First post!

Blog is all set up and awaiting the first day of my departure on 25/09, please check back then for the start of my updates.

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Vainu Bappu Observatory

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In Bangalore for the weekend, sat in the lobby and mooching off their wi-fi! Last weekend was relaxed as we have had a few weekends of 7-10 hours bus journeys and we went to Bangalore in the next state province today. Our neighbour’s uncle works in the Vainu Bappu observatory in Kavalur (Indian institute of Astrophysics) so we got the bus from Alangayam up the mountain. It is a lot cooler up there so was a really nice walk. The gardens were really well kept with several species of flowers. There were several telescopes in domes getting bigger as we walking further into the grounds. We all squished into the lift and went to the top floor to see the massive telescope. Sadly it was undergoing maintenance so the giant mirror was covered by a blue sheet but we got to see it rotate during testing. There was also a red mesh platform on the top floor around the bottom of the dome and you could see for miles in every direction. The forests and the mountains from there were incredibly beautif
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Ain't no stopping us now

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Today was our meet and greet sessions in home town Alangayam which involved visiting the Primary Healthcare Centre, Block Development Office, all girls school and separate all boys school. Our needs assessment at the PHC has shown that vector-bourne is disease is an important topic to raise awareness for (mosquito protection) but the main health concerns here are sanitation and nutrition with linked rise in type 2 diabetes cases. Sanitation is a recurrent issue as many people and schools do not have toilets so people will just go, away from main roads, and then return to their routines. However, even places that do have toilets need awareness raising regarding basic good hygiene practises such as washing hands and brushing teeth. Type 2 diabetes is becoming more prevalent across India, there are lots of  high sugar content sweets/snacks/drinks that can be purchased cheaply that are becoming part of peoples regular diet. As a result, people are developing a higher tolerance for sugar w
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REACT

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This week was a quiet one in the office as we attended 2 goalball events and PAGSUNG/Youth Alive’s mid-term review. The other project in Ghana, which I have mentioned before, is REACT who had 2 groups, 1 in Tamale and the other in Sandema near Youth Alive. This was their last week in Ghana and featured two goalball events that their project was building up to: a regional competition and a national competition. PAGSUNG attended the nearby regional competition at Tamale Polytechnic University while Youth Alive supported the Sandema team. The regional matches were between the different goalball teams from the communities that they have been working with, the winner of the regional progressed to the national competition on Thursday. During their time here, REACT’s focus was ch allenging the disability stigma. “In Ghana, over 300,000 live with a severe visual impairment. They're often undervalued by those around them - and as a result, excluded by society. All because of a lack
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