North Country, NH Flu Exercise Experience (Nov 2005)

I was in New Hampshire two years ago for flu exercise we were conducting with the state. One of the reasons I love my work is the opportunity to constantly learn from the community members I interact with. My job duty was to evaluate a flu clinic in “North County” the upper most part of the state that is pretty rural. So rural that Verizon refuses to provide Internet services and cell phones don’t work. When I was there residents of North Country are more likely to get news from LA and NY then locally because satellites are the only option due to the lack of cable. It is no wonder the community members are so politically charged as they try to get their concerns met. They are pretty frustrated with their limitations especially where there are less developed countries with more communication resources. Their most obvious strength is how tight the community is. It is not often I get to experience a small town feeling in a county. The local high school in Colebrook graduating class had 20 students an odd occurrence for me who graduated forma city school with over 500 classmates. People were so friendly during my visit that I became bit home sick after I left.