This week was definitely an adventure: Rahul and I went to a community called Ramos Cubilte to pilot test our surveys. On Tuesday, Rahul and I woke up at 5:30 a.m. and hopped in a taxi to ECOSUR. We met Esmerelda, Elena (the ECOSUR translator), and Milton and Ronni (the two nutrition students). After a quick breakfast, we packed the ECOSUR van with three days worth of food, sleeping bags and mats, and two boxes filled with surveys. The drive north to Simojovel (a municipality in Chiapas north of San Cristóbal) was beautiful, blanketed in green mountains and rivers. As soon as we left Simojovel, the road changed from a one-lane paved highway into a dirt road. The further we drove, the worse the road became (and the more I started bouncing around in the back seat!). Because it was raining (it’s the rainy season here in Chiapas), the dirt road turned into a mud bath and, to little surprise, the wheels of our car started spinning. We were stuck. Time to get out in the mud and push the car! After about 30 minutes of trying to dig the car out of the mud and pushing the back of the car, we still had no luck. Luckily, a jeep filled with about 20 passengers traveling between Simojovel and Ramos passed our car and stopped to help us. Finally, the back wheels started to emerge from the mud pit and with one more push, the car was free! We paid our new friends 100 pesos for their help and piled back into the car.
The road to Ramos Cubilete (the community where we would conduct our surveys) became worse as we drove. Finally, at 3:00 (7 hours after we left ECOSUR) we arrived in Ramos Cubilete, where there was no cell service, no internet, and only one house with a working landline. There was a small church, but only one little store that sold chips and cookies, as well as water and basic supplies. We parked our van outside the new Centro de Salud clinic and Esmerelda spoke with the doctor at the clinic and one of the community leaders to ask permission to administer our surveys. They granted us permission and we brought our things to the old Centro de Salud clinic (next to the new one), where we would spend the next two nights.
Esmerelda had a list of 40 families to whom we would administer the surveys (they were the same 40 families who ECOSUR interviewed in 2004 - the last time they came to Ramos Cubilete). The names of the families were called over a loudspeaker across from the Centro de Salud (everyone in the town can hear the loudspeaker), and people started arriving to our workstation in front of the Centro de Salud. While Esmerelda and Elena administered the surveys, Milton took anthropometric measurements (height, weight, waist circumference, and a hemoglobin test for anemia) and Ronni conducted a dietary recall survey for school-aged children. Rahul and I helped Milton with the anthropometric measurements and observed the entire chaotic process. That night (after we had finished surveying 5 families), we ate tortillas and refried beans for dinner and then went to sleep on the floor of the Centro de Salud clinic.
On Wednesday, Rahul and I woke up with the rest of the ECOSUR team at 6:30 a.m. By 8:00 a.m., families were already lining up to be surveyed. In the morning, I was able to pilot test my quantitative survey on the knowledge, attitudes and practices of women and men of reproductive age with respect to risks signs and complications during pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. While administering my survey, I realized that many people did not know the answers to my questions (for example, one of my questions was “can you name any problems that can appear during a preganancy/birth?”). It may be easier if I list some of the events that can occur during pregnancy/birth and the person has to decide if it is ‘normal’ (such as weight gain during pregnancy) or ‘not normal’ (such as swelling of the hands/feet). Another problem with some of my questions was that many people did not know what ‘prenatal care’ meant (for example, I asked “how many times should a pregnant woman go to the Centro de Salud for prenatal care”). I may need to change this question to “how many times should a pregnancy woman go to the Centro de Salud for a check-up during her pregnancy”. Hopefully these changes will yield more accurate and helpful results when I conduct my field work in a few weeks.
