Checklist and Guidance for Mission Team Members -
(plan for the trip - think about what you will need. Once you get there, the nearest Wal-Mart is 1100 miles away!!)
1. Passport applied for in time to arrive by 2 weeks before travel___
2. Shots - Hepatitis A and Tetanus minimum _______
Hepatitis B if doing medical work ______
3. $990 paid to the Monett Church of Christ one month before travel____
4. Suitcase for carry-on______ (23" x 19" x 9" is the stated size, many suitcases are slightly larger and still go on) (see travel schedules page for more information on this)
5. One other bag - computer or briefcase or purse to carry on the plane ________ Each group will have a checked container for items that you need which will not go through security.
6. Cash for miscellaneous expenses-$100 recommended ________
7. Snacks for missed meals - recommend about 5 ______________
8. Clothes for at least 4 days work plus evening worship (figure on 1 laundry) ________
(dress for worship is dress shirt and slacks for men, dresses for women, men wear a tie on Sunday and if/when you preach) (laundry will be available at mid-week)
9. Mosquito repellant with DEET ________
10. Consider a mosquito net for your bed ____
11. Enough prescription medicines for the trip ____
12. Sunglasses ________ Consider a wide brimmed hat __________
13. Sunblock--good stuff ___________
14. Long sleeve tops/shirts - optional but recommended for evening_______
15. Spend some time outside to get used to the sun and heat ______
17. What you take for your personal use, including clothing should fit in your carry-on bag. You will be assigned 2 check-baggage containers filled with stuff to leave or use there.
18. A great attitude really is needed---check yours now! ____________
19. Remember this!!! Memorize it. "I will not eat anything that has not been cooked or peeled!! I will not drink anything except out of a bottle (other than coffee) once I leave the San Salvador airport."
20. I will pray often for our trip, our safety, the people in La Palma, and each other. _______
21. Camera and film. We want to capture the "Kodak" moments of our trip for later use. I am not a "National Geographic" quality photographer, so I just shoot a picture of everything and then discard most of them. I think about half of us should have cameras with us. Digital is best and we can download to CDs at night. _________
22. You might consider logging on to the Continental Airlines website https://www.continental.com/acct/penroll.asp and enroll in their frequent flyer program. You will log a lot of miles on this and each subsequent trip to El Salvador. Make it profitable to go. Also, on www.continental.com you can go to 'travel center', 'policies', and 'baggage information' to get answers to your questions about carry-on and checked baggage rules. I have found Continental personnel to be probably the most helpful of any of the airlines when traveling.
Daily schedule in La Palma
7:00 am -Breakfast and Devotional and plans meeting
8:00 am -Medical clinic opens Mon-Friday
5:00 pm evening meal
6:00 pm -evening worship at the community center or other activity to be announced
Each evening at about 9:00 we will have a devotional and planning meeting
Construction team and Evangelism teams may vary schedules to meet their needs and the weather
Sunday - shop the sidewalk/street vendors at 8:00, then go to worship
Food
The food in El Salvador is not seasoned like you would expect to find in Mexico. I usually like to add Tabasco sauce or mustard to it. Expect to eat a lot of eggs (huevos) and frijoles (refried beans) and rice and tortillas. They fry the tortillas and they are about 1/4" thick, just eaten plain. I almost always have to salt the food including the tortillas.
We will try to eat breakfast and the evening meal together every day for fellowship and convenience.
We will choose a variety of foods for our meals. They will be high in protein and moderate in carbohydrates.
And remember - don't eat it if is not cooked or peeled!
Motel Rooms
The motel rooms vary in size and furnishings. If you have any allergy problems with dust mites, consider bringing a plastic bag and your own pillow case to cover your pillow. I have never felt that the pillow cases were as clean and fresh as they needed to be.
Some of the rooms have air conditioning - many do not. We will insist on rooms with screens on the windows. Perhaps half of us will not have air conditioning so some of us should take mosquito nets to cover the beds. I have one but have not used it yet.
Each room has showers with hot water - only one night have I not had hot water. They furnish towels in limited quantities, and the motels do have nice pools.
Transportation
We will go in groups to the airport. Final arrangements will be made closer to the departure date.
We will ride buses from the San Salvador airport to La Palma and back to the airport. Some of you will ride at night, but most will be in the daytime and will be able to see the countryside. The buses will not be like Greyhound. They will most likely be converted school buses with 30/30 air conditioning (30 windows open and 30 miles an hour makes it somewhat cool). They will probably ride hard, but it is only about 3 hours for the trip.
