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new ideas and endeavours
Entry 14 of 21 | show all | print this entry |
So I had another one of those nights when I wake up in the morning with some kind of revelation. Ok, well maybe not a revelation...but on Sunday I woke up in one of those moods when I couldn´t sit still, and couldn´t focus on anything because I had a million ideas running through my head. That doesn´t happen too often...but when it does, warning! stay clear!, because I tend to go a bit crazy. Sooo, what´s it all about this time? Once I wrote everything out and did some brainstorming, there does seem to be som logic:
1) PROBLEM: I spent 3 weeks in quite possibly the worst health clinic in this part of the country. I came to the conclusion that the biggest problem is not necessarily a lack of supplies and money...but a lack of education. One day, there were 25 patients. 20 of them were kids under the age of 10. Every single kid had diarrhea, a fever, a lung infection and needed to be tested for parasites. Why is it so? They are dirty, they do not wash their hands, they do not brush their teeth, they wear the same clothes for days...most of these problems are transmitted in a fecal-oral way. I have about 2 weeks left here...meaning 11 days to try and make some kind of difference. I won´t be volunteering in specific placements, but rather organizing a project on my own to try to help and educate as much of the population as I can.
2) SOLUTION: All of these kids attend some kind of school or educational centre. If the parents don´t know any better...I believe that the best thing to do to target this problem is address the health education system in the schools/daycares/orphanages. If children can be taught the importance of being clean...and be forced to wash their hands at least once/day, and maybe even brush their teeth once/day...it would greatly reduce the amount of diseases spread...and therefore decrease the amount of problems in the clinics.
3) STRATEGY: I spoke to the director of the program here in Ayacucho today, Marisol, and the look on her face was something like "wow, where did you come from? nobody has ever suggested anything like it!" I told her that I would like to speak to doctors, dentists, directors, principals, prison, orphanages, get together groups of parents and teachers, students, and visit as many schools as I possibly can. I am preparing speeches/mini-lectures/poster presentations to give to any willing audience about the importance of health education and the prevention of health problems. I strongly believe that here, the biggest problem that should be addressed...is prevention and not treatment. They may not have the latest supplies and medications...but they do have sinks, water, soap, and toothbrushes. The topics I will be covering in these presentations are 1) washing hands and sanitation 2) dental health, brushing teeth 3) basic concepts about nutrition. And I am hoping....that after all of this, at least a few kids might remember to wash their hands after playing in the dirt...and maybe...there would only be 17 kids at the clinic instead of 20. As most of you know...when I´m onto something...I throw myself into it completely. I´m really excited about this, and I can´t wait to get started. I have my first interview tomorrow with a doctor. Oh! and another thing...it´s going to be so much fun because I get to do all of this in Spanish! =)
I´ll keep you posted!
Good night,
Kira
Latest Comments (2)
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Re: Go get em' (reply)
Aug 9, 2005 14:37 EST by kira
Thanks Pat, your relentless support and encouragement helps keep me going. =)
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In reply to:
Kira
You never cease to amaze me ...but this time ...well it's like you are taking on something bigger and bigger every time, this world has no limit and it's nice to see someone doing something about it. It is absolutely amazing to... show all
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Go get em' (reply)
Aug 8, 2005 23:46 EST by patrickberiault
Kira
You never cease to amaze me ...but this time ...well it's like you are taking on something bigger and bigger every time, this world has no limit and it's nice to see someone doing something about it. It is absolutely amazing to see and follow your progress on this journey. Even more important, I love hearing about it directly from you.
Stay strong, and love every moment<... show all
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