I was shivering uncontrollably against North Carolina’s June humidity as I struggled to walk home after a failed attempt to eat at a nearby café. It was the segue into a rainbow assortment of uncomfortable symptoms that would morph relentlessly until I found myself in a hospital. After spending a month in a remote corner of Africa, I contracted malaria. Plasmodium falciparum, I later learned the specific strain, is responsible for almost all malarial deaths in the world.

Hot sweats, raging fever, aching joints, fluorescent orange urine, bitter chills and a relentless headache would plague me for the coming days. An unending, throbbing headache nagged at my conscience; its accompanied hallucination begged me to ‘fix it’ with my cordless drill, taking me as far as debating drill bit sizes. Different smells, sights and sounds would trigger hours of bizarre brain activity and repetitive nightmares often while wide-awake. I recall the child version of my cousin, trapped in my head with bizarre whiny words. In one instance, my brain would not allow me to sleep until I satisfactorily counted each individual flower on the wallpaper.
At times it felt maddening and unbearable. And yet, there I was, in the comfort of my own home and a world-class hospital. Loving care, kisses and bedside deliveries from my beautiful girlfriend. The help of my worried mom, who traveled across the country to see me. I had instant access to medicine that minimized my symptoms and furiously fought off the parasite. I had the Rolls Royce experience of malaria. The western world’s privileged bout of a terrible disease, all because of where I was born and where I live.

Just one-week prior, I had been in some of the most remote villages in Africa, where kids had never seen vehicles or white skin before. [Read more…]

 

Rwanda is a small and beautiful country in central Africa teeming with mountains, minerals, terraced agricultural hillsides, large lakes and wildlife.  The first thing that comes to mind when one thinks about Rwanda may be their silverback mountain gorillas, the genocide of 1994, or both perhaps.  Having worked in neighboring countries around Rwanda, I was intrigued and inspired by its economic turnaround, especially after joining the Commonwealth.  

In 2013, I finally found myself in Rwanda, working for an organization investing millions of dollars towards water supply infrastructure throughout the rural Rulindo district in the Northern Province.  My company was tasked to evaluate the results and effectiveness of the investments already made and help guide the direction of future investments.  We were also observing the geology of the district to understand the possibilities of developing groundwater supplies.  The Rulindo Challenge, as it came to be defined, is an initiative between the Rwandan Government, Water for People, Charity:Water and philanthropic organizations with a goal to provide 285,000 people in 494 villages with safe and reliable water service.  To achieve this goal, each home must have access to water within 500 meters.

We were welcomed in Kigali, a bustling capital city with great restaurants, reliable power and water supply, friendly people– and what I must say is the cleanest city I have ever visited.  The Kigalians are proud of this asset; in fact, my colleague Dave Holland had to negotiate keeping the plastic wrap protecting his rolled up maps as we left the airport. The locals were worried about the plastic making its way to an undesirable location.  Little did they know, Dave is one of those people that picks up trash as he walks down the streets of his hometown of Rapid City, South Dakota.   [Read more…]