Author: Trudy Rilling-Collins

Two days ago, we stepped off of an air conditioned plane from China into the hot and humid air of the tropics. We had finally arrived in the Maldives after two days of travel.

Yesterday we stepped off the boat onto the dock at the Four Seasons Resort at Landaa Giraavaru. Trudy, Syd, and Lira greeted us and our new Maldivian friends.

Today I spent more than 30 minutes beneath the surface of the ocean breathing air from a tank. I was scuba diving, swimming with fish and admiring coral.

Tomorrow we begin our training and the next day we will be on the ground in Eydhafushi starting our first project.

This journey has begun, and I am confident that it is going to be the most amazing one I have ever been on.

 

The team has assembled!

Their arrival to the resort created quite a stir. Now we all take up almost two long tables in the staff cantine!

 

After a round of mosquito control at a nearby island, we used the afternoon to other advantages. A group of about six UCSC students and one Maldivian began the open water dive course. IT WAS AMAZING. After all the time I have spent at this resort,  specifically at the docks coming to and from the island, I never realized what I beautiful world lay beneath the waves. At first the regulator set up felt cumbersome and submerging myself in the water was a scary proposition, but soon I realized that the weightlessness allowed underwater transformed our progress. WE were no longer like fish out of water, but humans seemingly transformed, gliding over the reefs with grace.

 

 

This evening, Lira and I got a phone call.

The Maldivian volunteers greeted the American volunteers at the airport! Over the crackle of the line I could just make out the hollers of joy and welcome.

Two very different groups of people come together to form a team. In this cross cultural intersection, the airport is a site for connection and a facilitator in reception.

Tomorrow morning the entire team will assemble on the jetty at Landaa Giraavaru of the Four Seasons. Then the team will be complete, and our work will begin!

The “Baa Atoll Mosquito and Dengue Fever Control Project” is starting after 10 months of planning!  What started as a dream has

become reality!  Thanks in large part to the support of the visionary team at Four Seasons-Maldives.  The logistics have been complex, and many people have worked hard to make this vision a reality.  Above all we hope to help the local people successfully control mosquitoes and Dengue Fever  now and into the future, creating sustainable projects that the local people can continue.  Yesterday Lira (Maldivian Volunteer Coordinator), Sydney (American Volunteer Coordinator) and I spent the day at Eydhafushi talking with the Community Health Officers at the Hospital, the Vice Principal of the School, the Baa Atoll Council, and the Eydhafushi Island Council planning for the up-coming project.  Today we devoted to creating maps of the Baa Atoll local islands with block numbers and house letters and  creating data bases of the homes, businesses and government agencies on each island.  Tomorrow the volunteers arrive!  Then training at Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru before we start the first project on August 11th with the capital island of the Baa Atoll, Eydhafushi!  We will be ready to hit the ground running and make the most of the time we have to devote to each island!  LET THE ADVENTURE BEGIN!

 

 

 

 

Upon returning to the Maldives, I was flooded with memories. The feeling was similar to returning home, but also different as I felt and feel that I am revisiting the images of a dream.

I am excited to share this dream reality with the volunteers who are dedicating their time to the next six weeks of mosquito control projects! Together, this team of seven UCSC students, five Maldivian volunteers, and Trudy will teach local communities how to implement and maintain mosquito control projects.

In the next six weeks,  we will strive to promote learning and understanding for local islands in mosquito control!

In the next six weeks, I guarantee we will hone our skills in cross cultural communication, in teaching, and in showing compassion, and in acting with integrity and loyalty.

In the next six weeks, I guarantee we will laugh, share, eat, sing, and dance!

Lastly, I promise that our team will leave this place a little bit better than we found it. The sharing of the knowledge that will happen over the next six weeks will hopefully empower the local Maldivian communities to fight against  and control the mosquito populations that needlessly vector Dengue Fever to children, adults and the elderly. While we have no way of foreseeing if  local communities will maintain the projects when we are gone, we can only embrace the opportunity to engage with individuals and to bring understanding.

A hugh thank you to all our sponsors: to the individuals who donated, to the Maldivian American Friendship Society for the major contribution,  and especially to our host resort Landaa Giraavaru of the Four Seasons.  These projects would not be happening without this support! Thank you, thank you, thank you.

 

And to our internet readers, admirers, and supports, ACTION NOW! Support projects that support communities, because they build larger communities.

 

signing off.

Syd Miller