Prescriptions Day

This morning I visited my local walk-in clinic to obtain prescriptions for Dukoral (traveler's diarrhea and cholera), Azithromycin (traveler's diarrhea), and Doxycycline (malaria), all of which are critical for preventing these conditions while I am in Laos.

Once I obtained the necessary prescriptions, I ventured to the pharmacy just down the street from where I live and had them filled. After a 15-minute wait, they were ready and so was the bill. For all three prescriptions, it totalled $164.95.

The only two items remaining on my medications list to purchase are Gastrolyte (for preventing fluid loss due to diarrhea and vomiting) and Imodium (for diarrhea), both of which do not require a prescription. I only need to use these medications in the event that I do get diarrhea.

Final Travel Clinic Visit

Yesterday I had my last appointment at the travel health clinic. For this visit I received my third and final Twinrix booster shot and a typhoid inoculation. I still need to venture to the pharmacy to buy some medications to take with me, specifically Dukoral for traveler's diarrhea and cholera, Gastrolyte for managing fluid loss due to diarrhea and vomiting, Imodium for diarrhea, and Doxycycline for malaria. Some of these medications I will need to start taking before my trip to Laos in December.

Laos Travel Guides

Yesterday an acquaintance from my neighbourhood cafe, Java Jive, dropped off three travel guides on Laos for me. I have only had a chance to examine them peripherally, but from what I have seen they are packed with all sorts of interesting and useful information. They will definitely help me pass away the time on my way to Laos in December.


From left to right, here are the guides pictured above:


The Rough Guide to Laos published by Rough Guides


Laos published by Lonely Planet


Laos Handbook published by Footprint

Fundraiser Tickets Zoom

This afternoon I received an email update from Steve Rutledge, the president of Adopt a Village in Laos. He informed me that 156 tickets for the big fundraiser this Saturday night have already been sold. This number alone is an amazing feat to have achieved.

Can he sell the other 94 tickets on or before the opening and meet his target of 250 tickets? Stay tuned!

The Vientiane Connection

This morning I received an email notification from Facebook. It was a friend's request from someone in Laos, specifically, Vientiane (the capitol of Laos).

In his message, he explained that while surfing one day he had encountered information about Adopt a Village in Laos' water filter project and wanted to know more.

Below is the message which he had sent to me and my response on Facebook.

Bounheng wrote: 

Sabaidee Roland Drake,

I just found your article about "Adopting a village in Laos" on internet, and I was very interested in your water filter system and things you have done to help the community in Laos. If you are in the city (Vientiane), I would love to meet you and learn more about your project. For your information, I am now a teacher at the National University of Laos. My major is on water purification system.

I replied:

Sabaidee!

Thank you so much for your message.

Since July 2010 when I first became involved with Adopt a Village in Laos, I have been volunteering in whatever capacity I can to help the organization's founders, Steve Rutledge and Mike Yap. In December 2011, I will be joining them in Laos to experience first hand the work they have been doing. I arrive in Luang Prabang on the evening of December 5. If there is an opportunity to visit Vientiane, I will definitely let you know.

If you want to know specifics about the water filtration projects, which was initiated in 2010, you can explore my blog, My Journey to Laos, at http://myjourneytolaos.blogspot.com. You can also correspond with Steve Rutledge, who will be in Laos starting in mid-October, at adoptavillageinlaos@gmail.com. He is also on Facebook and Skype.

Please mention how you initially heard about this project.

Roland

Raising Awareness at Cabbagetown Festival

Left of centre is Ellen Michelson, former Green Party candidate,
who attended one of my presentations earlier this year.

Yesterday, while spending most of the day volunteering at the Green Party table at the Cabbagetown Festival, a neighbourhood street fair held at the beginning of September in Toronto, Ontario, I took the opportunity to raise awareness for Adopt a Village in Laos. Sharing the table with campaign literature for an upcoming provincial election, I set up my small Adopt a Village in Laos display and then interacted with passersby whenever I could. Overall, the day proved to be a great success in terms of exposure and responses from people.

Ever since the first Green Party member, Ellen Michelson, attended one of my presentations earlier this year, an informal relationship has been gradually establishing itself. An awareness of my volunteer work with Adopt a Village in Laos and with the organization itself have slowly been evolving and permeating through this political party, with much of that awareness largely concentrated at the local level right now. My work with and the work of Adopt a Village in Laos are of great interest to this political party because they both strongly reflect one of its most basic tenets: doing social good.

Radio Sieng Lao Recorded

Radio Sieng Lao team

This morning Khamkeuth Keovongsa of Radio Sieng Lao (Fairchild Radio 1430 AM in Toronto) again broadcasted the upcoming Adopt a Village in Laos events. This time I took the opportunity to record the program. I have since edited it and made it available online for all the world to hear.

Thirty-one seconds into the recording, the announcements start. Two English segments, specifically directed to the author of this post, respectively start at 2:48 and 7:48.

