Greetings from the Community Public Health Program’s Global Health Fellow—Spring 2012

Kaao Niao/ขา่วเหนยีว (Sticky News)

Sah-wat dee krap (Greetings)!

As another exploratory semester starts here at Khon

Kaen University (KKU) with CIEE's Community

Health Program (CPH), I wanted to take this

opportunity to introduce myself. As the Global

Health Fellow, I have been charged with the exciting

opportunity to work with college students from all

over the US here in Khon Kaen, Thailand.

I have had the privilege of devoting the last twelve

years of my career engaged in education and global

health initiatives. My international work has focused

on HIV and STI prevention, global health, male

involvement in reproductive health planning,

behavior change, training and education. With the

semester already underway, I am pleased to support

the implementation and creation of courses that meet

rigorous US academic standards in public health

program management and education: classes,

lectures, and in-the-field site visits quickly integrate

classroom learning and experience leading to

maximum growth and internalization of the global

world.

Khon Kaen city provides a rare opportunity for

students to live an authentic international

educational experience. Even though it’s considered a

big city, it may be perhaps the smallest big city

around. The surrounding community embodies the

best traits of local, small-town and friendly Thai and

Northeastern traditions. This lends itself as a unique

chance for our students to experience education at

an internationally recognized institution without the

distractions of other factors, all while jumping into

community-level public health practice.

In my experience as an educator, this program is

unlike any other I have had the pleasure of working

Spring 2012, Issue I February, 2012

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on in the past, so I am excited with the potential our students bring to it. In one short semester program, we

offer a rigorous and unique blend of mini-courses worthy of U.S. academic credit. In fact, this is the second

semester where the students are concurrently enrolled earning credit towards their U.S. institutions and KKU.

This means that they’re more than exchange students; they’re KKU students as well!

The first course, “Public health management of Thailand”, is currently underway. In this course, students take

a multi-disciplinary approach in examining a broad range of global health topics ranging from epidemiological

global health trends of health to the development of health care systems and health care system reform. This

course also has a field trip to another Southeast Asian country; this semester we’re going to Indonesia.

In a few short weeks, we’ll start “Community Public Health”-a combination of classroom instruction and

structured group field visits -- integrating social sciences and public health. We will learn how to use various

community diagnostic tools to analyze community health problems. This course logically sets-up the last,

“Public Health Field Practicum”. Here, the students will be expected to complete a short, though

comprehensive, community health project.

While we’re still in the first course, I am enthusiastic about the student’s progress and the program's trajectory.

An old adage, “Keep your goals in front of you" is alive and well here. CPH not only helps students set goals

and achieve them, it challenges students to learn beyond them, stretching their ability to analyze, plan, and

solve complex issues surrounding public health. Our goals are all around us. Thailand and its welcoming

community, KKU and its dedicated faculty, and CIEE offer our students the warmest greetings and greatest

learning moments. As my uncle says, “I hope you find what you seek”.

All good things,

Lonny Born, Global Health Fellow

Faculty and students from the KKU Faculty of Public Health arranged a welcoming party for CIEE students.

The party included a traditional Laos string tying ceremony to help the spirits find their way back to the

body after a long journey to a new place.

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A Taste of Studying with CIEE Khon Kaen:

Community Public Health

When students decide to sign up for the CIEE Community Public Health program in Thailand, traditional study abroad is the farthest thing from what they get. Within the first few steps off the plane in Bangkok, students are engulfed in a culture and academic experience unlike anything else. It is a program that through the incorporation of classwork, fieldwork, and real life experiences, students will learn first-hand the meaning of public health. The Community Public Health program is broken up into three public health classes and one Thai language class. The first class, PUBH 3001 THPH: Public Health Management of Thailand, which takes place during the first six weeks of the program, is a course that examines the multi-facade world of public health. With help from six current KKU public health faculty and Global Health Fellow, Ajaan (professor) Lonny, students learn about public health in regards to Thailand. Topics discussed during this course include

communicable and non-communicable diseases, nutrition, maternal and child health, health management, and the current health care system in Thailand. This course also incorporates multiple site visits to local hospitals and medical clinics where students can experience the health care system first hand. Lastly, students will spend approximately one week in Vietnam researching their health care system and comparing it back to

