After a wonderful weekend of relaxation in Matlab, it was time to get back to some hard work in Dhaka. On Monday morning we started our Windshield Assessments of the local community. They are called windshield assessments because they are usually done in cars by just observing. However, we're taking it a step further and interviewing some of the locals. We are interested in finding out the health of our surrounding community, their access to health, and any other social issues that can hinder/impede access to health. It was a really fun activity and nice to get out into the community and chat with the locals. We had a few students with us in our groups to help with translation. It was so fun to get out and learn about where the closest hospital is, what the pharmacies are like (usually in a shack), what types of jobs people hold, and where the kids go to school. That afternoon we had a lecture on Tropical medicine from a nurse who works with Doctors Without Borders. It was very interesting and got me excited for doing some travel nursing, especially international travel nursing.
On Tuesday we traveled north of the city to GK which is an NGO hospital. The hospital has so many good things going for it: they have trade teachings for women, their own publishing room to publish health books in Bangla, a med school, a pharmaceutical factory, and they are building a huge cancer institute and a new med school. There are plans to also start a nursing school. It all seems like such a wonderful program, and is benefiting the poor and the general public.
This morning we finished our windshield surveys... we went around asking more questions and finding out more information than we had the day before. It was also refreshing to find out more about the daily lives of those around us. For so much of this trip we have been making excursions to various hospitals and facilities, which has been nice. But there seemed to be a connection with the general public that was lacking. This activity has provided us with that connection, and it has been so wonderful. The Bangladeshi people are so strong-willed and good-natured, that this assignment has been a piece of cake.
Ok, that has been our goings on for the last few days, but here are some things in my daily life here that deserve being told.
The roads here are incredibly crazy. I am pretty sure I have talked about this before, but it may need reinforcing. The roads here, for some unknown reason, all have lines painted on them. Now, I have no idea why there are lines painted on the roads because no one follows them. It is one giant mess of cars, busses, rickshaws, and motorcycles. Everyone drives where they wish to gain the biggest advantage in the constant traffic jam that is Dhaka. While driving around you can switch “lanes” upwards of 50 times in a minute. Now, at peak traffic volume, the roads usually become one-way streets. A 2 lane highway can become a 4 lane highway (by use of the shoulders) and usually only goes in the direction that the majority of the traffic is going in. This is all well and good… if you are going with the traffic. If you are going against traffic (which means you are driving in the shoulder, or further away from the road) you have to forge your way against the hoard and make a path for yourself. This can be pretty harrowing at 40mph. Usually, a path is established and there is enough room for you to go against the grain. But there is that idiot that thinks it’s okay to pass two busses on a bridge with a curve before it. The only solution? Close your eyes. Luckily I haven’t died yet.
Public transport is my next topic. The busses here are insane. I have yet to take one, and probably won’t, but here is what I know of them. First of all, they are all scarred up and down the sides from constant bumping and scraping with other vehicles. Second, they are always full. So full in fact, that some people ride on top of the bus. I saw one bus with around 10 people riding on the top. Now, maybe this is because they can’t afford to pay the fare, but I have a feeling they did pay the fare and there just wasn’t any room for them on the inside. The plus side of this is that it would be much cooler for those times when you will get stuck in traffic. Lastly, none of the buses have any signage signifying where they are headed. You have to wait at a designated stop (where these are, I have no clue) and yell your desired destination at the bus helper when the bus comes rolling by. I say rolling because the busses rarely stop. God forbid they lose their spot in the traffic. The bus helper is a guy who hangs out of the doors and yells back and forth from to the prospective passengers where the bus is going. He is also in charge of collecting fares, because clearly the driver is putting all of his energy into cutting off other members of traffic.
That seems like a good update for now, I’ll hopefully add some more in the next day or two.
Hope all is well at home!
Love and miss you all!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Some Much Needed R&R
This entry was written on Sunday the 7th... although I'm just posting it now. Enjoy!
