Working, eating, being

paneer dosai
fresh squeezed pineapple juice
cleaning the water tank--

the panchayat's husband getting a sample of water from the tank for us to test
temple festival
happy birthday, Ramesh!

Basically sums up the last week.

Working:

The intervention is designed! It includes two components: 1) installing water filtration devices on all (hopefully) of the public water collection taps in Ambalapattu, and 2) administering an ORS education campaign to mothers with children under five.

Now we're working on designing how the intervention will be implemented and evaluated. The village panchayat (mayor) has agreed to help with implementing the water filter component, including installing and maintaining the filters and assisting with an awareness campaign about the filters. Which works nicely: we get the community's help/buy-in, she gets political points and residents get clean water.

Still, this implementation and evaluation portion of designing an intervention is tough. One, I have zero background in this, as I haven't taken this course yet. Thanks to my team members for coaching me through this! And two, there are lots and lots of ways to implement and evaluate. It's sort of a crapshoot to choose one method and justify it. Last, there are several obstacles, plain and simple. As for the obstacles, the panchayat brought up several important points we have already been working through:

• what if we can't afford to put filters on all taps--who would get the filters then...and is that even ethical to only install some filters?
• how do we cultivate community by-in for the water filters?
• how do we inform people about the filters so that they are comfortable with them?
• how do we ensure the filters are properly handled by community members?

Big props to the panchayat for all of her time and feedback. It's definitely made our job exponentially easier to have her guidance and support. Certainly highlights the importance of working with stakeholders, especially on the policy level. Also how having that support makes me, as the "public health professional" feel much more confident with our plan.

We also tested the water in Ambalappatu. We collected samples from the government tank, a public tap and a storage vessel in a home. It will be interesting to see the results, especially at the tank level. I don't think I mentioned this earlier, but last week we observed a government tank cleaning. We saw the chlorine and watched the panchayat actually pour it into the tank. Erin L and Eprise got a great look by actually climbing to the top of the water tank. Brave souls.

As mentioned before, these results will be of use in determining whether an in-home intervention is also necessary. The water filters on the taps ensure that infectious agents living in the government tank or pipes are killed. But they don't help if infectious agents are getting into the water in the home storage vessels. Hopefully our hypothesis, based on our field observations, that the water is safely handled in the home will be confirmed so that an additional intervention component is not necessary...

Eating:

Dosas, dosas and pineapple juice!! Dosas are wonderful thin breads stuffed with stuff. Sort of like injeera crossed with a pancake. I'm loving the masala dosa (potato, onion, masala sauce) and paneer dosas (cheese and masala sauce) as of late.

Egg byriani was also a big hit this week. A few of us checked out a local place that came highly recommended, and we were not disappointed. I was especially excited since most byriani is non-veg, and Tevars had egg along with the meat choices. Of course we ended up at Arun ice cream after. Mango and chocolate was a brilliant idea, if I do say so my self.

It was also Ramesh's birthday today and Ravi organized a nice surprise breakfast for him, complete with an awesome cake. So yummy.

Being:

So one of the things I've been struggling with since being here is balancing work and experiencing the everyday life. It seems that, when I really want to do some good research and writing, I end up holing myself up in the AC office with florescent lighting and bottled water. Which is not the everyday experience here...

I had a nice break last night when I decided to walk away from the Google doc and join Sonia and Dessa for a walk around the big temple. We took the bus (which always makes me happy, and I don't know why I don't do it more. fail.) and were excited to see that the temple was all lit up and had live music. It was refreshing to just sit and people watch--the lights, the little kids dancing, the men clapping to the music. Not to mention in front of an incredible ancient structure. There's a video attached.

I need to be more deliberate in taking time to be. And be as they be in India. Feels good.

Hopefully this weekend will offer that opportunity. Maduari is on tap. A few of us are venturing on the standard bus to the cultural capital of southern India. It is known around the world for the ancient temples and market places. And the Ghandi museum. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was said to have been inspired here, and, as a peace studies major, I am really excited to experience it myself. More updates to come this weekend...