the health care system of Thailand. By the end of this course, students should have a solid background in both the divisions of public health and health care in Thailand. The second and third classes, take up the second six weeks of the program, and go hand-in-hand. PUBH 3002 THPH: Community Public Health is a course that teaches students how to use various diagnostic tools to identify and analyze problems in a community and then be able to create a solution to these problems. Taught by two current KKU Public Health faculty: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Supannee-Sriamporn Promthet and Asst. Prof. Pongdech Sarakarn, Community Public Health uses both classroom and overnight stays in villages to grasp the concept of intervention. Students will spend nights in three villages throughout the Northeastern region of Thailand. These villages include the Bung Niam village, the Nong Waeng community, and the Khambon Landfill community. When going into these villages, students will have the opportunity to observe the daily lives of villagers, talk to villagers

As a part of the first course, students go on a variety of site visits to health-

care-related facilities in and around Khon Kaen City.

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during exchanges, and identify habits that could be harmful to the villager’s health. Once students have spent time at all three villages and learned the theory behind community health intervention, it is time to begin the final class, PUBH 3003 THPH: Public Health Field Practicum. During the last three weeks of the semester, students will be divided into groups and asked to pick one of the three villages to work with. Students will then need to identify a current problem in that community, collect and analyze data, and create an intervention plan that will work to improve the current health problem that exists. The intervention plan, in the end of the semester, will be presented both to the Faculty of Public Health at KKU and the chosen village.

When the semester comes to a close, students will leave this program having experienced things they would have never gotten the chance to do in America. This program allows them hands on experience in public health as well as an immersion in a culture unlike anything they have ever seen. Students will hopefully walk away from this experience having grown both academically and personally. Amanda Smith University of South Carolina

Although I had limited knowledge and ex-pectations towards coming to Khon Kaen, I have been pleasantly surprised by the novel experiences that we have encountered each day. We have only been in the city for three weeks, but we already have negotiated our way through the city with secret shortcuts and public transportation mishaps and suc-cesses. We have sussed out the best food-stands that sell our favorite foods for the cheapest, including our daily morning stop for fried donuts, fruit, and Thai iced tea. We have all found our favorite vendors, but we also look forward to meeting many more. Through taking classes at the university, we have encountered many students and locals who are both fascinated and amused by our linguistic and cultural differences. Outside of the classroom, we have taken advantage of our free time through exploring the city through taking “songtao 8,” (minibus) which provides wide access to the city for only 9 baht. Without maps and limited language skills, we have utilized our own personal sense of adventure and intuition to explore the city and have been pleasantly surprised by what we have stumbled upon. Through walking along the lake, we have found new temples, local markets and restaurants. We have also explored outside the city limits, through adventures to villages, community hospitals, temples and the dam that overlooks a beautiful water res-ervoir. Overall, the city and people of Khon Kaen have treated us very well and we all look forward to learning and adventuring further!

Ruthie Mesnard Occidental College

Getting Settled

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Life in the Village

After a lengthy orientation and a four hour drive I arrived at the weaving village, Nong Yang Lan, nervous. I would be staying with my hosts with another student, so it wasn’t the comfort of the experience that was causing my uneasiness. It was a small idea in the back of my head that began to grow in my mind: that the villagers, and Thai people in general, would hate us. Being American, it is not always an enjoyable experience revealing one’s country of origin abroad. I usually get by through mustering out that I am from New York City; many Europeans have forgiven me because to them, New Yorkers are somehow tolerable as opposed to the rest of that horrid country. However I quickly realized upon arrival that this was going to be an entirely different experience. My host mother stood beaming under her stilted house. This smile would reflect the rest of our stay in the village. School children crawled all over us. A village woman grabbed me and another girl from the program, sat us down in her home, squeezed our cheeks, and laughed while we played with her enthusiastic dog. The wonder of the village was not only the general happiness that greeted us, but also the cohesiveness of the members living there. Children roamed freely in large packs, babies were carried from house to house, and neighbors sat together chatting. I would soon find that this was not a unique characteristic of the weaving village I had stayed in. After sharing fruit and laughs with my Thai roommate and her two friends they began to describe their families and villages. My roommate revealed her entire village ate breakfast together. Her friend looked at me with a concerned brow and asked, “Is it true that in America students move far away from their families when they graduate?” Of course Thailand is not always a perfect rosy place. We learned that one of

the problems the village is facing is young people from neighboring villages attending festivals and getting into fistfights. Thailand has also experienced its fair share of national violence largely centered on political clashes and military coups. However, I could not help but feel swept up in the cohesiveness of village life. Having happily grown up in New York City, I found myself feeling jealous of a village upbringing. The point is not that Thai people are somehow infallible beings who have a greater understanding of compassion than those in other countries. However, in the weaving village in Thailand and from the three students I sat and ate fruit with, I felt a sense of community and culture that I had not felt before. And that was pretty great.

