Notes from the Field

(University of Minnesota public health students are writing about their experiences abroad this summer.)


By Allison Ishizaki
Writing from Thailand

>>>Watch a photo slideshow

Earlier this week, I did a lesson on littering with the 5th grade students. After explaining why littering is harmful to the environment and then teaching the students some basic english words that deal with littering and keeping the beach clean, we went on a field trip to the beach. We brought garbage bags with us and our mission was to pick up some of the litter. It was a lot of fun, even though it didn't turn out the way I was really expecting. Of course that has been the norm, so I didn't really have too many expectations!

The students all rode their bikes to the beach which just about gave me a heart attack. The road isn't exactly safe- no sidewalks and lots of traffic. Not to mention that bike helmets don't seem to exist in Thailand. Also, since all of the students do not have bikes, quite a few were riding on the racks on the back of other students' bikes. We safely made it to a trail so that we did not have to bike on the road anymore. It was very muddy, but not a problem until the path went downhill fairly sharply. Many of the bikes did not have very good brakes. This resulted in students going down the hill way too quickly and 2 students actually flew off the one bike they were on. The teacher quickly started running up the hill to tell students to slow down, but it was too late. Two more students flew off their bikes. Luckily the ground was so soft from the mud that no one was hurt...just very dirty. Also in the process, one student managed to lose the soles to both of his shoes and another student's flip flops completely fell apart!

Anyway, after all the drama, we entered a small temple and a monk led us in a prayer. I then talked more about littering and why it is bad. After all this, we finally went down to the beach and started picking up. There was so much garbage, it was unbelievable. We were visiting a part of the beach that I had never been to, so I was even surprised by how dirty the area was. The students really got into it though and it's too bad that we didn't have more garbage bags because they filled up really quickly. Realistically though, we would've needed an entire garbage truck to really make a dent. After filling up the bags, we went back to the temple, said another prayer and headed back to school. The students really seemed to enjoy the whole lesson and it was great to see them taking pride in their beach.

Posted by School of Public Health Podcasts at 1:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(University of Minnesota public health students are writing about their experiences abroad this summer.)


By Allison Ishizaki
Writing from Thailand

Allison is at right holding the sign in the parade.

>>>Watch a slideshow of my photos

Last weekend was a 4 day weekend, so I stayed busy traveling around and trying to see as much as possible. My "weekend" actually started on Friday when my school had a parade to raise money for some projects that will help improve the school building. The parade was a very interesting experience for me! At the front of the pack was a group of students who were dancing traditional Thai dances. The music was coming from some huge speakers in the back of the truck that was following them. Behind them were 10 kindergartners dressed up in traditional Thai dresses. They were riding on the back of 2 trucks like they were on a float in an actual parade. Picking up the rear were the rest of the students who attend the school, just walking along for the sake of being there. A couple of students' parents were walking along the parade route with buckets to collect money from people who wanted to donate. I guess they collected about $250 US last year and that's quite a bit of money for here. I'm not sure what the total was this year.

I was very happy because I was able to participate in the parade with the students. One of the teachers at the school let me wear one of her dresses and someone came to the school on Friday morning to do my hair and makeup. By the time they had finished, I barely even recognized myself in the mirror. During the first part of the "parade route" I sat in the back of one of the trucks and was told to wave and smile. During the second half though, I was at the front of the entire pack, holding a sign with our school's name on it. I think that the local people were very amused. Plus, the students could not stop giggling when I tried to dance with them.

On Saturday, I went on a teacher's trip to a city right near Bangkok. It was a long day that started when the bus left school at 5 am. I planned to sleep on the bus during the 3 hour ride, but the driver was blasting Thai pop music very loudly. That seems to be the norm around here because I have had the same experience on every bus I have taken. Anyway, we spent the day sightseeing and visiting various markets. For a good portion of the day, we rode a boat down the river, stopping at various places along the way. To entertain everyone in between stops, the teachers were taking turns singing karaoke. I was very entertained!