After I had piloted my survey a few times, I helped Esmerelda and Elena administer the other surveys. Esmerelda would hand me a household survey packet and I would read the questions to the head of a family and record their answers. The first question asked the head of the family to list the names of all of the people who lived in the home. Many families had ten children: one family had children who were 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 6 and 4 (and this family lived in a 1-room house). Another woman had three children who were under the age of five. While I was filling out the survey, all of the children would crowd around me, touching my blonde hair and laughing when I mispronounced or misspelled their names. Although the majority of the families in Ramos speak ‘Chol’ (an indigenous language), most can speak and understand Spanish very well. As I filled out the survey, I was surprised by the generation gaps: many parents could not read or write, but almost all of their children over the age of 6 could read and write (and many were even learning English in school!). In addition to asking questions about how many years of schooling each person in the family had completed, I also asked about occupation: I learned that all of the men worked in the field (‘campo’), while all of the women worked at home in the kitchen. By the time we finished surveying the last family (around 10:00 p.m.), we were all exhausted. After a quick dinner of tortillas and tomatoes (and cookies), I went to sleep on the floor of one of the consultation rooms in the Centro de Salud clinic.
On Thursday, we finished the last of our surveys in the morning. Some of the schoolchildren came over to practice their English with me and Rahul and ask us about life in the United States. Before we left, a man came over to ask us if we could go visit the home of a sick man to check his blood pressure. I went with Milton to the home (a 1-room house with a concrete floor) and saw a man lying on a hammock, clearly in pain. His blood pressure was normal, but he was complaining of pain in his chest and his abdomen was tender. The family said that the doctor at the Centro de Salud told them they should go to the hospital in Simojovel or Tuxtla Gutiérrez, but the family said they could not find any money to make the trip. The family thanked Milton and I for coming to their home and we left. On the walk back to the Centro de Salud, we talked about how we felt useless, and that we wished there was more that we could have done.
We left Ramos Cubilete around 12:00 p.m. It started to rain, and we began to worry that our car would get stuck in the mud again. Sure enough, the back wheels of our car started to spin and we got stuck. Not 1, not 2, but 3 times! The first time we got stuck, we were lucky because another jeep carrying passengers stopped to help us. We tied a rope between the jeep and our car and the jeep pulled our car out of the mud. The second time we got stuck, however, things didn’t look good. We had accidentally backed into a hole and one of the back tires was stuck. We waited until another jeep came by and again, the passengers helped us put stones in front of the tires and push the car out. A little but up the road, our car got stuck again, but luckily our new friends helped us push the car out again. By the time our car was cleared, everyone was soaked in mud.
Feeling triumphant, we embarked on our journey home to San Cristóbal. We arrived back at our apartment around 7:00 p.m. and washed all the mud off ourselves. After a good meal (I am not going to eat anything that comes in plastic for a while) and a nice hot shower, we passed out. Soon, we will be ready for our next field work adventure :-)
The first time our car got stuck
The road to Ramos Cubilete (the community where we would conduct our surveys) became worse as we drove. Finally, at 3:00 (7 hours after we left ECOSUR) we arrived in Ramos Cubilete, where there was no cell service, no internet, and only one house with a working landline. There was a small church, but only one little store that sold chips and cookies, as well as water and basic supplies. We parked our van outside the new Centro de Salud clinic and Esmerelda spoke with the doctor at the clinic and one of the community leaders to ask permission to administer our surveys. They granted us permission and we brought our things to the old Centro de Salud clinic (next to the new one), where we would spend the next two nights.
Centro de Salud (new)
Esmerelda (purple shirt) and Elena asking permission to do the surveys
Esmerelda had a list of 40 families to whom we would administer the surveys (they were the same 40 families who ECOSUR interviewed in 2004 - the last time they came to Ramos Cubilete). The names of the families were called over a loudspeaker across from the Centro de Salud (everyone in the town can hear the loudspeaker), and people started arriving to our workstation in front of the Centro de Salud. While Esmerelda and Elena administered the surveys, Milton took anthropometric measurements (height, weight, waist circumference, and a hemoglobin test for anemia) and Ronni conducted a dietary recall survey for school-aged children. Rahul and I helped Milton with the anthropometric measurements and observed the entire chaotic process. That night (after we had finished surveying 5 families), we ate tortillas and refried beans for dinner and then went to sleep on the floor of the Centro de Salud clinic.