Once in La Palma, we will mostly walk to get to our destinations. From the motel to the community center where the clinic is to be held is about 3-4 blocks. It is about the same distance to the church building. We will have a rented small crew cab pickup for other transportation in and around La Palma. We can rent a van if we need it. The evangelism teams will be traveling out of town some and perhaps a small medical team will go to a remote village.
Security
You will see a lot of policemen and armed guards. That is a way of life. I have always felt secure in the area, although we will insist that no one goes out alone - ever. Always be in pairs or teams when you walk or travel. The mayor will have the police on heightened awareness for us.
The People
The local people are very friendly. La Palma is a tourist area with lots of craftsmen selling their products. They will barter on price and enjoy it. Learn to say "buenos dias", "buenos tardes", and "buenos noches". I noticed that most people speak to each other on the street, and we should do the same.
I have not made an effort to learn the language. It is difficult to get the correct pronunciation and I have not made it a priority. I find it fun and easy to communicate with the children. I have been able to order from the menus almost always. There are enough words that I recognize to make that possible. We have posted a list of common words in English and Spanish to let you work on some of them.
The people are almost always neatly and cleanly dressed. Shabby dirty clothes are almost not seen. We should set an example of neatness and cleanliness. Rule: no shorts or cutoffs or patched clothes. Tennis shoes are best for work.
Practice smiling. They do it a lot. They are not burdened with the stresses that we seen to accumulate in our culture. Expect hugs and smiles a lot. They are friendly.
Message from the Team Doctor
Traveler's Diarrhea
Travelers' diarrhea (TD) is the most common illness affecting travelers. Each year between 20%-50% of international travelers, an estimated 10 million persons, develop diarrhea. The onset of TD usually occurs within the first week of travel but may occur at any time while traveling, and even after returning home. The most important determinant of risk is the traveler's destination. High-risk destinations are the developing countries of Latin America. Persons at particular high-risk include young adults, immunosuppressed persons, persons with inflammatory-bowel disease or diabetes, and persons taking H-2 blockers or antacids. Attack rates are similar for men and women. The primary source of infection is ingestion of fecally contaminated food or water.
Risks from Food and Drink
Contaminated food and drink are common sources for the introduction of infection into the body. Among the more common infections that travelers can acquire from contaminated food and drink are Escherichia coli infections, shigellosis or bacillary dysentery, giardiasis, cryptosporidiosis, Norwalk-like viruses, and hepatitis A. Other less common infectious disease risks for travelers include typhoid fever and other salmonelloses, cholera, rotavirus infections, and a variety of protozoan and helminthic parasites (other than those that cause giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis). Many of the infectious diseases transmitted in food and water can also be acquired directly through the fecal-oral route.
Food
To avoid illness, travelers should be advised to select food with care. All raw food is subject to contamination. Particularly in areas where hygiene and sanitation are inadequate, the traveler should be advised to avoid salads, uncooked vegetables, and unpasteurized milk and milk products such as cheese, and to eat only food that has been cooked and is still hot or fruit that has been peeled by the traveler personally. Undercooked and raw meat, fish, and shellfish can carry various intestinal pathogens. Cooked food that has been allowed to stand for several hours at ambient temperature can provide a fertile medium for bacterial growth and should be thoroughly reheated before serving. Consumption of food and beverages obtained from street food vendors has been associated with an increased risk of illness
Water
Water that has been adequately chlorinated, by using minimum recommended water treatment standards used in the United States, will afford substantial protection against viral and bacterial waterborne diseases. However, chlorine treatment alone, as used in the routine disinfection of water, might not kill some enteric viruses and the parasitic organisms that cause giardiasis, amebiasis, and cryptosporidiosis. In areas where chlorinated tap water is not available or where hygiene and sanitation are poor, travelers should be advised that only the following might be safe to drink:
Beverages, such as tea and coffee, made with boiled water.
Canned or bottled carbonated beverages, including carbonated bottled water and soft drinks.
Beer and wine.
Where water might be contaminated, travelers should be advised that ice should also be considered contaminated and should not be used in beverages. If ice has been in contact with containers used for drinking, travelers should be advised to thoroughly clean the containers, preferably with soap and hot water, after the ice has been discarded.