Radio Sieng Lao

Devoted to sharing news and information of interest to Toronto's Lao community, Radio Sieng Lao, a program which airs every Sunday morning between 9 am and 10 am on Fairchild Radio AM 1430 and online, issued its first public service announcement about Adopt a Village in Laos at about 9.30 am today. Included in that segment was news about the upcoming fundraiser at the Capitol Theatre in Port Hope, Ontario and the Chapters Indigo presentation in downtown Toronto. Every Sunday during the month of September, similar public service announcements will be broadcast on this program.

I must extend great thanks to Esther Kwong and Khamkeuth Keovongsa of Fairchild Radio Toronto for making this small media event a reality and for helping to raise awareness of this organization with the world at large.

Bound for Laos

(Learn more about this province and its capitol, Luang Prabang.)

As soon as I finished work yesterday, I dashed out the door, hopped on my bike and then peddled madly to my bank to withdraw the necessary money for my airfare to Laos. After my brief visit to the bank, I rushed to the Flight Centre, which was soon to close for the day, to finalize all the details with my travel agent, who must be commended for delivering exceptional customer service.

When I got home, I took some time to review the itinerary.

On December 3, I begin the first leg of my journey to Laos. My flight leaves Lester B. Pearson International Airport (Toronto) at 6.30 am Eastern Time and arrives at Kennedy International Airport (New York City) at 8.15 am Eastern Time. Since this is an international flight, I know that I must be at the airport three hours prior to departure. Therefore,  I must be there no later than 3.30 am that morning.

At 12.40 pm Eastern Time, I depart Kennedy International Airport on a Seoul-bound Korean Airlines flight, which will take fourteen hours and thirty minutes to reach its destination. On December 4 at 5.10 pm local time (3.10 am in Toronto), the flight arrives in Seoul.

At 7.25 pm local time (5.25 am in Toronto), I depart Seoul on a different Korean Airlines flight. Four hours and fifty-five minutes later, at 10.20 pm local time (8.20 am in Toronto), I land in Hanoi.

After spending about seventeen hours in Vietnam, I embark on the final leg of my journey. On December 5 at 6.25 pm local time (6.25 am in Toronto), I leave on a Lao Aviation aircraft for the land of a million elephants. An hour later (7.25 pm local time; 7.25 am in Toronto) I arrive in what was once the royal capitol of Laos and now designated by UNESCO as a world heritage city, Luang Prabang, where I will be greeted by Steve Rutledge and Mike Yap.

After combining wait times at the various airports (about 25 hours) with my time in the air (about 22 hours), I will have spent about fifty hours on my journey to Laos.

Our Charity Number Is...

It's now official. Adopt a Village in Laos Charity Registration Number is 83699 1000 RR0001.


-- Post From My iPhone

Vaccinations for Laos

As part of the preparations for my journey to Laos, I attended my first consultation at a local travel health clinic. The healthcare providers were extremely helpful and reviewed all the necessary requirements and precautions to ensure good health. They did a complete breakdown of costs and what was covered by OHIP and any company health plan which I might have.

During that visit, I received my first set of vaccinations: Twinrix and tetanus. The Twinrix shot specifically protects one against Hepatitis A and B. Hepatitis A can be contracted through exposure to contaminated water, ice, or shellfish harvested in contaminated water; or from fruits, vegetables, or other foods that are eaten uncooked and that were contaminated during harvesting and subsequent handling. Heptatitis B can be contracted through exposure to blood or body fluids, sexual contact with local population, or be exposed through medical treatment.

For extensive information about other requirements and precautions for travellers to Laos, I discovered this excellent web site.

Next week I return to the clinic for another consultation and set of shots.

New Order of Tees On The Way

A second batch (20 in all) of Adopt a Village in Laos t-shirts is currently on order. This is very exciting!

Charitable Status Achieved

Last week months of anticipation came to a joyous conclusion when Steve Rutledge received word from the government that his humanitarian organization, Adopt a Village in Laos, was finally recognized as a charity. While this is definitely cause for celebration, Steve Rutledge informed me that he will be happiest once he actually sees that charitable status number, which will be any day now.

I Am Going To Laos

Through a generous donation to my Laos travel fund from a couple of dear friends who believe in what I am doing, my trip to Laos is confirmed. Before this momentous event occurred, I was getting really worried that the trip might not happen at all. Now I can concentrate on the other major components: booking my flight, getting all my shots, and gathering all the necessary gear I will need for my trip, which is planned for early December 2011.

Information Display

On Saturday, July 16, I initiated the first in a series of information displays, which will be set up on select days each week for the next several weeks, outside my neighbourhood cafe, Java Jive. I decided to take this approach to give the organization a more visible presence. Such a strategy will hopefully encourage passersby to stop and engage in conversation with me.