I decided to take a little trip of my own on Sunday. I left early Sunday morning and headed to a nearby island called Koh Samet. I spent two days there and really enjoyed myself. The weather was gorgeous and there wasn't much to do other than swim and relax. The weather was especially great considering that it rained everyday for the first two weeks that I was here. The beaches on the island were quite beautiful and the water was clean. I am lucky to have such a beautiful place very close to where I am living.

The "weekend" ended very nicely on Tuesday when one of the teachers that I work with invited me to visit a National Park near our town. She told me that we would go with her son, her brother and her sister. Needless to say, I was very surprised when she came to pick me up in a truck packed with people- 6 people in the extended cab and 8 people in the bed. I squeezed myself into the cab and we were off. I really try to not think about the dangerous driving conditions while I am traveling in these situations. Anyway, we spent the day hiking and swimming in the pools of the waterfall. Our picnic lunch consisted of sticky rice and dried pork. All in all not a bad way to end the great weekend!

Allison

Posted by School of Public Health Podcasts at 7:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

(University of Minnesota public health students are writing about their experiences abroad this summer.)

By Marie Quasius
Environmental Health Sciences
Writing from Valdivia, Chile

Either I have terrible luck or I bring bad weather with me. While living in Malaysia, I woke up to an earthquake and then watched a tsunami approach the northern shore of my island as my friend’s father (while driving) muttered nonsensically about the eruption of Krakatoa and ensuing 40-foot tsunamis. Last spring break, I delightedly jumped on a plane to California with visions of sunshine and strolls and wearing flip-flops again after a long cold Minnesota winter. However, it snowed in Marin County (the first time in 30 years? It caused a 22-car pileup), my friend and I drove through a blizzard on our way to Lake Tahoe (somewhat more reasonable), and then while camping in the desert outside of Los Angeles, my friends and I awoke to… more snow. In the DESERT. In SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.

After such a winter (one in which the damned snow followed me to California and back again), I had high hopes for my “summer� (rainy winter) in Concepcion. I spent my first month in Valdivia, where it rained every single day—which didn’t bother me, because it’s not impossible to hike in the rain. I'm happy so long as I can go for long walks outside. When I returned to the apartment in Concepcion, I was delighted by the crispy sunny days that seemed to me like a perpetual autumn. However, the region has now been converted into the Chilean equivalent of a ‘natural disaster zone’ because of how much rain it received in only a couple of days preceding today. My first hint of something unsavory was the smell of… something unsavory.

I’d been in Santiago visiting a friend and had decided it was time to take the bus back to Concepcion. I got to the bus station and all of the wonderful friendly ticket vendors were absolutely adamant that the bus terminal in Concepcion was flooded and there wouldn’t be any buses leaving that night. (For contrast, I’d just spent two consecutive mornings at a different bus station trying to go to Mendoza, Argentina, only to be informed after an hour’s wait that the roads were snowed in—I hope this serves as an indication of how anxious the bus companies are to cancel trips.) However, a rather shady looking man approached me and offered to get me a bus ticket to Concepcion. He brought me around to another kiosk on the outside of the bus terminal where a crowd of Chileans were shoved up against the counter with money thrust out. I’d had my fill of Chilean elbows in the previous couple of days (the usual rules of the road don’t apply here; despite my enormous backpack and inherent 6-inch, 40-pound advantage, these tiny Chilean women didn’t feel any restriction whatsoever about shoving me out of their way, even if I was clearly in line in front of them). So I held my ground this time and managed to buy my ticket; Mr. Shady escorted me to the bus even after I very suspiciously inquired if he worked for the company (yes). (I've encountered a lot of touts in bus stations who will “help� travelers and then holler about the eternally insufficient size of their tip as the travelers walk away.)

It wasn’t for quite some time that I understood exactly how unsavory this experience was going to be. The seats looked dingy and the floors worn, but that was definitely only the most minor indication. Once we’d been on the road about an hour, I realized I was sweating profusely—because there was no ventilation on the bus except for the window cracked open in front of me (which apparently wouldn’t close). The bus was full, and the air became dank and smelly fast. (To clarify what the usual situation is, the buses in Chile are generally luxurious and marvelous with very high-quality seats and toilets... for buses. I'd simply been relegated to the one company shady enough to leave during such awful weather.)

