Medicine

Yesterday I got my immunizations finally, and picked up my typhoid and malaria pills. Throughout the day I was feeling fairly good, except for being abnormally achey. However, by the time I went to bed I felt extremely achey and tired. I woke up at 2:30 a.m. with violent chills and feeling extremely cold even when I piled on layers of clothing and blankets. I could not fall asleep and just lay shivering for a long time. I must have finally dozed off, because the next thing I knew I woke up basically sweating and extremely hot. Thus, so far I have had a lovely time facing the yellow fever shot symptoms.

This small burden of feeling sick from the shot just made me think about one more thing that I often take for granted as an American - the fact that our country provides extensive medicine and immunizations that prevent against disease and illness. In the U.S., some might feel bad for themselves when they contract a small cold, while malaria is just as prevalent and common a sickness in Ghana.

These are the types of things that I think make development practices worth it. The point of international development should not be to make a people conform to behave or live just as Americans, but it should be to help provide opportunity and options for things such as advanced medicine that improve quality of life for all humans in general.

I think it would be interesting for me to talk to Lauren and Natalie a little more about their projects. I am very ignorant about medical studies, and my project does not include any medical application. I want to ask them what their research has taught them about third world medical situations, and what may be some appropriate development practices within the field of medicine.