Rahul and I helping Milton with anthropometric measurements
On Wednesday, Rahul and I woke up with the rest of the ECOSUR team at 6:30 a.m. By 8:00 a.m., families were already lining up to be surveyed. In the morning, I was able to pilot test my quantitative survey on the knowledge, attitudes and practices of women and men of reproductive age with respect to risks signs and complications during pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. While administering my survey, I realized that many people did not know the answers to my questions (for example, one of my questions was “can you name any problems that can appear during a preganancy/birth?”). It may be easier if I list some of the events that can occur during pregnancy/birth and the person has to decide if it is ‘normal’ (such as weight gain during pregnancy) or ‘not normal’ (such as swelling of the hands/feet). Another problem with some of my questions was that many people did not know what ‘prenatal care’ meant (for example, I asked “how many times should a pregnant woman go to the Centro de Salud for prenatal care”). I may need to change this question to “how many times should a pregnancy woman go to the Centro de Salud for a check-up during her pregnancy”. Hopefully these changes will yield more accurate and helpful results when I conduct my field work in a few weeks.
Elena surveying one of the women in her home
After I had piloted my survey a few times, I helped Esmerelda and Elena administer the other surveys. Esmerelda would hand me a household survey packet and I would read the questions to the head of a family and record their answers. The first question asked the head of the family to list the names of all of the people who lived in the home. Many families had ten children: one family had children who were 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 6 and 4 (and this family lived in a 1-room house). Another woman had three children who were under the age of five. While I was filling out the survey, all of the children would crowd around me, touching my blonde hair and laughing when I mispronounced or misspelled their names. Although the majority of the families in Ramos speak ‘Chol’ (an indigenous language), most can speak and understand Spanish very well. As I filled out the survey, I was surprised by the generation gaps: many parents could not read or write, but almost all of their children over the age of 6 could read and write (and many were even learning English in school!). In addition to asking questions about how many years of schooling each person in the family had completed, I also asked about occupation: I learned that all of the men worked in the field (‘campo’), while all of the women worked at home in the kitchen. By the time we finished surveying the last family (around 10:00 p.m.), we were all exhausted. After a quick dinner of tortillas and tomatoes (and cookies), I went to sleep on the floor of one of the consultation rooms in the Centro de Salud clinic.
Me in Ramos :-)
On Thursday, we finished the last of our surveys in the morning. Some of the schoolchildren came over to practice their English with me and Rahul and ask us about life in the United States. Before we left, a man came over to ask us if we could go visit the home of a sick man to check his blood pressure. I went with Milton to the home (a 1-room house with a concrete floor) and saw a man lying on a hammock, clearly in pain. His blood pressure was normal, but he was complaining of pain in his chest and his abdomen was tender. The family said that the doctor at the Centro de Salud told them they should go to the hospital in Simojovel or Tuxtla Gutiérrez, but the family said they could not find any money to make the trip. The family thanked Milton and I for coming to their home and we left. On the walk back to the Centro de Salud, we talked about how we felt useless, and that we wished there was more that we could have done.
Some high school girls who came to talk to us
We left Ramos Cubilete around 12:00 p.m. It started to rain, and we began to worry that our car would get stuck in the mud again. Sure enough, the back wheels of our car started to spin and we got stuck. Not 1, not 2, but 3 times! The first time we got stuck, we were lucky because another jeep carrying passengers stopped to help us. We tied a rope between the jeep and our car and the jeep pulled our car out of the mud. The second time we got stuck, however, things didn’t look good. We had accidentally backed into a hole and one of the back tires was stuck. We waited until another jeep came by and again, the passengers helped us put stones in front of the tires and push the car out. A little but up the road, our car got stuck again, but luckily our new friends helped us push the car out again. By the time our car was cleared, everyone was soaked in mud.
2nd time (on the way back) our car got stuck
Feeling triumphant, we embarked on our journey home to San Cristóbal. We arrived back at our apartment around 7:00 p.m. and washed all the mud off ourselves. After a good meal (I am not going to eat anything that comes in plastic for a while) and a nice hot shower, we passed out. Soon, we will be ready for our next field work adventure :-)
Third time is a charm!
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