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It’s unbelievable that we’ve been here for more than a week now and are already done with working on one of the islands as a team. Six days were spent on Eydhafushi with the final day being a beach clean up with the community. It’s been great to finally get started out in the field checking home for mosquitoes and teaching people how to carry on mosquito control once we leave. Though we had a rocky start, the community health members we worked with were very helpful in not just being involved with the project but also in getting other members of their community involved. With their help we were able to survey half of the island looking for mosquito breeding sites in tanks, tires, wells and any other spot that seemed suitable for them to thrive.

One particular highlight of the week was presenting a short session and skit about mosquitoes for two groups of students at the local school. They seemed really pumped about it and many said they’d be at our beach clean up that Saturday. They stuck to their word and it turned out that there were a lot more people at the beach clean up than had been anticipated. With the help of about 300 people we were able to bag 1000 bags of cans, plastic bottles and other trash that will later be picked up and transported for recycling.

The kids there were especially awesome, showing up in groups and volunteering their own wheelbarrows from home to help us get trash to the other side of town for collecting. They even stayed until we were done packing up all the trash 8 hours later!
Today was the start of a week on a new island with smaller teams. I’ll be working with Katie and Dan on Maalhos, an island much smaller than Eydhafushi. Volunteer turnout has already been great and I’m looking forward to working with new community leaders.

It is incredible to encounter an “Action Now” kind of person, Maldivian or otherwise on the local island communities in the Maldives. The particular individual who operates this industrial work yard on Dharavandhoo turned out to be just that kind of person.

In order to complete our mosquito control survey in Southern most part of the island, Sean and I needed to check all the potential mosquito breeding sites in the work yard. This tank, which was clearly out of reach, seemed an unattainable goal- until the crane operator hooked the backhoe bucket to the crane. We gathered the necessary netting and supplies and stepped into the bucket to be lifted to the cesspool in the sky.

 

 

 

It made for a fun story. The team was proud… and maybe a little bit jealous.

 

 

 

As the excitement from Eydhafushi’s trash clean up fades, new adventures begin with our second day on Maahlos. Although it is a significantly smaller island than Eydhafushi, it has so far lived up to its nickname “Mosquito Maahlos”. About a quarter of the island is still covered in jungle vegetation, and the mosquitos seem to be coming from all directions. However, we have had a great community turn out so far. Just on the first day we had enough people to split up into five teams consisting of at least five people. We have made great progress in the community survey, and plan to finish our first round through tomorrow!

A new island, a new life..I felt like cutting my hair short today as half our teams started work on a (closer) nearby island. I will miss Eydhafushi and all it held, especially the energetic youngsters and our wonderful health officer team mates, but I had to move on. We won’t stop!

It was neat getting to know the streets of a new island with a totally new feel (and golly, only a few miles away from the last!), and I think we already made some friends at the health center. I was just starting to know my way around Eydhafushi! But I think highlights for today were sharing mango juice in the shade with a homeowner and the young coconuts we were offered as soon as we arrived! But then there was the crane ride. No joke, dangling 20 feet in the air, in a rusty bucket with Sydney to seal an elevated tank at the heavy machinery yard. The foreman was apparently our kind of Action Now! guy, he drove the the behemoth right up to the shoddy tank tower and expertly lowered us to the proper working level. This was definitely not in my expectations or job description. We do whatever it takes! (I’m sure photos will be posted. I am kidding you not)

Also, we snorkeled like 10 feet of the beach here at Landaa Giraavaru in order to see about a hundred fish species coexisting. I sure enjoyed that! Absolutely unafraid of people. Nice!