Virginia Flatow Bates College

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Farang! Farang!

A group of small children riding their bikes

on the streets chanted as several of us

exchange students walked down the streets

of the Nong Yang Lan village. Many of the

villagers stepped out of their homes and put

their chores aside to watch the farang walk

around the village streets. Stares and smiles

were consistent across the spectators. Those

who spoke English went particularly out of

their way to speak to us, asking us where we

came from, take photos of us and their

families, and ask where we came from,

where we were staying, and why we came to

Thailand.

It is as though being a foreigner (or a farang

as the Thai’s call us) gives an individual an

aura, one that can’t be missed by the locals. I

immediately noticed this high level of daily

attention given to me while walking down

the streets, going to class, riding the songtao

(public transportation) to the city, shopping

at the night market, virtually anywhere I

went. Eyes fixated on me and the rest of the

farang, I felt the pressure to act Thai

appropriate, dress modestly, and blend in

within the Thai society.

The shoulders covered, minimal cleavage,

pants or skirt below the knees, and shoes

with at least a strap around the heel: the

dress code for polite clothing. Now don’t be

threatened by this polite dress code. You can

still wear shorts, sleeveless tops, and flips

flops on a daily basis (I promise that no one

is going to prosecute you). However the way

we present ourselves affects how the Thais

view us as farang.

It is somewhat difficult to conceptualize the

fact that we cannot always dress as we please

despite the fact that some Thais dress in

ways that we are perhaps accustomed to.

However, as farang that come

predominantly from America, we must face

the burden of having a stereotypical

representation of what is an American be the

first impression given to the people within

the Thai society. Therefore we must be

weary of that we wear and how we act can

either feed the American stereotype, or

challenge this sometimes negative image.

It can be difficult to come to a new country where one does not know the language, has little cultural background, and appears completely different than the majority of the people around you. But despite the major differences experienced, and the unintentional attention received, you are certain to find help whenever needed, especially being a farang. Most importantly, I can almost guarantee that you will find a friendly face smiling at you, welcoming you to the beautiful country of Thailand. Digna Pena Mejia

University of Massachusetts Amherst

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Is Beauty Really Skin Deep?

It’s hard enough being in a country where no

one “looks” likes you. But it can be even more

difficult when a majority of the people there

want to look the exact opposite of you. As an

African American woman living in a Southeast

Asian country, this has been my experience and

partly my dilemma thus far.

I came here with no particular preconceived

notion of the current whitening/bleaching

culture. However, I also assumed that I would be

one of few, if even that, of participants of African

heritage.

It is taking some getting used to as I am faced

and reminded every day of my “uniqueness”.

Just recently, a friend and I were walking

through one of the malls here in Khon Kaen.

While walking, we were approached by a Thai

student who had seen us around campus before.

She proceeded to compliment my friend, who is

much lighter than me, about her skin tone,

referring to and preferring the lightness of it. As

I stood in silent observation, I imagined she did

not intend to be rude to me through her

comments, but for that moment at least, I felt

invisible. I wanted to say, “What about me, is my

skin not beautiful too?” But, it was already an

uncomfortable environment and awkward for

me and I did not want to make it worse.

However, the girl went on to explain that the

men here prefer lighter women, which is why

she wanted to be lighter. This brings into

question a concept of beauty that I believe has

roots in western countries. It is my impression,

that in this respect, Thai society has been, for

lack of a better word, “inspired” by many

western countries. The media and those around

us have distorted our views particularly as it

pertains to beauty and self worth so much so

that we have come to believe that we do it for

ourselves and not to please others when its

really the other way around. For the next 3

months or so, I dub myself “poster child for

black beauty” but more so for individual beauty.

Maybe if I can show a couple of people that I

love the way I am, just as I am, I may positively

impact some choices women make in terms of

chemically lightening their skin.

