yanpu's Journal

Hi Everyone. As you can see I have changed to a new websitefor my online journal. Turns out my original blog website, wordpress.com, isbanned by the Chinese government. Thus I was not able to access the websitevery often even if I had good internet connection. I guess even with all thewestern influences, something about freedom of expression they just aren'tready to adopt yet. I searched around online and found this journal site, whichhas not yet been banned by the Chinese government. Hopefully it'll stay hiddenfrom them long enough for me to finish this program and not have to search outfor another website.

So here is a little update about what I have been up to forthe last two weeks.

Last Week: Julie and I traveled to a district southeast ofthe capital city of Xining calledHai Dong. We toured 3 townships and went to monitor and asses some of thevaccination events in the schools. We also started a random survey of 6500 kidsto asses their baseline knowledge regarding Hepatitis B. The survey willcontinue for the rest of this month after which Julie and I will start theeducation program.

I must say it was an amazing feeling going to the schools toparticipate in the vaccination of these kids. They are the liveliest kids I'veever met. Even though their environment was quite depressing they were filledwith hope and spirit. These kids, ages 6-12, grow up in very difficultenvironments. They live in the most rural areas where they have to walk up toan hour to get to school everyday. Can you imagine, an 8 year old, walking for40mins in the freezing cold of winter through mud filled streets to go toschool everyday? Their shoes are nothing more than a few layers of cloth,patched up from years before. All they have to eat for breakfast is a few steamedpieces of dough with no filling because the sheep that they have raised is tooprecious to eat and instead must be sold in the city to make money. Looking attheir little red wind tore faces contrasted against smiles filled withchildhood dreams; I realized the importance of this project.

The kids were very excited about the vaccination, all liningup and pulling their sleeves up with huge smiles on their faces. The boys wouldfight over who gets the shot first. Some of the girls would be a littlefearful, but after the shot was given they would walk proudly back to the groupand announce that it didn't hurt at all. Of course there were the occasionalcriers, who refused to get the shot, but with a little hoaxing we were able toget past their tears and get them to stretch out their arms.

During the vaccination events, Julie and I monitored forproper practices such as needle disposal, proper handling of the vaccinationand making sure all the kids in the school get vaccinated. This is the firstprogram most of these schools have ever participated in. They were verysupportive and corporative even if it meant disrupting an entire morning worthof classes.

For the most part the project is going very smoothly. Themost difficult aspect we have encountered so far is trying to work through allthe bureaucracy that exists in China.To get anything done in this country you have to go through so many heads ofthis department and that department. No one is intent on getting anything donein a timely manner especially if it is fiscally related. Offices are filledwith people just sitting around chain smoking. And right when you think youhave finally accomplished finding your way through the maze, somemiscommunication or confusion sends you right back to the beginning. It isincredibly frustrating! Thankfully this project is supported by the nationalCDC thus everyone makes more of an effort to help us out.

This Week: Julie and I are working with two film makers fromBeijing, Aaron and Adam. These twoCaucasian guys, one British and the other American, now live and work in Chinamaking films about healthcare and other social disparities. They have beenhired by the Stanford Asian Liver Centerto cover this Qinghai vaccinationand education program.

For the rest of this week we will be the district Hai Dong,in the countryside. Aaron and Adam will be filming vaccination events and alsointerviewing some students, family members and doctors. Julie and I will beserving as translators and somewhat guides in this area which we are startingto become more familiar with. I will write more about it in the next post.

On a different note, I am thankful I have not yet experiencedany food poisoning. I have been very careful to not eat anything I am unsureof. Our living arrangements have been okay. All the places we have stayed at sofar have a working shower and western style toilet (normal Chinese toiletsconsist of a hole in the ground). Sometimes the rooms are a bit dirty or thetoilet is not exactly working, but all in all it is much better than I thoughtit would be.

Here are two sites to check out some photos
From when Juile and I were in Xining: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2051439&l=5d799&id=13301826
The first round of vacinations: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2052286&l=b2e92&id=13301826