Then, I discovered the toilet—I held out for as long as I could, but somehow I’d boarded the only bus in the world that didn’t stop every 4 feet for a rest stop or to pick up passengers. I’d always thought that urine passed through the little toilet and went onto the road (as disturbing as that thought was, it seemed logical); however, this toilet apparently held all of the human waste and the storage tank was so full that the urine was slopping around in the bottom of the toilet. I’ve traveled in some dirty countries, and I’ve experienced some incredibly primitive toilets, but that bus really expanded my horizons.

I won’t criticize it too much, however, because it brought me back to Concepcion and gave me a great tour of the damage. The bus terminal was indeed flooded, as were all of the primary roads leading into the city. At 4pm, my seatmate heard from her father that the water at the terminal was measured at 1.12m (over 3 feet); four hours later, it seemed like it must have risen even more. Except two small brave Japanese sedans, the only vehicles on the road were trucks, micros (mini-buses), and large long-distance buses (Pullmans). We drove past a good number of houses that were under water up to their windowsills, and saw some people, lucky enough to live in two-story houses, hanging out of second-story windows to scope out their chances of escape. Thankfully, the flooding was not in downtown Concepcion, where we live, and I didn’t have to swim to our doorstep through murky floodwaters as I'd imagined on the bus trip. Once inside the apartment, my roommates shared the photos they took of themselves after walking home from the university (which was also flooded, and closed by the president himself at noon)—their pants were soaked up until just under their belts.

Today, I got an email from Heather and Lauren that the phone was out of credit and they had heard that Concepcion was going to have a two-day water shortage. Since they would be in lab all day, I was our best hope for having water in the apartment… so I had to brave the pointy elbows of more Chilean matrons in order to buy an enormous quantity of bottled water, all “gasificada� (i.e. soda water) since no water "sin gas" remained at any of the grocery stores. I’m not at all sure how the city of Concepcion is going to run out of water, since it seems to me like they have quite the opposite problem right now.

Posted by School of Public Health Podcasts at 5:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(University of Minnesota public health students are writing about their experiences abroad this summer.)

By Ele Scherman
Environmental Health Sciences
Writing from Ghana

Hello everybody,

I hope all is well back home and you're getting a chance to enjoy summertime! It is still very hot here, but with periods of relief from the rain, every few days. I can't imagine what it would be like here if I were here during the dry season where there aren't even clouds to offer some shade. At my family's home, there is a well in the yard where the neighbors also come to draw from. My host mom was telling me that some of the wells that are up on hills or are more shallow tend to dry-up during that time. My family is lucky because their well is deep and has never dried out. They get many more visitors when the wells do begin drying.

I am finally being kept very busy here with the projects that I've begun. I will continue going around to the food vending establishments to conduct surveys which I know will yield some interesting results. It becomes more and more clear to me just how differently food is handled here, both from my work and becoming more adventurous with trying the local dishes. One of my new favorites that I was very surprised to learn about: fried and spicy seasoned tofu cubes and raw purple onion slices (which are REALLY spicy here) on a skewer. Some of you may or may not want to hear this, but I felt it very important to this project to visit the local slaughterhouse. I didn't know what to expect, as I had never been to one, even back in the states. It was a true test of strength of my stomach, I'll leave it at that.

I have also begun a youth educator program with the junior and senior high school students. I'm going around to the various schools-which there are a lot of in the area-and recruiting a few from each to participate in a short-term after school group. It is much like the program I was working with at Edison High, Minneapolis where they are trained to become youth educators on the issues of sexual health and pregnancy prevention. I am lucky to be in Ghana at this time because programs of this nature and recently becoming more accepted, in addition to their existing educational methods. All of the teachers and administrators I've talked with are very excited to have me here and are being incredibly accommodating. Perhaps some of them will be able to continue with it after I leave.