The trip to Matlab was just incredible. The drive out took about 4 hours. We were originally told it would only be three hours and then we got in the car and our driver told us that it would probably be closer to 5, so 4 hours seemed pretty reasonable. Up until now, we pretty much haven’t left Dhaka. It was so nice to get out of the intense hustle and bustle of the city and our into the countryside. After about 2 hours of city traffic in Dhaka, we finally made it to the countryside. From here there was a larger 4 lane highway that took us over large rivers, through small villages, past many rice fields, and to the only road into Matlab. This road was about one lane wide and was made around all of the different rice fields. All of these rice fields are square though, so this road that we were on for an hour had probably one-hundred 90Degree turns. Our driver, Munna, clearly took these corners at a pretty good clip and there were a few gasps here and there. Aside from the crazy turns in the road every 20-100 yards, there were also many other vehicles to avoid. There were huge buses, cars, auto-rickshaws, rickshaws, tractors, and people. Watching our van pass a huge coach bus, with one inch to spare in between, and on an incredibly narrow road, was pretty scary. At the end of the trip though, we learned to not look out the front window and pay as little attention as possible.
When we finally arrived into the town of Matlab, and to the ICDDR,B, it was like an oasis. Of course when we got there they had no idea that we were coming, even though as far as we knew… everything was planned. While Rycki and the staff negotiated our accommodations, I found a bench located in the perfect spot under some palm trees and overlooking the rice fields. It was so serene and the breeze that was blowing was just perfect. One by one everyone else came to join me until we finally had our rooms set up. Early that afternoon we got a tour of the facility from the director. The facility was really impressive and they do a lot for the residents of Matlab and the surrounding areas. As well as dealing with diarrheal diseases, the hospital also works with pregnant mothers, post-partum mothers, and has an area for preterm babies where they use kangaroo care as the main therapy to help them thrive. Overall, I was very impressed. After the tour Rycki gave us the afternoon off and I went straight back to my bench to chill out until dinner. Watching the sun set over the rice fields, and breathing in the fresh, clean, country air was so relaxing. Before dinner I went to take a shower in my room… with HOT water! I was so excited. Up until now we’ve had cold water to shower with. If you take a shower in the end of the afternoon the water is the warmest, as it’s been heated in the tank on the roof by the sun. However, it will never come as close to being as hot as the water in Matlab. It was amazing.
Today we had breakfast and then a quick class to go over the readings we had assigned for today. After we finished class we had a few hours before lunch and the trek home. We decided to take a stroll around the town. Now, we’re pretty used to people staring at us because of our skin color, but I’m sure Matlab sees far less that Dhaka does. Thus, we were quite the distraction to anyone in the town. We had a huge group of people following us around. The brave ones who speak English would even come up to us to say hi. One guy from the school was very intrigued with me (men are regarded highly here) and wanted to chat as long as possible. After we left the area of the school another guy wanted to chat with me and he walked all around with us until we decided to take a quick boat ride. It was so hot and we were all so sweaty that we decided a quick boat ride on the river in a large canoe-like boat would be a great way to cool off. After a brief tour of the river we made it back to shore. Thankfully the huge crowd that had followed us had dispersed, and it was a bit easier for us to walk back to the ICDDR,B. I, yet again, spent some time on my bench before enjoying a wonderful lunch with the tastiest chicken. After lunch we packed up, piled into the smoldering hot vans, and then began our adventure home. I only feared my life a few times on the way back. We’re now back at the house and dinner just arrived, so I better run and enjoy that.
Hope all is well at home!
Love and miss you all!
