So I've been back in the States for a while-- if you've been a regular reader of this blog, you'll know that I'm terrible about updating when I don't have people nagging me for information about my adventures abroad. As I'm not really having adventures, the blog has lapsed... but I'd just like to give a quick update to anyone who's still reading.
This year is going to be crazy. Awesome, but insane. First of all, I'm a senior. Thanks, school, for sending out graduation information before the first day of classes to reinforce this! I already have appointments for career counseling, practice GREs, and other nonsense, but I don't know if I'll ever quite be ready to graduate. At the same time, after traveling and seeing the whole wide world that's out there, I don't think I'd be content to spend another couple of years in school. So here I go!
The other overwhelming thing about this year is this school group I'm involved in-- a student-run nonprofit called GlobeMed. This year we're implementing a lot of changes, most of which I think are for the better, but they'll all take some getting used to. I'm also co-running the educational portion of the group and my partner in crime is going abroad next semester. I know it'll be a ton of work, but it'll be totally worth it. I can't wait to see where our chapter ends up by the end of the year.
Even with all this, I'm excited to see what this year has in store. I'm living with five other great girls, and I'm really making an effort to invest in relationships this year (I don't need to sleep, right?). Wish me luck as I start on a different kind of adventure-- a marathon this time, not a sprint.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Friday, August 12, 2011
The Beginning of the End
We returned from our last trip out a community yesterday. This time we were in Malacatoya 1 installing the water filters with a delegation. It was really cool to see the beginning of the water filter process, especially since we've been supervising this whole time, but it was quite different to be with a delegation. We brought a cook along, for example, and didn't eat with a family. We also slept in a big tent since the school was a 45 minute walk from the health promoter's house; not the best night's sleep I've ever gotten.
I was also working as a translator this time. In the past, I've often gone out with guides and staff who didn't speak English, but understanding for myself and translating for someone else are two entirely separate things. Surprisingly, I actually did all right. I guess I've learned quite a bit of water filter-related vocabulary since I've been here!
We did quite a bit of walking on this trip, but I think that the previous trips have helped us get into shape because Sarah and I kept up with our guides pretty well, especially compared to the delegation members. All in all, it was a good trip and I'm sad to be nearing the end of my time here.
We've been wrapping up loose ends here in Managua-- we have quite a few evaluations to work through-- so it's just been us and the staff here at the base. The delegation comes back tomorrow, and we leave on Sunday. Unbelievable!
I was also working as a translator this time. In the past, I've often gone out with guides and staff who didn't speak English, but understanding for myself and translating for someone else are two entirely separate things. Surprisingly, I actually did all right. I guess I've learned quite a bit of water filter-related vocabulary since I've been here!
We did quite a bit of walking on this trip, but I think that the previous trips have helped us get into shape because Sarah and I kept up with our guides pretty well, especially compared to the delegation members. All in all, it was a good trip and I'm sad to be nearing the end of my time here.
We've been wrapping up loose ends here in Managua-- we have quite a few evaluations to work through-- so it's just been us and the staff here at the base. The delegation comes back tomorrow, and we leave on Sunday. Unbelievable!
Sunday, August 7, 2011
The Delegation has Arrived
The past couple of days have been kind of weird-- the delegation from Kansas has arrived here in Managua and one of the longer-term volunteers left yesterday. It's been interesting to look at the city and this organization through newcomers' eyes. Some of the volunteers have been coming here for years, but it's the first time for several. It's also been funny to have members of the delegation look to Sarah and I when they have questions about where things are or what it's like in the communities.
We're leaving for the campo tomorrow, but we'll be back on Thursday to wrap up loose ends.
We're leaving for the campo tomorrow, but we'll be back on Thursday to wrap up loose ends.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
More of Sarah's pictures
This is Jessica, who I've been writing about, and a family's pet parrot; I've seen quite a few parrots while supervising filters here.
Going over the results of the health stations and filter tests with the health committee.
Playing with one of the neighborhood kids.
A skinny little cat that hung around the clinic where we stayed.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Long time, no see...
Hey everyone, sorry for the lack of updates-- I've been a little under the weather lately and my bed has been winning out over blogging lately. But I thought I'd let you all know what I've been up to over the past week or so...
We had Monday off this week-- it's the day of the patron saint of Managua (probably). This was especially nice since it meant we didn't have anything to do in Managua, but other areas of the country were still open for business. Sarah and Monica (a girl who has been doing a 6-week internship here) and I decided to go to Grenada, a colonial town on Lake Nicaragua, and the Laguna de Apoyo, a nearby crater lake. Grenada is only an hour away from Managua, so it was an easy bus ride, especially after our commute out to El Obraje.
