In late June I am headed back to the Port Morant area in Jamaica. I will be working with the group Isaiah Six Eight from Birmingham, AL.

Port Morant is located on the eastern tip of Jamaica. This area would be considered poor by US standards. Homes are small and made of concrete and wood. Air conditioning is non-existent and re-bar replaces glass for windows. The town is small and walking is the primary form of transportation.

Getting to Port Morant requires a drive east along Jamaican road A4 from Kingston. A4 hugs the coastline as you bounce through towns like Yallahs and White Horses. To your right scenic views of the Caribbean crashing against the coast come in and out of view while the misty Blue Mountains rise above forest on your left.

The bumpy taxi ride from Kingston to Port Morant is about 60 miles but can take nearly two hours because of the road conditions.

For several years Isaiah Six Eight has worked around Port Morant working in local schools, churches, orphanages and even rebuilding homes.

During June and July Isaiah Six Eight will host several mission teams who will hold bible school, help with construction projects and install a computer lab.

Resources
Images from Jamaica 2007
www.isaiahsixeight.org

Dengue Fever is a serious disease passed on by mosquitoes. Though it is not common in the US it is a serious disease in many tropical countries.

Why do I care about dengue, (pronounced Den-gee)? I’ve had it and still feeling the effects.

In September of 2007 I was working in eastern Jamaica after Hurricane Dean. Water was still standing and mosquitoes and insects were really bad.

A few days after returning home I got very sick. I had fevers of 105 and my body was in incredible pain. At first I thought it was malaria. After some research I learned there was an outbreak of dengue in eastern Jamaica. I went back to my doctor for tests and tested positive for dengue. Note: The test is simple blood work test and mine was sent to a lab so I found out a few days after test.

Knowing what I had brought some relief. After researching the disease further however, I saw that recovery takes a long time.

My acute phase lasted a little over a week. I probably should have been hospitalized but did not test positive until after the acute phase.

Once the acute phase is over you still feel the effects. I learned that this is somewhat different for each person. For me the pain in my joints, especially legs, made it painful to walk. Extreme fatigue, sore eyes, and sometime confusion (yes more so than I am now) are common.

It’s been nearly ten months since I contracted dengue and I still have pain and fatigue. It is not as bad and seems to be “slowly” getting better, but it does effect how I live. I really cannot eat a lot during the day because that seems to increase the fatigue and pain as do certain foods. I am still experimenting on if high carbs or protein make it worse. Also if I get a cold the symptoms get much worse.

Through the Internet I have found people who have finally recovered from dengue but they said they endured its effects for months or years afterwards. They also had to make lifestyle adjustments.

There is no vaccine for dengue just prevention. Always check the CDC site to countries you are traveling for disease news and outbreaks. Mosquito repellent is a must! If possible stay in air conditioned rooms.

Below is an excellent article I came across on Dengue
Dengue Article

A few weeks ago I was in Port Morant, a remote part of Jamaica. The area was recently hit hard by hurricane Dean and I was there surveying the damage.

Because the area is so poor it is difficult to see the extent of damage. Homes are small and can be rebuilt in a day or so and the roads were already in bad shape. I could tell however that there had been a 5-6ft storm surge and some parts of the roads were recently washed out.

A few days after I returned home I got really sick. Bad chills, high fever and night sweats. This went on for a week. Had I not gone out of the country I would have chalked it up to something like the flu but…take a look on the CDC site and you come across things like Malaria or Dengue fever.

Even though I feel it’s probably not, I have to treat it like it could be one of those diseases. I certainly don’t want to be the guy who starts a malaria outbreak in Florida.

Anyway, I talked with my travel doctor in Birmingham and he recommended a test for Malaria while my regular doctor thinks it maybe dengue fever. Both diseases have alerts posted by the CDC for Jamaica.

So far I’ve been lucky in traveling to these poor countries. As sick as I was at least I can get treatment and also know what I have. The people in the countries I visited just have to live with it.

Though I feel much better I will go tomorrow and get a malaria test and keep an eye how I feel.

When traveling out of the US especially to a underdeveloped country you should check the CDC website well in advance. You may also need to get some immunizations. I’ve had a whole range of them. We live in a well protected country and should not take it for granted.