Health Surveys

This past weekend I had the pleasure of accompanying five English teachers from Taiwan and two of my Chinese co-workers to a small village in rural Yunnan to conduct health surveys. Before CWEF decides to do health trainings in villages, we go in and access the needs of the people, and that is exactly what we did this weekend.

The English teachers from Taiwan took time and energy away from their own work to travel all the way to Yunnan for a few days to help conduct the surveys among two villages. We interviewed around twenty households and asked basic health and hygiene questions. How often do you brush your teeth? Do you wash your hands before eating and after using the toilet? At how many months do you introduce supplementary foods to your baby? Have you had any diseases or sicknesses? What kinds of food are you eating and how many meals a day do you eat? How often do you eat meat?

These types of questions seem simple but are very important when accessing the needs of a particular village. Many of the people we interviewed brush their teeth only a few times a month and do not wash their hands before eating or after using the toilet. Most of the households do not have individual toilets but community bathrooms, a cement trough leading down to a dug pit. The majority do not have education past elementary school or any at all. Their health habits are lacking simply because no one has ever taught them. We as an organization take the information we learn during these interviews and decide what kind of health training and education we can provide for them.

The two villages we visited were Christian and both had churches that welcomed and offered us a place to sleep. It was amazing to see their joy and passion for the L-rd, something I had not witnessed in a village yet.

Overall the trip was a success and we were able to gather a lot of information to use in future trainings. In two weeks, another group from Taiwan will be arriving and we will be going out to another village, conducting the same surveys.

Next week, I will be leading a new team from Hong Kong to teach English at a middle school a few hours outside of Kunming. We partner with schools in this particular area to offer scholarships and school resource materials. I pr-y the few days we have at this school with encourage the students to continue in their English studies and work hard for a higher education.

The Miao choir singing in church

Conducting household surveys. One of the English teachers from Taiwan on the left, my Chinese co-worker on the right.

The first family we interviewed, the wife was shoving pumpkin seeds into my jacket pocket as we left.

A scene of the village.

Sitting in a circle around coals trying to stay warm during the interviews.

Enjoying a feast of Chinese food.

A typical wood burning stove used for cooking.

We look for toothbrushes and toothpaste inside a villagers home, this woman had one but only brushed her teeth a few times a month.

So cute.

The community bathroom. Women on the left, men on the right.

A village woman washing vegetables for dinner.

Many of the homes built fires during our interviews to help stay warm, this one was especially big and bright.

A Miao woman and her daughter during an interview.

A new mother and father with their baby, they are the same age as me but have a much tougher life.

Some of our team members and myself with a few of the Miao women.

$1.5 million dollar dog

This past week, a dog sold for $1.5 million dollars in northern China. The red Tibetan Mastiff named “Big Splash” or “Hong Dong” in Chinese is now the most expensive pet on the planet. The dog is 11 months old and has no idea what kind of life he is in for. Tibetan Mastiffs are an ancient breed long revered as adept guard dogs and have taken an increasingly heightened role as a status symbol representing affluence in China. This dog is to the Chinese as a BMW or Mercedes is to an American businessman; a status symbol. Part of the reason for the high price tag is the exclusivity. Red Tibetan Mastiffs are rarely seen or bred outside of Tibet and seldom seen outside of China. The owner says his new dog is a “perfect specimen” and worth the price paid.

But still, $1.5 million?!

Big Splash

China Rushes to Buy Salt

Photo courtesy of China Daily

Residents in China and Asia have caught on to a new and false rumor: that iodized salt can help prevent exposure to radiation. Within 24 hours, people flocked to grocery stores to buy up all the salt they could find, only to find most stores were already sold out. This false rumor, that iodized salt can ward off radiation poisoning spread in response to Japan’s nuclear crisis. Officials have informed citizens that ingesting iodized tablets will not protect against radiation and consuming too much salt can lead to death. The government has reasurred its citizen that China is in no harm from Japan’s radiation but people are still fighting for a sense of reassurance via salt. Prices of salt have jumped ten-fold in some cities and eBay is selling tablets for more than $540. Once the salt ran out, people started buying soy sauce saying that just in case, soy sauce as a lot of salt as well.

Doctors say that potassium iodide pills are used to help mitigate the effects of radiation, but regular table salt does not contain enough iodine to make a difference. Government officials are hastily trying to stop these rumors before people take advantage of the price jump and spread even more rumors. Some say it is disheartening to see how much the trust in the governments information has diminished.

I luckily made a trip to Wal-Mart on Tuesday and happened to buy a container of salt since I was close to running out myself. The salt I bought will be used strictly for cooking purposes.

5.8-Magnitude earthquake hits Yunnan

On March 10, 2011 a 5.8-magnitude earthquake hit the far west side of Yunnan, in the county of Yingjiang leaving 25 dead and 314 injured. The quake toppled the homes of 1,039 families and left 5,000 others seriously damaged. As of Sunday, the central and local government have disbursed 10,000 tents, 15,000 quilts and 15,000 coats to the homeless victims in the quake-hit region. Altogether 53,000 people are being housed in large-sized tents in plazas and village squares. So far, no epidemics have spread as doctors are disinfecting the tents daily.

Kunming did not feel the quake and carried on like normal, but Yingjiang is an area with many minorities and poor villages. Please pr-y for the victims families and for the efforts in Japan.

Sunday at Green Lake Park

Green Lake Park is in the middle of Kunming and a beautiful oasis away from the city. This time of year it is filled with seagulls who have migrated south to enjoy the Spring City. On the weekends the park is filled with singers, dancers, musicians, tourists, families and anyone enjoying the scenery and weather. I spent this past Sunday enjoying the people around Green Lake and taking the role of a tourist in my own city.

This guy is looking up at his kite way up in the sky, I've never seen such a contraption for kite flying before. I've heard it said by the Chinese that kite flying is good for your health, it stretches out your neck and keeps you looking into the heavens.

The infamous Chinese squat. They can sit like this for hours, they've been doing it since childhood.