Hannah During

George Washington University

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Drizzling sounds, rising vapor in the middle of mopeds,

and the heavenly fragrance of meat on a stick - welcome to

Khon Kaen and its tastes. The CIEE Khon Kaen

Community Public Health program takes place at the

University of Khon Kaen located in the Northeastern part

of Thailand, also known as Isaan. Students arriving to

Isaan will have the great opportunity to try out different

local specialties ranging from general Thai cooking such as

spicy soups, fried rice, and noodles with pork, beef, or

chicken, to more local delicacies such as green papaya

salad or sticky rice. All these can be easily found behind

any corner or from dozens of different university

cafeterias. For the most adventurous explorers, Thailand’s

delicious fried bugs include cockroaches, maggots, and

crickets, among the many other options that are available

and worth trying (at least once).

Where the salty and spicy dishes are ubiquitous, it is often harder to find sweet desserts.

Small food shacks provide sugary drinks such as Thai or green tea and milk shakes for those

craving it. Local fruits according to the season are also available, as well as some rice-flour

based cakes in some bakeries.

Given that the food around is local, Western snacks and food are more difficult to catch. For

these purposes, one might be luckier trying to haunt restaurants in down town, or the

somewhat pricier malls in the city. For some instant dairy and peanut butter, 7/11’s are

always open, and will come handy at any time.

Jesse Karppinen

College of the Atlantic

Finding Food

On January 29, 2012 Khon Kaen, Thailand

and the Khon Kaen University held an inter-

national marathon, half marathon, mini mara-

thon, and fun run. People from all over the

world- including the United States, Kenya,

Namibia, Australia, and New Zealand came

out to participate in the race. Five of the

competitors were current CIEE staff and stu-

dents. Ajaan Lonny participated in the half

marathon and Amanda, Brenna, Cait, and

Ajaan Jeab participated in the mini marathon.

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Food and Friends

Finding food has gotten easier, but we all do

appreciate a day where we don’t have to

worry about what the menu says or how to

say something and that is exactly what

happened at one of our most memorable

meals thus far. After spending the day

climbing 924 stairs roundtrip to go to a

temple, our peer tutors took us to the

Ubonrat Dam for lunch. Not that I was

expecting much, but when the bus pulled

down to the water and left us at a bamboo

dock I knew it would be a worthwhile

experience. After slowly making our way out

to the “dining room”, which was a bamboo

structure floating

on giant plastic

cans, our tutors

ordered our lunch

as we relaxed and

waited for what

wou ld be a

favorite meal.

Finally we could

see that the food

was coming so we huddled around our three

tables, legs crossed, mouths open. First

there were grilled prawns, fresh out of the

water, and spicy sauce to dip them in.

Served in that first course was enough sticky

rice to feed a small village, a spicy pork and

shallot dish, Som-Thom (green papaya

salad) that is an Isaan specialty, and a very

fresh fish soup. As we devoured that first

round we weren’t really aware that there was

so much more coming… Next thing we knew

there was fried rice with chicken and

vegetables, really tasty roast pork that was a

great vessel for any of the amazing sauces

that were served with our lunch, and lastly

the piece de resistance: the jumping shrimp.

This dish was more or less ordered for the

shock value rather than the actual taste.

When they arrived the shrimp were not

moving but once the plate was set down they

started wrestling around, they jumped off

the plate and onto the table, slowly wriggling

themselves away from us. Of course they

had to be tasted, so with our bite of sticky

rice ready in one hand, we grabbed as many

little shrimps as we could and put it in our

mouths as fast as possible. I mean, in my

opinion, they just tasted like seawater, but

the fact that we

had all just placed

live animals in our

mouth was the

most astounding

part.

I have always used

food as a means of

socializing, but

since coming to

Thailand I have truly come to that

realization. Every meal we have together,

regardless of where it’s from, whether a

stand on the street, the cute little Peacetime

Café, or our cafeteria behind our faculty,

food has brought us together. It allows us to

learn things about each other as well as

foster a strong bond between us all. That

lunch, among many others, has truly

allowed us to build our relationship and that

is what I have taken away from this

experience.

Savannah Augunas

Beloit College

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Council on International Educational Exchange

David Streckfuss - Resident Director dstreckfuss@yahoo.com

Arunee Sriruksa - Assistant Resident Director

aruneee@yahoo.com

Jintana Rattanakhemkorn - Language Director jeabjin@yahoo.com

Lonny Born - Global Health Fellow

ljborn@gmail.com