I have just returned home today from one of my favorite activities yet in Peace Corps. My friend Heather, along with help from myself and other PCVs, planned a conference for girls in Kongoussi. Ten PCVs from all over each brought two girls in middle or high school. My participants were two of the older girls in my club and I believe are seen as leaders among their peers, Adinatou, age 18, and Assetou, age 16. Assetou had been to Ouaga before which we had to pass through before continuing north but hadn't done much travelling. Adinatou had never been farther than a town 20 km from our village and had never been in a vehicle. Can you imagine that? Both had so many new experiences in the last five days!
The main theme was family planning but we included a lot of other information including: reproductive anatomy, puberty, youth and sexuality, differences between sex and gender, choosing a partner, the rights of youth and women, female genital mutilation, and setting and
achieving goals. Because we promised their parents to keep an eye on them since there was concern about them getting knocked up in the big city instead of just learning about unwanted pregnancies, we came up with many evening activities as well. We made liquid soap, had a guest panel of women in influential local positions, made mango jam, and I taught them to make a type of local jewelry that is popular here and to make paper. Each pair of girls was given an egg and birth certificate that became their baby for the week. They had to carry with them everywhere and lost points for not having it with them, cracking it, or answering questions wrong about what to do in a variety of situations. My girls tied for first place but I reminded them they still aren't ready for their own babies. Last night we had a closing candlelit ceremony where we told them to pass their flame of knowledge on and gave each girl a goody bag with pencils, markers, hair ties, soap, paper, and condoms to give demos. This was followed by a dance party!
The week reminded me of my wonderful times going to 4-H camps and conferences - the many amazing new experiences, making new friends,and going to new places. This was a huge part of my childhood and adolescences but is very rare here for youth. There really aren't many opportunities like this so I am so thrilled to have been a part of providing this for a great group of girls.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Baby Girl Lene
I have excitig news and thanks to my amazing sister, I now have a smart phone so can get online in village, so I want to share right away. Wait, back up. Did you catch that? I may not have electricity, running water, or public transportation but I can send emails from my own humble abode in the middle of an African village!
So on to my news. There is a new baby in the Lene family who also happens to be my family. Here is Africa, your siblings' and cousins' children are considered your own so really I have a new baby!
I have seen hundreds of babies born in the last year and half and there were 3 baby girls born into my family during my first few months at site. All these are exciting events for me but its even better now that I know the mom well, have been here throughout the pregnancy and really feel like a part of this family!
This is the sixth pregnancy and sixth child (unfortunately its often not the same number with so many miscarriages and childhood deaths) for the mom. I have written about and posted pictures of her other kids since I spend a lot of time with them. The new baby joins Barkissa (age 13), Yacouba (11), Djoudatou (7); my little peanut Arachide (4) and Omairatou (22 months). I would always say that's a lot of kids and a lot of pregnancies for one woman and I am even more convinced after watching their mom, Adjaratou. She is absolutely exhausted and this pregnancy was very hard on her body. Like so many pregnancies around the world, this was unplanned but not unwanted since as they tell me, it is a gift from God. I agree with that but also see the unmet needs of her older children and the exhaustion in her face. She has told me multiple times that she doesn't want more children and we have discussed family planning so hopefully can prevent any future pregnancies.
I have been working with Adjaratou throughout her pregnancy about how to stay healthy and help her baby including going to 4 prenatal consultations (which I usually help with), taking iron pills and a malaria prophylatic,planning ahead to give birth at the maternity, and eating well. I try to do this with all women that I see are pregnant but its been much easier and more important to me when its my "sister."
Adjaratou and I went to the maternity Sunday evening when she thought she might be in labor. She was but birth was a while away so she wanted to go home to sleep. She rested all day yesterday before going back to the maternity last night about 8 pm when she thought she it was close.
At the maternity, she laid on the floor alone after being checked to see how dilated she was. When the baby's head started to crown, we helped her climb onto the birthing table and a few minutes later (at 9:03 pm) there was a new baby girl. She weighs 3 kg and has a head full of curly hair. No pictures yet but I promise to post some as soon as I get to the real internet.
