The trip to Te Wouj (translates as "red dirt") is not for the faint of heart. The village is not accessible by vehicle. The journey first requires a rocky descent down to a not-dry river bed.
Depending on your heigth (I'm only 4'10"), the river runs mid-calf to mid-thigh level if the rain has not been too much.
Whereas the locals simply stepped from shore to water and marched across, us "newbies" (not wanting to spend the day in wet socks and tennis shoes) stopped to change into our Amazon.com-ordered "water shoes".
Truth be told, after foot fumbling through the river, I had a brain-wacking moment as we sat down to change from wet "water shoes" to dry socks and tennies.
The people we were on the way to serve have no clean-water supply. In fact, they drink from the river we just crossed. They have no electricity, no public sewer system (you can imagine what that means) and here I was... enjoying dry socks and tennis shoes.
The descent up to the school was a challenge.
THE GOAL: Using World Health Organization measuring standards, determine the malnutrition level of the village children.
STEP ONE: Gather identifying information (name, parent/guardian info, age/DOB, height and weight.)
STEP TWO: Using a HemoCue 801 hemoglobin analyzer, Dr. Patricia Webster (pediatric intensivist) secured blood samples for hemoglobin checks.
The children were incredibly brave! Of the 134 children tested, only one shed some tears. Of course, the candy and balloon selections afterwards made it all worthwhile.
And they loved the pretty colored bandaids!
Preliminary data suggested a malnutrition level four times higher than the average population (according to World Health Organization measuring criteria). Nearly half the children registered below-normal hemoglobin levels while other children exhibited "stunting" (impaired growth and development from longstanding insufficient nutrition).