I wish I had all kinds of exciting things to tell you about the weekend, but we spent most of our time relaxing. Both hostels we stayed at had some really great hammocks, and the Laguna had a wonderful cool breeze.
This week we're staying in Managua (thus the Internet access). We've been working on standardizing protocols for the water filter activities-- taking and processing samples, training the health committees in the communities, etc.-- to make sure everyone who has a filter is getting the exact same information. Hopefully this will improve both ends of the spectrum-- the action of the community members and of the staff here-- to eventually wind up with some really beautiful water. Not the most exciting sounding activity, maybe, but it's nice to be working on something that will continue to be used long after I've left here.
There's a delegation coming in tomorrow-- it'll be weird to have eleven extra people here after having the place to ourselves for so long! We'll be heading out to a community with them on Monday to install some filters. I'll be working as a translator between one of the Spanish-speaking technicians and the English speaking delegation members-- wish me luck!
Finally, check out the GlobeMed blog for Sarah's post about the weekend and some awesome pictures. Now I really wish she had been in Turkey with me last semester, because my pictures look so dinky next to hers.
http://globemedatrhodes.wordpress.com/
Look for another update on Sunday :)
We had Monday off this week-- it's the day of the patron saint of Managua (probably). This was especially nice since it meant we didn't have anything to do in Managua, but other areas of the country were still open for business. Sarah and Monica (a girl who has been doing a 6-week internship here) and I decided to go to Grenada, a colonial town on Lake Nicaragua, and the Laguna de Apoyo, a nearby crater lake. Grenada is only an hour away from Managua, so it was an easy bus ride, especially after our commute out to El Obraje.
I wish I had all kinds of exciting things to tell you about the weekend, but we spent most of our time relaxing. Both hostels we stayed at had some really great hammocks, and the Laguna had a wonderful cool breeze.
This week we're staying in Managua (thus the Internet access). We've been working on standardizing protocols for the water filter activities-- taking and processing samples, training the health committees in the communities, etc.-- to make sure everyone who has a filter is getting the exact same information. Hopefully this will improve both ends of the spectrum-- the action of the community members and of the staff here-- to eventually wind up with some really beautiful water. Not the most exciting sounding activity, maybe, but it's nice to be working on something that will continue to be used long after I've left here.
There's a delegation coming in tomorrow-- it'll be weird to have eleven extra people here after having the place to ourselves for so long! We'll be heading out to a community with them on Monday to install some filters. I'll be working as a translator between one of the Spanish-speaking technicians and the English speaking delegation members-- wish me luck!
Finally, check out the GlobeMed blog for Sarah's post about the weekend and some awesome pictures. Now I really wish she had been in Turkey with me last semester, because my pictures look so dinky next to hers.
http://globemedatrhodes.wordpress.com/
Look for another update on Sunday :)
Friday, July 29, 2011
One trip ends, another begins
This week was another big trip, this time to a town called El Obraje in the department La Pimienta. This town was quite a bit further than El Roblar-- closer to 3.5 hours in the car-- but more easily accessible; we pulled the car right up to the clinic, no hiking necessary!
Our first big activity were the health stations that we did on Tuesday morning and stretching into the afternoon. Our partner takes statistics like the height, weight, and hemoglobin levels of children under five and other at-risk individuals and compares them from year to year. Sarah and I were put on the anemia-checking station, which means that we collectively pricked 74 children and tested their blood for hemoglobin in portable machines. Jessica, the staff member we've been working the most closely with, told us that we should explain to the mothers that anemia is not an incredibly serious disease to make sure they didn't become overly upset; our partner tries to treat it mostly with changes in diet, though vitamins are sometimes available.
We spent most of the week supervising water filters as we did in El Roblar. Though we had many more to do in El Obraje (over 70 as opposed to 22), the task went much faster as the terrain was quite flat which made it easy to walk around.
On Tuesday night, we processed some of the water samples we had taken earlier in the day. We had some "PetriFilms," a kind of mobile petri dish and agar which allowed us to grow the bacteria in the field and see how effective the filters actually were. As in El Roblar, we had mixed results with some families drinking completely clean water and others drinking water more contaminated than their original well. While these results were obviously disappointing, it gave us a good idea of how to direct the community meeting on Thursday afternoon.
The meeting, or asamblea, wasn't quite what I was expecting. The staff and the health committee took equal parts in leading the meeting. The health promoter himself was pretty shy, but Jessica felt that some information would have a greater impact if it came from him. Additionally, he's the one who will follow up on progress-- cleanliness of water filters, for example, or weighing children found to be malnourished-- after we leave, so the community needed to see that he was capable in this regard.
