cape town in spring time

you would never guess it from the photos i am about to share, but in july i was honored with the opportunity to represent my office at the annual African Religious Health Assets Programme Annual Conference. it was awesome to be able to learn from a wide field of researchers working to map health assets in a way that defragments our health systems (the NGO and the government run ones) and changes the paradigm of communities from identifying deficiencies to identifying assets, and aligning those assets so that synergies can be created.

i am ever sure what to take photos of at meetings, but i am bummed that i didn't take photos of the people. i met lots of awesome people, and got to catch up with some awesome friends. i met rande and john who felt like long lost friends, got to brainstorm with gary and mimi and figure out how to save the world from the flu, and learned a whole heck of alot from the presenters.

katherine marshall captured the ethos of the meeting in an when she shared a snipit of the meeting in the washingtonpost:

A story. In 1854, a baby girl was very sick with diarrhea. Her mother washed the diapers and threw the waste water into a cesspit under a house in their Soho neighborhood. Within weeks a cholera epidemic had killed some 700 people in the neighborhood. Thousands more were sick.

A doctor, John Snow, and an Anglican priest, Henry Whitefield, refused to believe the prevailing theory: that disease was spread by a "miasma" or "bad air." The men tracked down everyone who was sick and painstakingly mapped where they lived. Snow was a scientist, and he began to link the illness to one well in the neighborhood. Whitehead knew the people and had their trust, so they cooperated with the inquiry.

When the men realized that a single well -- the now notorious Broad Street well -- was linked to nearly all the cases, they removed the handle of the pump and closed it. The epidemic quickly subsided.

The detective work that helped to link disease to the contamination of a water source is an important part of medical history. The role of the scientist is well known. The pastor's is not.

Steve de Guchy, a minister and theology professor at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal in South Africa, told this story to hammer in the central message of a conference last week in Capetown. Its title was "When Religion and Health Align: Mobilizing Religious Health Assets for Transformation," and it brought together the kind of motley gathering that does give transformation a chance: ministers, medical doctors, theologians, epidemiologists from all over Africa and the United States,

The contemporary objective is the same as that of the 19th century seekers - to stop millions of preventable deaths. And again the core idea is to link the strengths of medicine and public health with those of the "religious health assets." "Mapping" the assets- taking careful stock of what is there and analyzing it-is a vital first step.

We have vastly more knowledge today than Snow and Whitefield had in 1854. Science has made huge strides and the killers of the past - diarrhea, malaria, respiratory illnesses, all most lethal to small children - should be history. They are not. World leaders, including Barack Obama, have made poignant statements in recent weeks about the imperative to act on these large global health challenges.

But many in scientific and public health circles seem to be wearing blinkers when it comes to the role that religious health assets could play, both locally and globally, in mounting more effective programs.

Part of the problem is that the assets are so complex and diverse - a galaxy, as a Catholic cardinal once described them to me. Large and tiny, formal hospitals and clinics and informal mothers' groups, traditions (good and bad) linked to health, pulpits and platforms where messages can be spread. And above all, a will, where there is knowledge, to contribute and deal with the suffering that falls most heavily on poor people.

Another problem is a common assumption that modern science has banished the role of religion in health, so huge in the past, to the distant margins. And the well-touted negative health experiences tied to religion (Christian faith healing denying care to children, imams claiming that mosquito nets are designed to cause infertility, just as examples) don't help.

But the fact is that there are huge religious health assets. Hospitals and clinics, hundreds of thousands, for a start. Nurses and doctors. A passionate commitment to caring for those who suffer. Most religious traditions see health, often broadly defined so that it links physical health, stress, and spiritual health in seamless ways, as part of their core missions.

But beyond health care itself, what may perhaps be as valuable today as it was in 1854, is the knowledge of communities and networks of people with religious links. What better way to spread the most vital advice to fight the H1N1 virus-to wash your hands?

