Troy Kids Community Garden.
In one ear, I hear a diverse group of seventh-graders, small hands, deep in the soil, competitively betting on whose carrot would grow the biggest, I smile, the excitement of city kids over designing, planting, and maintaining their own gardens is infectious. Seconds later, in the other ear, I hear a fair whisper of “what do carrots taste like?” My smile fades as the reality of someone living 13 years on this earth, and having never had the chance to sink her teeth into a crisp carrot becomes real. I turn to her and joke, “they taste like hard work”, she laughs and says she can’t wait to try them.
Ecuador.
I participated in a 2-week field study that highlighted the interconnections between human use of water resources and health. We studied the influence of land management practices on water quality, participated in community-based water quality monitoring, and learned about the epidemiology of water-borne pathogens that impact human health in rural communities.
