This last week, 23/7/2012 to 29/7/2012, I have been working on a Health Promoting School workshop with my fellow interns for two schools-Little Flower School and Pravara Girls English Medium School. Before we designed the workshop we talked to the principals about what they already had implemented as far as health promotion, major health problems they faced, and ways we can help, etc. One of the major barriers, in my eyes, is that health is not a part of their school curriculum. Instead, students learn about the different components of health through workshops/seminars. They also invite health experts to talk about certain issues twice a year. It is compulsory for students to participate in some form of physical activity, and they have school sports available as well. The Little Flower School contained a guidance counselor that students/staff could come talk to if they faced a problem.  Note: In both workshops, there were 50-60 students in 8-10th grade. After a lot of back and forth discussion of how to design the workshop, we agreed on splitting the students into six groups. Each group will focus on one component of health through a case study. The students will then present what they learned to the entire class. The six health components included physical activity, mental health, personal health, disease, nutrition and environmental health. I lead mental health. My case study was depression, but I didn't fully use it. I wanted the students to understand the definition of mental health, its importance, as well as addressing the why questions. Why are Indians suffering from mental health disorders? One of the things I did come across having to further explain was stigma. I'm sure stigma is just called something else here (like a lot of things), but I had to explain stigma to them. So I went further into what can stigma do to someone who has a mental health disorder and then what are the common stigmas in India. The stigmas were basically the same as in the United States, "they're scary/crazy/different; they abuse drugs and alcohol or it's all in their head." I then tailored it to how can we reverse these impacts not only as an individual but as a school community. We also discussed stress and its relationship with sleep. The less you sleep-the more you're stressed! We then got back into a huge group; two students from each group shared their findings from the small group discussions. We then had them shout out the most important barriers they saw in their school community as well as their local community. The five most important barriers were addressed through short term goals. The staff was very supportive of following the short term goals that the students made-which was great!  Note-some things I noticed throughout the workshop. In order for teachers to punish students, they make the student sit by the opposite sex. However, in the workshop they were all mixed together, but right after we came back from lunch to finish the workshop they were segregated. The girls on one side of the room, the boys on the other. Almost every time we visit a school, there is an inauguration, where they honor us as guests by giving us gifts (mainly red roses). One time we had a huge necklace of red roses! They really know how to make a person feel welcome. I really enjoyed putting together a health workshop for the students. I felt as though when they walked out of the room, they learned at least one thing new-and that's what it's all about right? I also feel that they felt important with making the short term goals. Maybe they can't solve it all, but they can make small differences that then can encourage other schools to do the same-it then becomes a huge difference! What else, we are going to the market tomorrow. Every Wednesday they have a market. My stomach has finally got accustomed to the food-so little by little I have been buying fruits! We also put together a workshop report for each school this last weekend, and we get our own copies! The spices are super cheap here, so please let me know if I can grab some spices for you. At home, spices can go up into the double digits-so it's much better here! Also, tomorrow is foundations day, so we have the day off. My next goal is to plan out what Josh and I are going to do the week after my internship is over! We were thinking Dehli, Taj Mahal, Katmundu in Nepal? Any suggestions?! Let me know! I also got my schedule for the month of August! I am posted different places throughout the hospital mainly for a maximum of two days! First I am posted in the maternity ward, ophthalmology, family medicine, gynecology, surgery ward, public health project, and orthopedics. I also am visiting rural health centers in the tribal/remote areas of India, which will be very exciting to see! So it looks like I have a full month ahead of me!