Article October 18, 2010 Issue

SAFE TRAVEL To Africa and back

BY BETHANY BOYER-RECHLIN

WHEN I WAS YOUNG, MY FAMILY LIVED in Nepal for two and a half years—and I attribute my love of learning about other cultures to that experience. I've always been fascinated by gazing at maps, running my finger over a spinning globe, and dreaming of ways to visit and live in other countries. One of the continents that fascinated me the most was Africa. As a little girl, I wasn't even aware that Africa was made up of different countries, but as I grew older, I dreamed of visiting at least one African country at some point. I really wanted to get to know the variety and differences between them. When I was in college, my first roommate was from Ghana—and I embarrassed myself on our first day together by spending a very long time looking for Ghana on the globe. This experience strengthened my desire to get to know Africa better, to see it as a continent made up distinct and diverse countries instead of as a homogenous whole.

But whenever I dreamed about visiting or living in Africa, there was a lingering fear in the back of my mind: What would I do about malaria, and other tropical diseases? In reading about other people's experiences in Africa, I was aware that taking regular malaria pills was considered necessary in order to remain healthy, and that many shots were recommended before making a trip there. As a lifelong Christian Scientist, I had always relied on prayer-based healing instead of medicine to maintain my health. In fact, in my experience, prayer had more often played a preventative role than a curative one. Throughout my childhood, I very rarely had to miss school because of sickness. And even while living in Nepal as a young child, I didn't have to deal with the expected diseases. Of course, my mother encouraged me to follow practical steps such as drinking only purified water, but when as a rebellious five-year-old I sometimes broke these rules, she wasn't alarmed because of her understanding that my health was based on something higher: my perfect identity as God's child.

I knew that I had spent almost three years in Nepal, relying on prayer for healing, and had experienced good health. The fear of malaria and other diseases associated with Africa, however, was still in the back of my mind. Which decision would I make, if I went? Would I be a "good enough" Christian Scientist—"good enough" at prayer—to be able to maintain my health through these means? Intellectually, I knew that no matter where I went, my health was based on my identity as God's child, but I didn't feel confident in my ability to prove this.

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