Dispatch from Kentucky

I took a very interesting trip last week. I went with a colleague to Kentucky to work on a childhood obesity prevention project in eastern and southern Kentucky. It was fascinating stuff. I think as well-educated, well-resourced adults, we around here already have a difficult enough time preventing obesity - or in some cases, just trying to get rid of 10 pounds of beer weight or resisting a bagel or whatever.

But out where we were working, there are no sidewalks, there are very few ball fields, and there are a lot of mountains and winding roads. Apparently the only folks who go walking in the woods are the ones that you don't want your kids to be near anyway, so hiking is out of the question. The economy is tougher than in many places. The main money makers are found in coal mines and meth labs. We were told that marijuana is one of Kentucky's largest cash crops these days. The nearest place to go grocery shopping isn't close, and if you are lucky enough to get there, you may not have money or food stamps left by mid-month anyway. So trying to tell people that they should exercise more or eat more fruits and vegetables really doesn't work very well.

Pretty much all of the kids in the areas where we worked get school breakfast and school lunch, but it's not always healthy either. For lunch on the last day of training, we had fried pork chops, mashed potatoes with gravy (real gravy!), cornbread stuffing, peas (canned), and coleslaw. What makes this way of eating especially hard to change is that, in an area where parents are poor and want to spoil their kids however they can, good parenting is symbolized by one's ability to feed their kids traditional comfort foods. Talk about a tough habit to break!

It's not that I haven't seen this sort of setting domestically before. When I was in high school, the church youth group went to the Virginia part of Appalachia every year for work camp, so I've seen these settings before. Still, in a way it's even more difficult to see in this country because as a country we are so wealthy, yet so many people live like this.

For what it's worth, though, I should tell you that Eastern Kentucky has a beauty to it that I bet most people don't see. The air is clean, the mountains and forests are damn scenic, and we happened to have great weather too. I'd love to go back. After all, those really are my neighbors out there, and I'd like to give them a hand.

Reversing the Cultural Exchange

I'm still here in DC. But that doesn't mean I can't get interesting and enlightening cultural exchanges happening.

Every year during this week, there is a big global health conference in DC. People come from all over the world to attend panel discussions, round table events, networking opportunities, and all sorts of professional improvement activities. They also come to shop.

One of my colleagues from when I was in Uganda is here. It's his first time in the US, and boy is he having a good time. We have introduced him to the finer things that the US has to offer, including Best Buy, Payless Shoes, and Chipotle burritos. He really likes the carnitas burritos. In the office we have also introduced him to some very good chocolate cake and iced tea. And yesterday we went shopping at Filene's Basement.

He is a bit overwhelmed by everything, but is embracing it all at the same time. And he has had some very funny observations about Americans. I'll share my favorite commentary:

We were waiting for the metro yesterday and I said to him, "Onesmus, you have experienced the metro system in DC, in New York City and in Boston. You are now an expert!" He laughed and said, "Yes, but no one in Uganda will believe me when I tell them that you travel like rats!"

Yes indeed - they will hear that Americans travel to and from work through a network of underground tunnels. What I am most proud of though, is that I have educated yet another outsider that one should always stand right, walk left on the escalator, and wait until people have exited the train before boarding. If he goes home having learned nothing else, I will still feel that I have been a succesful tour guide.