Tracks and snacks

After doing some course reading and going to bed early Friday night, the track cohort headed out promptly at 6:00am. Our housemother, Thandril, arranged for an auto to pick us up and take us to the medical college. By the way, Thandril is so very cool. She owns the guest house where we are staying and her and her son, Makesh, take very good care of us. I definitely feel at home with them around. Makesh is going into 9th grade and is just too much fun. He actually sort of reminds me of my little brother--he loves airplanes and is studying engineering so he can become a pilot. They have been helping us with our Tamil, making delicious Chi tea and just being great company.

We had a nice run at the track and said hi to the peacocks on the basketball court. I even cleared away some of the broken glass in the stadium stands to do some pilates. I'm not sure what the field that the track is on is used for. There are soccer goals and stadium stands...but the stands don't look like they are used too often given the broken glass...I'll have to find out.

The morning was spent reading about interventions for treating and reducing the occurrence of infant diarrheal disease. There have been some major programs instituted at national government levels that have been successful at treating the problem. For example, Egypt implemented a $50 million, 10 year program that reduced diarrheal mortality in infants by 82% by educating mothers and doctors on why and how to use oral rehydration solutions.

I also read up on some Indian news and politics. I tried to learn as much as I could before coming, but some stuff just makes more sense after actually spending time here. The government of Tamil Nadu (the state we are staying in-- the state is similar to a state in the US. They have certain powers, but are ultimately under the central government) just released its government manifesto:

http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/archive/00648/Tamil_Nadu_Governor_648701a.pdf It includes things like an Urban Development Mission to improve water, sanitation, streets, etc, implementing a long term power strategy, banning the use of certain plastic bags, reducing corruption, improving traffic flows, providing rice free of charge, controlling prices for essential commodities, etc, etc.

The connection between governance and health is very interesting here and everywhere. All the usual questions come to mind: how should policy inform practice, how to ensure implementation, how to advocate for effective policy, how to capture preferences in policy...and the other questions of why are certain policies being proposed? Is it more important to say something just to get elected and ignore the larger systemic problems that will make you unpopular if you try to address them? Eh? That definitely seems to be what happens in most places, while other organizations try to fill the gaps. All sorts of sectors are involved, but it seems that non-profits play a critical role in providing services that the government cannot. So, where and when should NGOs step in to fill these gaps when politicians do ignore the systemic issues? How can government and NGOs coordinate better? What other sectors and intersections are we missing?

And then, what about the social and cultural realities that shape how people answer these questions?

Ok, back to the easy stuff that makes perfect sense. Food!!

Leslie and I took a study break to get some snacks. I found out that Leslie shares my passion for exploring markets and grocery stores. What a fun way to get to know what things are important to a place. And how people like things to be arranged.

We spent some time poking around at all of the rice and beans and spices, as well as all of the basics for Indian cooking. It was interesting to me to see a whole isle dedicated to nutrition supplements for children. We got some mixed nuts, fruit and spicy corn pieces (I think) and some sweets from Bombay Sweets. They are indeed sweet. The best one is the orange ball. I need to look up the name. Its unlike anything I've had, sort of light and goey at the same time. The brownish ones are pure ghee (butter) and sugar. Delicious.

Now back to munching and musing.