Personal Health & Grooming (Women Take Heed)

Medications and Diet:
Every morning we take our "Doxy" pill (doxycyclene) a partial preventative for malaria, the number one cause of death in West Africa.  It makes us a little nauseous at mealtimes and it makes one have really weird dreams, but it's better that getting sick.  You can only catch malaria from a mosquito bite, so repellent is necessary after dark.  The missionaries even have to sleep under mosquito nets each night, but our house is tighter than their living quarters so we don't have to do the same, thank goodness. All water is unsafe unless it is filtered, boiled, or bottled in a sealed container.  Teeth must be brushed with filtered water and we've even learned how to keep our mouths shut while showering.  Even dishes have to be washed in a soapy, bleach solution.  ALL food must be cooked, cleaned in bleach, peeled or just thrown away.

Skin Care:
We brought a ton of creams, lotions and oils only to find that we don't need any of it.  Our skin is always soft and supple -- never dry.

Make-up:
After the first few days I simply gave up.  We sweat so much--whole bod--face included, that the make-up is pretty much wiped off within the first hour.

Nails:
My wonderful nail terchnician went to great lengths to find a battery-operated ultra-light activator system to set gel nails.  She put together an incredible kit containing everything I would need to have great-looking nails while in Africa.  After 40 years of having my nails done and looking good, it was a great comfort to know I could make it work.  Elder Thayne even gave me a wonderful manicure and new set of nails the first few days we were here and he did a great job!  Unfortunately, that was before I found out that your hands are in and out of bleach a dozen or more times every day.  After just a few days, the nails peeled off, so it's back to stumpy fingers 'til we get home.

Feet and Shoes:
I managed to sneak in quite a few more shoes than the alloted two pair and at the last minute we found we had a little more room in the suitcases, so both Gary and I threw in a pair of sandals to wear when at home.  We've found that BOTH of our feet have swollen ( at least a size or two larger) and NOTHING fits but the sandals......go figure.

Hair:
I've managed to cut Gary's hair once and he complained that I didn't get it short enough.  He's cut my hair once and actually did a pretty good job.  Of course, it just goes curly the minute I walk outside anyway.  Hairspray is non-existent in Sunyani.  The African women have their hair buzzed short, or wear black "wiggy" wigs, or spend hours having artificial long braids woven into their own hair at the scalp.  They use a grease to manage their hair and don't even know what hairspray is.  I was concerned about hair coloring.  My beautician at home found an incredible powder hair color that mixes with water and is permanent.  It has worked GREAT!  I think I'll even continue using it after I get home.

All in all, we've decided that in the past at home, we have just put too much emphasis on very unimportant things.  We've found that even though these things are nice, it really doesn't matter if I have beautiful long nails or perfect make-up or if Gary wears shiny polished shoes or has a great haircut.  The sun comes up the same and when it goes down nobody cares if we're perfectly groomed.  They just remember if we've made them smile or helped them just a little.