Sawadeeka from Thailand for the last time!
The last four months have absolutely flown by and somehow, we're down to the final ten days of our program here in Khon Kaen. In the last few weeks, things have really picked up as we've completed the pivotal component of the public health coursework - our data collection and intervention.
After looking at all of the information that we'd received from our initial community stays, my group decided that we wanted to focus on the waste management problem that became in our third community, Mittraphap. As we conducted health surveys and interviews, our group noticed a significant accumulation of trash along nearby railroad tracks and under the stilt houses that were situated towards the back of the community. Many of the community members we spoke with expressed a concern about the health implications of the waste and a desire to live in a clearer, safer community. With that information in mind, we headed back to the community armed with 50 surveys and questions for some of the community leaders. Our primary goal was to figure out where all of the trash was coming from and what, if any, disposal system existed in the community. In survey responses, nearly everyone said that they disposed of trash in individual household trash bins before emptying those into a larger municipal dumpster.