It is safer to drink a beverage directly from the can or bottle than from a questionable container. However, water on the outside of beverage cans or bottles might also be contaminated. Therefore, travelers should be advised to dry wet cans or bottles before they are opened and to wipe clean surfaces with which the mouth will have direct contact. Where water might be contaminated, travelers should be advised to avoid brushing their teeth with tap water.
Malaria Risk
El Salvador: Rural areas of the departments of Santa Ana, Ahuachapán, and La Unión. Based on the time of year and the area we are going to no drug prophylaxsis is recommended.
Malaria is transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito; these mosquitoes usually bite between dusk and dawn. If possible, remain indoors in a screened or air-conditioned area during the peak biting period. If out-of-doors, prevent mosquito bites by wearing long-sleeved shirts, long pants, and hats; apply insect repellent to exposed skin. Use insect repellents that contain DEET (diethylmethyltoluamide) for the best protection.
When using repellent with DEET, follow these precautions:
Read and follow the directions and precautions on the product label.
Use only when outdoors and wash skin with soap and water after coming indoors.
Do not breathe in, swallow, or get into the eyes. (DEET is toxic if swallowed.) If using a spray product, apply DEET to your face by spraying your hands and rubbing the product carefully over the face, avoiding eyes and mouth.
Do not put repellent on wounds or broken skin.
Higher concentrations of DEET may have a longer repellent effect; however, concentrations over 50% provide no added protection.
Timed-release DEET products may have a longer repellent effect than liquid products.
DEET may be used on adults, children, and infants older than 2 months of age. Protect infants by using a carrier draped with mosquito netting with an elastic edge for a tight fit.
Children under 10 years old should not apply insect repellent themselves. Do not apply to young children’s hands or around eyes and mouth.
For details on how to protect yourself from insects and how to use repellents, see Protection against Mosquitoes and Other Arthropods.Travelers should also take a flying-insect spray on their trip to help clear rooms of mosquitoes. The product should contain a pyrethroid insecticide; these insecticides quickly kill flying insects, including mosquitoes.
If you are not staying in well-screened or air-conditioned rooms, you should take additional precautions, including sleeping under mosquito netting (bed nets). Bed nets sprayed with the insecticide permethrin are more effective; permethrin both repels and kills mosquitoes. In the United States, permethrin is available as a spray or liquid (e.g. Permanone) to treat clothes and bed nets. Bed nets may be purchased that have already been treated with permethrin. Permethrin or another insecticide, deltamethrin, may be purchased overseas to treat bed nets and clothes.
Hepatitis A
Hepatitis A is one of the most common vaccine-preventable diseases in travelers. Hepatitis A vaccine, immune globulin (IG), or both, are recommended for all susceptible persons traveling to or working in countries with an intermediate or high endemicity of HAV infection.Many persons will have a detectable antibody to hepatitis A virus (anti-HAV) response to the monovalent vaccine by 2 weeks after the first vaccine dose. The first dose of hepatitis A vaccine should be administered as soon as travel to countries with high or intermediate endemicity is considered. One month after receiving the first dose of monovalent hepatitis A vaccine, 94%–100% of adults and children will have protective concentrations of antibody. This is available at the County Health unit for $30.00.
In adults and children who have completed the vaccine series (one now and one in 6-12 months), anti-HAV has been shown to persist for at least 5–8 years after vaccination. For children and adults who complete the primary series, booster doses of vaccine are not recommended.
Typhoid
Typhoid vaccination is not required for international travel, but it is recommended for travelers to areas where there is a recognized risk of exposure to S. Typhi. Risk is greatest for travelers to the Indian subcontinent and other low-income countries (in Asia, Africa, and Central and South America) who will have prolonged exposure to potentially contaminated food and drink. Vaccination is particularly recommended for those who will be traveling in smaller cities, villages, and rural areas off the usual tourist itineraries. Travelers should be cautioned that typhoid vaccination is not 100% effective and is not a substitute for careful selection of food and drink.
The oral vaccine (Vivotif) contains a live but weakened strain of the Salmonella bacteria that causes typhoid fever. The vaccine consists of four capsules that are taken every other day over a one-week period. The capsule protects the vaccine against stomach acid so it remains active when it reaches the intestine where the immunity develops. The oral vaccine can be given either as a first-time dose or as a booster dose. The protection should last about 5 years, at which time another booster dose would be needed if traveling again. The oral vaccine is not recommended for children under 6 years old.