Most health care happens outside hospitals, in families and communities. Messages are vitally important. So the alliance for transformation that Dr, Snow and Father Whitehead formed long ago is the kind of creative and open model of partnership we need today. The thousands of ideas and insights hatched in Capetown at the African Religious Health Assets Program conference last week can be an inspiration.

i had the pleasure of sharing a few dinner with professor de guchy, he himself is an inspiration. he was the preacher in a "colored" church pre-apartied and eventually left the church when he found out that his membership voted against the ANC (Mandela's party). he has harrowing stories of fighting for equality in south africa, a fight that seems to have no end.

at anyrate... here are some silly photos that have little to do with what i was there for, and alot to do with what i did in the 1.5 days i had to just goof off.

the view from my room
it was really hard to pack because it was wicked hot
middle of summer dc
and really cold middle of winter cape town
it is funny how you forget how to dress when the season changes over night

the view after days of rain ended

the last day of the conference ended at lunch time
so i left with
rande, john, and mimi to go to the top of table mount

the view of capetown with a warning about snakes

cape town from the base of table mt

turns out visa has somehow worked it so it "owns" the mountain.
thankfully it is a national park, but still,
kinda lame to see all the visa stuff everywhere
no offense darrin howell

here is some exciting video from the trip to the top of the mountain

we got to the top of the mountain and my traveling buddies were convinced that the swirlling in the ocean was a whale.
it was actually just a sand/rock bar


we did see dassies

supposedly, these funky rodent looking things are the
closest living relative to the elephant

can you see it?

me either

coming down off the mount

our crazy taxi driver then drove us around to see some of the
sights a bit further south of cape town

we had a yummy dinner but apparently the taxi driver got wasted while we were eating
i was in the very back of the minivan thing, so i didn't know
had i known, i would have wigged out

i decided just to rent a car for the rest of the time
i had a day and a half to myself and talked mimi into going to
cape point with me

along the way we stopped to see the . . .

they are awesome to watch

because it was early early spring there were little baby penguins just hatching from their eggs
it was so awesome to see
there were way more eggs than baby penguins
but the little guys were just too cute

after the stress of remembering how to drive on the other side of the road
and having gone too long without food
mimi and i decided to eat at the restaurant at cape point:
two oceans
aptly named because, if you haven't guessed it
it is here that the indian and the atlantic oceans meet
if you click on this link, you can see our table
right there in the very front of the camera

i had THE MOST AMAZING caesar salad
it had mussles, scallops, and prawns
somehow pan fried in this yummy lemon sauce
with the most amazing greens and eggs and . . . YUMMMM
also
you can see my bottle
it is always nice to know where that is!

refreshed with some food we were ready for our hike
if you want to call it that
but this is definitely the furthest south i have ever been

have you been further south?
i think you'd have to be in tasmania, chile, antartica or argentina?
i just google mapped and chile and argentina go WAY down there
and some of australia might be further south, i can't tell

this is the cape of good hope
don't be confused to think this is where the oceans meet
OR
that the cape of good hope is where you start heading towards india
nope this cape is just psychologically important
because if you are sailing the coast of western africa in search of a all water route to india
this is where you begin to travel more eastward than southward.
so when bartholemeu dias passed it, he had really done something!
(you can read this sign for more info)

he was SO stoked he built this thing
(get it?)

and the other cool this is:
vasco de gama was kinda everywhere
he built one of those things too, but i didn't take a photo of it
because they really just looked alike
but here is some more info if you really must know

and thus began the spice trade, colonialism of africa,
and a host of other horrible and wonderous things

here is am looking like one of those things the explores erect
at least my shadow does

cest moi
cape point is behind me

that's mimi
she is super cool
super smart
and see's a big picture
as evidenced by this stance


this is a discovery i have been longing to make
only much closer to home
elaine, the whole time i was in south africa
i was walking over seaweed
i seriously considered getting an additional suitcase
but figured i'd never make it through customs
seaweed makes some AMAZING compost
but i can't find any around here!!!

