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ICD Travels to Peru By Arti Desai Intricate Incan ruins, magnificent Machu Picchu, heartwarming homestays - from the capital city of Lima to the historic site of Cusco and to our field site in Tuni Grande; Peru is filled with mesmerizing contrasts between traditional and modern influences. My experience in Peru this past summer as part of the Global Health Integrated Community Development (ICD) teaching team was a journey that neither classroom nor books could teach. As a recent graduate of the Global Health program I had the unique opportunity to serve as a course facilitator in Peru.

The little boy sat on the curb, his mind blown by a new highly addictive street drug. He used to play on the soccer field with his friends after school, stretching practice as long as he could before dinner. Just eight years old, his love of athletics had disappeared, along with many friendships when he began using “pasta base,” a byproduct of cocaine processing. “As the problem of drug use in very young children grew in Chile, government officials were determined to take action,” says Pam Luna, DrPH, an alumna of Loma Linda University School of Public Health.

By Ladi Khoddam, 2nd year MPH Global Health student   “That the Powerful Play goes on, and you may contribute a verse...what will your verse be? ~ “Dead Poets Society” stated by the late Robin Williams; original by Walt Whitman As I write this, I’m sitting in an air-conditioned, well-lit, spacious Starbucks in Loma Linda, California, with virtually an unlimited supply of hot (and/or cold, pick your poison) coffee, clean water and mouth-watering pastries. I have access to an abundant amount of resources. I have access to a clean restroom and a working toilet.

About a month ago I was chatting with my cousin and the issue of lawn care came up. I randomly asked if he’d adjusted his watering schedule due to the drought. With a perplexed look he responded, “No, why would I do that?” “Because we’re in a drought” I replied slowly. I didn’t understand how this could be news to him. “We’re always in a drought.

It's been 3 weeks now since I blundered out of that Ethiopian flight #0500, so happy to have fast mobile internet, burritos, and English. Now I can't say that I had terribly bad reverse culture shock but none the less, there have been many times that I forget I am in the land of the free and home of the brave. 1) I don't have to translate into another language for my day to day duties.

An article titled “Experiences of a Rail Yard Community: Life is Hard” will be published in the September issue of the Journal of Environmental Health and is featured on the cover. The article, discussing the merits of Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR), comes out of the Center for Community Resilience, a part the Loma Linda University School of Public Health (LLUSPH). The papers lead author, Dr.

Every year Loma Linda offers pipeline program for local minority students. The goal is to bridge the gap between our overwhelmingly ethnically diverse California population and the somewhat homogenous health care profession population. Throughout the last three summers I’ve had the opportunity to connect with over a hundred low-income minority high school students. While most of the students come from local area high schools and are Latino or African American, we always receive a few Native American students from across the country.

A study of more than 4,000 Asian-Americans in Southern California out of Loma Linda University School of Public Health has found that physical activity among six major Asian-American subgroups (Chinese, Filipino, South Asian, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Korean) is affected by social determinants in each group. Previous studies have been done to identify determinants of physical activity in the U.S., but the majority of this research focuses on the general U.S.

Scars and bruises fascinate me. Before you think me masochistic, let me explain. I think they make great stories and can teach you a lot about a person. I can remember in detail how I received almost all of my scars. I love hearing how other people received their scars, yet it’s not usually appropriate to ask people such things. Recently I had a chance to learn about a unique scar when my office hosted a family fun night for community members attending our La Escuelita Program.

BreatheFree2 is a free, web-based smoking cessation program that provides individuals with the option of going through a stand-alone program by themselves, or connects them with a facilitator-led program in their geographical area. It was launched in early July in Geneva, Switzerland, at the second Global Conference on Health & Lifestyle. Professors at Loma Linda University School of Public Health, Dr. Daniel Handysides, DrPH, and his wife Ms.