The community seemed most interested in the results from the anemia test, which is perhaps not surprising since it was certainly the most dramatic. The team and the health community worked hard to present all of the data in an interesting manner, however, from posters of nourishing foods to skits of how to care for the water filters, so hopefully the community members were able to take away most of the information.
Since this was the longest time we'd spent in a community, we got to try some interesting new foods, and especially new beverages. One of the most memorable is called avena. It's made from oats, specifically oatmeal, dissolved in water with a great deal of sugar. There's so much sugar that you can't really taste the oatmeal, but it's still not something I'd like to drink every day. Nicaraguans, however, are just as perplexed by North American-style oatmeal (cooked with sugar, berries, etc). It's a funny little culture clash I wasn't quite expecting.
And today at breakfast back in Managua, a couple of the staff cut down some fresh mangoes and shared with us. They were juicy and sweet, but the men had inexplicably piled salt on them. Sarah and I tried a couple of bites, but wound up wiping most of the salt off when no one was looking.
Sorry for the super long post, but I had a lot to catch you all up on! We're also going away for the weekend, so expect a new post on Monday or Tuesday. I'll be around next week, however, so maybe you'll get some more regular messages after that.
Our first big activity were the health stations that we did on Tuesday morning and stretching into the afternoon. Our partner takes statistics like the height, weight, and hemoglobin levels of children under five and other at-risk individuals and compares them from year to year. Sarah and I were put on the anemia-checking station, which means that we collectively pricked 74 children and tested their blood for hemoglobin in portable machines. Jessica, the staff member we've been working the most closely with, told us that we should explain to the mothers that anemia is not an incredibly serious disease to make sure they didn't become overly upset; our partner tries to treat it mostly with changes in diet, though vitamins are sometimes available.
We spent most of the week supervising water filters as we did in El Roblar. Though we had many more to do in El Obraje (over 70 as opposed to 22), the task went much faster as the terrain was quite flat which made it easy to walk around.
On Tuesday night, we processed some of the water samples we had taken earlier in the day. We had some "PetriFilms," a kind of mobile petri dish and agar which allowed us to grow the bacteria in the field and see how effective the filters actually were. As in El Roblar, we had mixed results with some families drinking completely clean water and others drinking water more contaminated than their original well. While these results were obviously disappointing, it gave us a good idea of how to direct the community meeting on Thursday afternoon.
The meeting, or asamblea, wasn't quite what I was expecting. The staff and the health committee took equal parts in leading the meeting. The health promoter himself was pretty shy, but Jessica felt that some information would have a greater impact if it came from him. Additionally, he's the one who will follow up on progress-- cleanliness of water filters, for example, or weighing children found to be malnourished-- after we leave, so the community needed to see that he was capable in this regard.
The community seemed most interested in the results from the anemia test, which is perhaps not surprising since it was certainly the most dramatic. The team and the health community worked hard to present all of the data in an interesting manner, however, from posters of nourishing foods to skits of how to care for the water filters, so hopefully the community members were able to take away most of the information.
Since this was the longest time we'd spent in a community, we got to try some interesting new foods, and especially new beverages. One of the most memorable is called avena. It's made from oats, specifically oatmeal, dissolved in water with a great deal of sugar. There's so much sugar that you can't really taste the oatmeal, but it's still not something I'd like to drink every day. Nicaraguans, however, are just as perplexed by North American-style oatmeal (cooked with sugar, berries, etc). It's a funny little culture clash I wasn't quite expecting.
And today at breakfast back in Managua, a couple of the staff cut down some fresh mangoes and shared with us. They were juicy and sweet, but the men had inexplicably piled salt on them. Sarah and I tried a couple of bites, but wound up wiping most of the salt off when no one was looking.
Sorry for the super long post, but I had a lot to catch you all up on! We're also going away for the weekend, so expect a new post on Monday or Tuesday. I'll be around next week, however, so maybe you'll get some more regular messages after that.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Domingo = Deathly Hallows
I finally got to see Harry Potter today! Totally worth the wait, and the AC in the theater was really nice as well.
But I'm mostly writing because I'm leaving tomorrow for the whole week; we're going to another department called Chinandega where we'll be working on the filters and doing health stations. I'll try to give you an update this weekend :)
But I'm mostly writing because I'm leaving tomorrow for the whole week; we're going to another department called Chinandega where we'll be working on the filters and doing health stations. I'll try to give you an update this weekend :)
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