She's all knitted up for week-long charity trip
http://web3.asia1.com.sg/archive/tnp/2/features/npfo32.html
She's all knitted up for week-long charity trip
She's off to Ethiopia in Africa
BY YONG SIEW FERN
Aug 8, 2000
TRAVELLING LIGHT: Kit Chan all packed to go to Ethiopia. Pictures/ KC WONG
THE longest time Kit Chan went without a bath was three days.
That was when she had measles as a child. "Two or three days, MAX,"
she emphasised.
Tomorrow, Singapore's pop singer will leave for Ethiopia, Africa,
for a charity trip. There, she may have to go without bathing for
a while.
In her backpack are baby wet wipes to "dry clean" herself.
The week-long trip is organised by World Vision for her to visit
relief sites in poverty-stricken areas, shoot a video to promote
its programmes, and visit a child she recently sponsored - 13-year-old
Gerbo.
The trip will be physically and emotionally demanding for Kit, 27.
"You never know how you may feel when you see the place and people
there," she said.
Fatigue is also another factor.
She had returned recently from Hongkong. The day after this interview,
she went to Malaysia.
On National Day, she leaves for Ethiopia, returning on Aug 17.
At 7am on Aug 18, she leaves for Hongkong again. To start shooting
Hongkong TVB serial Healing Hands II, a sequel to the popular Healing
Hands (Miao Shou Ren Xin).
In it, she will play an ER doctor.
"I have no idea what the script is for that day or what scene I'm
shooting."
HER PREPARATION
About the trip to Africa, she said: "I don't know what to expect from
Ethiopia. But I think you have to be mentally prepared. If not, your
body won't be able to take it.
"I'm expecting it to be an eye-opener. It will give me new thought and
feelings. One of my friends even went so far as to say it will change
my life forever."
As her lifestyle here is comfortable, she admitted that there could be
"a tendency to act like a spoilt Singaporean" there.
"It's quite a typical reaction - when things aren't normal or go our
way - to say, 'Why is it like that?' but after a few days, you just
get used to it."
She took vaccinations in June to prevent getting yellow fever, tetanus,
meningitis and hepatitis A and B. She is on a course of malaria pills.
A doctor has prescribed antibiotics, for emergencies.
The sight of only a backpack and a knapsack on the floor was unusual,
considering she "usually has 100kg of luggage" on her work trips.
"This is the barest minimum I have ever packed. Even lighter than my
leisure trips."
She was not joking. Take her makeup kit, for example. On a usual work
trip, she has two - each the size of a supermarket plastic bag.
There will be a pouch filled with nothing but lipstick. Another pouch
with only eyeshadow, a pencil case of eye and lip pencils, plus two
zip-cases of foundation, makeup brushes.
But for Ethiopia, she is taking only one pouch the size of a styrofoam
lunchbox.
Said Kit, who cut her hair short for the trip: "I don't want to wear
too much makeup, in case there is no water to wash my face. Water may
be scarce there, and I will not want to use it for such things."
Nor to wash her clothes. She'll leave them there for the poor.
"Normally, I can't tell you what I have in my bags, but now, I can
actually count them. It's quite scary, taking so few things for work."
Makeup and dressing up, she contends, are the two most important tools
of her trade.
"I always believe that my face, stripped bare, is only for my family
and personal friends to see. Makeup is like an armour for work. You
put it on, and you feel you are a different person. Same with clothes
and high heels. Suddenly, you feel like a diva.
"So this trip actually forces me to reconcile my private and public
self."
Did her parents say anything?
"Just to be careful," she said.
"My mother got me a talisman from the temple. When they knew I was
sponsoring a child, they wanted to do it, too. So I am looking to
get them one from China."
Kit will be flown by Ethiopia Air, business class. "That was the only
thing I asked for. I am not trying to be a prima donna, but I really
need to conserve my energy as much as possible."
What about SIA, which she normally flies with?
It did not want to sponsor World Vision Singapore, she said.
"I was rather disappointed because I felt they should be more supportive
of local projects.
"This trip will be hard, but worth it. Because it is something I may
get to do only once in my lifetime."
IN HER BACKPACK
Seven T-shirts, two pairs of jeans, a pair of track pants, thermal
underwear, a raincoat, a vest, socks, a pair of hiking boots, a pair
of sandals, a hat, disposable underwear, sarong
sleeping bag, gifts for the children, eg tracksuits, tins of Khong
Guan biscuits, stationery and books.
surgical masks, gloves ("I get cuts easily, it's for protection.")
IN HER KNAPSACK:
tinted sunglasses, money pouch, mini torchlight, Swiss Army knife
a pouch with make-up that's "all-in-one"
a medicine pouch filled with creams for allergies (she gets hives,
sinus, rashes), mosquito repellent, water-purifying tablets,
diarrhoea pills, motion sickness pills (one relief site is 440km
away by road from Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa)
a pouch of facial cleansers
a travel journal
--
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◆ From: g883456.SHAN.ab.nthu.edu.tw
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