One Month To Go...

Malaria & Water:
Many villages in El Minya and from what I've learned, there is no malaria.
You should never drink water out of the tap. Bottled water will be supplied to you.
Keep tabs on your environmental allergies, being sure to bring any prescriptions or over the counter medicine you might need. We will be in an agricultural area, around many farm animals and soil. There is no quick and easy access to medical care.

Regarding food:
What you will find is familiar to greek or lebonese food.  I know two of you are vegans and will have meals available to you. Is there anyone else that I am missing that has food allergies or requests?
Keep in mind that we won't (this especially goes for the vegetarians I am told) have a lot of variety, so if you want to bring raw almonds, snack bars, granola bars, drink packs etc, you should.

Evenings/Security:
At least one night in El Minya, we will take a Faluka boat ride after building and then have dinner out at that restaurant.

HOWEVER, it is important that you remember that we will have security with us at all times while in the hotels. Security detail is  government assigned and must be respected. There will be opportunities to leave the hotel at night to go to nearby internet cafes and such, but we are not allowed to wander on our own. Doing so could get the affiliate into deep trouble.   The consequences about leaving the hotel unsupervised are that you could be detained by the police.  The worst case scenario is for Habitat Egypt Affiliate in the long run and a possible hindrance to future teams.

*Please refer to the security section in the hand book


With that in mind, this is a zero tolerance trip regarding any sort of drug use. If you are caught with drugs or I discover that you are carrying non-prescription drugs, you will be sent home immediately.


Gift Giving:at al
Please remember that there is no gift giving at all. Please do not leave behind "hoodies" or gloves or anything with individual villagers or children.  If you want to bring community gifts or
toys for kids that can be donated for a school, medical supplies or school supplies, please make it  something that can be given to the entire community and be sure to pass onto myself first.

Kids are around all the time, again, do not give anything directly to children. This could cause jealousy and strife between them. If you'd like to honor someone you've met by giving your gloves or a tool to them separately, please go through me or Carolyn Agee, our local coordinator.

You may encounter villagers from kids to adults that will want to know how to get Habitat to build them a house, how to get sponsorship for their kids to go to America, who will want your address or money.  If you do get such requests, you can politely direct them to myself, Sharif or Carolyn.

Please do not give out your address to anyone.

We will be leaving behind any clothes or tools that you want to but these will be given directly to Sharif & Carolyn for distribution.

Flexibility:
It is a huge honor to host a team from the western world, so we will be moving around from house to house so that each family gets some "face time" with the team.  Please be flexible. You will hear me say this more than once!

Tools:
Things that are needed are on the blog, but as a reminder, gloves, hammers and small hand saws would be useful. Please refer to the previous post regarding items in need.