Simona

Mrs. Beaudouin, just wanted to let you know that Nathaly, Steph, and I will have fewer internship reflections than everyone else because we started a week later. :)

This was the last week of our internship at Project Healthy Children : ( that was sad enough, but it was even worse because I couldnt go. I had been extreemly sick the entire week and had been out of school the entire time and I had a doctors appointment to go to because of it. In the morning, I called Alicia (our manager) adn explained the situation to her, we talked for a little while about te work that we were doing at PHC adn she told me that she really appreciated the help and time that we put into it. It felt really rewarding to hear that she really appreciated our work and that we actually made a differance in the company!
 * Internship Reflection Week 7**

Im really glad to have had the opportunity to have worked with PHC, it was so interesting to be plunged so far into the world of a non-profit organization, the things they do and the other organizations they work with. It was especially interesting because I got to learn all about a method of aid that I had previously not known very much about: micronutrient food fortification.

Though its really sad that the experience is over, Im really grateful for all the things I learned, and Im sure that we will stay in touch!

Nothing really new happened this week. We spent most of our time finishing the "organization research" assignment which is still really intersting because along with learning so much about PHC were also learning a lot about many other organizations that do similar work.
 * Internship Reflection Week 6**

The major issue that PHC deals with is hunger Promoting micronutrient fortification.
 * Guiding Questions**

“Imagine a world where every time a pregnant woman eats a tortilla or sprinkles seasoning on her food she reduces the chances of her unborn child being born with a debilitating or fatal birth defect by 50% or more; a world where every time a child salts his food they reduce the chances of developing mental retardation; that simply eating a piece of bread does more to prevent blindness than any other single act. That’s the promise of food fortification.”

If food fortification is so simple and effective, what is keeping it from happening all over the world?

Are there political or social issues in the way of creating fortification mills?

If this is so effective, and so inexpensive “for about a nickel a year a child can receive enough Iodine to increase their IQ by 10-15%” why don’t advanced countries participate more in this cause?

Are there cultural issues in the villages themselves that are stopping fortification?

What is the best way to spread awareness about this issue?

President Obama,
 * Letter to Obama**

I strongly feel that it is very important to dedicate a certain portion on our countries International Aid money to be spent on microloan programs. Microloan is a very effective way to precipitate aid, and to really help people that are struggling because of poverty. Aside from being and effective maker of change, it also has very high repayment rates, about 80%, and often includes interest. Microloans work by providing the first step for a person to start earning an income, once the person starts earning their income; they must pay it back to the lender. For example: microloan provides the money for a farmer to buy seeds, the farmer then plants them and sells the harvest, some of the money goes back to the lender while the rest stays in the hands of the person in need, that person can now afford to buy more seeds and expand his or her business. This is a very well known and well-recognized method through which to give international aid. Giving money through microloans would also better the international image of America making our country look more generous and helpful. With the current amount of money being dedicated to international aid, it would be a very good idea to give money in different ways, one of which should definitely be through microloan programs. Microloaning is certainly an established and very effective way to provide international aid to people living in poverty that are in need.

Thank You, Simona Tolchin

I really enjoyed the simulation that we did in class. It was mostly interesting because it helped us have a new outlook on the issues faced by many villages around the world when they need to make important decisions about the future of their people. It was also interesting to see the different questions and views that each group brought up. I feel like I learned a lot about actual village life because each person in our group had a different role in the village we got to see how each person would naturally act. Personally, I really liked my role as the midwife. I was mostly focused on the general wellbeing of the people and especially the women and newborns of my village; but at the same time it was difficult to keep focus on the financial side of our issue. Although, in the end, I feel like we came up with a good general solution that was beneficial to everyone. It worked because we decided to keep focus on the birthing house, but cut things that weren’t completely necessary out. The biggest challenges that we faced were deciding what to cut from the building plans. The entire experience has definitely altered my views on development planning; now I see just how hard it can be to plan the future of a village, it was hard for us to in a fictional situation, I can’t even imagine how hard it would be in real life. I think that I really tried not to come in with any views beforehand about the activity and that helped me experience it more realistically. Overall, I really liked it and liked the new opinions it gave me regarding development.
 * Simulation Reflection**

Because of the snow day on Wednesday and Steph’s mom being sick, our internship was a little different this week, instead of going to the Newton office, we did our work from Beaver. Currently we have two projects: to make portfolios on other companies and to complete the company data base library, both of which we could do from school. Nathaly Steph and I worked in the EC Lab each on our own projects. The research went well and we’re getting a lot done. It is really interesting to be learning so much about what Project Healthy Children does, and especially about the issues that they are trying to combat. It is also great that we are able to help the company while learning as well. Working with PHC raises a lot of very important systemic and social issues. The major issue that PHC deals with is hunger; they deal with it by promoting micronutrient fortification. When I was first learning about the company, this was very interesting to me because is absolutely astounding how much of a difference vitamins make in the daily diet. It is also astounding how simple these issues are to combat and eventually fix, but that not many people know about them and therefore not as much attention is being given to them. An interesting quote from the company website that I found,
 * Internship Week 5**

“Imagine a world where every time a pregnant woman eats a tortilla or sprinkles seasoning on her food she reduces the chances of her unborn child being born with a debilitating or fatal birth defect by 50% or more; a world where every time a child salts his food they reduce the chances of developing mental retardation; that simply eating a piece of bread does more to prevent blindness than any other single act. That’s the promise of food fortification.”

This quote alone raises the question: if food fortification is so simple and effective, what is keeping it from happening all over the world? Are there political or social issues in the way of creating fortification mills? If this is so effective, and so inexpensive “for about a nickel a year a child can receive enough Iodine to increase their IQ by 10-15%” why don’t advanced countries participate more in this cause? Are there cultural issues in the villages themselves that are stopping fortification? What is the best way to spread awareness about this issue? Before this internship, I never knew a lot about the option of food fortification, but now I am very interested in the idea, I am mostly interested in the issues that organizations such as PHC are facing in their efforts to combat this issue.