Ramblings

I have about three weeks left at the Delta AHEC...time is flying by! I am learning so much about myself and the world everyday, and it's hard to analyze and categorize here in the moment when I am still trying to soak everything in and process it all. I am a firm believer in hindsight is 20/20.
I really love my job. The kids from camp are great, and a bond is growing between us and the children. Everyday is a learning experience, aka what works and what fails when working with the group of kids we have. Working at DAHEC has really got me focused on what health means to the individual and to the community. So often we think of health as merely the absence of disease. This view leads us to believing we get sick and a doctor will just be able to fix us. We will be brand new again. We forget that health is a daily task. If we don't take care of our bodies, then who are we to assume that a doctor can fix every problem we have brought on ourselves? I am not saying that all sickness is the fault of the individual...that is certainly not true. But between laziness, unhealthy eating, drugs and alcohol, we do a lot to contribute to our own problems. The experts say that prevention is always easier than intervention; then why is intervention much more popular than prevention? These issues just scratch the surface of public health, and the mission of the Delta AHEC. I am so thankful that I have been put here this summer. Especially after studying public health/medicine in India, my experiences in Arkansas are complimentary to this educational journey I have been on for the past ten weeks.

Summer Insight

Well, I have been in Arkansas for almost four weeks now, living in Marvell with four other college students from Washington and Lee, Spelman, and Morehouse (From left to right in the picture: Jamila, Kat, Dionte, Me, Frankie). I am working with my roommate and newfound friend, Jamila, at the Delta Area Health Education Center. We have tagged along on a few health education outreach meetings/fairs, filled in for people at the front desk and the fitness center, and had a blast the first week hanging out with the high school kids learning about health professions. Our main task has been planning and implementing a six week summer camp for kids ages 6-15. It runs in the mornings from 9:30-11:30, although the kids usually don't clear out until noon. Our job is to give them some health education that they are not getting in schools, such as nutrition, drug use, safety, babysitters' training, and fitness. We are currently in the midst of our second week of camp. Living in Marvell is like living in another world. Jamila has lived in Jamaica and Guyana, and I just got back from India, so we joke that living here is equivalent to living in a 3rd world country. We have racked up quite a list of reasons:
1. Everyone stares at you, because they know you aren't a local.
2. There are stray dogs everywhere.
3. There are no stoplights in Marvell.
4. Street names mean absolutely nothing.
5. You can still get Coca-Cola in glass bottles.
6. There are still people to pump your gas and load your groceries in the car for you.
7. Roadkill sticks around for days.
8. Even when they are speaking English, the locals are still hard to understand sometimes.
9. You have to drive over an hour to get to a movie theater, mall, large hospital...
So that's a taste of small town, Arkansas. I hope to have more interesting insights soon.