Traveling to Tanzania in the Summer Without a Way to Refrigerate Insulin
In 2009 I went to Tanzania to volunteer for a non-profit that helps “promote gender equality and sexual health in East Africa through grant-making and competitive interest loans.” It doesn’t seem to be around anymore, but it taught me a lot about the world and what I take for granted, insulin and diabetes-wise.
My Volunteer Job
Part of my volunteer duties was to go to a local hospital with another volunteer and interview the administration to see what project they would use a small grant for. At this time, I cannot remember what the project was, but I do remember it would have been nice for them to get the money.
The other volunteer and I put together a presentation about this hospital’s project that we presented to the board. Three other volunteer groups did the same thing for different local hospitals. It was fun and bit nerve-wracking to watch all of the other groups present because I had gotten protective and attached to the hospital we interviewed. In my mind I had made it into a competition, and I wanted to win! (That was the wrong way to look at this.)
I have some bad news; my hospital did not win. But it was okay. All of these medical centers needed the grant. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for the board to choose just one of them.
Diabetic Traveling to a Remote Town
The next thing that was on my schedule was to travel with two other people, another volunteer and one of the people in charge, to a remote town. This took many hours to get to; we had to take multiple buses and then hire a car to drive us to this town. This small town had the hospital that won the last grant. The grant allowed them to purchase and install a refrigerator to be able to keep medicine cold that needed to be kept cold.
Insulin Storage – Dos and Don’ts
This got me thinking, what if someone in town had diabetes and couldn’t keep their insulin cold?! What about all of the other medicines that need to be kept cold?! I mean, this would be why they applied for and received the grant. It had me thinking of how many places don’t have proper cooling or heating (depending on where in the world you live).
If insulin gets too hot it doesn’t work, if insulin gets too cold it doesn’t work. The whole time I was freaking out (on the inside). I was happy that they had finally gotten a fridge, but they had gone so long without one.
Unfortunately for me, it was not my job to ask about diabetics in town. But the doctor did tell us that he was very happy to be able to store medicine the way it’s supposed to. In a situation like theirs, if you don’t have a fridge then you can’t keep insulin, and other medications, cold. The doctor was just doing the best he could with the resources he had available.
How Much do I Take for Granted?
Our best is all any of us can do. I am a person with the means and resources to travel around the world. I take for granted the medical supplies I have access to. Supplies that make living and traveling with diabetes so much easier. But not everyone has the same resources as me. I don’t want to get into a political or health discussion but that doesn’t seem right to me.
Thinking about all the diabetics who can’t refrigerate their insulin and take the best care they can of themselves made me upset about the disparity in our world. I don’t know a good way around it but it is something to think about.
Experiencing the Town
The three of us stayed a couple of days there and got to meet some of the people who came to the small doctor’s office. This doctor’s office is only two small rooms with doors that didn’t close securely. Not even the door to the outside seemed secure. At least not to the levels of security that I’m used to.
The bathroom was an outhouse with a hole in the ground that had bats, birds, and bugs living in the dark corners. In the middle of the night I had to go to the bathroom, and that was not a fun adventure for me. I had an internal dialog going with myself. I bet I could wait until the morning and I don’t actually have to go that bad. Yeah, that’s probably right, you are good and can go back to sleep… Oh no, I cannot wait until morning I have to go now! When you gotta go, you gotta go!
What I Could Have Done Better
This was the first big trip that I traveled by myself. Of course I wasn’t alone, there were other volunteers and the few people in charge of the non-profit that I lived and interacted with, but they were strangers. They didn’t know me and my diabetes, they didn’t know what to look out for, or how to help me. There was a lot I wish I could have done better. But I learned from this experience, and it helped me become a better traveler.
In hindsight I wish I brought multiple cooler bags, of various sizes, so I could more safely travel with my insulin in Tanzania in the summer. There was a fridge at the main house, but there wasn’t a fridge to use in the remote town.
I also would have talked more about my diabetes, what could go wrong, what to expect, and how to help. I did tell everyone I had diabetes but didn’t go much farther than that. As my interview with my friends went, they are happy to know as much as they can about my diabetes before traveling.
