OLD POSTS
Listed below are entries that I have moved over from my previously blog which is now banned. This way people can just access one site and recieve all the information.
August 17th
>I'm
going to save the world, duh! Well, actually a small
piece of the world. I am working with the Stanford Asian Liver Center to
vaccinate more than half a million school children in the province of Qinghai,
China against Hepatitis B. Now you might be thinking why Hepatitis B?
>Well
let me explain…
>Hepatitis
B (HBV) is a little virus that is causing a GLOBAL
EPIDEMIC. Approximately 400 million people worldwide are living with chronic
HBV infection (compared to 40 million for HIV/AIDS). Of that 400 million, 2/3
live in Asia, with 130 million in China alone. Even though an effective vaccine
as been developed since 1986, HBV kills approximately 1 million people each
year. Every 30 -45 seconds, one person dies from this vaccine-preventable
disease.
I will be leaving the US in 4 days to fly off to China to do
my part in helping to eradicate this disease!
August 19th
For the next year I will be traveling throughout the province of Qinghai,
China going from city to city to vaccinate and educate the schools about HBV.
Why Qinghai?
1) It has one of the highest HBV rates in China.
2) It is one of the most impoverished provinces in the country.
3) Healthcare is either inaccessible or unaffordable.
Here is a little background info (from the limited information on the web)
on Qinghai. The province is approximately the same size as Texas and is located
on the northeast side of Tibet. It was historically part of the Silk Road.
Qinghai is approximately 10,000 feet above sea level. The weather in Qinghai
can be very harsh and unpredictable. The average temperature ranges from 23F -
46F. During the winter time the temperature can easily drop to below zero
Fahrenheit. The area is also prone to high winds and sand storms.
Most of Qinghai is very rural, with only a scattering of cities. It is one
of the most impoverished areas in China. The average annual income for 80% of
the population, who are farmers and sheep herders, is $315. For the 20% who are
urban workers, their annual income is about $1200.
Qinghai is also a land of untouched natural beauty and
home to many thriving cultures such as Tibetan and Mongolian. I am excited to
explore this cultural diversity and natural richness. Through this trip I hope
to paint a more vivid picture of Qinghai.
Aug
ust
26th
>I
forgot to mention that I have a traveling partner. Her
name is Julie Len. She is also apart of the project. We are the eyes and ears
of the mother organization Stanford Asian Liver Center. The two of us will be
ONLY ones on the ground from the US assessing and monitoring the project and
then reporting back to the US.
>The
project has two parts: vaccination and education. The
idea is that vaccination protects the body and education protects the mind.
Julie and I will be watching over all aspects of the vaccination and education
program.
>On
top of assessing and monitoring the vaccination portion
of the project, Julie and I have also developed and will carry out the HBV
education portion. Since there is such a large area to cover we are planning to
coordinate with the local CDC to have them hold teaching seminars that can be
attended by each school's health teacher or principle. This way they can learn
the information and teach it to their students in their own manner. To evaluate
the success of the education program, Julie and I will conduct pre and post
surveys on the childrens' HBV knowledge.
When this project is complete, Qinghai will be the
first province in all of China that will have an entire generation of children
vaccinated and educated against HBV. We hope that the success of this project
will encourage other provinces to also take part in helping to eradicate this
deadly disease.
August 27th
>After
a month and a half of training at Stanford University,
Julie and I took off for China on August 21, 2007. Our first stop was Beijing.
The Chinese Foundation for Hepatitis B Prevention and Control is located in
Beijing. It is the Chinese counterpart to the Stanford Asian Liver Center. We
usually refer to it as the Foundation.
>The
Foundation is located within the Beijing CDC building.
It is a nonprofit run by 6 staff members from two small offices. It is really
impressive to think that these few individuals with such meager resources are
working to change the course this monstrous epidemic.
>Julie
and I plan on staying in Beijing for the rest of
August. This way we can work with the Foundation to finalize plans for the
project and prepare necessary materials to bring to Qinghai. We will also be
attending various press conferences so that this project can get much needed
publicity.