if you know where to get some, lemeno!! :)


this is cape point from a helicopter
i didn't take this phot
but that little white spot
is the light house
i think?

i was surprised to see this
on my way up to the lighthouse
at cape point

i was super fascinated by the fact that nothing pointed south on this pole.
i was also weirded out
and i am not sure i believe
that new delhi and new york are really just that far away from each other . . .
doesn't that seem kinda off
like some teenager messed with the signs?

can you hear my astonishment??
i am obviously dumbfounded

then we had to make haste back to capetown
the roads were über windy
and i was kinda worried about driving on the opposite side of the road

you know you are somewhere awesome when you see this sign

mimi wasn't feeling good and she started to feel worse
so my traveling buddy had to sit out our last partial day of fun
i was in a real quandary
it was nelson mandela's birthday and i hadn't been to robben island
but i also had wanted to drive out to the kloovenburg winery
my friend praya had raved about the olive oil she got there years ago
and admonished me to go get some

i loved the idea of driving on the open road, just me and the opposite side of the road
but then there was the whole momentous thing about being in cape town
and at robben island on mandela's b-day
the whole country was celebrating
by doing service and stuff

so i choose to go to robben island

the famous clock tower

the gateway
i bought my $24 ticket
and got in a really long que to get on the boat
i was kinda antsy because there were heaps of people
mostly teenagers
iPoding and txting etc
but the stuff in the museum on the way to the boat was interesting
and i just tried to stay focused on the awesomeness of being able to be there
i figured i could just sit on the top of the boat and ride to the island and mill around
well, you have to stay with your group on the "tour"
and when i got to the boat (i was pretty much in the back of the que)
all the seats on the top were taken
so i sat on the inside, and tried to stay focused on being spiritual and marking important history
and then all the sudden i realized that the boat was like an airplane
and that i was going to be on an airplane for about 20 hours
and just before they closed the door to pull away from the dock
i ran out of the boat

it was a good call
i went back to my room
grabbed my running shoes
and went on a run along the coast

this is just a random awesome engineering mishap in the middle of cape town
this was supposed to connect to another freeway
but they realized, much to late
that it really just went no where
so they stopped building it
and now it is just there

seriously in the middle of cape town

so this is my run
i took my camera, but only took a few photos
i ran for about 5 miles
and it was awesome
i never felt more free

i showered packed all my stuff into the car
gave mimi one more chance to join me
and then took off for kloovenburg

the open south african road
the only thing i regretted was that i wasn't on my bike
some day i want to bike through south africa
it would be awesome



spring was making all sorts of awesome greens and yellows

the signs say:
"please no hooting (honking your horn)
ostriches are getting laid"
so seriously south african

kloovenburg

the tasting room

the town of Riebeek Kasteel

the view from my lunch setting
the barn
highly recommend!
i pigged out on delish mezza and had a tea for $5 total

to my right from my table

back on the road

table mountain in the distance

just think
all these driving photos were taken by me
when i was driving
on the opposite side of the road
because:
awesome


i turned the car in and they tried to tell me i had dented the car, but that got taken care of

as we got close to the US there was this amazing storm
the sun was rising and there was lightening pounding through those clouds
it was amazing to watch. i couldn't capture it on film
but seeing lightening happen from that perspective was
mind blowing
and kinda scary

father's day at the white house

after a long blogging hiatus i am back. since it has been a few months, and lots has happened i will try and summarize the most significant moments.

the last week in april i crashed my bike going about 25 miles an hour. i got awesome road rash and jacked-up my shoulder. it meant that the 3 triathlons i had planned to do this summer got scratched. but after a couple months of physical therapy i am back in the pool and planning to race in the big lick the weekend before my b-day. so that should be fun.

i got a new boss. alexia kelley. she is fantastic. i feel like i have a whole new job. i am loving my life. the president, as in obama, has given my office four policy goals to work on:

