This week will be filled with homework and study. Today morning Suzie and I woke up and headed into San Martin to try to complete the last 4 surveys we have. Alicia wont be able to help us because she is officially on vacation and Tita has began her work with the city council, so it will be interesting. I really wonder why Dr.McKay doesn’t want us to enter San Martin alone. I think having to rely on ourselves is also a good lesson because sometimes you may never get the support when doing research. Regardless, we entered San martin alone today and visited one of the last houses that we were unsure about language. Once getting there we were relieved to have English speakers and we commenced with the survey questionnaire. After 45 minutes we thanked the household and headed back to UB since the remaining houses were Spanish speakers. It feels really awesome to have all these survey’s done and the database completed. After heading home to pick up our computers and books we headed for the cool, refreshing A.C. powered library where we would be sending the rest of our day.
At Lunch we ate at our usual spot Ice point and after lunch I went to visit Mrs. Pallacio who is in charge of housing for international students and who has also agreed to assist me in finding a housing solution for the days after my lease is done here in Belmopan. I headed to her office after 1pm knowing that there was a higher probability of her being there after one but when I got there she was not in. Instead I met her 12-year-old son who was holding down the fort. We made small talk and talked about sports, (Skateboarding, surfing, soccer). He is a really amazing person and very nice. After about 45 minutes Hope walked in ( I don’t mean that feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen). Hope, a Nigerian student attending UB has been a great person who smiles constantly and wishes me well every time I see him. Today instead of the smile he constantly wears on his face he seemed more anxious. I asked him what was wrong and he proceeded to tell me about his long day which began with the statement I am running for city council member. I was a little bewildered especially since he is Nigerian and he proceeded to tell me how he had become a citizen, the passing of his father, his medical school journey and his hopes to be a politician. He then shared a Nigerian proverb with me which goes something around the lines of “a young inexperienced, immature boy should not go looking for the thing that killed his dad until he is mature and ready because that same thing will kill him”. After a little bit more chit chat and talking about the difference between Nigerians and Ghanaians we laughed and I headed off, having yet to meet Mrs. Pallacio. I wrote her a note and left it with her son, a little worried that I was running out of time to secure a placement. I will return tomorrow.
In the evening after talking with Ruud for a while about bugs and the scary creepy crawling creatures that lurk around and unsafe drinking water, Suzie and I headed home where we began our 30 minute workout courtesy of Nike. After our Nike workout we began talking about how awesome it would be to have an intervention next ear where we teach exercise classes to the San Martin community. I have noticed that many of the women definitely have pronounced central adiposity. Also most household surveys were completed by women so it would be pretty cool to have women have an exercise class where they get to mingle with other women (emotional support) build community support and get healthy. I think it would be awesome also to check BMI and body measurements beforehand and then do a follow-up each year where we teach them about simple exercises that can be done at home and simple recipes or educate them about using less salt etc. I’m pumped now I think it’s a great idea that can change lives for the better. There are a few logistical components that need consideration but MAN! that would do a lot of good for a long period. After our talk we began to enter the last part of the questions that had been modified in the form of check-boxes to make it much easier for data analysis by the time we finished it was 1AM and I was exhausted. Next year can be awesome if we do an exercise intervention.
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