Rice and teethOct 27, 2009
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Today was an exciting day in Svay Chrum village. As Tone, a nursing student I work with, and I biked over to the clinic to see some babies, we noticed a crowd of people. It turned out to be the World Food Program's distribution of rice. I learned some of the details from the men who staff the TB clinic. All patients with TB are alotted a certain amount of rice 4 times per year. They also receive iodized salt. I took several pictures of men and women bicycling and moto-ing away with their rice that I will post when I leave the country. Unfortunately, this rice is polished white rice. When the rice is polished, most of the B vitamins are removed. Debbie and I talked today about the possibility of discussing the way that the rice is milled with the World Food Program to see whether we may be able to increase intake of vitamin B in this community. This may be difficult because white rice is considered of higher grade than brown rice.
After passing the rice distribution, Tone and I biked out to two homes to visit babies that were in our study. I love the home visits because they give me a glimpse into rural Cambodian life. As we passed Tone's grade school, he pointed it out to me. I could hear the children inside chanting in unison and the threatening sound of a ruler on the table. We also saw a man basket weaving; traditional crafts seem to be increasing as roads improve and they can be taken more easily to the cities. The home visits were cheeful; we found the babies healthy and happy.
This afternoon, a team of Khmer, Korean and American dentists arrived to stay for 4 days. They set up at the community clinic with a generator to do fillings, pull teeth and make dentures. Many of the individuals we see in the health clinic have never been to a dentist, so this is a great act of service to the community.
