It Cannot Be Imagined

I joined a friend for a fundraiser for a program called WISER, which is working to see that girls in Muhuru Bay, Kenya graduate high school.

The PhD who runs the program gave a brilliant PowerPoint presentation which included data proving that educating girls will improve the economy and public health of an entire nation, the impact the WISER school has had within the Muhuru Bay community, and how these young women now have a chance at a real future (i.e., don't have to have sex for money or get married at 12 years old).  I heard two truly remarkable facts in her presentation:

• The average resident of this community consumes about 400 calories a day, mostly from corn.  

For comparison, there are 310 calories in the large Starbuck's chai tea latte made with soy milk that I drink about once every 2-3 months.  This drink would comprise the "beverage" part of my breakfast and be accompanied by a further 300+ calories in baked goods.

• Most girls drop out of school during adolescence when they start menstruation because they don't have sanitary pads.  The blood stains their clothes, they are teased, and attempts to construct homemade pads made from newspaper and grass often leads to infections.  The need for this basic hygiene tool is the #1 reason girls at this age have sex (usually with their teacher, according to the slide show): to get the $3 to buy maxipads.

In five minutes, I can be at no less than 3 stores where I have my choice of brand of maxipads.  During her presentation, the speaker showed this image and asked what woman in the room had ever showed such affection for her 'feminine protection.'  She laughed when recalling the "wings" on the pads were lost, of course, on these girls who had no underwear to protect. 

The principal of the school said a few words, too, and was followed by their top academic student, a 16 year-old girl named Masi (sp?).  This brave young woman spoke about her past and how she came to be a student at WISER.  It was a galling story filled with the kind of discrimination and abuse that leaves me tight-lipped and ill.  I tried to picture the evening from her point of view: a  motherless girl in a foreign country, suffering from jet lag and a dinner of rich, unfamiliar food, trying to convince the 300+ mostly white shiny, staring faces of the endured horrors required just so she could attend high school.  It must be so incredibly daunting.  She choked up a few times, and I wondered if it was from recalling her losses or from the humiliation/frustration that her energy in relating her personal trauma would be wasted on us because we could not relate.

When we returned home from our camping trip last weekend, My Beloved and I expressed to each other our thanks and gratitude for the clean, hot water that pours from no less than 5 spigots on demand for pennies.  I try to be aware and grateful of these miracles, but my imagination of deprivation is not sharp enough to understand Masi's life.  I guess maybe that was the point of her story: to help me realize that an experience like hers cannot be imagined.  

Fall Whispers

For the past two days, it has been the most perfect summer weather here.  Mostly, because the humidity has suddenly dropped below 100%, which makes it exceedingly comfortable in comparison.

This is a good thing and it makes me happy.

However,....

I also take this change as a sign that Fall is on the horizon.  My school-aged self instinctively rebels against the winding down of summer.  I'm not a parent, so I am blind to the back-to-school start up of sports clubs, clothes/uniform shopping, new school orientation, and teacher assignments that all my other friends are dealing with.

Yet, my body knows, my Id remembers.  The torture and dread that was school cannot be erased from my own circadian rhythms.

A friend emailed that her youngest had high school orientation today, and it was harder (for both daughter and mother) than the first day of kindergarden because, in addition to a new school, "high school girls are meaner than snakes."  I spent the better part of high school fetal with despair thanks to two bullies, so I can understand her concern.

I look forward to the more pleasant days (climatologically and socially!) made of cooler nights, meteor showers, crisp apples, fall colors, and hope my body learns a new rhythm of joy.

Free image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The Waiting Game

When I was in college, I couldn't wait until I graduated.

When I fell in love, I couldn't wait to get married.

Once I was married, I couldn't wait to move into our own home.

When we moved into our house, I couldn't wait to pay it off.

When I got promoted, I couldn't wait to get to the next level.

Now, I can check all these off.  Graduated, done.  Married and moved, done.  Refi'd and on track for early payment, check.  Promoted and target salary, done.

You'd have thought that all these things were steps to something.  Turns out, they were accomplishments in themselves.

So....what next?  Not a bad question to be asking myself this year of birth milestones.

Statement of Interest

A professor from last quarter, with whom I've been corresponding about science rhetoric in the news, emailed me over the weekend with a friendly suggestion:

Check this out.  Maybe you should go?

(My Beloved said I've been brown-nosing this professor; the only reason I can call it "networking" is that it's done over email.  "Brown-nosing," "networking,"etc., labels be-damned, this is exactly the kind of hat tip that leads to Big Things.)

Turns out, there's a whole group of scientists interested in communicating with the public and a whole group of journalists interested in speaking "science-ese."  Apparently, these two factions found each other and formed the National Association of Science Writers.

The annual meeting is in CT this year and, what's more, they're offering travel fellowships.  Unfortunately, the deadline for fellowship applications was today and, having just learned of 1) the organization and 2) the meeting, I had little time to prepare.  However, every good journalist knows how to cope with tight deadlines, so I sent off my Student Application and Statement of Interest this morning.  Just keep your fingers crossed that joining the organization and applying for a fellowship on the same day is legit!

The workshop titles hold the promise of enlightening my research question (How should scientists communicate in order to affect public change?) by offering issues I'd not considered, such as social media, science literacy, but also issues that are central to my thesis (e.g. statistical accuracy in reporting).

I'm very excited about going and hope the money comes through.  Student membership is a mere $35, but "regular" membership requires peer-review of FIVE published pieces for the layperson and sponsorship by TWO established regular members.  That strikes me as quite a significant hurdle.  Imagine the experience and network the "regular" attendees could share!

Reporting on one of the workshop events is part of the package in accepting a fellowship.  I wonder if I could count that towards my 5 published pieces....