American Embassy and The Maternity Clinic

                                                                                                                                               6/16/12

I’m sorry that it’s been so long since I’ve updated my blog, but we have been extremely busy, so much has happened I don’t even know where to begin. Let’s start with our visit to the American Embassy.

           
 On June 11^th we went to visit the American Embassy and as soon as we walked through the gates, I felt like I had been transported back to the U.S. even the grass looked American (it probably was imported). Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take pictures on embassy grounds so I don’t have any to upload. Once inside we met with some of the staff to find out about America’s involvement within Ghana and how one would go about getting involved abroad. They began to tell us about the foreign service, where you would go abroad for a year or two and promote peace and prosperity in other countries. Essentially you would represent the America government, which on the surface appears to be exciting but actually means that you might be in a rough and sometimes dangerous environment. Once I heard about the foreign service I became really interested, I might just take the test and apply, although I’m not sure how my parents will feel about me going to any country the government assigns me to for 2 years. After the embassy we went to the W.E.B. Dubois museum, which is within his actual house, and got to see a lot of his original works and the awards that he received.

On June 13^th the moment I had been patiently waiting for finally arrived, WE WENT TO THE MATERNITY CLINIC!!!!!!!!! I was very excited to learn more about the midwife and to find out how she balances everything. When we arrived I was heartbroken to see the conditions that the midwife and delivering mothers had to work under. I knew that the clinic would pale in comparison to an American clinic but I couldn’t fathom just how bad it would be. Within the clinic there were 3 beds for mothers and one birthing room, the birthing room table was actually just a metal table with no mattress and a plastic covering. The clinic technically doesn’t have pipes with running water but they do have a pipe right in front where they fill up basins and place a tap in it using the tap for running water. The organization that I intern for, CareShare actually brought this pipe to the clinic, before the installation of this pipe the midwife, Agnes, would have to pay local children to fetch water for the clinic. In addition to the lack of running water, the clinic also has limited space since Agnes, her husband and three children live within the clinic. Her children’s room is literally right outside of the birthing room, could you imagine as a child being awakened by the sound of a woman in labor? Thank god she has all daughters. Agnes would love to move into her own house however she is always on call as she is the only midwife within walking distance; the hospital is about a 35min walk away. Could you imagine not being able to take a vacation because a person’s life depends on you being readily available?

I could go on and on about the conditions of the clinic but pictures would be way more descriptive (see below). Visiting the clinic helped me to realize just how fortunate I am; it also made me want to help out in any way possible. I’m not sure what I will be doing but in some way shape or form, I will assist Agnes and try my best to provide a comfortable and more hygienic environment. I'm glad that I was able to visit the clinic it definitely confirmed my desire to become a healthcare practitioner and to travel abroad, where there is a great need for skilled professionals. Trips like this give me the motivation to get through my heavy course load because they remind me that becoming a doctor or a midwife is more than acing organic chemistry or spending countless years in school, its rooted in assisting others and improving their standard of living. So no matter how long it takes me or how much debt I’m in, I will achieve my goal.

Birthing room 

Birthing table 

Where vaccinations are performed the blue basin is filled  with water much like a makeshift sink.

Beds for before and after delivery 

Outside view of the clinic

Pit where the placentas are placed after delivery, before the construction of the pit, placentas were sent home with the mothers

Week 3: Puerto Escondido

View of Puerto Escondido from our Hostal.

Puerto Escondido at night.

Week 3: Time is flying by and stay in Oaxaca is coming to an end soon. This week we had a free weekend that means I didn't have to work on saturday. My fellow students and I had planned a trip to Puerto Escondido, located on the southwest side of Oaxaca. After class on friday we took a van to Puerto Escondido. After 7.30 hrs of drive we finally got there. We had to drive through the mountains, the view was awesome but the drive was not, since i get motion sickness. But when i got to Puerto Escondido I realized it was worth it.
When we got there friday night, we grabbed food at a local restaurant by the beach and walked on the beach. It was relaxing and peaceful. The next day we returned to the beach, swam in the the Pacific Ocean for a little bit then we took a boat ride to see other beaches, dolphins and turtles in the ocean.
Turtles swim individually, it took us a while to find a turtle but when we did our captain scooped it right on the boat. We saw many dolphins swimming in pairs. We also saw other beaches nearby that were good for surfing. Later during the evening, we explored the town and did some shopping. After shopping we grabbed food at a local restaurant and went back to hangout on the beach at night.
I wish I could have stayed there longer. It was a great way to spend the free weekend.

What day is it again?

Today is Wednesday but it doesn’t feel like a Wednesday. I believe that when you are on this island there are only two days that represented in a week, Monday and Saturday. 

