What Does Kirstin Do?

Following training and swearing-in, health volunteers in Burkina Faso are expected to complete an Etude du Milieu (Study of Place) during their first three months at site before returning for three more weeks of training (IST). During our Etude, we are just supposed to be observing and asking questions but not start actual projects until after IST. I have just submitted my Etude and thought I would share some of my findings with you. If anyone is interested in more info, let me know. The report is more than 10 pages long and has too much site specific info to post on the internet but I can email it to you. I have only included health info here since I shared some about the village earlier.

The first health center in my community opened in 1957 which seems to be very old for Burkina Faso. New buildings were built by the state in 2005 for the dispensary and maternity. Our COGES was formed in 1988. My CSPS serves over 17,000 people though there is a new CSPS about to open so we should be dropping down to serving about 12,000 people which is still over the suggested population. There are four nurses paid by the state that were assigned here. The CSPS sees an average of 28 patients per day with the most frequent illnesses being: malaria, respiratory infection, diarrheal disease, parasites, and wounds.

The maternity has an average of 52 deliveries per month with only one trained midwife! Thankfully she is helped by a village midwife and the other nurses. The nurses estimate that the average age for first pregnancy is 17. A few years ago many women were still giving birth at home though this has declined. It is estimated that in my area more than 70% of births are at the maternity.

Consultations cost 100 CFA for adults and 50 CFA for children. The average cost for medications is 1000 CFA. Deliveries cost 900 CFA for villagers and are subsidized by the state. Baby weighings (nutritional consultations), vaccinations, and pre-natal consultations are all free now because of subsidies as well. There are about 500 CFA to the dollar so you can do the math.

My job as a health volunteer is to work with the COGES and other community-based organizations. My counterpart is the major, or head nurse, at the CSPS so I will do a lot of work there but also want to get out into the community to reach people that are not coming for health services.

During my etude, I observed many consultations and went to some sensibilizations (French word with no good translation—kind of like educational programs). I helped with baby-weighings twice a week and tried to talk to people that came in for a variety of services.

Now that IST is almost over, I can begin some actual projects. I am very interested in working more with our baby-weighings and incorporating other activities into this such as monitoring malnourished children and giving enriched porridge demonstrations. I also want to do programs on family planning and HIV/AIDS. Since malaria is the number one health concern by far, this is another area that I need to focus on. I am interested in working with teen girls since they seem to know very little about their bodies and how to stay healthy. These are just a few thoughts but I am very excited to get out there and get busy! Everything moves slow in Burkina so I need to be patient but at least I have a few ways to move forward.