The beach visit last week was wonderful! We found a place where our little group stayed in a bungalow with a SHOWER! We could hardly contain our excitement! We also got to see some live reggae music and lessons from some of the natives on how to dance to it. This weekend I'm heading to Cape Coast where among other sights there is the historical West African slave-trade port, as well as a large national park to do some canopy walks.

I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by here, I'm over half way through with my time. I hope to be able to continue making the most of it. Maybe some more photos to come with the next message;)

Much love to all,
Ele or Adjua-my Ghanaian name because I was born on a Monday (pronounced A-JEW-A)

Posted by School of Public Health Podcasts at 11:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(University of Minnesota public health students are writing about their experiences abroad this summer.)

By Alina Evans
Writing from Kenya

We just got back from a week in the Rift Valley sampling sheep and goats (over 400 samples). The second farm we went to had zebras and elands living in the sheep pastures! They had camels there too! I really like camels!

Both farms had a lot of sick animals. One of the sheep died while we were on the farm and in the necropsy almost all of the organs were hemorrhagic. There was also an abortion while we were there. So it will be interesting to see if its Rift Valley, everything is right and the other differentials don't fit as nicely - hopefully we'll know soon. The sheep have to be in the pasture from 9-4. So we have to do our sampling from 6-9am and 4-6pm. We were leaving the hotel at 5am and getting back around 9pm to then start processing the samples... At lunch we would buy a live chicken and then go
find somewhere to cook it. It usually involved going to town and finding a restaurant that would let us slaughter it in their backyard! We are going back up to Nakuru area to sample sheep from local farms on weds or Thursday - they are having abortion storms.

We took a trip up to the hospital where we will conduct our human project. The ophthalmology clinic has one part-time ophthalmologist and there were over 30 people in the waiting room! The ophthalmologist said that she had 18 surgeries scheduled for the next day! We had to delay the start of our project by another week (administrative hold-ups at the ministry here and at CDC), so we will go out to a National Reserve and sample ducks for Avain Influenza! Mindy and I are really excited about spending 5 days with wildlife vets here!

Posted by School of Public Health Podcasts at 8:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(University of Minnesota public health students are writing about their experiences abroad this summer.)

By Ele Scherman
Environmental Health Sciences
Writing from Ghana

Hey everyone, I can't believe that I was actually able to send these along! I'll be brief with this message because it took quite a while for them to download. Sorry about their orientation, I just pulled them right off my camera. So, check them out if you get a chance.

>>> Click here to view a slideshow of my photos on the SPH Web site

Descriptions: 1. An infant being weighed at one of the child welfare clinics held in town. Most baby girls wear the beads you see, around their waist and knees. They will continue to unravel and wear the waist beads throughout their life, but discontinue the knee beads once they lose their "baby fat." 2. An baby receiving a vaccination at the clinic. 3. My family, a friend of the family (the woman from Canada I mentioned), and me at the Aburi botanical garden. 4. Me at the Boti Falls. 5. My host brother (middle) and two neighbor boys taking a break from playing soccer in our yard. 6. My host mother and I pounding/making fufu, my absolute favorite dish here thus far...it is cassava and plantain pounded together to form doughy balls that are served with meat and soup. 7. A man at a loom, weaving traditional Kente cloth in the town of Bonwire, the origin of Kente. The finished product is absolutely gorgeous, as well as quite expensive. 8. A fisherman bringing in his catch of tilapia from Lake Bosumtwi. They paddle the wooden planks out to the spot where their traps are set, dive down under the water to bring them up, paddle back to shore and sell them to you right there, or bring them to market. We bought a good bunch for about $8! They were delicious in soup and the bones are so soft that you can carefully chew them and eat them.

I hope everyone had a safe and fun 4th of July. My day here was great because the sanitation unit gave me the go-ahead to begin my food handling project. I'm going to go around to the different venues and conduct surveys about the sources of the food they use, how its handled, and their hygienic practices. I hope to be able to make some feasible recommendations on how to improve food safety in the area. I am also going to be going to some primary and secondary school classrooms to give some general health education. Can't wait for that!

Take care, all of you! Enjoy some of my favorite views into Ghana!