The trip to Matlab was just incredible. The drive out took about 4 hours. We were originally told it would only be three hours and then we got in the car and our driver told us that it would probably be closer to 5, so 4 hours seemed pretty reasonable. Up until now, we pretty much haven’t left Dhaka. It was so nice to get out of the intense hustle and bustle of the city and our into the countryside. After about 2 hours of city traffic in Dhaka, we finally made it to the countryside. From here there was a larger 4 lane highway that took us over large rivers, through small villages, past many rice fields, and to the only road into Matlab. This road was about one lane wide and was made around all of the different rice fields. All of these rice fields are square though, so this road that we were on for an hour had probably one-hundred 90Degree turns. Our driver, Munna, clearly took these corners at a pretty good clip and there were a few gasps here and there. Aside from the crazy turns in the road every 20-100 yards, there were also many other vehicles to avoid. There were huge buses, cars, auto-rickshaws, rickshaws, tractors, and people. Watching our van pass a huge coach bus, with one inch to spare in between, and on an incredibly narrow road, was pretty scary. At the end of the trip though, we learned to not look out the front window and pay as little attention as possible.
When we finally arrived into the town of Matlab, and to the ICDDR,B, it was like an oasis. Of course when we got there they had no idea that we were coming, even though as far as we knew… everything was planned. While Rycki and the staff negotiated our accommodations, I found a bench located in the perfect spot under some palm trees and overlooking the rice fields. It was so serene and the breeze that was blowing was just perfect. One by one everyone else came to join me until we finally had our rooms set up. Early that afternoon we got a tour of the facility from the director. The facility was really impressive and they do a lot for the residents of Matlab and the surrounding areas. As well as dealing with diarrheal diseases, the hospital also works with pregnant mothers, post-partum mothers, and has an area for preterm babies where they use kangaroo care as the main therapy to help them thrive. Overall, I was very impressed. After the tour Rycki gave us the afternoon off and I went straight back to my bench to chill out until dinner. Watching the sun set over the rice fields, and breathing in the fresh, clean, country air was so relaxing. Before dinner I went to take a shower in my room… with HOT water! I was so excited. Up until now we’ve had cold water to shower with. If you take a shower in the end of the afternoon the water is the warmest, as it’s been heated in the tank on the roof by the sun. However, it will never come as close to being as hot as the water in Matlab. It was amazing.
Today we had breakfast and then a quick class to go over the readings we had assigned for today. After we finished class we had a few hours before lunch and the trek home. We decided to take a stroll around the town. Now, we’re pretty used to people staring at us because of our skin color, but I’m sure Matlab sees far less that Dhaka does. Thus, we were quite the distraction to anyone in the town. We had a huge group of people following us around. The brave ones who speak English would even come up to us to say hi. One guy from the school was very intrigued with me (men are regarded highly here) and wanted to chat as long as possible. After we left the area of the school another guy wanted to chat with me and he walked all around with us until we decided to take a quick boat ride. It was so hot and we were all so sweaty that we decided a quick boat ride on the river in a large canoe-like boat would be a great way to cool off. After a brief tour of the river we made it back to shore. Thankfully the huge crowd that had followed us had dispersed, and it was a bit easier for us to walk back to the ICDDR,B. I, yet again, spent some time on my bench before enjoying a wonderful lunch with the tastiest chicken. After lunch we packed up, piled into the smoldering hot vans, and then began our adventure home. I only feared my life a few times on the way back. We’re now back at the house and dinner just arrived, so I better run and enjoy that.
Hope all is well at home!
Love and miss you all!
Some Retail Therapy Always Does the Trick
This is an entry that I had typed and saved for when I actually had some internet.
It's from Friday the 5th.
Today we had our crazy van drivers rush us around the city at top speeds, swerving in and out of traffic, and narrowly avoiding multiple collisions. This morning we were driven out of the city a ways to the Center for Women’s and Child’s Health. This facility was really amazing. When we arrived, the sweetest little lady greeted us. She has been the director of nursing at the facility since it started around 7 years ago. She gave us a wonderful tour of the hospital; showing us all of the specialty areas (gynecology, pediatrics, eye doctor, dentist, laboratory, and the operating room.) The hospital is very impressive because anyone who comes to the hospital for treatment is given treatment regardless of if they can pay or not. The hospital has also been planning and raising money to build a 500 bed hospital and also a college of nursing on their grounds behind their current facility. Everything was very impressive. The work they are doing there is amazing, and they are just growing so rapidly.
