UP | uncultured project

I didn’t drink purified cow feces to be sensationalist. I also don’t consider myself a stunt man. This quick video up on my secondary channel on YouTube shows some of the reasons why I did this particular experiment and some of the science behind why I was at virtually no risk in doing it.

I got this SMS on my phone today, it reads:

“It is safe to eat properly cooked chicken meat and fully boiled or fried eggs even under bird flu situation – Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock”.

There is actually a concerted media effort, on the part of the government here in Bangladesh, to try and reduce the hysteria regarding eating eggs and egg products. I was also listening to Bangla-language radio earlier tonight and the DJ – in between songs – was quizzing people about which temperature people need to cook eggs in order for them to be safe enough to eat. He then gave a number where listeners could SMS their responses. I think there was a prize for a random person who got the answer right.

So what exactly is the bird flu? If anyone has ever lived in a dormitory, you know that when someone gets the flu – eventually everyone gets the flu. The bird flu is kind of like that – it is a very easy to catch and can infect both birds and human beings. The problem is that, unlike the kind of flu that you can easily recover from with some rest, the bird flu can be deadly. In fact, there is a particular strain called the H5N1 virus which is both very contagious and very deadly.

Why is bird flu a threat? Given how contagious and deadly H5N1 can be, many scientists believe that the next global pandemic will be caused by Avian Bird Flu. A global pandemic might be hard to imagine – because it has never happened in our generation. But it has happened quite frequently throughout human history. There was the Black Death caused by the Bubonic Plague in the Middle Ages, “the consumption” (aka tuberculosis) a few generations back, and the Polio Epidemics of the early 1900s.

Why don’t have a pandemic already? The reason we are safe for now is because germs take time to mutate. If you’ve ever wondered why, despite medical technology, we can’t cure the common cold – it’s because the cold virus keeps mutating. You might catch a cold several times during your life – but you probably have never been infected by the exact same virus twice. We have the advantage right now because, even though people can get sick from bird flu, they cannot pass it onto others. It’s not contagious between humans – only between birds and humans.

Why should you care? Bird flu was actually one of the topics that Dr. Sachs talked about during the Notre Dame Forum on Global Health. I talked about it as well – and included some clips from Dr. Sachs – in my video about Super Tuesday. Diseases don’t need passports. They can come into any country -  anywhere in the world. That’s especially true with a disease like bird flu – it can be brought into a country by migratory birds even if a country decides to seal its borders. The threat from Bird Flu dwarfs the threat from terrorism.

What does poverty have to do with this? Even though Bird Flu exists in North America, it is most likely that any Bird Flu pandemic would start here in Bangladesh. Why? Because, unlike North America – there isn’t that big a seperation between the urban and the agricultural. The eggs you buy from the supermarket were probably laid by a chicken over a hundred miles (or a thousand miles) away. In Dhaka, when you buy eggs – you can often see the chicken that it came from. People are in much closer contact to poultry and Bird Flu carrying animals than in North America.

People also have less access to health care. In order to avoid costly medical and clinic fees, most poor people here don’t go to the doctor unless they are on the verge of death. If they get infected with the Bird Flu (which would feel just like any regular flu) they are most likely going to try and tough it out (or try and treat it themselves). The poor are not only the first victims of global health issues – they are often the unfortunate incubators for diseases to mutate and grow.

It’s not just the health care system that is lacking here in the Third World. When a farmer in North America has a batch of birds which have Bird Flu – they can get reimbursed through insurance and/or government subsidies provided through tax dollars. When a poor farmer who has a few chickens and sells eggs is ordered to kill his birds due to the flu – he has no safety net: he’s out of business. And it’s usually the poor farmers that are at greater risk because they can’t afford all the equipment needed to keep things sanitary and clean.

It’s such a shame that, in a world where the rich countries are often pro-active in trying to eliminate potential threats from terrorism, we don’t often pay enough attention to equally important (or more dangerous) threats to our safety and security. I’m still waiting for a President to say “we have to fight bird flu over there, so we don’t have to fight bird flu over here”.

What do I think will make the world a better place? Well, that’s what this whole project is about. I don’t have a 100% set-in-stone answer, but I’m trying to share as much of my journey finding that answer. One thing is certain, the more I let Dr. Jeffrey Sachs’s message sink in – the more I believe it to be true.

What will make the world a better place? Ending extreme global poverty.

Why? Because:

1) Ending extreme poverty will keep us all healthier. Global pandemics incubate among the global poor before migrating to richer nations.

Don’t believe me? Well, as Dr. Sachs pointed out, recent studies into the origin of the AIDS virus suggests that it originated in Africa – years and years before it first appeared in America. But, no one cared. Why? Because Africans die – that’s seen as “normal” in this world as Dr. Sachs points out.

2) Ending poverty will help us fight terrorism. Terrorists recruit from the desperate and offer them a fictitious reward for sacrifices the leaders are too cowardly to make themselves.

