As we sail out of the Atlantic Ocean and up the Macapa entrance of the Amazon River, it is starting to dawn on me that this trip is more than just a trip of leisure and fun. I am beginning to brace myself for not just the rocky sea ahead of me, but for a glimpse of a world that continues to suffer from disease, poverty, and inequality.
It really hit me today when I took my first dose of malaria medication, a medication used to prevent an infectious mosquito borne disease that kills between one and three million people a year in these underdeveloped countries that I will be visiting. It made me realize how lucky I am to have these types of resources at my fingertips.
All in a matter of weeks before I arrive in Hilo, I will be visiting countries that don’t have access to resources like my malaria medication, things like this that I have often taken for granted.
Although I am ecstatic to visit these countries, I am a little bit apprehensive to see firsthand the role that globalization is playing in shaping these underdeveloped countries. In my lifetime, I have never witnessed these types of global issues firsthand, so I am really curious to see how I will feel when they are suddenly all around me.
I arrive in Manaus, Brazil, centered in the Amazon rain forest, the “lungs of the world,” on Sunday. I hope that going there will give me a better understanding of if and how rural and city life are able to coexist in our modern world. I think it will be really interesting to see this unique fusion of eco and urban all in one setting.
I just looked outside and all I can see around us is the brown waters of the Amazon! It is really happening! I am almost there.
It really hit me today when I took my first dose of malaria medication, a medication used to prevent an infectious mosquito borne disease that kills between one and three million people a year in these underdeveloped countries that I will be visiting. It made me realize how lucky I am to have these types of resources at my fingertips.
All in a matter of weeks before I arrive in Hilo, I will be visiting countries that don’t have access to resources like my malaria medication, things like this that I have often taken for granted.
Although I am ecstatic to visit these countries, I am a little bit apprehensive to see firsthand the role that globalization is playing in shaping these underdeveloped countries. In my lifetime, I have never witnessed these types of global issues firsthand, so I am really curious to see how I will feel when they are suddenly all around me.
I arrive in Manaus, Brazil, centered in the Amazon rain forest, the “lungs of the world,” on Sunday. I hope that going there will give me a better understanding of if and how rural and city life are able to coexist in our modern world. I think it will be really interesting to see this unique fusion of eco and urban all in one setting.
I just looked outside and all I can see around us is the brown waters of the Amazon! It is really happening! I am almost there.