• strengthening the role of communities in the economic recovery
• reducing unintended pregnancies, supporting maternal and child health, and reducing the need for abortion
• promoting responsible fatherhood and strong communities and
  
• fostering interreligious dialogue and cooperation at home and abroad

i am loving it! it is so great because this isn't just lipservice. the president is serious about doing these things. my office has added another goal which is to help communities and faith-orgs respond to H1N1 flu. i will let you know as our guidance on this is public.

at anyrate. i am loving my new office, my new work friends, my new work life. it is busy but super rewarding. so i thought my first post should be about one of the coolest events that i have ever been to in my life.

just a note, the day before this event my bianchi that i have used to race my first few triathlons and then to commute on was stolen while i was in a physical therapy appointment. it has been gone now for almost 2 months and i still miss her! i might have bought a new bike, but it won't really replace here. but i will be glad to get off the 56cm bike i am riding to commute on these days!

okay, now to the cool event...

president obama launched his "national discussion on fatherhood" the friday before father's day. what originally was just going to be an event for him to go see a organization that was supporting men in recovery grew into this huge event... this is abc news' summary of the events

i started my day meeting alexia at the white house and struggling to get in because for some reason our waives hadn't been cleared. we thought we were super late and we had been assigned to staff some of the "celebrity dads" who were part of the day's activities.

by the time we got into the white house we really had to potty
so here we are in the bathroom near the white house's diplomatic room

we then went to meet the men we were staffing. i was assigned bobby flay and michael strautmanis

here you can see some of the dad's
evan bayh, bobby flay, b.d. wong
more on these guys later

we all left the white house to get in our secret service driven vans to venues around the city
they were all service organizations that help engage young men or helped get dads on their feet
on the way to the vans tony hawk pulled a fast one
i am just behind him in this photo.
the best part of this was tony was so stoked
and obviously, so was max (the guy with the spikey hair to tony's left)

bobby and i were assigned to go to a "school" and talk to some "students". we were late because of a delay with the President. and Strautmanis was pulled from our car because he was needed somewhere else. when we got to the place i realized quick that i should have asked the age of the students. it was actually a place providing recovery and treatment services to homeless men.

here is bobby sharing his thoughts on fatherhood.
and answering some VERY tough questions
he did great and i think if he ever decides celebrity chef-ing is not his gig
he should run for public office.
he is the kind of guy who would do well and would represent!

we had some time to kill so . . .

alexia, bobby, bd, and i had an intense conversation about the gift of parenthood
and how your sexual orientation has no barring on your ability to parent. you can see some of bd's thoughts on the issue in this video



his journey to parenthood was not easy, but talking to him was inspiring and the love he has for his son is sweet and palpable. he wrote a book about his experience
Following Foo: (the electronic adventures of The Chestnut Man)

after the heavy convo ended bobby realized we could go out on the lawn
he wanted to check on the grill and stuff
we just wanted to go on the lawn

it is so obvious that this guy owns this show


it didn't take long for bd and i to loose attention on all of bobby's bbq accoutrement
and bd asked me to take a photo of him in front of the wh

i followed suit
this is one of those classic teabelly move for a number of reasons

1. the head tilt... why do i always dork out in photos?
2. why wasn't bd in the photo with me????
   
3. i got a photo BY bd wong but not WITH bd wong -- smooth teabelly!
4. also this is take two because he cracked up at my original dork move for the photo

then we snuck around the white house a bit
(don't tell anyone)
and then we retired to the east room

and after a couple of inspiring messages from the dad's on the stand
the President came in and gave a speech that made me cry

video from the events:

this has ZERO zoom

then somehow i ended up out on the lawn again
bobby had asked me to help him because i had some of his stuff in my bag
so i just went out on the lawn

this has a super story, but i think it is better left off the internet
but i can tell you sometime if you'd like. watch closely at :43 and then again at about 2:56 . . .




it was a super duper day. and i have to say, that it really assuaged the pain of not having my bike!

