Envelope #1

Prompt: "What specific social issue will you be addressing during your Fellowship? Absent any in-country exposure, what is your understanding of the scope of this problem?"

A bit belated--I saved the excitement of looking at the envelope prompts until I was on my way to China! But, out of sheer luck, it seems I might have answered it in part when I posted my job descriptions. As mentioned in the previous post, I will be working on planning and implementing both an environmental pollution study as well as a community health survey--my first day will be tomorrow! My specific social issue is mostly environmentalism in China, specifically water pollution.
Prior to hearing about CURA, I did not know that much about environmental efforts in China except that they were generally much needed, but was not at the top of the agenda. Since then, over the course of taking UNIV 305 and writing a research paper about China and pollution, I have definitely learned a lot more. It seems pollution is hard to manage given the diffusion of power within the political structure of China. When smaller government authorities try to address pollution, efforts are limited, i.e. prohibiting the commercial use of firewood to cook a local chicken dish. The Beijing government very recently just made public smoking illegal. However, these laws apply to air pollution. I had the chance to speak with a Chengdu local a week before my trip, who told me the general sentiment among the people there is 'if it can be fixed with money, then it isn't a problem.' In this context, water pollution isn't a problem, since there's water filters and bottled water.
Now that I've been in China for a few days, I also have some in-country exposure to contribute--my layover in Beijing revealed very heavy smog, which I had initially mistaken for fog. While visiting my grandfather in a smaller city Jingjiang, there was still some smog but a blue sky was still visible. In terms of water pollution, Jingjiang has been getting better with each visit. The park waters and streams are much better; they're very clean! I was also impressed to see alongside regular trash cans were recycling bins as well. Overall, the city was cleaner than when I last visited 5 years ago. According to my dad, who goes every year, it's been improving continuously. I'm optimistic that more is being done, and look forward to learning more about such efforts in Chengdu!