Pain in Iran; our students on the ground in India

Repression in Iran

I really hate what’s happening in Iran – the Ahmadinejad regime repressing dissent and claiming victory without producing evidence to back their claims. For awhile, there was such energy in the streets. People of all ages, but especially young people, courageously protested. Tweets sprung up all over the world. Then, slowly the iron fist seemed to come down upon the crowd and upon the media and stilled much of the dissent. The spark may be rekindling. I hope so.

I’ve spent hours talking with Iranian people who have so much pain. One spoke of a relative who was arrested last week without cause, someone who’d spent most of his life in the U.S. and was in Iran to visit relatives. The family cannot get any information and don’t know if he’s dead or alive. This is both surreal and all too real. I’m speaking out, because we should not remain silent in the face of such repression. Nor should we take military action. My heart goes out to the Iranian people, wherever they are in the world.

Students in action

For the 1.6 billion people in the world without a sustainable source of household water, there’s no insurance policy for water. Our students are educating, working with communities and bringing water to communities. Check out the photo album from health behavior and health education students Emily Werder and Anna Gieselman. They’re working on water projects with UNICEF in Bangladesh this summer to complete practicum projects for their MPH degrees. Notice the water pumps, people carrying jugs and jars of water, often over long distances in blisteringly hot weather. These are people who lack the basics we take for granted every day when we reach for the faucet, grab a water bottle for the gym or make coffee.

Nine of our students are in India this summer through the Deshpande Foundation for which we’re so grateful. Four of our master’s students in environmental sciences and engineering, Nick DeFelice, Oluwaseyi Ibidapo, Jill Johnston and Patsy Polston, are installing sanitation systems and teaching people in two rural Indian villages how to use them. Here’s the exciting first installment of their reports.

Yasmin Cole-Lewis, Daniel Cothran, Jessica Feingold and Jessica Izquierdo (master’s students in health behavior and health education) and Rajeev Colaco (doctoral candidate in maternal and child health) aim to increase young men’s understanding of gender dynamics and women’s health so that men will be positive influences on women access to  health services.

These students are going to make a world of difference in these villages. Our students are working across North Carolina and around the world this summer learning while doing and making the world a better place in the process.