H1N1 (swine) Flu

i got burnt out of blogging for the last little while . . . (not awesome?) but i decided i would come back to my blog to share information about H1N1 now that a pandemic is imminent. i will probably update daily if you care to have more information, links are provided below. this comes from the CDC



Situation Update
• CDC is reporting 91 human infections with this influenza A (H1N1) virus of swine origin in the United States. (An increase in 27 over the number of cases reported yesterday.)
• The list of states with the numbers of people who are confirmed cases is updated daily at 11am at cdc.gov/swineflu.
• Human infections with this new virus have been confirmed in 10 states at this time.
• Today, CDC also is reporting the nation’s first death from this outbreak.
• This death occurred in the state of Texas in a 22-month-old child.
• We are not disclosing additional information about this child in order to protect their privacy and the privacy of their family, but our hearts go out to them.
• Any death is tragic, but a death in a child is particularly difficult, I think, and I’d like to express my sympathy for the family and friends of this young child.
• We also are investigating other reports of critically ill and hospitalized patients and our work in this area will go on.
• But at this point, we need to move away from the focus on numbers.
• As I have been saying, we do expect that we will see more cases, more hospitalizations and more see deaths from this outbreak over the coming days and weeks.
• We are beginning to see a pattern of more severe illness in the cases in the United States that we had feared might emerge.
• Influenza is always serious – each year, in the United States, seasonal influenza results, on average, in an estimated 36,000 deaths from flu-related causes.
• This outbreak certainly poses the potential to be at least as serious as seasonal flu if not more so.
• Because this is a new virus, most people will not have immunity to it and so illness may be more severe and widespread as a result.
• The picture on the world stage is more somber today too.
• Internationally, more countries are reporting cases of infection with this new virus.
• Based on the rapid spread of the virus thus far, we believe that more cases will be identified over the coming weeks and months.

This is indeed sobering, but it’s important to keep in mind that we are not helpless.


What we are doing:
The Federal Government is mounting an aggressive response to this outbreak.
• CDC’s goals during this public health emergency are to reduce transmission and illness severity, and provide information to assist health care providers, public health officials and the public in addressing the challenges posed by this newly identified influenza virus.
• To this end, CDC continues to update guidance.
• We posted guidance yesterday for how clinicians should care for young children and pregnant women who have swine influenza infection.
• Young children and pregnant women are at high risk for serious complications from seasonal flu and it would not be surprising to find a pattern where they also are at high risk of serious complications from this new virus.
• We are taking steps to protect these people by pushing out our recommendations on how to aggressively treat infection with this new virus.
• In addition, we are reaching out through partners to get the word out to these groups that they should take precautions; be aware of warning signs; and seek medical care sooner rather than later.
• New guidance is being issued continuously. I urge to you visit the CDC website at cdc.gov/swineflu/ for more information or call 1-800-CDC-INFO.
• This is a rapidly evolving situation and guidance should be considered interim and will be updated frequently.
• On April 27 CDC, issued a travel health warning recommending that travelers postpone all non-essential travel to Mexico until further notice.
• CDC is concerned that continued travel to Mexico poses a significant risk to those travelers.
• CDC has developed a real-time RT-PCR Detection Panel to expand and maintain the operational capabilities of public health or other qualified laboratories by providing a detection tool for the presumptive presence of this influenza A /H1N1 virus.
• This diagnostic test is being distributed to states nationwide to increase their capacity to test at the state level.
• In addition, distribution of antiviral drugs, personal protective equipment, and respiratory protection devices from CDC’s Division of the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) to all 50 states and U.S. territories continues.
• The Strategic National Stockpile has 49.9 million regimens of antiviral drugs. Six million of this total quantity is designated for specific purposes i.e. containment and the remaining 44 million are allocated to the public health emergency preparedness project areas, based on their population.
• The SNS deployment includes approximately 11 million antiviral regimens, masks, N95 respirators, Gowns, Gloves and face shields
• On Monday (April 27), the FDA issued Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) to addresses the off-label use of these FDA-approved products, since normal prescribing and dispensing requirements cannot be met.
• The EUAs allow for oseltamivir to also be used to treat children younger than 1 year of age, and prevent influenza in children 3 months to 1 year of age.
• And we have begun the process to get a vaccine developed.


