Canadian scientist discovers the magic of saving lives

As America prepares to eat itself comatose for Thanksgiving, it’s good to remember there are people in the world so poor they cannot get enough life-sustaining nutrients.

(Via Wikimedia)

This is the case in parts of Cambodia, where iron deficiency is a huge problem. Sixty per cent of Cambodian women face premature labour, hemorrhaging during childbirth and poor brain development among their babies simply because they cannot afford meat or other iron-rich foods. The solution to this problem is to convince Cambodians to cook with iron — either using cast iron pots (which they find awkward and expensive) or to throw a chunk of metal into their stews (which they, understandably, find weird).

This is the challenge that faced Chris Charles, a recent bachelor of biomedical science graduate from the University of Guelph in Canada. Chris was in Cambodia, working with Cambodian scientists to find a more attractive way to get poor families, who are suspicious of change, to adopt new cooking methods.

“We knew some random piece of ugly metal wouldn’t work . . . so we had to come up with an attractive idea,” he said. “It became a challenge in social marketing.”

The research team first tried to “sell” the cooks on adding a small circle of iron to their cooking pots. They didn’t like it. Then they tried to make the iron more decorative, crafting it into a lotus flower. Still no luck. Finally, the team looked deep into local traditions and found something magical.

See what it is after the break.

(Picture via The Record)

They cast the iron in the shape of a fish. But not any fish. A river species believed to bring good luck.

Chris told the Toronto Star: “We designed it about 3 or 4 inches long, small enough to be stirred easily but large enough to provide up to about 75 per cent of the daily iron requirement.” He explained that they found a local scrap metal worker who could make them for $1.50 each, and so far they have been reusing the fish roughly three years. “We’re getting fantastic results; there seems to be a huge decrease in anemia and the village women say they feel good, no dizziness, fewer headaches. The iron fish is incredibly powerful.”

It may seem strange to some of us that a scientist embraced superstition to solve a social problem, but it should not. Belief and tradition are all that sustain many people in the world through starvation, warfare and poverty. By embracing the culture he was trying to help (Chris also learned to speak Khmer and caught dengue fever while living in a village with no running water, no electricity and no connectivity) he did the thing all social marketers should: understand and respect your audience.

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