Monthly Archives: October 2014

Blog: When the Grind is More of a Rut

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When the Grind is More of a Rut

One week ago, I landed back in “my country.” Some things will never change about Chad: The perfume of many of the Muslims or the heavy diesel pollution that gets caught in the back of the throat as soon as you get off the plane. At least we are still Ebola free and are taking several screening precautions to prevent it (cough, cough USA).

There are many exciting things that could happen over the next few months in regards to our work here. We have some budding partnerships with ADRAs Chad and Germany, LLU School of Public Health, the US Embassy, and even our own Bere Adventist Hospital. Some of our projects include mapping our our areas using GIS technology, expanding our current projects, the recent acquisition of a nutrition center, and so much more.

With so many things, I know its going to be important to not only plan and use my time wisely, it’ll be important to take a small vacation here or there. Last year was the only time in my life that I have never traveled more than a 300 mile span for a year! So if anyone want’s to go to Egypt or Morocco, let me know! I am hoping to go to an intensive French language program to bring my skills well over the next couple of levels. Though it is expensive, I think it would be worth it for a couple of thousands of dollars to improve something so vital.

All in all, I am excited and positive! I cannot believe that November is almost here, signaling the end of another year!

Zachary Gately
zchgtly@gmail.com
zgately.com
+235 91122492

L’Hopital Adventiste de Béré
ATTN: Zachary Gately
52 Boîte Postal
Kelo, Tchad
Africa

Blog: Zach is Stuck In ‘merica

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By this point I should be enjoying pizza dans Le Côté Jardin in NDjamena before a long dusty trip in the morning. Instead, I’m drinking coffee in a little mountain town with my sister enjoying free wifi. Plans never go the way they are laid out but in this case it is going to work out very well for me. Because of my extended holiday, I will be able to attend a conference for Adventist Health International next week! This will be great to meet other people who are working in similar capacity and have had met similar challenges that I have encountered.

In the mean time, I am enjoying the fresh air and horse back riding and coffee and wifi and friends and Mexican food and hippies. So please, don’t hesitate to give me a call or a text if you wanna catch up before I head back out into an area of low communication!

My sister Kara and I horse back riding through the forest!

Zachary Gately
zchgtly@gmail.com
zgately.com
+235 91122492
+1 (530) 927-7970

L’Hopital Adventiste de Béré
ATTN: Zachary Gately
52 Boîte Postal
Kelo, Tchad
Africa

Old Habits Die Hard

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It’s been 3 weeks now since I blundered out of that Ethiopian flight #0500, so happy to have fast mobile internet, burritos, and English. Now I can’t say that I had terribly bad reverse culture shock but none the less, there have been many times that I forget I am in the land of the free and home of the brave.

1) I don’t have to translate into another language for my day to day duties. I catch myself thinking about phrasing, gender, and conjugation when I’m looking for an item in Target.

2) Whenever I have to go pee, I look for the closest bush or door to outside before realizing I have a regular toilet in my house. Thanks to Nick, Allah, and Kim, I’ll now have that luxury when I arrive next week!

3) I start thinking what my friends and family would be doing 8hrs behind and then realize that we are in the same time zone.

It’s been really great being able to chill with Giada and Ina Garden with my cats everyday. Though everyday there seems to be something related back to Chad, I’m still getting a great vacation.

Feel free to give me a call on my cell here: (530) 927-7970! I’ve got exactly a week before I’m flying back!