Okay those are two very random days of the week to pick but I can explain. Let me just prompt this explanation by saying that I am a college student in the summer. We don’t really know what day of the week it is, we just go by feeling or counting days from the last time you said “OH that’s what day it is, it doesn’t feel like a (insert the day of the week here).”

Out of the two days I mentioned, the most accurate description of my day to day life is that….. it eternally feels like a Monday. (Well most days it does) I know you guys back in Jersey don’t believe that I am on island and I am actually doing work. Trust me there has not been a day I have been here, where we haven’t done some sort of classroom activity and since my last update, my class has done nothing but collect data for other research projects that are going here.  

In fact on Saturday (the day after I posted) the entire class was enlisted in measuring Grouper (a type of reef fish) habitat in a knot and a half current in the South Sound Bay. We were out in the water from 8 in the morning to 2 in the afternoon. We got a chance to eat a quick lunch on Owens Island but shortly after we were ferried out to another bay to collect more Grouper data until dinner time. Needless to say, once everyone had arrived back from that trip, we pretty much all collapsed in the common room and couldn’t do anything too productive for the rest of the night.

The next day we snorkeled Preston bay for another 4 hours to map the topography of the land and to practice our coral id’s. Luckily for us we were able to use the remainder of the day to work on developing our projects. I was torn between three different projects at the time but once I had gotten official word that I could not feasible complete two project ideas I had, I settled on an Ocean Acidification project that I am working on with one of my other classmates. (More information about that will be posted later). During lecture we learned about the Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment and how to perform transects and data collection for this type of research. Little did all of us Rutgers kids know what our professor was signing us up for.

The next day we did a two tank dive one off of a place called Jackson’s Wall and another off a Bloody Bay Wall. Our job was to make 10 meter transects, and record the coral species and algae species that were present at every half meter mark. In addition to this we also had to measure the coral dimensions and at the throughout each transect. We also had to get an idea of population percentage of coral and algae cover so we did a quadrant sampling method. For those of you that are thinking to yourself, “oh that’s not soo bad,” THINK AGAIN. For me this experience was totally dreadful. Now don’t get me wrong, this data is absolutely important and it was awesome to be part of it. However for a girl with buoyancy problems, in a marine park that no one is  supposed to touch any living thing, while hanging upside down while gathering the data, this was a living nightmare. Thankfully we got our work done and were able to get all the transects completed and gathered all the data we needed to complete the field work.

Remember when I said that some days feel like a Saturday? Well yesterday was definitely one of those days.  In the morning ( as per usual) we  were in the water, gathering more Grouper data at a new site. Thankfully my group was very quick and efficient so we got done in about 2 hours. For most of the day, me, my project partner and a few other kids were working on building racks for my acidification project. Again because the students down here are so awesome, we were able to take a four hour job and get done in about 2 hours. Later that night the students were given “the night off.” We spent it with the rest of the CCMI crew at a resort where one of our TA was giving a lecture on coral nurseries. After the lecture, we grabbed drinks and dinner at the same resort. The food was awesome especially because I had two very exotic dishes: salmon and spinach quesadillas and wait for it…….

Lionfish tacos. Basically Lionfish is delicious and I was sad that I only tried a little from another student’s plate. I strongly recommend it and SIDENOTE: Lionfish are an invasive species and you will actually be helping the Atlantic Ocean water by promoting the fishery! Rest of the night obviously was a nice break from the day to day work of the coral reef internship.

Finally today, Tom, (who is my project partner) and I, collected over 36 samples of a certain species of coral to test for our project. Again details will be given later. The rest of the day I spent scrambling trying to make sure I was all brushed up on sixty different identifications of various endemic fish, coral and algae that we were tested on tonight. I just got my grade back and I did pretty well so I guess all that studying paid off.

Well its late now, and I have a wonderful full day of lab work to look forward to tomorrow so I am going to end this entry now.

But first....

 LOOK MOM! I'M DOING SCIENCE! (This was probably the only time I actually felt steady enough to take data and not worry that I was going to crash into part of the reef)

 It appears to me that I am the octopus whisper because this is my second octopus I found during the day. Mind you it is very difficult to find these nocturnal guys, especially because they are masters of disguise. 

Till next time,

Stef  

First Impressions

June 1, 2012

“Hallo. Sprechen Sie Englisch? I missed my connecting flight and I wanted to phone my friend to say that I’ll be late, but my cell doesn’t work here. Could I borrow yours to send her a message?”

“No.”

All right. Not the best first impression, Germany, but the important thing is that I have a ticket for the next flight from Frankfurt to Hamburg. I’ll get there eventually.

Then I can worry about calling Sonja, who’s currently in Terminal 2 of the Hamburg Airport, looking for my face in the crowd at arrivals. Sonja is a PhD student at HafenCity Universität in Hamburg; this summer I’ll be assisting her with her thesis on the natural ventilation of Macedonian architecture.

