Thursday, July 17, 2008
Field work
I'm here in Bolivia doing my thesis project for a masters in public health from Rollins school of public health at Emory University. I'm working with a team of students on projects coordinated by the Center for Global Safe Water which is also based at Emory.
We're working with Sumaj Huasi - a Bolivian NGO of water and sanitation engineers, and UNICEF to do a baseline assessment of sanitation coverage, incidence of diarrhea, and hygiene 'knowledge attitudes and practices' in rural areas. This is a baseline assessment for a larger project that will assess the effectiveness of UNICEF's sanitation projects across Bolivia.
We've been visiting rural communities with local UNICEF community workers. In each community we do a participatory mapping exercise, where community members as a group map their pueblo - including latrines and water sources - and we do a census to locate homes with young children; severe and fatal cases of diarrhea predominantly affect kids under 5 years old, so these are the families we want to work closely with.
Then we share a meal (huge meal!) that is generously prepared by women from the village, with fresh vegetables and supplies that we bring from town. Its been awesome to share lunch with more than 300 campesinos in their villages.
We take photos of the map, then give it to the leader, the Dirijente, of the community. Then we take GPS points at as many of the houses as we can walk to - to create a digital map for spatial analysis, which we will also share with the communities.
The next phase of this project is to pilot a hygiene and sanitation survey in the field sites. We're training a team of nursing students to do the surveys in Spanish and in Quechua.
We're working with Sumaj Huasi - a Bolivian NGO of water and sanitation engineers, and UNICEF to do a baseline assessment of sanitation coverage, incidence of diarrhea, and hygiene 'knowledge attitudes and practices' in rural areas. This is a baseline assessment for a larger project that will assess the effectiveness of UNICEF's sanitation projects across Bolivia.
We've been visiting rural communities with local UNICEF community workers. In each community we do a participatory mapping exercise, where community members as a group map their pueblo - including latrines and water sources - and we do a census to locate homes with young children; severe and fatal cases of diarrhea predominantly affect kids under 5 years old, so these are the families we want to work closely with.
Then we share a meal (huge meal!) that is generously prepared by women from the village, with fresh vegetables and supplies that we bring from town. Its been awesome to share lunch with more than 300 campesinos in their villages.
We take photos of the map, then give it to the leader, the Dirijente, of the community. Then we take GPS points at as many of the houses as we can walk to - to create a digital map for spatial analysis, which we will also share with the communities.
The next phase of this project is to pilot a hygiene and sanitation survey in the field sites. We're training a team of nursing students to do the surveys in Spanish and in Quechua.
Participatory mapping in Icla and Tarvita
Field visits in the beautiful communities of
Thaqo Pampa, Rodeo, Chahuarani, Chunca Cancha, Jatun Mayu, and Tarea Pampa
Thaqo Pampa, Rodeo, Chahuarani, Chunca Cancha, Jatun Mayu, and Tarea Pampa
Quinoa Chacra
this is api a thick sweet drink made from purple corn (I think)...
This little girl's name is dionyssia!
Chewing the coca.
Churupampa
My awesome team mates:
Will Oswald (Jefe of Field Ops) and
Bethany (fellow Rollins student)
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Sucre
In and around Sucre:
Yes, thats a phone booth disguised as a dinosaur
Yes, that is 100 pounds of coca leaves
Yes, thats a phone booth disguised as a dinosaur
Yes, that is 100 pounds of coca leaves
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
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