Peace, Ele

Posted by School of Public Health Podcasts at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(University of Minnesota public health students are writing about their experiences abroad this summer.)

By Lauren Neils
Writing from Chile

Daily life is such a simple concept, but in a new country, there are moments when I am filled with the overwhelming feeling that developing a daily routine will be an impossible feat. All of a sudden, the things that are simple at home have become the most exhausting parts of my day. Never could I have anticipated how seemingly easy tasks would be so complicated and challenging. The first days were unavoidably rough. At the same time, each and every day leaves me with a sense of gratification unlike other past experiences.

For me, the first challenge of the day is to shower, which has proven to be a mix between art and luck. Every morning, when it is raining and windy, I need to muster the courage to roll out of bed and walk across the cold, concrete floor to the kitchen in order to light the water heater. Later in the day, it is an easy task, but with the grogginess of sleep, it makes for an interesting start to the day. The heater itself takes some coaxing, but with a little patience, and a couple of matches, the pilot light always seems to start. It was a proud day the first time I used only one match. After the cold walk back to the bathroom, I struggle to find the happy medium between frigid, icy water and scalding, blistering hot water. Some mornings I succeed on the first try; other mornings I spend a number of minutes fighting the faucet.

Our next necessary task was to defeat the grocery store. In my introductory Spanish course last semester, we learned about food (a pretty standard thing to know). I remember thinking that food and dishware should be no problem. However, there were problems. As I walked down the first isle at the grocery store, I pulled my cart up to the yogurt section, which I figured couldn’t be that hard. It didn’t take me long to realize that Spanish 101 didn’t exactly cover everything. Not only were there all kinds of new words for the different styles of yogurt, but there were new words for all of the different fruits themselves. After a little bit of panic, some confusion, and a through scan of the pictures on the labels, I found my breakfast staple. As the outing progressed, we all got over our pride and found our dictionaries, which have been as necessary for us here as raincoats, house keys, and Chilean pesos. Obviously, quick trips to the grocery store have turned into unexpected adventures. I no longer have crazy ideas that I can seamlessly blend in, since a dictionary that is permanently stuck to my hand is as subtle as my blonde hair.

Now that we have mastered the places to which we can walk, we have started to venture outside of our “comfort� zone. We have four choices for transportation: walking, which is limiting; taxis, which tend to be expensive; collectivos (taxis with planned routes) whose drivers have a certain carelessness that makes one rethink the expense of a taxi; and the economical choice, the micros, which are the local buses. I can’t describe our first trip on the micro as successful. First, we got on a bus with the right destination, but in the wrong direction. As we began to see fields flying by, we decided to ask the man behind us about our destination. His first response was so fast, I was convinced there was not a single pause between any of the words. After asking him to repeat himself, he spoke equally fast, but louder. An increase in volume, in my limited experience, is not that helpful. Somehow, through more acting and partial Spanish sentences, we figured out that we were headed the wrong way. Since we didn’t have a clue where or how to stop, we just stood up and hoped for the best, which worked. So, with a little walking and three more trips on the micro (which was not an economically sound route) we finally made it to our destination.

The reality is that basic errands usually turn into long, tiring events. Seemingly simple internet installation results in two hours that includes spools of wire and random, enormous tools. Conversations often include blank stares, awkward pauses, and endless rounds of charades. But in the end, everyday is wonderful and I look forward to tomorrow’s next challenge.

Posted by School of Public Health Podcasts at 9:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(University of Minnesota public health students are writing about their experiences abroad this summer.)


By Allison Ishizaki
Writing from Thailand

I awoke on Monday morning, my first full day in the town where I am staying, to a sea of yellow. The entire country is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the King! In Thailand, each day of the week is represented by a color. The King was born on a Monday and the color that represents Monday is yellow. Therefore, almost everyone in the entire country will wear a yellow shirt every Monday (and many other days too) for the whole year! Most of the shirts have an emblem on it that represents the King. Otherwise, the shirts say things like "Long live the King" or "I love the King." It is fascinating to see how Thai people totally and completely revere the King and the rest of the royal family. I have never seen anything like it before. Even though I am not from this country, the first place that my host family took me to was a store so that I could buy my own yellow shirt!

