Vava'u is beautiful. It amazes me sometimes that I am here in this place where everything is breathtaking. I love the sunsets and the sunrises. I love the ocean, I'm learning to love the people. It's easy to forget how amazing something is if you are in it day in and day out. But I'm doing my best not to get complacent with it all.
I want to talk a bit about the 'things I eat' although this may not take long because the majority of the things are bread. Bread, rolls, buns, crackers. My diet is amazing. I learned working at the hospital a few weeks ago that Tonga is one of the top ten countries in the world for diabetes. In fact one of out every three people is diabetic and approximately three out of every four are overweight. It's easy to see why, so many people suffer from poverty and don't necessarily have the means to purchase healthier foods. You buy what you can eat and you eat lots when you have food. Combine that with a much less active lifestyle and you get a lot of people here in Tonga. I have however observed for myself that as the vast majority of middle aged Tongan women are overweight, the vast majority of Tongan men remain healthier well into their middle age. It's really interesting to see that gender difference.
Today I had the opportunity to watch some legit Tongan rugby games. It was a 7's tournament with all of the villages here. Our host Dad Ofa played and so that was really cool. I'm surprised they don't get injured more often with how brutal they can get. We were sitting the whole time in a sort of dug out with a few dozen Tongan men, Elise and I being the only white people and the only girls. I definitely felt out of place. But that happens a lot here so I'm learning just to accept it, the situation is probably only that uncomfortable for me. Anyhow I am running out of time on the internet so I'll end here.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
In Tonga
I have thus far had difficulty maintaining my blog during this field study experience because of internet inavailability for the most part. However I hope to right now make up for lost time. I have officially been in Tonga for six weeks as of yesterday and I can't believe how fast it's gone. Although I suppose it also feels like I have been here for forever so maybe I can believe it. I am living on the island Vava'u in a village called Leimatu'a. The family I live with is LDS and has four kids all under the age of six, they are very nice people. The first few weeks really took a lot of getting used to, things here are very different from back home, the culture, the people, the way of life. But I'm learning to appreciate it and the people. At first it was a big shock, and I definitely have been going through some culture shock.
Getting my project up and going was much more difficult than I originally anticipated that it would be but I've been working on it. It feels as though I am having a culture experience with a project as almost secondary to it which may be part of the goal. Anyhow, it has great days and not so great days but I am able to appreciate how cool it all is.
Right now I divide my time between the hospital, I volunteer and observe there, the local primary school, and our family. Starting next week I am going to be conducting the interviews that I have spent so much time preparing and building rapport for. I'm excited both because I feel like I know have learned enough to make better decisions about the questions to ask and which people to interview. I also have observed a lot of their culture and can come to some basic conclusions for myself and my project although I recognize that three months really isn't that long. Even if it feels like a lifetime some days.
Getting my project up and going was much more difficult than I originally anticipated that it would be but I've been working on it. It feels as though I am having a culture experience with a project as almost secondary to it which may be part of the goal. Anyhow, it has great days and not so great days but I am able to appreciate how cool it all is.
Right now I divide my time between the hospital, I volunteer and observe there, the local primary school, and our family. Starting next week I am going to be conducting the interviews that I have spent so much time preparing and building rapport for. I'm excited both because I feel like I know have learned enough to make better decisions about the questions to ask and which people to interview. I also have observed a lot of their culture and can come to some basic conclusions for myself and my project although I recognize that three months really isn't that long. Even if it feels like a lifetime some days.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Learning Journal 33
Two more days of class, the final due date for the proposal, and the final exam. These are the remaining things for the IAS prep class for going to Tonga. Hard to believe it is almost over and the real field study experience is just around the corner.
Last Friday I had the opportunity to present my proposal/project to a few peers. It was a really good learning experience because, as I was presenting, I was able to see what was fuzzy and was really clear in terms of my project. When you have to really explain something out loud to other people, you learn the most. Hearing myself discuss my project aloud, and thoroughly explaining all aspects of it helped me realize that I think I am decently ready. I do believe that my ideas came across clear and organized, and it hit me that this is really happening. I am going to Tonga to conduct a research project of my own making. I am going to live with a host family and become immersed in another culture for three months, learning about them and about myself.