But at the moment, I’m 300 miles from where I’m supposed to be, and I have no phone. I don’t always travel abroad, but when I do, I forget to call AT&T to let them know first, and then I end up 300 miles from where I’m supposed to be without a phone.

And also because that guy wouldn’t let me borrow his. I choose to blame him.

I could pretend to thrive on adventure or claim to be a super chill, totally relaxed guy, but the fact of the matter is I’ve inherited my mom’s travel anxiety gene.

- Tom Giordano

Week 2: Equinoterapia

Week 2: Week two was all work no play. We started our project placement, Spanish and Medical anthropology Classes. My project placement was at Fundacion Oaxaqueña de Equinoterapia. My partner and I were the first students from Rutgers to be placed here for work. It was quite an experience, we provided horse therapy to individuals with special cognitive, physical and emotional needs.
I was expecting to observe on the first day but i was wrong. Work began the moment I got there. I had never interacted with horses in the past, so my first job was to clean the horse and get it ready for providing therapy. It was exercise given to me so i could bond with the horse. The same exercise is given to new patients, the reason being that the patient and the horse need to get acquainted with each other before a therapy is given to the patient. My horses name is Sikaru, it is a Zapotec name that means beautiful.

Providing therapy to Sofya.

During the therapy, the patient rides the horse with the therapist. My job was to walk the horse and control the horse while the therapy is being administered.The first day i provided therapy to Sofya, a year old infant who suffers from Cerebral Palsy. Cerebral Palsy is a neurological disorder that may be caused by brain damage at birth due to hemorrhage or lack of oxygen, early infections of the brain such as meningitis, or traumatic head injuries. It leads to poor muscle function and impaired muscle coordination.  Equine therapy helps to improve nerve and muscle coordination as well as muscle strength, and it also helps to prevent further dysfunction that could result from contractures caused by decreased use of muscles and joints. The horse’s rhythmic movement helps to strengthen muscles that are used in walking, sitting upright, breathing and speech. 
My work was very hands on I also had the opportunity to watch a session between individuals with special emotional needs and the psychologist. I work on tuesdays, thursdays and saturdays. Thus far I like my placement and im looking forward to learnings new things which I will hopefully be able to use in the future.

The Train Was Quick

June 17, 2012

Some clarification: I have to blog from my phone with a data plan on account of bad Internet and lack of wifi. Not sure how this will work, but we'll find out soon.

We took the Eurostar to France and that was the quickest journey I've ever had from one country to another - quicker even than to Singapore. It took around 2.5 hours.

I took some pictures of Wei Jie being all excited and touristy, and some other shots of Paris at night. More stuff to follow about our rendezvous with everyone else at Gare de Lyon and arrival at Cluny.

View the full post with pictures here!

- Louisa Lee

A Short Post on Haircuts and Malaysian Wine and Cheese

June 16, 2012

This is my friend, Wei Jie. He is Malaysian. He will be taking the same course as me. Here he is, being given a haircut by our lovely housemate, Gajen, in anticipation of our departure to France.




He'll be styling in France. Apparently.

This is a packet of cheese slices. It's the basic kind you can find in Malaysia (though not the exact kind. They usually have Malay words on it and as far as I know, don't sell American. It's usually cheddar). They don't melt nearly as fast or completely than American supermarket cheese, and tend to get rubbery and very, very sticky when exposed to heat. But we still love them.


The cheese selection in Malaysia is rather limited as compared to the united states, and, definitely, France, and for a good deal of my life cheese came lonely as slices. When I was a young (say before 12) fancy block cheeses with stuff like fruit and peppers in it were reserved for the high end, imported foods supermarkets with foreign-looking food and hefty price tags. Back then, anything in cheese that was not specifically cheese was foreign (I'm quite taken with pepper jack after discovering them in the US) and very fancy. Alas, we poor cheese-deprived Malaysians! We had pineapple flavored slice cheese to spice up our lives. Even our beloved Malaysian KFC Cheesey wedges do not exist in the US. In conclusion, we love our cheese.

Wine

The majority of Malaysians are Muslims and hence do not take wine. Or beer. Or Jack Daniels or any of those stuff. In fact, Malaysians do not culturally take alcoholic beverages, though we do have traditional alcoholic drinks like tuak and a lot of Chinese cooking wine. My exposure to wine came mainly from my father, who sips a glass every now and then. The more affordable wines in Malaysia come from Australia and the good ones have an average price tag of RM 200 (~$59). Don't quote me on that. I'm going by experience.


This post will be short on account of spotty Internet connection and shortness of time, but hopefully I'll have more to blog about once the course start.

- Louisa Lee