tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24513916033681797742011-04-21T23:51:46.798-04:00chronicles of a year in Bangladesh and the public health crisis of arsenicosisAlicianoreply@blogger.comBlogger481100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-75169744193938775222008-08-15T07:08:00.002-04:002008-08-15T08:02:15.080-04:00

I've been back in Dhaka for five weeks now, and I've been keeping busy learning about infectious diseases and nutrition. A few more weeks of classes here (aging & reproductive health), and then project work full-time. I've finally ironed out my objectives, so hopefully it will go smoothly once I start. I have to find a couple research assistants, though, to help with translating. I hear that

Alicianoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-10403427222922111782008-07-01T11:34:00.002-04:002008-07-01T15:32:52.491-04:00

Home once more, and for 10 more days. It's such a joy to be back for a while--I had been missing family, and seeing everyone has been wonderful. I spent my first full day at home alone. I'm pretty certain that hasn't happened since I left home six months ago, and it was a very welcome change. Yesterday I went to the grocery store to stock up on ten days worth of food. I managed to find just

Alicianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-37790376787507899112008-06-06T02:19:00.003-04:002008-06-10T11:21:21.932-04:00

The last two weeks have been quite the whirlwind for me here in Savar. A very big and unexpected blow came with the news of Gib's passing away. I'm very thankful for my friends here, who were endlessly supportive. However, being so far away from home and family turned out to be more difficult than anticipated, so I--after a lot of deliberation--decided to go back to Vermont during my upcoming

Alicianoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-72995604347359237022008-05-29T10:05:00.003-04:002008-05-29T10:43:27.268-04:00

Alicianoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-64852722059270265172008-05-25T09:04:00.002-04:002008-05-25T09:21:10.348-04:00

Bangladesh is seeing the start of its rainy season--after a very hot and humid couple of months, the change in weather is welcome. The days are still quite warm, but it usually rains at least once in the afternoon, evening, or night, and it makes the air pleasantly warm and breezy (if not cool). In other news, we began a new course in Health Economics today. Sounds a bit dry, but the instructor

Alicianoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-80595392890235606812008-05-20T07:03:00.003-04:002008-05-20T07:15:02.208-04:00

I am exceedingly happy to report that donuts DO exist in Dhaka. And good ones, at that! I went to a bakery called Cooper's a few weeks ago and tried their version (it was more like a bagel with frosting), but today, I found the real deal. I was in Banani to collect my mail at the American Center (after it had been sitting there for about three months... and thanks once more to everyone who sent

Alicianoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-55107042751771380052008-04-26T15:26:00.005-04:002008-04-26T15:44:54.415-04:00

Today marks the official end of the 7 week Epidemiology-Biostats module. We spent three hours this evening taking a whopper of a final exam for stats, and now everyone is unwinding to the best of their abilities until our new module begins tomorrow morning. Health Systems Management is next, and I'm quite excited because this subject will be completely new for me. Not really any other news.

Alicianoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-12644692892522650972008-04-02T06:10:00.006-04:002008-04-02T07:19:15.266-04:00

It's now the beginning of April, meaning I've officially passed my first three months in Bangladesh. Time is flying and crawling at once--if I consider all that's happened since I arrived, it feels like I've been here a lifetime, but when I think that I've already passed one quarter of my time here, it feels like the next nine months will be over before I know it. In any event, my three month

Alicianoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-29496187532047503922008-03-27T08:31:00.002-04:002008-03-27T08:36:28.782-04:00

Two of the national students were sick today with the same thing. That brings the official count to 5. Which, out of 30, is a lot. As one might imagine, our epidemiology professor was highly concerned...

Alicianoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-56365546526518743852008-03-25T05:44:00.003-04:002008-03-25T06:01:25.549-04:00

From my side, not much has happened in the last week. I recovered nicely from my little battle with bacteria, and then I studied a lot for my first epidemiology exam (which was this morning--I think it went well). However, it would seem that my experience with food problems was just the first...Yesterday the student from Ethiopia had similar symptoms, and ultimately ended up spending the night

Alicianoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-23233983566390341932008-03-21T03:12:00.002-04:002008-03-21T03:25:13.829-04:00

I'm happy to report that I feel about 12000x better now than I did on Monday. All my fluids have been restored, and I've even gotten back onto solid food (though I'm taking it easy). I'll be taking various pills for the next few days, still, but otherwise I'm more or less normal again. In the end I only had to miss one day of lecture, and it was in biostatistics. Thanks to my prior ND

Alicianoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-80850891802810859652008-03-18T00:56:00.005-04:002008-03-19T06:53:53.513-04:00

I should warn you now--don't read this if eating is anywhere in your recent past, present, or near future...When I woke up feeling quite normal yesterday, I had no idea what my evening would have in store. I spent about 7 hours in epidemiology lecture during the day, reviewing concepts of exposure and outcome, common-source epidemics, and attack rates (to name a few). As soon as class was over I

Alicianoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-81875084784039055582008-03-15T19:01:00.002-04:002008-03-15T09:33:31.934-04:00

This post is now almost a month late, so without further delay:The day following the wedding I departed Dhaka for Cox's Bazar with five other classmates: Vanesse (from the Netherlands), Basir (from Afghanistan), Su (from Myanmar), Shah (from Pakistan), and Antora (from Bangladesh, who marvelously arranged all the trip details for us). It's a 10 hour bus ride from Dhaka to Cox's Bazar, so I left

Alicianoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-7032022747163456412008-03-09T03:50:00.002-04:002008-03-09T04:07:28.102-04:00

Yet another course has passed without my having managed to post an update, so before the new one gets too far underway I'll offer this very short update (just so the blog knows I haven't abandoned it completely).We just finished Quantitative Research Methods--two weeks' worth of action-packed, survey-writing fun. I did get to tailor my independent project to be more in line with my overall

Alicianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-30783907964655115252008-02-23T06:17:00.005-05:002008-02-23T06:59:22.443-05:00

I've now been here for over seven weeks, and life here--its sights, sounds, smells--has become my norm. Home seems especially far away these days, though I'm not yet feeling much homesickness. Occasionally I'll think of little luxuries that I particularly miss (for instance, pancakes and showers lasting more than four minutes), but at the same time I don't want to wish away my upcoming ten months

Alicianoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-83228398701022782522008-02-15T03:56:00.003-05:002008-02-15T12:03:27.093-05:00

My apologies for being so terrible about updating! We've now finished our second module, and are very happy to have a week off before starting the third (quantitative research methods, biostats, and epidemiology). The last two weeks have been pretty intensive with practicing qualitative research methods. The last week was spent working on small-scale research projects. My partner Taufique and I

Alicianoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-35607559524041036162008-01-27T15:36:00.000-05:002008-01-27T20:32:49.006-05:00

We went back into the village today for another exercise, and I took several photos of the family we've befriended.

Alicianoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-68468659665138032482008-01-25T23:44:00.000-05:002008-01-26T04:09:00.845-05:00

I've now completed my first week of the Medical Anthropology unit, taught by two professors: one affiliated with BRAC, the other with the University of Amsterdam. It's--and maybe I'm biased--such an interesting subject, and a really brilliant way to begin our study of public health. Apart from Vanesse, who recently completed her Masters in medical anthropology, no one has had much exposure to

Alicianoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-21963292712594288092008-01-19T03:04:00.000-05:002008-01-19T03:23:49.615-05:00

As only a handful of the international students are on campus this weekend, we thought it might be fun to try a little cooking of our own (ordinarily our meals are provided by the campus chefs). I volunteered to make a little pasta. I wasn't feeling especially ambitious, so when I was in Dhaka I bought some linguine and tomato puree so that I could make a quick marinara. I arranged to make

Alicianoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-79277853424642579442008-01-18T11:33:00.000-05:002008-01-18T07:15:10.042-05:00

On Tuesday our class visited the Korail slum in Dhaka. It's the largest slum in the city, and it's home to approximately 29,000 people. Their residence there is technically illegal, making it very difficult for quality services to reach this community. The slum is only accessible by boat--here are are some of my classmates being shuttled from one bank to the other.And some of the slum in the

Alicianoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-34027592506123060352008-01-17T18:48:00.000-05:002008-01-18T07:12:34.302-05:00

A few pictures of my classmates, because I think they're all amazing!Serious academic discussion outside the BRAC center. (Vanesse, Shah, Berezy)Bonding at the airport in front of the BRAC U van. (Takele, Boshir, Vanesse, Shah, Yuko, Sachin, Basir) Peaceful relations between Pakistan & India! (Shah, Sachin)"Photo of the Year" (Takele, Basir) Candid. (Yuko) The Guys. (Boshir, Sachin, Shah,

Alicianoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-4492642778990765082008-01-09T06:23:00.001-05:002008-01-09T06:33:57.439-05:00

Dr. Cash took his leave (until next month) this morning, and asked that we have a group photo taken before his departure. Having my camera handy meant getting my own copy, so I thought I might share it here. For the record, I'm standing two steps above the ground level--I'm not actually towering over everyone that much.

Alicianoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-12232559515630243032008-01-08T12:08:00.000-05:002008-01-08T12:51:22.062-05:00

Yesterday we had the opportunity to visit a village in the area surrounding Savar. Our class of 29 has been divided into 4 sub-groups, and my group was given the task of observing housing, water, and sanitation. I walked around with two of my classmates (both of whom were fluent in Bangla), and I mostly just smiled at people and took pictures. Not being able to speak the language is very

Alicianoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-48780719800004303602008-01-06T07:34:00.000-05:002008-01-06T08:03:40.074-05:00

It's Sunday evening, and I have just completed my first day of class at the JPGSPH. Following a half-day of orientation yesterday, all 30 students are now better acquainted, and as we spend all of our time together, we are quickly developing rapport (everyone is so friendly). Today we began our first module, "Introduction to Public Health", in which we will become familiar with the concepts

Alicianoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-76687954450779083552008-01-04T02:28:00.000-05:002008-01-04T08:05:41.862-05:00

A brief, random assortment, as I'm a little pressed for computer time... A view of the street from my window at the hotel.My new home.My bed. One of my roommates.Marigolds. Everywhere.

Alicianoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-3838473924419567262008-01-03T22:02:00.000-05:002008-01-03T10:58:47.221-05:00

Today I moved from Dhaka to Savar--about a 20-30 minute drive outside the city. It's the location of BRAC University's Training and Research Center (BTARC), where I'll be spending the first 6 months of the program.I should start by mentioning that there is only internet access in the computer lab, which doesn't officially open until Saturday. Someone let me in tonight because I asked, but

Alicianoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-45161047024210540282008-01-02T11:25:00.000-05:002008-01-04T07:21:00.537-05:00

Well, relocating seems to be off to a good start thus far. However, I'm currently blocking out the culture-shock, being online in my bed at the Hotel de Castle (do check out the website if you get a chance) while watching BBC World on television. Not exactly an immersion experience, I know, but I'm sure that will happen shortly.Upon waking (after 9 hours of comatose sleep) on Tuesday, I felt the

Alicianoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-34209533136893837182008-01-01T22:30:00.000-05:002008-01-02T10:56:25.474-05:00

This is my horoscope for 2008, as projected by Bangladesh's primary English newspaper--it seemed highly apropos, so I decided to share!From: The Daily Star, Jan 01, 2008"As your new yearly cycle gets underway Saturn enters Virgo, heralding a major new period in your life. New foundations will be established revolving around career developments, bringing added responsibilities and duties,

Alicianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-85752005467273877522007-12-24T18:08:00.000-05:002007-12-24T19:14:35.179-05:00

Alright, I have to take this opportunity to share what my mother and I did last night--we've managed to stick with this tradition for about fifteen years now, and next December it will be sorely missed. In any event, I spent most of the day baking, and most of the evening decorating, and here are a few examples of the finished products. Granted, it's really more an exhibit of my mom's artistry

Alicianoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-91481211729889069512007-12-22T23:25:00.000-05:002007-12-22T23:31:00.232-05:00

Just in case anybody wants to send me letters (or small packages not exceeding 2 lbs.), you can use the "diplomatic pouch"--it'll save you the international postage :)Alicia Cooper, FulbrightAmEmbassy DhakaDepartment of StateWashington, DC 20521-6120And I will be mailing postcards--that almost goes without saying--so if I don't have your address, please pass it along!

Alicianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-54586956069324753352007-12-22T02:09:00.000-05:002007-12-22T02:13:31.586-05:00

Nine-and-a-half feet of coniferous joy. Happy Holidays to all!

Alicianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-79150215118127802432007-12-18T11:47:00.000-05:002007-12-18T11:56:34.117-05:00

My impending departure (11 days!) has forced me to start thinking about packing. The prospect is a bit daunting, to say the least, so I've decided to ease myself into it by considering what sources of entertainment I can afford to pack. I'm trying to settle on two DVDs and one fun book (along with a few more serious selections). So, my question:If you could only have one fun book for a year,

Alicianoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-21873053728702943532007-11-20T15:01:00.001-05:002007-11-20T15:14:39.062-05:00

When I went outside to take these pictures, I heard some very happy shouts and laughs coming from the house on the hill--I have a hunch that Hartland Elementary had its first snow day of the season. I used today's snow as an excuse to have a giant cup of hot chocolate.

Alicianoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-68931965466369186162007-11-17T15:00:00.000-05:002007-11-17T15:09:14.032-05:00

I purchased my plane ticket yesterday, so I guess I'm actually going!Boston --> London --> Bahrain --> DhakaAnd special thanks to my travel agent Gretchen, who is awesome.

Alicianoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-10756658489665193352007-11-16T16:47:00.000-05:002007-11-16T17:06:54.108-05:00

It has begun!

Alicianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-86644529534050274242007-11-15T12:01:00.000-05:002007-11-15T12:50:48.231-05:00

Last night I attended the opening program for Dartmouth's Great Issues in Medicine and Global Health Symposium. This year, the theme is poverty, and as such, the evening's discussion was entitled "Global Health Equity". Speakers included Dr. John Butterly, the executive medical director of DHMC and professor at both the college and the medical school; Tom Ketteridge, the managing director of the

Alicianoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-29569839172972862132007-11-14T11:10:00.000-05:002007-11-15T12:50:07.962-05:00

While many research initiatives have focused on potential methods to curb the spread of arsenicosis, there have been only a few promising long-term solutions (Anstiss et al., 2001). Many scholars believe that promoting the use of safe community wells would be the most sustainable initiative. Furthermore, because a well’s operation is of community concern, a given population will unite in

Alicianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-15159859158005445362007-11-10T23:20:00.000-05:002007-11-10T23:27:27.094-05:00

...and improve your vocabulary at the same time!http://www.freerice.com/index.phpIt's completely addictive, and for a good cause. Win-win!

Alicianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-20272064978679933132007-11-06T11:19:00.000-05:002007-11-06T12:17:46.909-05:00

Also, I made cookies...

Alicianoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-28399562515462024292007-11-05T11:10:00.000-05:002007-11-15T12:51:57.643-05:00

Wells are used almost exclusively by women in Bangladeshi communities (Ohtsuka, Sudo, Sekiyama, Watanabe, Inaoka, & Kadono, 2003). The water gathered on a daily basis is used domestically for cleaning, personal hygiene, cooking, and consumption. Consequently, education of women may well prove to be the most successful approach in disseminating information about arsenicosis. Female community

Alicianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-10842448003901131122007-10-21T20:26:00.000-04:002007-10-21T21:25:36.437-04:00

Nothing new to mention here, really, so I figured I'd share with my hordes of loyal readers some of the dazzling foliage I've been enjoying lately:

Alicianoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-56685365358737730572007-10-14T10:47:00.000-04:002007-10-14T23:50:45.014-04:00

So now that I've managed to bore you with several technical posts, I figured I'd fill you in on my latest trip-prep developments.I have officially been granted health clearance, and I've also been fully immunized against a whole host of diseases. I've been given a prescription for malaria medication--Mefloquine--that can allegedly cause vivid dreams. Mine are pretty vivid at present, so any

Alicianoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-10529913687077352622007-10-11T12:28:00.001-04:002007-11-06T11:17:54.408-05:00

According to recent studies, the high degree of variability of arsenicosis symptoms elicits a comparably wide variety of responses in terms of treatment-seeking (Ahmed, Adams, Chowdhury, & Bhuiya, 2003; Ahmed, Petzold, Kabir, & Tomson, 2006; Edgeworth & Collins, 2006). Many of the symptoms characteristic of initial phase arsenicosis are shared with other maladies—thus, internal inflammation

Alicianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-15869818412326959922007-10-07T22:36:00.000-04:002007-10-07T22:43:15.907-04:00

Various modes of education have been employed in recent efforts to raise awareness about the dangers of arsenic poisoning. Door-to-door information campaigns have been very successful in fostering behavioral change in pilot studies (Madajewicz, Pfaff, van Geen, Graziano, Hussain, Momotaj et al., 2007; Opar et al., 2006). More broad-based media operations have been shown to elicit a similar

Alicianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-36990059565791306542007-09-26T15:20:00.000-04:002007-09-26T15:46:40.130-04:00

Bengali lessons are coming along slowly. I've completed about 10 units, and have gotten comfortable reading and writing a little more than half of the letters. However, the emphasis isn't on building vocab just yet, so the only things that I can consistently remember how to say are:Amar nam Alicia. (My name is Alicia.)Aam anun. (Bring [some] mangoes.)andAmar rumal nin. (Take my handkerchief.)

Alicianoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-2041716043598333152007-09-23T22:43:00.000-04:002007-09-23T22:49:10.281-04:00

Thus far, arsenic research has had three primary focal points: geological, engineering, and biomedical. Geological research has placed emphasis on monitoring arsenic levels in the groundwater, and determining the geological sources of the Bangladeshi groundwater contamination. Arsenic present in the alluvial Ganges aquifers originates in Himalayan catchments (Hossain, Bagtzoglou, Nahar, &

Alicianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-39970876125226861342007-08-30T15:20:00.000-04:002007-09-18T11:22:27.080-04:00

In an effort to eliminate mortality associated with water-borne disease in the 1970s in Bangladesh, a nationwide effort organized by UNICEF saw the installation of millions of shallow tubewells, widely replacing untreated surface water as a source of drinking water. Tubewells are used by as many as 97% of the rural population. At this level of the water table, carcinogenic inorganic arsenic

Alicianoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2451391603368179774.post-10045520862873841702007-08-24T15:07:00.000-04:002007-09-18T11:20:38.499-04:00

Hello!I've started this blog as--hopefully--an easy way for me to communicate with everyone while in Bangladesh. For anyone who may not be familiar with the details, I've just recently been awarded a Fulbright research grant to study arsenic poisoning in rural Bangladesh, and, admittedly, I'm absolutely thrilled to have been given this opportunity!I'll be leaving at the end of December or

Alicianoreply@blogger.com1