>During
one of our first meetings at the Foundation we met
with two British film makers, Aaron and Adam. It turns out they will be making
a documentary about the HBV situation and this year's project in Qinghai. The
documentary will be shown on BBC and cable networks in China. These two film
makers both reside in China and mostly cover Chinese healthcare issues.
>After
the meeting the two film makers and some people from
the Foundation took us out to dinner. During dinner, Aaron shared with us
stories from all his travels throughout China. In one story he told us about
how he filmed in Mongolia in the middle of winter. It was snowing so badly no
one would drive him to the place where he needed to film so him and his crew
all rode on horseback up the mountain to the filming location. This turned out
to be a terrible idea. One false step and Aaron was thrown off his horse. He
broke his ribs and was stranded in the middle of nowhere. The nearest hospital
was a plane ride away. There were no cars so he had to be dragged by a
snowmobile to the nearest town to catch a plan to fly to a major city. During
this whole time he had no medical attention, no pain killers, just faith that
he would get through it all.
>Note
to self: do not ride horses!
August 28th
For
the past few days Julie and I have been working at the Foundation and also
touring around Beijing. Since both of us have been to the major tourist sites,
this time around we wanted to get more of a down home Beijing experience. Here
are some stories from our Beijing exploration.
The
taxi drivers in Beijing are notorious for their ruthless driving, but never had
I encountered a narcoleptic taxi driver. This guy would fall sleep at every
stoplight only to be woken by all the beeping from the cars behind him. I'm not
talking about light dozing, it was full on snoring! He would literally start
snoring in less than 30seconds after he stopped at a red light. It was totally
unbelievable.
On
one of the days Julie and I went to register at the American Embassy. When we
got inside we saw a Starbucks. This was our second day in Beijing and the first
Starbucks we had seen since we left the US. We were both really excited and
started to walk towards it, but before we could get any closer a Chinese
officers spoke to us in a very stern voice and told us we were not allowed to
go inside. Apparently it was reserved only for embassy staff members.
My birthday is March 15, which most people in the US
associate with the Ides of March. The day Julius Caesar, Dictator of the Roman
Republic, was betrayed and stabbed to death by Brutus. In China, March 15 has a
whole different association. It is the Chinese day of markdowns. I was told by
people at the Foundation that March 15 is the day of the national sale of
commercial goods. "We love March 15th because everything is one sale
and everything is real. Nothing is fake!" Apparently on that day the commercial
goods officers are on patrol so merchants are less likely to sell fake goods.
September 5th
Julie and I left Beijing on September 1st to fly to Qinghai. We have been in
Qinghai's capital city Xining since then. Before I talk more about Qinghai I
want to update everyone on events that have occurred since I last wrote.
To attract more media attention for the project, the Foundation organized
three major project kick off press conferences for three major cities: Hong
Kong, Beijing, and Xining. Julie and I weren't able to attend the Hong Kong
conference, but we were able to attend the ones in Beijing and Xining. Each of
these conferences had their own purpose. The press conference in Hong Kong was
directed towards current and future donors of the project. The press conference
in Beijing served as a national kickoff which was attended by national health
department officials. The press conference in Xining served as the kick off for
Qinghai province. This press conference was attended by the heads of Qinghai
government, health department and education department.
After the Beijing press conference Julie and I flew to Xining, Qinghai. The
capital of Qinghai, Xining, is a mid sized city located in a valley surrounded
by rolling hills. The city is starting to become more developed. Right now it
looks like Beijing in the early 90s, with a much smaller population. The
majority of the people are of ethnic minority background such as Tibetan or
Mongolian. When roaming the streets of Xining, you can often see a mix of Han
(ethnically Chinese), Tibetan, Mongolian and Muslim people. They all intermingle
and live relatively peacefully with each other.
The first few days we arrived in Qinghai we went out to see the major
tourist sites: Qinghai Lake and Kumlum Tibetan Buddhist Monastery. The scenery
changed dramatically as we left Xining. The urban infrastructure gave way to
rolling hills and vast grasslands doted with herds of sheep and yak. Along the
roads you can see various colored prayer flags strung on strings waving in the
air. This is a Tibetan cultural practice. There are five different colored prayer
flags representing different elements of the earth, red represents fire, blue
represents sky, green represents water, yellow represents earth and white
represents clouds. These flags are inscribed with Tibetan Buddhist prayers. The
Tibetans believe that as the wind blows through the prayer flags, the prayers
are being read and carried through the air.
