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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

     I first visited the Maldives in September 2012. I was so honored to work with Trudy Rilling-Collins to complete a twelve island survey of the local islands of the Baa Atoll, and even had the privilege of working with the local island community of Kihaadhoo to implement a mosquito control project. I look forward to returning to the Maldives to better understand how local communities may best learn and maintain mosquito control projects.

  In the off season from mosquito controlling, I live in Santa Cruz, California,

where I am a third year student at the University of California at Santa Cruz double majoring in Anthropology and Environmental Studies. I am currently employed by the UCSC Recreation Department as a Recreation Leader, and lead groups of students on weekend long Adventure Outings, such as backpacking, snowshoeing, kayaking, hot springing and even yoga and meditation-ing, in our beautiful state of California

  I thoroughly enjoy leading these Adventure Outings, and have completed a certificate through the National Outdoor Leadership School as a Wilderness First Responder to ensure student’s safety.

   During the summer, I maintain my preferred outdoor-woman-ness by living and working just north of South Lake Tahoe at Echo Lake, CA.

 The last five years I have worked at the Echo Lake Chalet as a licensed For Hire Boat Taxi Driver. Here, I shuttle day hikers to the trail head of Desolation Wilderness, a beautiful wilderness along the Pacific Crest Trail.

 I enjoy taking hikes after work into these beautiful wilderness areas.

My love for the Maldive Islands and the local communities is like my love for these alpine communities. While they are very different, with varying activities and beliefs, these places have communities of fascinating people who can teach me about the world. I am most exciting about returning to the Maldives to work with my group and the local people, because these programs are about sharing knowledge and collaboration, and so lends a perfect opportunity to build cross cultural relationships and bridges of understanding.

 

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”

These are simple words, but as I am coming to the end of my second year at the University of California, Santa Cruz, it has come to encompass much of what I have learned and believe.

I first learned of this project in one of my Environmental Studies classes and became immediately hooked. The Maldives is a commonly discussed topic in the environmental field for both its unique marine ecosystem and its precarious, low-lying elevation. I could have only dreamed of such an opportunity to travel to the Maldives and put my education and my beliefs to real work. I am very much looking forward to learning more about the people and the culture of the Maldives. I hope to learn more about the Dengue epidemic and working with the local communities towards a healthier, disease free environment. I am also an avid soccer player, and I have heard that the sport is all the rave in the Maldives, so that is a prospect for the trip as well!

I simply cannot wait to get started, and I have nothing but positive thoughts and anticipation for what lies ahead!