What Communities Can Do:
• At the local level, we are hearing reports of some schools have being closed in various states.
• Community-level social distancing efforts to slow the spread of disease will be in an important tool at our disposal against this swine influenza outbreak.
• Simply put ‘social distancing’ is a way of ‘keeping our distance’ from each other to lessen the spread of flu.
• So communities may want to consider measures that can promote social distancing like school closures, teleworking, shift work and other social distancing measures.

Clinicians:
• Laboratory testing on these viruses so far indicate that they are susceptible (sensitive) to oseltamivir and zanamivir. (This virus is resistant to amantadine and rimantadine so these drugs will not work against these swine influenza documents.)
• CDC recommends the use of oseltamivir or zanamivir for the treatment and/or prevention of infection with swine influenza viruses.
• Clinicians should continue to consider swine influenza infection in the differential diagnosis of patients with acute febrile respiratory illness who have either been in contact with persons with confirmed swine flu, or who were in one of the U.S. states that have reported swine flu cases or in Mexico during the 7 days preceding their illness onset.
• Patients who meet these criteria should be tested for influenza. At this point, specimens should be sent through the public health laboratory systems to conduct testing specific for swine influenza virus. Guidance of collection and testing of the specimens.
• Influenza antiviral drugs work best when stated soon after illness onset (within two 2 days), but treatment with antiviral drugs should still be considered after 48 hours of symptom onset, particularly for hospitalized patients or people at high risk for influenza-related complications.
• CDC continues to issue interim guidance daily on the website and through health alert network notices.
• Clinicians should visit cdc.gov/swineflu/guidance

Public:
• There is no vaccine available right now to protect against this virus, but we have begun the process to get a vaccine developed.
• But as mentioned before, we do have antiviral medications in our arsenal against flu.
• Influenza antiviral drugs are an important weapon in our arsenal against influenza.
• Many people believe that there is no treatment for a viral infection and that it must run its course. That is not true.
• Influenza antiviral drugs are prescription medicines (pills, liquid or an inhaler) with activity against influenza viruses, including swine influenza viruses.
• In addition to being in our stockpile, it also should be noted that these drugs are available commercially, since they are routinely used in the treatment of seasonal influenza.
• We will be using antiviral drugs mainly to treat infection with this virus.
• There are two influenza antiviral medications that are recommended for use against swine influenza. These are oseltamivir (trade name Tamiflu ®) and zanamivir (Relenza ®).
• Influenza antiviral drugs work best when stated soon after illness onset (within two 2 days), but treatment with antiviral drugs should still be considered after 48 hours of symptom onset, particularly for hospitalized patients or people at high risk for influenza-related complications.
• You have a role in protecting yourself and your family.
• Stay informed. Health officials will provide additional information as it becomes available. Visit www.cdc.gov/swineflu

• Take these everyday steps to protect your health:

o Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
o Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
o Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
o Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
o Do not go to work or school if you are sick. CDC recommends that you limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.
o If you are sick, do not go to work or school.
o Follow public health advice regarding school closures, avoiding crowds and other social distancing measures.
o If you don’t have one yet, consider developing a family emergency plan as a precaution. This should include storing a supply of extra food, medicines, facemasks and other essential supplies.

Recommendation re: Mexico Travel
• We are recommending that people avoid non-essential travel to Mexico at this time.
• If you must travel to Mexico, there are steps you should take to reduce your risk of infection.
• Visit cdc.gov/travel for the latest information on travel.