Qinghai lake is located 2 ˝ hours away from Xining. It is considered the
largest inland salt water lake in China. Standing at the shore of Qinghai lake
you are surrounded by natural beauty. Before you the calm blue water, above you
the clear blue sky and behind you the rolling hills in all shades of green. We
didn't quite see all that because half the time we were there it was raining.
Thus instead of clear blue skies, ours was more on the gray side. The rain also
made the weather pretty cold. Qinghai, with its high attitude, is known for
cold weather, the rain made it even worse. To combat the cold stores
surrounding Qinghai Lake were renting long wool jackets. They weren't the most
fashionable jackets, but they sure served their purpose. As soon as I put on
the jacket I felt a hundred times better. Since Qinghai Lake is such a major
attraction, there were a lot of street vendors selling various Qinghai memorabilia
such as combs made out of yak and sheep horns, animal furs (yes, animal furs
right out there on the street!) and ethnic jewelry. They also had yaks and
horses that tourists could ride and take pictures on. I choose to ride a Yak
which was not too friendly. When I tried to take a picture beside it, it hit me
with one of its horns. Now I have a sore spot on my head to remind me to think
twice next time I consider getting that close to a yak.
The next stop on our tour was the Tibetan Buddhist Monastery. It is located
about 30mins away from Xining. It is currently inhabited by the Panchan Lama,
which is second in rank after the Dali Lama. The monastery is set up as a
complex of temples. Each temple is dedicated to a different Buddha. One main
temple, also the largest temple, also serves as the gathering place for all the
monks. The day we visited they were at the main temple taking an exam. They sat
in rolls on mats and took turns chanting prayers to the main monk. To pass the
exam they needed to correctly chant all the required prayers. It was an amazing
site to see! The monastery was also filled with racks of hollow barrels that
were inscribed with prayers. The barrels have handles at the bottom which can
be turned to spin clockwise. The idea is that by turning these barrels the
inscribed prayers are being read. Many Tibetans Buddhists come to this
monastery each year to pray and pay respect to the Panchan Lama. Tibetan
Buddhists have a unique way of praying. It is pretty physically demanding. They
start from the standing position with their hands together, palm to palm. They
raise their prayer hands to the sky, then to their lips, and then to their
chest. They kneel to the ground then spread their hands to their sides and
slide onto the ground until they are lying completely flat. Then they slide
back up and rise to the standing position. This is one prayer. Traditionally
they have to do this prayer for 100,000. We were told we didn't have to do the
whole thing, instead we just stayed standing and moved our prayer hands in the
three positions and bowed. We were also told to never point at a Buddha,
instead to gesture with our palms facing upward. The tour was such an awesome
experience!
The last thing I want to mention is the dining experience in Qinghai. The
majority of the diet in Qinghai is lamb and yak. While in Xining we are able to
eat some vegetables, but we were told that when we go down to the countryside
the majority of the diet will be just lamb meat and baked bread. The cuisine
can be very spicy! Drinking is a large part of the Qinghai culture. They have
this white liquor called bia ju. It is extremely strong. I had a sip of it and
it burned my lips and my tongue. Drinking bia ju together builds new
friendships, shows respect and trust. It is considered rude if you do not have
a drink. The only way you can get out of physically drinking it is to use a
hand motion. This hand motion is basically showing that even though you can not
physically drink it you are spiritually accepting the drink. This hand motion
involves the dipping of the forth finger on the right hand into the cup and
then flicking the alcohol towards the sky and the earth. This symbolizes you
paying respect to heaven and earth. Then you swipe that same finger across the
right side of your forehead. This symbolizes you paying respect to your family
and friends. With this sequence of hand motions you are able to not drink but
still be respectful.
Sorry this is such a long update. Now that I am starting the settle down in
Qinghai, I will update more regularly with smaller chunks of information. I
hope you did enjoy learning about Qinghai and its culture. As I spend more time
here I am sure I will learn more cultural customs and of course fill you guys
in!
pan>
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