Day 6

Today we began with a documentary called "Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare" which discussed inherent challenges and flaws in our nation's healthcare system. It shined light on the tendency of prescribing pharmaceuticals to patients while overlooking the lifestyle and behavioral issues behind their problems, and through that spending less time caring for each individual patient. The film described today's healthcare as a "disease-care system [instead of] a healthcare system" focused on quick fixes over prevention and profits over patient care.

We continued the day by visiting Temple Zion Baptist Church where we met Terri from Healthy Columbia and helped clear the land, that the congregation hopes to transform into a trail, by pulling out weeds and clearing branches. Luckily, there was much improvement in the weather and the wind had died down significantly. After a couple hours of working, we sat down to eat our lunches as Terri discussed the importance of self-care as we continued our lifelong service to others, reminiscing on a recent conversation she had with her social work intern Chris.

The group then piled into the van to continue exploring the various disparities in the community. Terri had previously mentioned the impact of HUD subsidies in certain areas of Columbia and suggested that we drive past them to experience it first-hand. We first circled through Prescott Manor, a small subsidized community that seemed relatively well-developed and maintained. This was immediately followed by a view of Ames Manor, a property directly adjacent to Prescott Manor that received no such funding, and the difference was appalling to say the least. The sidewalks were rocky, windows were smashed in, and the entire atmosphere was that of a whole new world. Separated by practically 50 feet were two vastly different communities simply due to the impact of government funding.

In the short break that followed, the group walked to downtown Columbia where we visited Finlay Park and found an amazing view of the city.

We finally worked our way back to Temple Zion Baptist Church where we got to observe another Healthy Columbia Cheap Eats class led by Tyler, a Masters student at USC studying public health. While recreating the same meals from the day before, we had the opportunity to meet completely new people and learn a little bit about them. It was inspiring to hear all the stories they had to tell and see how they were contributing to their community's well-being.

-Rachael and Chaitali