Don’t know if the following is remotely correct, but there is a theory that the eating of bananas attracts the mozzies like anything. As mozzies don’t like me anyway I don’t want to risk turning ‘me’ into a guinea-pig by eating bananas. Also I can take them, or leave them alone. Cheers

I never used the insect repellent. I hated the feel of it on my skin. Slimy rather than greasy, I thought. Perception of risk is an interesting thing.

@Bob Bain: That trade-off between medication and, well, just living is a stark one. The New York Times article Death in Birth (free registration required) points out that in Tanzania many mothers die in childbirth because they can’t afford the $6 to give birth in a hospital rather than with the village’s untrained midwife.

In those days Port Moresby was fairly civilised but as I understand it today it is recognised as one of the most dangerous places on Earth. When interviewed for a contract position for an oil company (PNG owned) in Australia two years ago it was pointed out that the job could well involve at least a week in Port Moresby. This was considered to be against the interests of anyone wishing to make themselves available for the position (which I wasn’t well enough to accept anyway) but they were kind enough to point out that the job entailed possible hazards.

There was a film on SBS some time back about a rural worker in Senegal taking his sick wife to Dakar for treatment. It was an interesting film and one that your exploits in Africa bring to mind. (I spent a day in Dakar on the way back from the UK to Australia but don’t recall being requested to take malaria medication).

The “bottom line” with regards to that particular film about life in Senegal was that in the rural areas there is support from the community. In Dakar however he was given a prescription from a hospital for drugs that could save his wife’s life but he didn’t have any money to pay for the drugs and as a consequence she died.

BTW: I’ve been searching for blogs from local Australian aboriginal people in their native langauges but haven’t been able to find any. There are government blogs about Austalian aboriginal people but I can’t find any statistics regarding Australian aboriginal indigenous use of the Internet. In Tanzania there are reputely 400,000 Internet users (CIA factbook). Canada seemingly has statistics on Internet use by their indigenous peoples.

According to statistics the biggest cause of death in Tanzania is hunger rather than malaria and the average life expectancy from memory is just 44 years with a GNP per head of population of about $1,300 US dollars.

E&OE (Errors and Omissions Excepted)

Currently, in the Indian state of Assam, the annual rains are forcing about half-a-million people to flee their homes due to flooding.

With people sheltering in schools and makeshift camps, one of the first thing ActionAid is aiming to deliver is… you guessed it: mosquito nets.

http://members.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/216723/50ce125784e1a0faa627ecf23f477e61.htm

One question though – did you ever start using the Mosquito nets and insect repellent?