Visit to Baltimore/D.C. 2012

I recently made a trip to America which I  feel has changed me in many ways hence the reason behind blogging about my trip. In fact, I was in the same parts of Baltimore just last month too for a wedding but this trip seems to have had more of an impact on me.


The structure of the trip was that my 13-year-old sister (Ria) and I go to D.C. where we would be collected by our Uncle whom we would spend the subsequent 5/6 days with in Baltimore before being dropped off to the Marriott hotel in D.C. where the RTS  Share and Care conference would be held. 


Often people look at little signs at the beginning of trip to predict how the trip would go and in our case these signs were optimistic. Our journey began with an upgrade to business class where we sipped champagne cocktails and fell asleep on our flexible beds.  That was one hell of a positive sign especially given I was little worried about being responsible for someone else!


Once we arrived we split our relatives, visited the National Aquarium and Maryland Science centre. The aquarium was great, we saw a giant turtle who only had one arm but still managed to swim so well!! There was also a dolphin show one so we really enjoyed watching that too. However, I preferred the science museum because of the hands-on Human Body exhibition. We got to make cell membrane, see live video of food being digested, use the lie detecter machine, create an illusion and I got my sister to be lifted by a bed of nails! 


The one thing though we managed to do every single day in different amounts was shopping! It was great because (a) the sales were on and (b) we benefit by the exchange rate. However, I did not enjoy it as much as I enjoy shopping in London. In many stores I found sales assistants were friendly etc but they just didn't seem to know much about getting different sizes or the store they worked for. This really started to get me towards the end of the try when we went for a bit of retail therapy because we both were feeling homesick.


Another thing I had a problem with was the food. I found everything to be too sweet even foods like salads or breakfast which was not supposed to be. This was reflected in the dire stomachaches I suffered with (God only knows how I will cope in Ghana where the food is so different!).


So going back onto the reason for writing this post, what actually changed me? It was the second half of my trip in the conference. My sister has a rare congenital genetic condition called Rothmund-Thompson Condition so when she was diagnosed with this at the age of two we found Texas Children's Hospital which was the only place worldwide to have albeit very little, but information on RTS. Following this we have seen much more research being conducted and the development of the Rothmund-Thompson Foundation. 


This conference was then organised RTS Foundation and centred around the theme of sharing information about caring for those who are sufferers. It also gave an opportunity for people like my sisters to meet other people like herself which is not an opportunity that comes around often. The thing that hit me is that how happy and comfortable these kids are. In conference many parents shared the finding that often they look at make-up/different treatments to make their kids look 'more normal' and it is actually them who have more a concern or issue with their skin then the kids themselves. 


Personally, my last few years have revolved around my dreams to establish a successful career for myself so coming to a conference like this hit me with the age old fact that there is more to life than studying and finding a decent career. I am a person who consistently worries that because I don't have a set idea of what I want to do in the future I might be missing out on crucial opportunities to make a success out of myself and so seeing these kids was kind of like someone telling me to take a chill pill and me actually listening. 


All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my trip and time went fast. I don't think America is a place I could ever move to bur for holidays and short-trips its a great place. For those that haven't been don't rule it out as just  another Western country because the American culture is miles apart from the British one!

Is it time to evaluate racism? Join the debate

Hi guys! Hope you guys are enjoying the summer.


I will be writing for The Manic Thought Society on a monthly basis.


My first article is all about the need to evaluate racism and change our strategies to dealing with them. Join the debate and let me know - is racism a problem? Are we oversensitive to racism? Has the nature of racism changed and Is it time to revaluate our attitudes and policies?


Below is a short video of me discussing the topic!