Intro

Hello readers,

I’ve been blogging on my personal site (www.natedownthere.blogspot.com) for the past few years, reflecting on my experiences working and living in Angola, Chad and Myanmar, and traveling to a number of other countries, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Uganda and Haiti. I’ve written about my life in Africa, Asia and Latin America, as well as topics related to international development and global health.

Starting with this entry, I’ll be writing on similar topics on the Youthink! site, with a stronger emphasis on issues related to my work. The serious and sometimes depressing discussions on poverty and disease will be complemented by personal accounts of life in foreign (and sometimes difficult, but always interesting) countries. My goal is to provide up-to-date information on the major issues I encounter in my work. As my work is in public health and disease control (especially malaria and HIV/AIDS), this will be a focus of my writing. I will also try to give a broader perspective into the world of international development and efforts to improve living conditions in the developing world. Finally, I hope to give readers a feel of what the countries I write about are like and what life there is like both for locals and for foreigners like myself.

I hope you the readers will make this an interactive experience by leaving comments – what you agree or disagree with, additional information on subjects I blog about, questions, suggestions on how to improve the blog, etc. I will read comments and will do my best to respond to questions.