After a quick lunch at the hospital we traveled to a few NGO stores closer to the center of Dhaka. We did a ton of shopping at a store called Aarong where almost all of the goods are hand made by Bangladeshis and the profits all go back to the villages. It’s such a good program, and the goods are all wonderful and cheap. It’s quite the win-win. We rounded out the afternoon with a few more stores, most of which being NGOs with the same philosophy. The sad part of the afternoon was when I went to an art store and was going to buy two original canvas prints. I had talked the shop keeper down to 2/3 of the original cost and then had to run to the ATM to get money. While I knew I had enough funds to cover the paintings, I decided to check my balance on the ATM anyway. It was a huge surprise when the ATM told me I had the equivalent of $16 dollars in Taka… when I should have had so much more. After a phone call to my darling mother at 5:45am (sorry, Mom!) it was all sorted that I did indeed have the amount of money I thought I had. Sadly, this wasn’t figured out until after I had gone up to the shop keeper and told him my story (when I still thought someone made fraudulent charges on my account) and that I wouldn’t be buying the paintings. He was pretty upset… especially since he had already wrapped them up. I told him I was incredibly sorry and that when I had everything sorted out, I would go back and buy them. So providing I can find my way back there, and I can actually use the money I really have, I’ll buy the paintings. They are really nice and I was getting a HUGE deal.
All is well here. We leave for Matlab tomorrow to go to the ICDDR,B research post. It should be a fun trip. It is a 3 hour drive, but we will have our psycho drivers back with us… so I imagine we’ll get there in no time at all.
Hope all is well at home!
Love and miss you all!
It's from Friday the 5th.
Today we had our crazy van drivers rush us around the city at top speeds, swerving in and out of traffic, and narrowly avoiding multiple collisions. This morning we were driven out of the city a ways to the Center for Women’s and Child’s Health. This facility was really amazing. When we arrived, the sweetest little lady greeted us. She has been the director of nursing at the facility since it started around 7 years ago. She gave us a wonderful tour of the hospital; showing us all of the specialty areas (gynecology, pediatrics, eye doctor, dentist, laboratory, and the operating room.) The hospital is very impressive because anyone who comes to the hospital for treatment is given treatment regardless of if they can pay or not. The hospital has also been planning and raising money to build a 500 bed hospital and also a college of nursing on their grounds behind their current facility. Everything was very impressive. The work they are doing there is amazing, and they are just growing so rapidly.
After a quick lunch at the hospital we traveled to a few NGO stores closer to the center of Dhaka. We did a ton of shopping at a store called Aarong where almost all of the goods are hand made by Bangladeshis and the profits all go back to the villages. It’s such a good program, and the goods are all wonderful and cheap. It’s quite the win-win. We rounded out the afternoon with a few more stores, most of which being NGOs with the same philosophy. The sad part of the afternoon was when I went to an art store and was going to buy two original canvas prints. I had talked the shop keeper down to 2/3 of the original cost and then had to run to the ATM to get money. While I knew I had enough funds to cover the paintings, I decided to check my balance on the ATM anyway. It was a huge surprise when the ATM told me I had the equivalent of $16 dollars in Taka… when I should have had so much more. After a phone call to my darling mother at 5:45am (sorry, Mom!) it was all sorted that I did indeed have the amount of money I thought I had. Sadly, this wasn’t figured out until after I had gone up to the shop keeper and told him my story (when I still thought someone made fraudulent charges on my account) and that I wouldn’t be buying the paintings. He was pretty upset… especially since he had already wrapped them up. I told him I was incredibly sorry and that when I had everything sorted out, I would go back and buy them. So providing I can find my way back there, and I can actually use the money I really have, I’ll buy the paintings. They are really nice and I was getting a HUGE deal.
All is well here. We leave for Matlab tomorrow to go to the ICDDR,B research post. It should be a fun trip. It is a 3 hour drive, but we will have our psycho drivers back with us… so I imagine we’ll get there in no time at all.
Hope all is well at home!
Love and miss you all!
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