The display is very simply laid out and primarily focuses on water filters. The secondary focus is the promotion of my 'Adopt a Village in Laos' T-shirts. Sign up sheets for both water filters and T-shirts are readily available.

T-Shirt Design Proofs

At the beginning of the week, I submitted my designs to Has Marketing for an Adopt a Village in Laos T-shirt. After a couple of days of tweaking, I finalized the designs and emailed them this morning before heading out to work. Late this afternoon I received a proof, which shows how the designs will look on the shirt itself. The actual colour for the shirt will be forest green.

The front of the shirt sports the organization name, its focus, and the web site. The O's in Adopt a Village in Laos have been transformed into baci strings, which are an integral element of hill tribe culture and basically represent good fortune. The back of the shirt is adorned with Lao script and the translation, which appears directly below it, expresses what this organization represents.

Tomorrow morning I will venture to Has Marketing to finalize the order by putting down a fifty percent deposit. For this initial order, which will take about a week, I am only producing 20 shirts to see what the response will be from people first. Three of the shirts will be written off for me and the organization founders, Steve Rutledge and Mike Yap. The remaining 17 shirts will be available for sale starting July 10, with the proceeds going back to the organization to fund its various projects.

Saturday Visit to Port Hope

This coming Saturday my friend Andrew will be driving me to Port Hope for a meeting with the president of Adopt a Village in Laos, Steve Rutledge. A number of important items will be on the table for discussion that day all of which are listed below. Hopefully, we will be able to attend to all of them.

1. The presentations.
2. A real web site.
3. Facebook.
4. Twitter.
5. My trip to Laos.
6. Advisory committee.
7. Marketing ideas.

If time allows, I am hoping to take Andrew on a little tour of Port Hope.

To finish off the day, all of us will be dining at the exquisite Buluai A Taste of Thai restaurant, which is owned by Sammy Minc, who grew up in a small village on the Laos/Thailand border. Afterwards, Steve will take Andrew and myself to see The 39 Steps, which is playing at the Capitol Theatre - just steps away from the restaurant.

Two Big Donations

A few months ago a long time friend had pledged that he and a mutual friend of ours would donate to Adopt a Village in Laos.  Last night that promise turned into a reality when my friend and I finally got together and he handed me two cheques in an ornate envelope. Expecting a donation for one or possibly two water filters, I was floored when I gazed at the dollar amount on each cheque - $500 each! After I composed myself, I asked him how he wanted these monies donated. He replied that I could allocate these contributions as I wished.

Shortly after our meeting, I emailed Steve Rutledge, who within a couple of hours replied. He was absolutely ecstatic. The first two words of his email basically summed up his reaction thusly, "Holy crap!"

This morning I decided how I would allocate these contributions.  A portion of these proceeds would toward 10 water filters and the remainder would go toward a school project.

Making Connections: Going Green

Last night I did another presentation of 'To Laos with Love: Presentation Series' on the patio of Java Jive, where I am conducting these events twice a month throughout the summer. In attendance that evening was a local political figure, Ellen Michelson, who had run as a Green Party candidate in our last federal election.

After the presentation, we chatted for a little while about how we can increase public awareness of Adopt a Village in Laos in Toronto, with particular emphasis on the water filters campaign for 2011-2012. She offered me some excellent options for venues where Adopt a Village in Laos could maximize its public exposure and hopefully increase water filter donations.

This morning I went on Facebook and personally thanked her for attending my presentation. I also asked her if she could email me her ideas. Within a couple of hours, I received an email with those very details.

One of the biggest and potentially greatest opportunities for exposure is on Sunday, July 3 when Toronto celebrates its annual Gay Pride Day. Like many other organizations that day, the Green Party will have a booth set up on the street. I have an open invitation from Ellen to share this booth with Green Party representatives, where I will be able to interact with and educate the public about Adopt a Village in Laos and distribute the water filter brochures.

In mid-July, the Green Party will have a table set up at a community event called Sunday in the Park. Granted, this will be a smaller event, but it will still give Adopt a Village in Laos a public presence.

On Saturday, September 10, the Green Party will be participating in an annual street event, called The Cabbagetown Parade & Festival. Just as at Pride, I have an invitation to share their booth to raise awareness for Adopt a Village in Laos.

Water Filter Brochure Published

Yesterday I emailed my friend and president of Adopt a Village in Laos, Steve Rutledge, the final version of a water filter brochure I had designed for the organization. When he first saw the layout, he was absolutely thrilled.

This tri-fold design packs a lot of information into a very small package. Inside the brochure it introduces the reader to Laos by giving some quick facts about this Southeast Asian country as well as some of its history. Also inside, it provides some interesting information about the water filters themselves and a donation form. On the back page, there is an overview about Adopt a Village in Laos itself.

This Tuesday afternoon Steve will drop off some copies from the first printing for me to distribute here in Toronto.

Please feel free to download a copy of this brochure and distribute it to people who might be interested.