The project that I have created is only one aspect of the whole field studies experience, and I know that when I feel lost I can always turn to completing one piece of that project for direction. I recognize that this project is not going to change lives or impact the world in any way. But it will impact me, it will help me see the world through different eyes for three months, and with that I can bring awareness into other people's lives. This I am excited for.
Last Friday I had the opportunity to present my proposal/project to a few peers. It was a really good learning experience because, as I was presenting, I was able to see what was fuzzy and was really clear in terms of my project. When you have to really explain something out loud to other people, you learn the most. Hearing myself discuss my project aloud, and thoroughly explaining all aspects of it helped me realize that I think I am decently ready. I do believe that my ideas came across clear and organized, and it hit me that this is really happening. I am going to Tonga to conduct a research project of my own making. I am going to live with a host family and become immersed in another culture for three months, learning about them and about myself.
The project that I have created is only one aspect of the whole field studies experience, and I know that when I feel lost I can always turn to completing one piece of that project for direction. I recognize that this project is not going to change lives or impact the world in any way. But it will impact me, it will help me see the world through different eyes for three months, and with that I can bring awareness into other people's lives. This I am excited for.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Learning Journal 32
I have been reading up a bit about the local hospital on Vava'u island. Price Wellington Ngu Hospital is located in Neiafu Vava'u and is a small hospital consisting of only about two doctors and eight nurses. There are approximately 40 beds that these doctors and nurses see to on a regular basis along with obstretics, gynaecology, pediatrics, general medicine, and surgical units.
I hope to complement my field study in Tonga with the opportunity to volunteer at Prince Wellington Ngu Hospital. As a prospective medical school student, the experience that Tonga will bring me will be invaluable to my future medical career. I have decided that I will be extremely happy to volunteer in whatever capacity they need me. I have been thinking about the best way to go about obtaining this volunteering opportunity, and have looked online to see if I can find a contact email or something but have not succeeded.
I am thinking that after arriving in Tonga I can visit the hospital in person and offer myself as a volunteer if they need or could use me at all. I will also ask if I would be able to shadow them during procedures, this would be following the building of rapport of course. I don't necessarily foresee my being turned down, but if I am, the world moves on.
I hope to complement my field study in Tonga with the opportunity to volunteer at Prince Wellington Ngu Hospital. As a prospective medical school student, the experience that Tonga will bring me will be invaluable to my future medical career. I have decided that I will be extremely happy to volunteer in whatever capacity they need me. I have been thinking about the best way to go about obtaining this volunteering opportunity, and have looked online to see if I can find a contact email or something but have not succeeded.
I am thinking that after arriving in Tonga I can visit the hospital in person and offer myself as a volunteer if they need or could use me at all. I will also ask if I would be able to shadow them during procedures, this would be following the building of rapport of course. I don't necessarily foresee my being turned down, but if I am, the world moves on.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Learning Journal 31
We discussed the different phases of culture shock in class on Monday, and those included the honeymoon phase, aggression and rejection, isolation and frustration, and finally acceptance and adaptation. Not all people will experience all phases of culture shock in that order or even experience all phases of culture shock at all. I think it is important to recognize what culture shock is, and how you as an individual are most likely to react to it. Then you can do you best to overcome and defeat culture shock, as well as be less of a burden on the group members and people you are living with.
More than likely I feel that I will experience the honeymoon phase, that being when everything is new and special and awesome. Following that I feel that I may experience a phase in which I may feel homesick or lonely or that the things of Tonga are annoying. I will do my absolute best to not allow culture shock to rule my attitude and decisions. One of my favorite quotes is by Victor Frankl, and it's that "the last of human freedoms is to choose ones attitude in any given set of circumstances." Culture shock will inevitably be a factor in my field study experience in Tonga, in fact it is to be expected. And though it may affect me, and don't have to allow it to affect the moods of those around me. I can choose whichever attitude I wish, and I choose to be positive. To recognize that I am in a foreign place, that it is for only three months, that it will end, and that I will learn so much from it. I look forward to the experiences that culture brings and what I will learn about myself as a result of those experiences.