When I went to the Cyclone Sidr Disaster Area, there was one thing I noticed most – everyone was in shock and everyone was vulnerable. Many had lost loved ones and were struggling to find the strength to carry on. They could be very vulnerable to a message from a radical extremist promising a better life if they just sacrifice themselves to a terrorist cause. Thankfully, Bangladesh isn’t as prone to Islamic Extremism as elsewhere in the world. But, as long as this extreme poverty (and with it extreme desperation) continue – terrorists will always have an easy recruiting base.

3) Ending poverty is critical to maintaining our personal identity as good natured human beings.

I decided to start this project because I couldn’t stand to look at myself in the mirror anymore. As I point out in my about page, everyday, 30,000 children die due to poverty and illnesses that can be easily treated. Am I doing enough? Over half the world – over 3,000,000,000 people – live on less than $2 a day. Am I doing enough? Each year, over 8,000,000 people die because they were simply too poor to stay alive. Am I doing enough? Before this project, all I was doing were just a few paltry donation here and there – usually around Christmas time.

I kind of envied others for not having these thoughts when they saw themselves in the mirror. I think a lot of us don’t think about these issues because we kind of assumed that the problem is so immense and so huge – it can’t possibly be solved and we are too small and insignificant to be a part of the movement towards that goal. But look at me – I’m running on small family donations and my 2006 tax return. It’s not a lot of money – but look how much I’ve been able to do! I’m just one person – currently unemployed. Imagine what we could all do if we tried?

Okay, so how this sounds all high and noble – but how do we get to that goal? It’s simple – we complete the eight Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations and agreed upon by almost every country in the world. We’ve been laxing on our commitments to fund these development goals – but we always seem to find money for other things.

Why is this approach the best?

1) It can appeal to those who are either politically left or right leaning.

What if there was this terrorist cell working in Africa trying to develop a pathogen that would kill many Africans before spreading to Europe and America? It wouldn’t take much effort to get people on both the left and the right to unify and authorize millions and millions of dollars in spending to stop this from happening.

Why then, does the consensus break down when the threat is the same but the situation causing it is a little less dramatic? Because of the poor state of health in Africa, disease festers, mutates, and grows. Nature will create this pandemic on its own if we continue to neglect things – the only thing terrorists need to do is sit back and wait.

Supporting the MDGs isn’t a slippery slope to “one-world government”, global taxation, or the lessening of national sovereignty. It’s a logical, non-partisan, self-interest based course of action.

2) It is not a move towards socialism or communism, nor is it a refutation of market economies.

“Are we trying to prove a theory, or are we trying to save lives?” asked Dr. Sachs in regards to laissez-faire economics. Even if you believe that market economics will eventually benefit everyone – a lot of people can die before that benefit reaches them. The MDGs isn’t akin to starting a Soviet Russian-style command economy. This doesn’t involve telling people what to produce or how to work. Rather, it’s about opening up possibilities. Someone who isn’t fighting off deadly disease can focus on work and building a life. Someone who knows how to read and write has more job options than someone who is illiterate. Those who aren’t starving can aspire to earn a living that is more than just subsistence.

If people can earn a living – they’ll eventually want to live it up.

3) It doesn’t require drastic change or expenditure.

The amount of money required by any individual nation to contribute towards completing the MDGs is in the single digit percentages. In fact, as Dr. Sachs points out, if we stopped Pentagon funding for just ONE DAY – every man, woman, and child in Africa could be protected from Malaria for the next twenty year. Many Americans consider America to be a Christian nation. What if, every Christmas Day, the money that would normally be directed towards military expenditures gets redirected towards projects that reflect the spirit of Jesus and the message of the Bible?

I didn’t have time to make a separate video for the Davos Question on YouTube. But if you want the world leaders to be able to see Episode One of the Uncultured Project (which includes clips of ND 2006 Forum – used with permission) here’s how you can help make that happen. Go to this page and click on “view/vote”. Then there is a search for videos section. Search for unculturedproject – there is no space between “uncultured” and “project”. Episode one should appear – click it, and give it a thumbs up. Voting ends pretty soon actually – so don’t worry if you’ve read this after it’s too late to vote.

Wow – when I first came to Bangladesh, I never thought I’d be staying here for so long. I definitely never expected to be able to see any of my friends until I went back home. But, as fate would have it, one of my friends from Notre Dame is actually coming to Bangladesh. Her name is Alicia and she’s going to be studying for her Master’s in Public Health at BRAC University.

In many respects, I feel that Alicia and I have come to the same destination by the same inspiration – but on different paths. Notre Dame is a huge part of that inspiration. Before I came to Notre Dame as a graduate student, I was able to experience what it is like at other universities and colleges. What makes Notre Dame unique is that it really does inspire you to want to make the world a better place.

