 |
|
|
| Crossing Africa |
 |
 |
| Preparation |
| From to |
This section is divided into 8 chapters: - Work - agreeing with your employer about leaving - Health - getting all the vaccinations and taking the necessary medicines - Documents getting all necessary documents - Car - buying and adapting your car to a trip through Africa - Insurance - be ready for the worse - Money - managing your budget and ensuring access to it Work One of the first things to do is to inform your employer about your plans and to look for a solution. In Belgium, there exists a new system called "tijdskrediet" (time credit) that allows everyone to take one year off during his career in periods from minimum three months. As Freija works for a company of less that 20 employees in Belgium, she had to launch the request six months before departure - what meant immediately after our decision. For larger companies, this period is limited to three months and you can still apply later under mutual agreement. The major advantage of tijdskrediet is that you officially "exist" in the system, and as a result your national insurance continues. On top, you get an allowance from the government during the time you are away (if you ware so lucky to work for a company with headquarters in Flanders, you get even more). For more information, you should address the RVA. A good starting point is www.rva.fgov.be and you should also read the legal text (CAO nr 77 bis and ter). In case your employment contract ends or you are unemployed, you have to be sure that you are registered with the RVA and apply for unemployment benefits before you leave. Ideally, you get your unemployment benefit paid one month before you leave. Of course, you will not receive any unemployment benefits while being outside the country, but at least your social security is OK and you can apply immediately for unemployment benefits on your return. Health An important thing to do after you have decided to go to Africa is to make an appointment with your doctor or with someone who has knowledge about tropical diseases. It is important to start on time, as you typically have to go several times and have to follow a certain rhythm. A good source of information is also www.itg.be (het instituut voor tropische geneeskunde). Because we had been traveling to Africa before, we already had some of the vaccinations, but some where still missing. The most important vaccinations you need are: - Yellow fever - for some countries you need a proof of vaccination before you are allowed to enter the country. Therefore, you should get your vaccination at the "Instituut voor tropische geneeskunde" - Hepatitis A and B - a series of three injections. The second injection is one month after the first, and the last one should be six months after the second. So clearly, you should start this on time or alternatively, you should get your last injection while traveling - Polio - Tetanus - you also need this in Belgium, but it is only valid for 10 years, so check whether you are still protected - Tyfus Concerning Malaria treatment, we got diverse recommendations. After talking to one of the doctors from ZambiAid, who now works at the ITG, we will take Lariam instead of Nivaquine and Paludrine. We also take Malarone in case we would get ill. Documents Yes, there is some paperwork to be done. We had to obtain the following: - an new international passport so that you have enough empty pages for all the countries you will cross - an international drivers license, which you get after a simple request in the city hall (need 2 photos) - Proof of good conduct - you should also obtain from the city hall - Carnet de passage - required to enter all the countries by car, without having to pay import taxes each time. We appliedfor it at the ANWB in the Netherlands.We paid a small member fee, and paid around 200 Euro for the carnet itself. The guarantee ofor the car amounted to 4,000 Euro, to be paid back when we bring the car back. The whole procedure was very smooth. For us, this was much easier than the procedure in Belgium, for which you need a real estate as guarantee. It can be be requested at the Koninklijke Automobiel Club Belgie (Ms Van Zuylen, tel: 02 287 09 11) . You pay 125 Euro for the booklet and 50 Euro for the membership. In addition you need a bank guarantee of 50% of the value of the car and a third party who is so kind to stand surety with some real estate. We are still looking for volunteers! - The only visa we applied for here were Syria (we got it!) and Sudan (still waiting) |