Tuesday, March 13, 2018 - Iguigig, AK
Yesterday we traveled to Iguigig, AK, which is a small Yupik village. We took two small planes out to the village, which is the only way to get to the village, as they are not on the Alaska road system. Above are two picture one of the view and of one of us standing next to the plane we with Judy, a public health nurse; Brandi, another student; and myself. Upon arrival we had one clinic appointment and spent the rest of the day visiting with those in the village and walking around the village. This village is very self-sufficient. In the summer they have green houses that they have created to grow fresh fruits and vegetables and they have access to the school gym in the evenings as well as a small workout facility that looks out toward the river. They also talked a lot about a six-week native food challenge that the principle started throughout the village. There were a couple levels of this challenge and consisted of eating Alaskan grown food or eating food that was in a 200-mile radius from their home village. Above are two pictures one of the Iguigig town sign and one of a typical house found within the village.
Today we also went on a home visit to an elder where we were able to check her vitals, make her breakfast, and bring her morning medications. And we did a well child exam on a two-year old from the village. The village has gotten a grant to teach the Yupik language to the village and have started doing beginner classes with the adults and the school children as well as starting immersion classes with the younger kids. We went to one of the Yupik immersion classes this morning which consisted of an elder and teacher who were speaking in strictly Yupik and four kids who were about two years old who would say some words and short songs in Yupik but mostly played with each other while the two adults would speak Yupik to them.
Lastly, today we did health presentations at the school. To the highschoolers (9 children altogether) we taught about drinking/Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and healthy living/Diabetes. With the elementary kids (7 children altogether) we taught about healthy living/Diabetes and did a hand washing activity. When teaching the older kids they were very quiet and did not want to ask very many questions so trying to start a discussion was hard but they were still very respectful and listened to the presentation. When teaching the younger kids they were very excited to see us and to tell us about their Yupik names and all of the Yupik words that they knew. They asked lots of questions but they also got off topic very easy so we tried to do activities to keep their attention.
I feel while we were here we were able to see many different aspects of the village and it was interesting to here about all the different things that they were trying to do to be more healthy and also to teach more about their culture and language. Three unique aspects of healthcare for this population include their lack of access to healthcare. In the village they do have a clinic but otherwise have to go to Anchorage for anything major this includes staying in Anchorage when they are pregnant at least thirty days before their due date so that they have access to care at the Native Medical Center. Because of this prevention and wellness is even more important. A second aspect is the difficulty of eating healthy. It is harder for people in the village to access fresh produce; however, by doing the native food challenge they proved they could do it and across the village the results were amazing, many people lost weight and they all tracked there blood sugar levels throughout the challenge and saw much more controlled numbers. This challenge proved they could live healthier; however, it is much harder to do in the villages. Lastly, getting around the village is not easy in the winter especially for the elders. The elder visit that we did today was for an elder who was 74 and has had to stay inside for most of the winter because it is just too hard to walk around in the snow. She is counting the days till the snow melts so that she can start walking up to the school to see the kids or down to the water. The village is currently saving money for an elder van to help bring them to community events, which everyone is very excited about.
During this trip I am surprised at how well I have started to understand the village and some of their values in only three days. In my future career I think it is important to get a much more overarching picture of the people who I am working with and while in the village I was able to start to understand that. I also learned how important it is too understand the access the people have. When talking about healthy foods and exercising it is important to remember what they have access to versus what they might not have access to. Tomorrow I am sad to leave Iguigig but will be having another clinical experience on Thursday at Southcentral Foundation in Anchorage. It is hard to believe that our trip is already more than half over and we will be heading to the airport late Saturday night.
Yesterday we traveled to Iguigig, AK, which is a small Yupik village. We took two small planes out to the village, which is the only way to get to the village, as they are not on the Alaska road system. Above are two picture one of the view and of one of us standing next to the plane we with Judy, a public health nurse; Brandi, another student; and myself. Upon arrival we had one clinic appointment and spent the rest of the day visiting with those in the village and walking around the village. This village is very self-sufficient. In the summer they have green houses that they have created to grow fresh fruits and vegetables and they have access to the school gym in the evenings as well as a small workout facility that looks out toward the river. They also talked a lot about a six-week native food challenge that the principle started throughout the village. There were a couple levels of this challenge and consisted of eating Alaskan grown food or eating food that was in a 200-mile radius from their home village. Above are two pictures one of the Iguigig town sign and one of a typical house found within the village.
Today we also went on a home visit to an elder where we were able to check her vitals, make her breakfast, and bring her morning medications. And we did a well child exam on a two-year old from the village. The village has gotten a grant to teach the Yupik language to the village and have started doing beginner classes with the adults and the school children as well as starting immersion classes with the younger kids. We went to one of the Yupik immersion classes this morning which consisted of an elder and teacher who were speaking in strictly Yupik and four kids who were about two years old who would say some words and short songs in Yupik but mostly played with each other while the two adults would speak Yupik to them.
Lastly, today we did health presentations at the school. To the highschoolers (9 children altogether) we taught about drinking/Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and healthy living/Diabetes. With the elementary kids (7 children altogether) we taught about healthy living/Diabetes and did a hand washing activity. When teaching the older kids they were very quiet and did not want to ask very many questions so trying to start a discussion was hard but they were still very respectful and listened to the presentation. When teaching the younger kids they were very excited to see us and to tell us about their Yupik names and all of the Yupik words that they knew. They asked lots of questions but they also got off topic very easy so we tried to do activities to keep their attention.
I feel while we were here we were able to see many different aspects of the village and it was interesting to here about all the different things that they were trying to do to be more healthy and also to teach more about their culture and language. Three unique aspects of healthcare for this population include their lack of access to healthcare. In the village they do have a clinic but otherwise have to go to Anchorage for anything major this includes staying in Anchorage when they are pregnant at least thirty days before their due date so that they have access to care at the Native Medical Center. Because of this prevention and wellness is even more important. A second aspect is the difficulty of eating healthy. It is harder for people in the village to access fresh produce; however, by doing the native food challenge they proved they could do it and across the village the results were amazing, many people lost weight and they all tracked there blood sugar levels throughout the challenge and saw much more controlled numbers. This challenge proved they could live healthier; however, it is much harder to do in the villages. Lastly, getting around the village is not easy in the winter especially for the elders. The elder visit that we did today was for an elder who was 74 and has had to stay inside for most of the winter because it is just too hard to walk around in the snow. She is counting the days till the snow melts so that she can start walking up to the school to see the kids or down to the water. The village is currently saving money for an elder van to help bring them to community events, which everyone is very excited about.
During this trip I am surprised at how well I have started to understand the village and some of their values in only three days. In my future career I think it is important to get a much more overarching picture of the people who I am working with and while in the village I was able to start to understand that. I also learned how important it is too understand the access the people have. When talking about healthy foods and exercising it is important to remember what they have access to versus what they might not have access to. Tomorrow I am sad to leave Iguigig but will be having another clinical experience on Thursday at Southcentral Foundation in Anchorage. It is hard to believe that our trip is already more than half over and we will be heading to the airport late Saturday night.