Details on the Virus Situation

Hi Everyone,

For those of you who are curious, here are some reasons why we decided to go ahead with the program this year:

I hope this helps:

• The virus has had the largest impact in Fuyang, in the northwest of Anhui, whereas Jingxian is in the southeast. Our villages specifically are Xiyang, Caicun and Quanfeng, but you'll have more luck Googling Jingxian or Xuancheng. Jason (our CC) has already contacted the principals and host families in the villages where we will be staying, and there have not been any reports of infection. Local authorities were also asked to notify us immediately if any new complications or concerns should arise.
• As Seth (last year's CC) reminded me in a response to the same email I sent to all of you, this is largely a children'svirus. So I am concerned about our safety as volunteers, I am far more concerned about the children that we would be teaching. Out of the 30 or so fatalities, all of them have been children, and most of those have been extremely young children (below the age of 5 or 6). 
  
• My mother has also been talking to infectious disease people at a hospital in Shanghai, and after a long lecture about filtering my water, she essentially told me that transmission can easily be prevented through good hygiene.
  
• The virus (EV-71) does not have a vaccine, but that definitely doesn't mean that its symptoms (hand foot and mouth disease) cannot be treated. EV-71 is hardly a novel development, and hand foot and mouth disease is usually affects children in mild forms. Fatalities result from restricted access to treatment, a problem which I hope we would not encounter.

Barring any of our volunteers' issues with immunodeficiencies, I believe that we are not in any significant jeopardy as conscientious adults who are educated on the matter and aware that we should take certain precautions to lessen our chances of infection.

I hope that makes everyone feel better. Let me know if you have any other questions!

Elaine

Welcome to LE Anhui!

This is just another copy of an email that should have popped into your inboxes a few minutes ago:

你好!

I hope you're all as stoked for this summer as Jason, Yogurt and I are.

Consider this your first official giant info packet and (for those of you who are FB stalkers) chance to check out who else is part of our team this year.

I've attached the Anhui Program Addendum to this email. This doc is everything you've been dreaming of. And more.

Just a few points:

• PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE book your tickets now! They're expensive. You need to arrive in Shanghai on July 8th. We'll arrive back in Shanghai on Saturday, August 9th. If you want to travel, I'd suggest traveling beforehand. Try to book with a student travel agency - they usually have better rates. Or with Chinese tourist agencies. My parents booked my tickets with one in southern California - Golden Mandarin (Lai Lai) Travel, Attn: Kevin (626) 299-0999
• Apply for a passport soon if you don't already have one. I applied at this time last year, and ended up having to expedite to get my visa on time, but I hear they're doing a better job this year.
• If you haven't already turned your legal forms / checks in, please do so ASAP.
• I'm going to start posting updates on our blog: http://lechinaanhui.blogspot.com/ou
• If you don't already have a gmail address, I suggest you get one so you can post to the blog / view google docs and all of that good stuff
• If you lose this addendum, it'll be online at the LE site.
• I'll be inviting all of you to (yay) be my friends on facebook. Then we'll join the FB group (obvi the best part of being in any organization). You guys can coordinate your travel plans on the discussion wall. If you don't have a FB, let me know.
• Read through the addendum for more info on vaccinations, cultural exchange, the program structure and all of that fun stuff.

I'll be sending another email out in a couple of days with another volunteer packet attached. I think that's about it for now. If you guys have any questions, please let me know! :)

Elaine