Hello!
I’m on vacation! Wahoo! I’ve been so busy the past couple weeks. Last week we did case studies. My group of 6 decided to look at immunizations as a way to understand the Indian health system. We looked a recent policy that changed the way immunizations are delivered in rural areas. Nurses used to go door-to-door in the villages to administer vaccines. After 5 infants died from a mix up of vaccines last year, there was a huge media uproar which eventually lead to a policy change. Now nurses are no longer allowed to go door-to-door, instead a doctor must be present at all times. Although this seems like a good idea in theory, the problem is that now the people in the rural areas have to travel incredibly long distances to get to a public hospital where they can get the vaccines for free. Often times they end up not even going because it’s too expensive to get there. It was a really interesting topic to study and I ended up learning a lot! We visited a few NGOs working specifically on this issue and even visited a slum (don’t worry my country coordinator came with us). We went to the slums to interview people there to see how they were effected by the policy. We went to a slum in Chennai so it wasn’t as bad as the ones in slumdog millionaire. People were so excited to talk to us there. One family even invited us into their house. One thing shocked me was that they had a TV. Apparently the government had a policy that provided everyone below the poverty line with a free TV. So we were in this house that barely had anything, but they had cable TV. Talk about the government having their priorities straight huh?
On Saturday I moved out of my homestay. It was really hard to leave, they’re just so great! We traveled 9 hours on a bus to an ashram in rural India. It was so nice to be away from the city for a while. We just got to relax in the sun and check out waterfalls and walk around in the fresh air. It was so nice to have time to just relax. There were monkeys everywhere. Sorry Mo, but I don’t like them at all! They are so mean. They jumped on three people in my group to steal their food. Yah, not planning on messing with monkeys anytime soon.
Now I’m back in Chennai. I’m on vacation finally! I decided to come back and spend one more night with my homestay family. Tomorrow morning I fly to a place called Goa that’s known for its beaches. Sunday night I take a train to another place called Kerala. I’m traveling with 6 other girls, but a lot of the other people on my program are going to be in Kerala as well. We’re staying in a beach house and also on a boathouse for one night! Overall, things are going really well. I cannot believe I’ve already been in India for a month. It’s just flown by. Next Saturday I fly to China!
I’m on vacation! Wahoo! I’ve been so busy the past couple weeks. Last week we did case studies. My group of 6 decided to look at immunizations as a way to understand the Indian health system. We looked a recent policy that changed the way immunizations are delivered in rural areas. Nurses used to go door-to-door in the villages to administer vaccines. After 5 infants died from a mix up of vaccines last year, there was a huge media uproar which eventually lead to a policy change. Now nurses are no longer allowed to go door-to-door, instead a doctor must be present at all times. Although this seems like a good idea in theory, the problem is that now the people in the rural areas have to travel incredibly long distances to get to a public hospital where they can get the vaccines for free. Often times they end up not even going because it’s too expensive to get there. It was a really interesting topic to study and I ended up learning a lot! We visited a few NGOs working specifically on this issue and even visited a slum (don’t worry my country coordinator came with us). We went to the slums to interview people there to see how they were effected by the policy. We went to a slum in Chennai so it wasn’t as bad as the ones in slumdog millionaire. People were so excited to talk to us there. One family even invited us into their house. One thing shocked me was that they had a TV. Apparently the government had a policy that provided everyone below the poverty line with a free TV. So we were in this house that barely had anything, but they had cable TV. Talk about the government having their priorities straight huh?
On Saturday I moved out of my homestay. It was really hard to leave, they’re just so great! We traveled 9 hours on a bus to an ashram in rural India. It was so nice to be away from the city for a while. We just got to relax in the sun and check out waterfalls and walk around in the fresh air. It was so nice to have time to just relax. There were monkeys everywhere. Sorry Mo, but I don’t like them at all! They are so mean. They jumped on three people in my group to steal their food. Yah, not planning on messing with monkeys anytime soon.
Now I’m back in Chennai. I’m on vacation finally! I decided to come back and spend one more night with my homestay family. Tomorrow morning I fly to a place called Goa that’s known for its beaches. Sunday night I take a train to another place called Kerala. I’m traveling with 6 other girls, but a lot of the other people on my program are going to be in Kerala as well. We’re staying in a beach house and also on a boathouse for one night! Overall, things are going really well. I cannot believe I’ve already been in India for a month. It’s just flown by. Next Saturday I fly to China!
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