Day 16: Recovery

Day 16: Recovery

Everyone (except for Catherine and Allison) was sick. It came at different times and in slightly different ways, but, in total, 15 of us ended up with something along the lines of food poisoning. 

So today, January 20th, was spent relaxing.

 Last night was rough, as other people in my room were in and out of the bathroom most the night. I didn't make it to bed until 1am either, as I had slept most of the previous day. It was a blessing in disguise, though, as I was able to use the wifi freely. The lights on the mountainside and the stars were also beautiful.

I managed to eat something at breakfast and a little more for lunch. On the whole I'm definitely feeling better--just still weak and without an appetite.

Today has afforded everyone a lot of time to reflect on the homestays. While most were glad that we had the experience, there were definitely some things we wished would've gone differently. We all felt horrible being waited on so much, draining Poshyor's resources without giving back in a productive way. I had asked Agnes what she wanted, what I could do to be helpful; she told me, "really, we don't want anything." I wish I could've spent more time with her. We were like two peas in a pod. 

I think something productive we could've done was help pick up trash around the village. It would've been a big undertaking, but we have a sizable group. 

Trash--specifically packaging pollution--is something that goes largely unnoticed in Soil Not Oil. The amount of packaging for many store bought foods is very excessive. Individual cookies will have their own wrappers inside a cardboard box. Packaging, especially for chips, was strewn throughout the village. From my own research, I know that pollution in the jholas, the waterways, is another large issue. I believe it is something that needs to be addressed both locally (with trash pickups and reframing the view of littering, along with increased trash receptacles and waste management services) as well as nationally (with incentives for greener and more efficient packaging). 

Another form of pollution--smoke pollution--is unaddressed. In my homestay, the entire roof of the kitchen was coated in black. Also thanks to ICIMOD, I know that there are many issues surrounding the type of fuel used to burn fires and the effects of their emissions. This is again something that needs to be addressed locally. While Soil Not Oil does a great job of pointing out flaws in international law (ie. Carbon trading), Shiva completely excludes action from the level she argues for most: indigenous villages. 

Another issue briefly discussed was the bridge situation. During the monsoon season, bridges are washed away, making it extremely difficult to access outside healthcare. While Jochim seemed to support the idea of a more permanent, metal bridge being built, I wondered if he would also support a road leading to it. Roads, as we learned from Praful Rao, are correlated with higher levels of landslides, yet a road was also mean faster access to emergency healthcare services. While I'm not sure about the road, it seems that a bridge in and of itself would be a great idea.