Tuesday July 2, 2013
This study abroad is intense in the best of ways. Today I learned about many things I was very interested in. I can send you hunt and peck iPad notes if you like via my school or personal email or my Facebook inbox. I know some of you have specific interests, request away. Every speaker we have had has been such am gift for us. If only teachers could study with experts as knowledgeable and articulate as these more often! It sure beats slogging along and trying to figure it all out on ones own.
Our big group news is that our director negotiated us an hour of free Internet a day at all of our hotels except in Madurai which is a wifi free zone. He must have felt sorry for us as we went through the angst of media device withdrawal. I think this concern took precedence over toilet paper and mosquito repellent for awhile. Delhi belly......we just aren't thinking about that. We did have a lot of "potty" talk today though as there are serious issues related to this in India. That's my segue into my chosen blog post for today. Our other study topics of the day and some links to more information will follow.
Water is a pressing global issue and a critical issue for India. Our speaker was a PhD candidate and she is working on water development goals for India and other areas in South Asia. I get so excited to see these young women using their intellect and passion to earn PhD's and to make a difference in the world. In India youth is a period from 18 to 34. I hope the young women and men in my life take notice of the amazing opportunities out there. They really weren't there at this level for my generation. Let's get on with some water highlights that are hard to get out of ones mind.
Seventy-percent of Indians live in villages, Women are responsible for fetching water, often through deserts. Water is usually contaminated. Two chemicals in India, arsenic and fluoride naturally occur in the water. Arsenic over time burns the skin and causes cancer. Skin burns prevent men from working in the fields. The level of fluoride in the water causes brown teeth in children and eventually renders them disabled. Cholera is just one of twenty other dangerous microbes. Diarrhea is a major killer of infants, elderly, children. The locals aren't immune to these microbes, they don't get used to it.
There is good news. There are inexpensive ways to treat water. Filtering, even through a piece of cloth works and so does chlorine. India has the technologies, but doesn't know how to implement them in the field to make sure they are used. People don't want to treat their own water. It is inconvenient. India has to find ways to provide clean water that doesn't require treatment which requires a behavioral change.
We flush away numerous times every day. The Berkeley program director spends a lot of time when she travels to visit friends and family in India explaining that we flush our waste in toilets that use clean water. They cannot believe it!
If you've seen the movie Slumdog Millionaire, you've seen the men defecating along the railroad tracks at dawn, a daily sight. Men defecate during the day. Women must defecate at night for privacy. This means waking up at 3:00 a.m. and
going in groups for safety. It is dangerous for women. They can be attacked by people and wild animals, even by a tiger.
The good news is that India is making progress toward providing clean drinking water in rural and urban areas. The Gates Foundation is a large player in the field of global health. Ask me more about this sometime!
Other speakers today:
Ashok Bardham, Democracy, Pluralism and the Indian Economy. http://southasia.berkeley.edu/ashok-bardhan
Lawrence Cohen, Health, Medicine, Politics and Culture (okay, the guys a medical doctor and cultural anthropologist - woot! His field work is amazing.). http://southasia.berkeley.edu/csas-welcomes-new-chair
Munis Faruqui, Sufism in India's History (This is a big interest topic for me! Great stuff). http://sseas.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/munis-d-faruqui
Sanchita Saxena, NGO's. (Globalization has launched non-governmental organizations throughout the developing world. Some are effective and some are the vehicle for corporate gain. She knows! She works with the Asia Institute. She is also a world leader on the textile industry of South Asia). http://southasia.berkeley.edu/sanchita-saxena
Abhijeet Paul, Bollywood (Fun end to the day!).
http://southasia.berkeley.edu/abhijeet-paul
Happy 4th! I will be in the air from the morning of the 3rd to the evening of the 4th! Out of the classroom and into the field! Lucky me!
1 comment:
Fascinating!
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