I had a great Easter weekend full of adventure. On Good Friday I was at my CSPS weighing babies like normal but it was my first time since IST. My friend Sophie who does them with me casually asked if I was still looking for a dog. I have been asking everyone I meet if they knew where I could get a puppy since the first week I arrived. Everybody says that its not puppy season, that comes with the rains in June. I was feeling frustrated since many of my volunteer friends in other villages had found puppies and I was wanting a buddy!! Anyways I told Sophie that I would love a puppy so as soon as we were done she took me to a house where she heard they had puppies. They had four males that were a month old but I was told to choose from three since I couldnt take the runt. I picked out one with a black nose, white paws and belly, and brown all over. Sophie bought the other two so I can visit his brothers in the future.
Anyways puppy went home with me and everyone was very surprised. There are no dogs in my neighborhood since it is mostly only Christians that have dogs in my village. The kids were scared to death at first and some still wont come near him though he fits in the palm of my hand! Most have quickly realized how fun he is though and started calling him Puppy since thats what I was saying. The name has stuck and I dont think I can change it now so he is officially Puppy. Not the most creative name in the book but I like it better than Patience which was suggested to me by numerous people. I guess thats a popular name here! Puppy hangs out with me at home and sometimes I take him in my bike basket to the market and the CSPS. Its only been two weeks but already everybody asks where he is when I come without him.
Its interesting having a dog here since they are not used to pets. Dogs are for guarding your house or for meat. Yep Christians eat dogs here. Sophie says thats what will happen to Puppys brothers but I cant tell if she is joking. Also on the topic of food, they dont sell dog food so I have to prepare all his meals myself. Usually he eats whatever I eat plus I buy him fresh cows milk from the Fulanis that come into town for the market. It doesnt last long becuase of the heat so this is a treat. I have discovered he really likes beans and also rice when I mix dried up fish with it! He doesnt like carrots though!!
We are now in the middle of hot season and it is awful. My thermometer reaches 120 degrees and there have been times the mercury hits the top. Even at night it is over 100! This makes it nearly impossible to sleep and I have gotten used to always being wet from sweat! I am sleepign outside now in my bug hut tent. Puppy also sleeps outside. I made a little section of my courtyard blocked off for him but he whines when he is left there and I worry about him waking the whole neighborhood so usually he just runs free in my courtyard. He is good most of the night but every morning for the last two weeks he has gotten up at 4 am or a little earlier and wants to play with me. He can see me in the tent but cant get in so whines and jumps on it until I get up. This is going to have to change but I dont know what to do!
OK back to Easter weekend. Saturday morning my PCV neighbor Karla biked to my village. It was her first time here so I was really excited. It was a market day so I showed her around and introduced her to my neighbors and friends. That evening was a special mass at the church. I havent gone to the Catholic church in village though I have repeatedly been asked to come because its all in Bissa and just seemed really boring. I figured Easter was a good time to go. I was told it started at 8 pm and wouldnt be more than an hour and a half. We went to my friends first and then didnt head to church until 9 and it didnt actual start until 9:30. Everyone gathered around outside and they had a big bonfire. Several people started playing bongo drums and there was lots of singing followed by a procession into church. There were about 8 readings I think and a little singing and dancing for each response. After the readings were done we had a big singing and dancing break with people out in the aisles and a group of traditional Bissa dances in front!! It was very exciting and unlike any Catholic church I have been to before!! I didnt understand anything of course but loved the energy. We got home about 1 am--much later than expected but I definetly enjoyed it. I plan to go back for regular mass once in cools down since it was very hot in the church in the middle of the night so I cant imagine how bad it is in the morning.
Sunday Karla and I biked to see An, our other PCV neighbor. She was having a little party for her teacher co-workers and friends. It was fun to hang out together and swap stories about our experiences. An has been here almost two years and heads back to the US in early July. I am sorry that we havent been able to spend more time together since our service overlaps for such a short time. She is being replaced though so I will have another neighbor by the end of summer!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009
In-Service Training
I have finished IST and am definetly ready to return to village after three weeks of classes. Overall I think the training was fairly productive and I learned some new things to use at site but it just got long! The first week I was in Koupela with five other volunteers for language training. I just did French because our teacher didn't speak Bissa. It was very relaxed and we had fun hanging out.
Second week was in Ouaga and included a two day workshop with our COGES presidents on Project Design & Management. Not as useful as I had hoped but I know that our counterparts enjoyed learning more about Peace Corps. We visited several NGO's and other offices in the big city including: UNICEF, World Food Program, UNFPA, PLAN, Catholic Relief Services, and I think I am forgetting somewhere. We also had safety and security, medical, and admin sessions plus two amazing dinners! One night was Mexican at our Country Director's and another was Thai Curry at the SED APCD's! Thanks for keeping us so well fed!!