More than likely I feel that I will experience the honeymoon phase, that being when everything is new and special and awesome. Following that I feel that I may experience a phase in which I may feel homesick or lonely or that the things of Tonga are annoying. I will do my absolute best to not allow culture shock to rule my attitude and decisions. One of my favorite quotes is by Victor Frankl, and it's that "the last of human freedoms is to choose ones attitude in any given set of circumstances." Culture shock will inevitably be a factor in my field study experience in Tonga, in fact it is to be expected. And though it may affect me, and don't have to allow it to affect the moods of those around me. I can choose whichever attitude I wish, and I choose to be positive. To recognize that I am in a foreign place, that it is for only three months, that it will end, and that I will learn so much from it. I look forward to the experiences that culture brings and what I will learn about myself as a result of those experiences.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Learning Journal 30
It's been a little while, but I'm back. Anyhow, a few weeks ago I found out that the King of Tonga had passed away. I didn't intially realize quite what this meant for me as I will be traveling there next month. I learned that in Tonga, when the King passes, the whole country is to be in mourning for three months. That means that, upon my arrival in Tonga, the country will only have gone through the first month and a half of that mourning period. I will get the opportunity to experience the last month and a half of mourning with them all. I believe this will be a really fascinating cultural experience and I intend to respect it 100%. I also think it will be very interesting to learn how closely people follow the guidelines and rules for the mourning months. Some of these rules or 'encouragements' I guess, are to wear black often. Music and celebrations are also discouraged for those three months as well. I plan on making sure I have some black to wear.
With only one month left and my project being reviewed by the Institutional Review Board, I am working on preparing myself mentally for the new culture of Tonga. I will be living in a new place, with a new culture where I will know relatively no one. Last week in one of our classes we discussed challenges that people face while in the field. Amongst those mentioned were that often times people will wake up and feel lonely, sad, and question what they are doing in this foreign place thousans of miles from home. In order to avoid this type of thinking I will make lists of what I love about Tonga and its people. I will ask many questions and learn all that I can about the people and their traditions. I will be a student of their culture, and soak in everything I can for the three months that I am there. I hope to leave a good rapport behind for future students planning on conducting field studies in Tonga as well.
With only one month left and my project being reviewed by the Institutional Review Board, I am working on preparing myself mentally for the new culture of Tonga. I will be living in a new place, with a new culture where I will know relatively no one. Last week in one of our classes we discussed challenges that people face while in the field. Amongst those mentioned were that often times people will wake up and feel lonely, sad, and question what they are doing in this foreign place thousans of miles from home. In order to avoid this type of thinking I will make lists of what I love about Tonga and its people. I will ask many questions and learn all that I can about the people and their traditions. I will be a student of their culture, and soak in everything I can for the three months that I am there. I hope to leave a good rapport behind for future students planning on conducting field studies in Tonga as well.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Learning Journal 25
Earlier this week we had to submit our IRB proposals to be reviewed. It wasn't easy, but I think in the end the final draft was pretty decent. I had had it reviewed mulitple times by different peolpe, and though it's not perfect, it is a lot better than the original draft. One of the main problems I encountered with my proposal was a lack of a good focus. My ideas were far too many, I had listed six or seven 'questions' that could be turned into full blown projects all thier own. I had to be reminded that I will only be in Tonga for three months, and that I can take a look at all the other topics I included but that there would be no possible way to really give them justice. In the end, I have chosen to focus on the Tongan perceptions of aging and the elderly with an emphasis on how they view Alzheimer's disease. When interviewing people I can ask about different things, but the main point is to focus on their perceptions.
Also, because I am donig a general observational study on perceptions of aging and of Alzheimer's disease, that essentially elimates the difficulty of working with a vulnerable population because I will not be working with Alzheimer's patients at all. Slight interactions may occur but I will not be interveiwing or studying them. The topics of aging and Alzheimer's can still get sensitive but not to the same degree. This whole research project is coming to life more than ever before and really beginning to seem real. Now I will just cross my fingers and hope the Institutional Review Board passes my project (even accepting it with changes would be perfectly okay with me).
Also, because I am donig a general observational study on perceptions of aging and of Alzheimer's disease, that essentially elimates the difficulty of working with a vulnerable population because I will not be working with Alzheimer's patients at all. Slight interactions may occur but I will not be interveiwing or studying them. The topics of aging and Alzheimer's can still get sensitive but not to the same degree. This whole research project is coming to life more than ever before and really beginning to seem real. Now I will just cross my fingers and hope the Institutional Review Board passes my project (even accepting it with changes would be perfectly okay with me).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)