A Delayed Update

Time sure flies when you're having fun,
and when you are stressing about traveling and presentations.

My June and beginning of July has been packed with wonderful experiences and preparation.
For 10 days my parents and my older sister visited me in Panama. We celebrated father's day and my sister's birthday in the rainforest watching birds and wildlife and on the sands of Guna Yala, rocking away the hours in hammocks listening to the waves. I spent a good deal of time stressing before and during the trip: what if we get stuck in Guna Yala because of storms? what if they forgot we were coming to Isle Tigre? What if traffic is so bad we can't get anywhere?

We hit our fair share of snags, but for the most part, we were incredibly lucky. We had a wonderful time at the Canopy Tower, we walked the historic streets of Casco Viejo, and we made it out to Guna Yala despite Panama Air losing our reservation. All in all I would say it was a success.

My family left Panama the 24 of July and from there I had exactly a week to get ready to follow them back to Kentucky. I arrived in Kentucky the night of the 1st and I will be here until the 13th. From Kentucky I head to St. Louis, MO to present my research at the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation (NOAH) conference. I am excited to be home for the first time in 6 months while I am also getting anxious for the conference. I want to spend every moment with friends and family, but I also want to be sure that I am well-prepared for this conference.

This will be the first presentation of my current work and it will also be my longest presentation. When I first got in-contact with NOAH, thanks to the help of Rick Guidotti of Positive Exposure, I was not expecting much. I knew that I was late in being added to the conference schedule, so I thought perhaps I would be on a panel and have only a brief amount of time to vaguely mention what I was doing in Panama. Then I was asked if I had enough material for a 75 minute presentation. Um, well, yes. Yes I can talk your ear off for as long as you would like, but the issue is whether or not anyone wants to listen to me to speak that long. I would consider myself quite adept at inserting puns and humor into my public presentations normally, but when presenting on life-threatening social rejection and a history of ostracism, it's a little harder to find the humor.

My presentation will be on my current research in Guna Yala as it relates to my work in Uganda. I plan to explain the situation of people who have albinism in Uganda face and the problems albino organizations are having in addressing those concerns. Then I will use the history of albinism in Guna Yala to show how Uganda might be able to address the problems it currently faces in terms of public perception and rejection of albinism.

It is my hope that this conference helps me to direct and improve upon my research. It comes at a perfect point in my grant period. At this point I have 3 1/2 months left and I feel as though I have hit a bit of a wall in terms of my personal momentum. The questions and responses I get from my presentation, as well as the interactions with other people at the conference should show me where I need to focus my energies and conduct more research. It is my hope that I will be challenged and motivated to improve upon what I have already accomplished, and that I will be presented with new ideas.

For those of you who are going to the conference, I look forward to seeing you there! For those of you who won't be attending, I plan to provide a link to my presentation online so you won't miss out on that.