This last week we were back in Ouahigouya. We spent two days learning about the Hearth Model, a positive deviance program to improve childhood nutrition. I am hoping to do a workshop in village in the next few months and will describe more then. We also did sensibizations in my host village about a variety of health topics. They were trying to give us experience working in front of a group. I saw my host dad and several other family members so that was nice.
We were very excited to welcome a new member to our training group. PC Madagascar was closed a few weeks ago due to political tension and all of the volunteers were sent home or are being transferred. A health volunteer that started a week before us transferred to Burkina Faso. It is exciting that she could arrive during our IST so we could all get to know her. The crazy thing is that Christie-Anne happened to be a high school friend of Christie, a girl in my group. What a small world!!
Along with all the meetings and classes, we had time for some fun. It feels like I did a lot of shopping and got a few things made at the tailor. Also went to a concert at the French Cultural Center that was great. It was a local musician that sang in four different languages including a song about HIV/AIDS in English!
I also attended a Burkina-Guinea World Cup Qualifying Soccer Game. I ended up having to get to the stadium on my own because I was running late and my friends went earlier to buy tickets. I made a friend in the taxi who was also going to the game and he insisted I buy a jersey and talked down the price by more than half as we were trying to get in. I got there right at 6 when the game was suppose to start and for the first time since I arrived, something actually started on time! And they closed the doors locking everyone else out! My friend slipped my ticket through the gate but the guards still wouldn't open the doors for me. There were quite a few people with tickets that were getting really upset that they couldn't get in. Some tried breaking down the gates and others wanted to fight with the guards. Finally, after Burkina scored their first goal, the guard opened the door saying ten people could get in. Everyone mobbed the door and pushed to get in. My taxi friend helped me get through and I eventually found my friends. They were sitting in the cheap seat section and there were a bunch of guys with a bongo drum right behind us. I enjoyed having a beat to dance to as I cheered! Burkina won 4-2. I hear the next game is at the end of June and I hope to attend. I plan to go early though!
Second week was in Ouaga and included a two day workshop with our COGES presidents on Project Design & Management. Not as useful as I had hoped but I know that our counterparts enjoyed learning more about Peace Corps. We visited several NGO's and other offices in the big city including: UNICEF, World Food Program, UNFPA, PLAN, Catholic Relief Services, and I think I am forgetting somewhere. We also had safety and security, medical, and admin sessions plus two amazing dinners! One night was Mexican at our Country Director's and another was Thai Curry at the SED APCD's! Thanks for keeping us so well fed!!
This last week we were back in Ouahigouya. We spent two days learning about the Hearth Model, a positive deviance program to improve childhood nutrition. I am hoping to do a workshop in village in the next few months and will describe more then. We also did sensibizations in my host village about a variety of health topics. They were trying to give us experience working in front of a group. I saw my host dad and several other family members so that was nice.
We were very excited to welcome a new member to our training group. PC Madagascar was closed a few weeks ago due to political tension and all of the volunteers were sent home or are being transferred. A health volunteer that started a week before us transferred to Burkina Faso. It is exciting that she could arrive during our IST so we could all get to know her. The crazy thing is that Christie-Anne happened to be a high school friend of Christie, a girl in my group. What a small world!!
Along with all the meetings and classes, we had time for some fun. It feels like I did a lot of shopping and got a few things made at the tailor. Also went to a concert at the French Cultural Center that was great. It was a local musician that sang in four different languages including a song about HIV/AIDS in English!
I also attended a Burkina-Guinea World Cup Qualifying Soccer Game. I ended up having to get to the stadium on my own because I was running late and my friends went earlier to buy tickets. I made a friend in the taxi who was also going to the game and he insisted I buy a jersey and talked down the price by more than half as we were trying to get in. I got there right at 6 when the game was suppose to start and for the first time since I arrived, something actually started on time! And they closed the doors locking everyone else out! My friend slipped my ticket through the gate but the guards still wouldn't open the doors for me. There were quite a few people with tickets that were getting really upset that they couldn't get in. Some tried breaking down the gates and others wanted to fight with the guards. Finally, after Burkina scored their first goal, the guard opened the door saying ten people could get in. Everyone mobbed the door and pushed to get in. My taxi friend helped me get through and I eventually found my friends. They were sitting in the cheap seat section and there were a bunch of guys with a bongo drum right behind us. I enjoyed having a beat to dance to as I cheered! Burkina won 4-2. I hear the next game is at the end of June and I hope to attend. I plan to go early though!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
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.
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.
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