It was thanks to Notre Dame – and the cancellation of classes for a day as part of its Campus-Wide Forum on Global Health – that allowed Alicia and I to hear Dr. Jeffrey Sachs for the first time. It was Dr. Jeffrey Sachs who inspired us to believe that poverty can be eliminated in our lifetime. And it was Dr. Sachs’ work that instilled in us an importance on global health as a key to ending extreme poverty.

I’m going to try and encourage Alicia to try and blog (and video blog) as much of her experience as possible. But, I seriously doubt that can happen. The reason I put my academic life on hold to do this project is because it is really hard to blog and video blog when you are in demanding Masters program. This Masters of Public Health program at BRAC University (that Alicia is in) requires extensive field work in remote rural villages.

I don’t mean to sound like an advertisement for ND, but – seriously – if everyone was as committed as the people I’ve met at Notre Dame to try and make the world a better place, can you imagine how much better the world would be?

I just got rid of an infestation of mosquitoes – and I feel stupid for not catching it earlier.

Mosquitoes breed in stagnant and standing water. That means if you have a pool of water (it doesn’t have to be much) they can breed and grow. I had got into the habit of saving buckets of water when there were a regular water outages at the place I am staying. I say were because the outages stopped ever since I showed up with a video camera at the local Water Authority offices.

I had one bucket of water left from the water shortages and hadn’t needed to use it – so it just stayed there for days. When I emptied it out just now – I found a dozen mosquitoes in the bucket. That would explain why I had so many mosquitoes hanging around in my room lately – and the fact that I now have a few big mosquito bites on my arm.

But, once again, it got me thinking: I’m pretty lucky that its this easy to get rid of mosquitoes. I started this blog with a photo of this kid, he’s my reminder of what I’m here. In the corner of the photo is a pool of black water – its old stagnant water mixed with tons of garbage, dirt, and mud. Perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes. The pool actually extended to a nearby slum (called bostis here). You can see the pool leading up to the bosti in this photo:

If I can get bitten by a dozen mosquitoes breeding from a bucket of tap water, can you imagine how many are growing in that puddle of black ooze? And for people living in the slums, getting rid of mosquitoes isn’t as easy as emptying out a bucket of water and calling it a night.

Good night.

While I’m over here trying to make one difference at a time in the battle against malaria, it’s good to know that the Fighting Irish are doing their best to make sure the war against malaria is one we can win for good.

Recently, the Gates Foundation gave the University of Notre Dame $20 million dollars to continue research in the fight against malaria. This funding also helps to create test areas and partnerships in Indonesia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia. They will not only be collecting data but also making sure that we can stay one step ahead in fighting mosquitoes that carry the malaria virus. For example, one of the biggest concerns is that insecticides that work now (like those embedded in the PermaNets I have distributed) might not work in the future as mosquitoes develop a resistance.

This funding will stretch over five-years and will involve the Notre Dame Center for Global Health and Infectious Diseases as well as the Notre Dame College of Engineering. I couldn’t be happier. Some of my best friends from Notre Dame are engineering students. In fact, my roommate before leaving Notre Dame was an engineering grad student. It’s a comforting thought that, while I’m out here doing my part, back on campus some of my friends and people I know are in the same fight.

While, I know we’ve been having a hard time winning lately on the football field, the fight against malaria is one battle the Fighting Irish can’t afford to lose.

You can read the official Notre Dame press release about this here.

I actually learned about Notre Dame’s recent football loss from a friend in New Zealand. He was even able to watch the game live in New Zealand. I knew coming to Bangladesh would mean it would be hard to keep up-to-date on American college football. Afterall, the biggest sport is cricket and one of the popular news stations here is Al Jazeera. But it was a huge loss right? I wouldn’t have wanted to been there for that, right? Wrong.

Real fans (especially the students) stick with each game (whether in the stadium or behind a TV set) from the start of the national anthem and don’t leave until the playing of the “Notre Dame, Our Mother” (the alma mater). They stay with the game whether its raining, snowing, freezing cold, blistering hot, or so dark that not a star shines in the sky. It doesn’t matter if the team is shutting out an opponent or if, like this weekend, the team is almost shut out themselves. You don’t often see that kind of dedication in the world.

Call me crazy – but I hope one day the world can show a fraction of that kind of dedication towards issues like poverty, global health, and third world development. The game may not have been broadcast on television here, but with 120,000,000 people here earning less than $2 a day – most couldn’t afford a television. In a country of over 150,000,000 people – only 300,000 (that’s 0.2%) have the luxury of having internet access. In fact, even if this blog were translated and printed in the local language, over 85,000,000 wouldn’t be able to read this as they are illiterate.

My sadness at missing my first Notre Dame football game in two years is tempered by this fact. If any Fighting Irish fans are reading this, I hope they remember – even when we are losing, we still have so much to be thankful for both on and off the field.