By lizzhart
So much has happened in the past month: a homestay in a slum community in Khon Kaen, an interview with a sex worker, an exclusive opportunity to enter a Burmese migrant worker village. My experiences so far have been incredible and unique, a direct result of the type of program I am on with CIEE.
I chose CIEE’s public health program in Thailand because I’m a major in public health, looking to get some department electives, but the program is truly compatible with all majors and interests. Lectures so far have spent a lot of time going over the basics of public health and the Thai/American health systems, but we are now starting to delve into community health issues such as HIV, dengue fever, and liver fluke. While lectures are interesting enough, it’s the time spent in the communities, interviewing villagers and health volunteers, that makes this abroad program.
Today I spent 4 hours in a closed off, Burmese village on the property of one of Khon Kaen’s largest fishnet factories. Outsiders are typically not let past security, due in part to the legal status of some of the workers, but also to prevent an outsider influence from inducing protests about worker living conditions. On an offhanded offer, we hopped in the back of a pick up truck of a woman who worked at a community hospital near the factory. She was going in to provide a sex and pregnancy education workshop to the women of the village.
After interviewing the village leaders and community members we learned a lot about the education, health, and social issues of the village. In the second half of the semester we need to pick one community and design a public health related project or intervention. Though it could be very difficult to sustain access to this community, I think implementing a project in this community would be an incredible experience and a huge help to such a disenfranchised group.
Side note: I ate crickets. And boiled blood chunks. I don’t have much to say about this. Also, chicken tendons are different from chicken tenders. Very. Very. Different.