My host family and everyone that I have met has gone out of their way to welcome me to Thailand. Thai hospitality is amazing. So many of the people have very little, yet they are willing to share it all. I am lucky because my host mother is an English teacher, so we are able to understand each other, for the most part. My host family and I are learning from each other. I have learned some basic Thai phrases. It is a difficult language, but I am trying my best to learn the basics so that I don't seem completely rude to the people I meet.

So far, I have spent most of my time at an elementary school. I am working wtih an English teacher who has excellent English. She is very flexible, so I am free to come up with any health education lesson plans that I want. The students are very eager to learn and are filled with so much energy. Of course, that could be attributed to the vast array of sugar filled snacks that are sold in the "cafeteria" everyday after lunch. Everything from kool-aid type drinks to ice cream. While the school lunch is healthy, many students only eat a little bit and save their appetites for the desserts. It is amazing that it seems even worse than the situation in American schools.

Speaking of lunch, it's time to go eat. By the way, this Friday the school is having a festival and the women are going to dress me up in traditional Thai clothing. Someone is even coming to do my hair and makeup. I guess the festival is a pretty big deal. I am very excited and will keep you posted!

Allison

Posted by School of Public Health Podcasts at 2:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

(University of Minnesota public health students are writing about their experiences abroad this summer.)

By Ele Scherman
Environmental Health Sciences
Writing from Ghana

Well, it was a little more somber couple days this week after the Ghana vs. Brazil match on Tuesday. Everyone had so much hope for the Ghana Black Stars, but it was not enough to make them victorious, especially in light of the horrible officiating that took place against them. Listen to me, I sound like I know what I'm talking about with soccer, but I've gotten quite an education. One of the things I love about Ghanaians is that they rarely complain...about anything. They weren't complaining after the bad match, but they were upset. Everyone is still very proud of Ghana's first showing ever in the World Cup!

On Saturday, Ghana celebrated Republic Day, the day they became a republic after winning their independence. My host family, some friends of the family, and I went to the Aburi botanical gardens that are about 2 hours from town. It was a beautiful day and the garden was very nice. Gradually, throughout the day, more and more people arrived there for the holiday. By mid afternoon, the place was packed with people. There were various stages set-up with DJs playing music and people dancing. We were close to one of the stages playing pop music for a large group of young people. You think people watching at the Minnesota State Fair is a trip? You should have been at the gardens that day! It's just such a different environment of behavior and attire. I was really surprised to see how much of western youth culture the young people here have adopted. I was also trying to distinguish those ties from the African influence that is so prevalent in the US.

I was very surprised to meet some other American women living in a small town about 10K away from my town. I thought that a Canadian woman and myself were the only "obronis" (what "white" people are called here) living in a large radius from here! They're here on a volunteer assignment teaching in a middle school. We got together once to chat and decided we'll travel together next weekend to Kokrobite beach outside of Accra that is home to the African Academy of Music and Arts. Besides it having what is said as some of the best beaches in Ghana, there are regular African drum shows and other music related attractions.

So, am I actually doing anything productive here yet? Almost...thankfully, the strikes are officially over! This week I am going to propose a project to the sanitation unit of the District Health Management Team to do a study on food handling in the restaurants, chop bars (kind of like a lunch counter), and the market/street vendors in hopes to help improve food safety in the community. In the meantime, I've been able to participate in some of the other outreach that the DHMT is responsible for. I went to a traditional birth attendant training, which was very interesting. TBAs are the people that those living in remote areas depend on for council during pregnancy and delivering of their babies. This week I will be going to a few child welfare clinics that are periodically held out in other communities where parents bring their children come to get weighed, receive vitamin supplementation, and get checked for signs of malnutrition.

I hope everyone is having/had a great 4th of July weekend! Wish I could be there, I'm really craving some potato salad! And to see all of you of course!

Peace,
Ele

Posted by School of Public Health Podcasts at 12:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(University of Minnesota public health students are writing about their experiences abroad this summer.)