June 11, 2012
Everyone keeps telling me I
look tired. I am tired. But it’s not because I did a lot of work today. It’s
because I had some public health super moments and it takes a lot to process
them. First I should explain that I call public health super moments, moments
that something I’ve learned comes into use or will change how I view public
health. (or sometimes they are just super awesome moments that could only
happen through my path in public health). In the morning, I came to the office
pretty early. It was still locked so I took a short walk down to the ocean to
relax for a minute and start my day. When I came back to the office it was
unlocked so I sat on the porch and read before the staff came in. When Olivia
arrived, she got to work making plans for my day. She called people to let them
know when I would be there. We took the bikes and first when to the RC school
here to gather info for the communities. All the RC schools are catholic
schools in the community. Some have government schools, and some have both. The
office for the RC schools provided us with info on names of schools, how many teachers
and students each ones has. It is definitely important for my internship. Next
we went “all the way to the back” of town as Olivia calls it. It is, but its
like 4 blocks back by bike (at least from what I’ve seen). Since Boom Creek is
on a road in the back of town and takes 45 minutes by bike to get there, I met
with the Boom Creek chairperson who owns a lumberyard in the back of town. He
didn’t have a lot of information to provide me with, but enough to fill my
excel sheet. (I really like it when they elaborate on things. I can’t use it in
my file but its an interesting way to learn about people.) After talking with
him for 10 minutes, Olivia wanted to stop by her house for a minute. I wish I
had my camera because her children are the cutest kids I have ever seen in my
life!! We said hi to them and they both gave me big hugs. Her daughter, Evelyn
who is 6, rode on my bike while I pushed it to the store so they could get a
drink and chips. I hope to see them again because they were a lot of fun. Olivia
and I biked back to the office because I had to take the bus to Elridgeville to
meet with the chairperson. This bus ride was easier and I didn’t get off at the
wrong stop, even though the conductor was in the back of the bus (yay me!!).
When I arrived in Elridgeville it was around 1:30. The chairperson came and met
me at the bus-stop. Since it was his lunch break he took me to his house. (Most
people here seem to go home for lunch if they can and them come back around 2).
At his house, his family was eating outside and I met them all. His two sons
(also adorable. If I ever have kids, there is a chance I will just adopt from
Belize. They breed beautiful kids here) and his wife. His wife told me I looked
familiar and she saw me somewhere before. I told her I was staying in PG. Turns
out, it was the lady who got off the bus with me the day I got off at the wrong
stop. We had a good laugh about it, and it turns out she works at that stop for
wildlife and forestry. This was one of my public health super moments. Evert,
the chairperson, was very welcoming and didn’t hesitate to give me a lot of
great information about his village. His son, E.J. who was 4, was very excited
about Thomas the Tank Engine. He was fun to play with. After he finished his
lunch, he took me down to Hillside Clinic to give me a tour. I love seeing the
clinics here to compare them to clinics I have been to. One thing I thought was
awesome about the Hillside Clinic is that they have a pharmacy there and all
the medications are free. Some of the blood test people may need cost money, or
things like pregnancy tests. I met a lot of the staff and found out they have a
mobile clinic they take into 17 communities at least once a month. After our
tour, I walked back to the bus stop to head to PG (made it back safely, this is
getting easier!). In PG, Olivia said we should go see Dr. Arzu to find out
information on Midwives in the villages. Dr. Arzu is the Naturopathic doctor I
will be working with for the second half of my internship. This was my second public
health super moment of the day!!! She is awesome! Very cool and knows what she
is talking about. I am so excited to work with her. Her garden is set up in 9
areas; 7 for different systems in the body, 1 for fertility, and 1 for
spirituality (they are still working on it). I hope to learn about a lot of
them when I work in the garden. When she found out I was really interested in
the midwives here, she decided she also wants me to go to Belmopan with her to
talk about health policy! She didn’t get into much detail but I am so
unbelievably excited that I will be starting that in 2 weeks. However, she did
say she thinks men should be paid more so women can stay home to take care of
the kids “none of this equal pay stuff” (obviously I didn’t like that statement,
but I didn’t say anything. Different culture).
When I got home last night, I
was happy to relax and read my book on the porch. (Mom, I’m reading Little Bee,
so far it’s a good one). I also got to meet Ms. Consuela’s daughter (Luis’s
mom). She is really nice and laughed a lot. Everyone in that family always
seems to make me feel comfortable. We watched Wanted last night. I seem to go
to bed awfully early here. It was a great day, and I am excited to get more
village information this week!
Don't forget you can always comment and let me know what you want to hear about!
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