booked" for marriage sometimes at their birth. Around 80% of Maasai (that's the culture there) girls never complete elementary school. Almost all girls are married by the age of 13 and about 93% are female "circumcised."

I started to watch a video about the female circumcision and I couldn't get through the first five seconds. I don't recommend watching that clip. It was very graphic.

It's overwhelming to me, that when I go to the different areas in Malawi and Mozambique, I will be an educated female. I'm almost certain that in very rare in remote villages. From what I understand, schooling is very limited to females, unless, like the video I watched, the girls are "booked" for school and complete that way.

I'm trying to wrap my head around the culture that I will be stepping into in August. I don't think there is anything more American than not understanding another culture. I want to be able to understand why things are the way they are. I think this will also help me with the culture shock and my super soft heart that always brings me to tears.

Speaking of researching, the National Geographic cover story for this month is Malaria. I think I'm going to read it, even though it will freak me out. My doctor told me yesterday that he had been to Rwanda. That's some heavy stuff! He said he would research the best type of Malaria medicine for me to take and recommended me getting the typhoid and yellow fever shots and the shot for spinal meningitis. I hadn't thought about that one.

I just had to write about all this to get it off my chest. Back to work.