August 23rd: CONCH in the Village of Puttuthakku

Entrance to the CMC center

Andrea, Sarah and Rachael with two CMC nursing students

Our field work today in the village was quite different from yesterday. We have a project to complete while here with a focus on nutrition, specifically pertaining to the nutritional status of children under five years of age. We arrived at the nursing school around 8:00 am and spoke with one of the community health professors about the questions we came up with to ask about nutrition and she helped us think of additional questions to focus our nutritional assessment for our target population. She was very helpful! We came up with questions to ask mothers in the village about their perception of their children's nutritional status, whether they thought their children were malnourished or well fed, and why. If they had easy access to nutritious foods and supplements and if they thought those foods were costly. We asked the mothers where they get information about cooking nutritious food. We asked if the children had any illnesses in the past, trying to ascertain if the child had ever had parasites which can effect the nutritional status of the child. We asked about the immunizations status of the children as well as if they are weighed frequently. We also asked if the children use any local government programs focusing on nutrition.

A mother holding her 1 1/2 year old son, who graciously
answered all of our questions

Children eating lunch at Balwadi

We split up into two groups each with a CMC student nurse as interpreter and visited 2-3 families. It was very interesting to gain an idea of the villagers' perception of nutrition. The mothers were very conscious of the need for a nutritious diet to the point of being worried if their children wouldn't eat the meals they prepared. One mother stated that she felt that her children were skinny and malnourished because they refused to eat anything other than sweets, biscuits and milk. Some of the families used the village government program called Balwadi. Balwadi is a government funded school for children ages 2-5. The children are able to start to learn letters, counting and rhymes, dance and songs and a nutritious lunch is provided every day. The main food given is called a Tinp Ball which is a power made of wheat, rice, grains and jaggery (a sweet plant) and is formed into a ball and cooked. We really enjoyed being with the families and seeing more of the daily life of a villager and getting to know some of their concerns as they relate to their children. We have been impressed by how caring, selfless and family/relationship oriented the Indian people are.

The Tinp Ball and grains

  

Two of the elderly villagers attending the Geriatric Club

After interviewing the families, we returned to the CMC clinic to learn about their elderly day care program. Every day except Sunday they have what they call the "Geriatric Club" where the village elders come and play games, get the newspaper read to them and can talk to each other. A volunteer from the community comes every day to help with the club. The nurses told us that the elderly are not always well taken care of by the families and often feel useless since they are no longer working and contributing to the community. We were told that before television came there was more of a sense of community in the village where the women after finishing their duties in the home would gather at people's houses and talk. Now that there is television that no longer happens and the elderly especially no longer have that time with the villagers to associate and feel part of something.

We ate lunch, after our introduction to the elderly program, at the CMC clinic. We packed a very nutritious lunch of peanut butter and nutella sandwiches. After lunch we were conversing with the nurses regarding the DOTS program, which is a directly observed treatment therapy for tuberculosis. The healthcare professional gives the patient their medication daily to make sure the patient follows the correct treatment regimen for 6-8 months, thereby preventing the patient from stopping the medication early or not taking it at all. This program is in place to help prevent the spread of TB as well as resistance to the medication caused by an incomplete treatment regimen.

While this conversation was going on, Andrea began to feel ill and had to be taken back to our hostel on the CMC campus to rest.

Children of the village primary school listening to a
 health lesson on upper respiratory illness.
Alison in the background listening along with the children.

The rest of us went to another primary school where we observed an interactive health lesson presented by the CMC nursing students. Then went back to our hostel and to the canteen for dinner.