One of the ideas I have really tried to introduce to women here is the importance of beginning to breastfeed immediately after giving birth because it is good for both mom and baby. It helps stop bleeding after the birth, provides the baby with antibodies to prevent infections and illness, and encourages bonding. Unfortunately there is an old belief here that colostrum, the first milk, is bad for babies so it is often thrown out or women wait at least a day before starting to breastfeed. This is an old custom that is hard to break especially because its often the grandma, mother of the husband, who tell women to do this and doesn't want to change. I tried to explain this all to Adjaratou and was thrilled that she tried to breastfeed and the baby latched on less than 10 minutes after being born! Many women have come to visit the baby and mama and commented about her eating already. She tells them I told her to start breastfeeding and the women are surprised but seem to accept. Its these little things, individuals that will make small changes, that is the best and I feel most important part of my work here!
The next culture practice I will challenge with this baby and have done with many others is the thought that infants need water. I explain that milk is made up of water and is cleaner and healthier for the baby plus they won't drink enough milk if they fill up on water but women still want to give their infants water and other foods. This too is slowly changing and, when questioned, many women say babies shouldn't eat or drink anything but breastmilk for the first six months. This knowledge must come first and hopefully there will be some behavior change eventually.
Its amazing how this little girl represents so much of my experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer. It saddens me to think I won't be here to watch her take her first steps as I have with the other babies born in my family though.
So on to my news. There is a new baby in the Lene family who also happens to be my family. Here is Africa, your siblings' and cousins' children are considered your own so really I have a new baby!
I have seen hundreds of babies born in the last year and half and there were 3 baby girls born into my family during my first few months at site. All these are exciting events for me but its even better now that I know the mom well, have been here throughout the pregnancy and really feel like a part of this family!
This is the sixth pregnancy and sixth child (unfortunately its often not the same number with so many miscarriages and childhood deaths) for the mom. I have written about and posted pictures of her other kids since I spend a lot of time with them. The new baby joins Barkissa (age 13), Yacouba (11), Djoudatou (7); my little peanut Arachide (4) and Omairatou (22 months). I would always say that's a lot of kids and a lot of pregnancies for one woman and I am even more convinced after watching their mom, Adjaratou. She is absolutely exhausted and this pregnancy was very hard on her body. Like so many pregnancies around the world, this was unplanned but not unwanted since as they tell me, it is a gift from God. I agree with that but also see the unmet needs of her older children and the exhaustion in her face. She has told me multiple times that she doesn't want more children and we have discussed family planning so hopefully can prevent any future pregnancies.
I have been working with Adjaratou throughout her pregnancy about how to stay healthy and help her baby including going to 4 prenatal consultations (which I usually help with), taking iron pills and a malaria prophylatic,planning ahead to give birth at the maternity, and eating well. I try to do this with all women that I see are pregnant but its been much easier and more important to me when its my "sister."
Adjaratou and I went to the maternity Sunday evening when she thought she might be in labor. She was but birth was a while away so she wanted to go home to sleep. She rested all day yesterday before going back to the maternity last night about 8 pm when she thought she it was close.
At the maternity, she laid on the floor alone after being checked to see how dilated she was. When the baby's head started to crown, we helped her climb onto the birthing table and a few minutes later (at 9:03 pm) there was a new baby girl. She weighs 3 kg and has a head full of curly hair. No pictures yet but I promise to post some as soon as I get to the real internet.
One of the ideas I have really tried to introduce to women here is the importance of beginning to breastfeed immediately after giving birth because it is good for both mom and baby. It helps stop bleeding after the birth, provides the baby with antibodies to prevent infections and illness, and encourages bonding. Unfortunately there is an old belief here that colostrum, the first milk, is bad for babies so it is often thrown out or women wait at least a day before starting to breastfeed. This is an old custom that is hard to break especially because its often the grandma, mother of the husband, who tell women to do this and doesn't want to change. I tried to explain this all to Adjaratou and was thrilled that she tried to breastfeed and the baby latched on less than 10 minutes after being born! Many women have come to visit the baby and mama and commented about her eating already. She tells them I told her to start breastfeeding and the women are surprised but seem to accept. Its these little things, individuals that will make small changes, that is the best and I feel most important part of my work here!
The next culture practice I will challenge with this baby and have done with many others is the thought that infants need water. I explain that milk is made up of water and is cleaner and healthier for the baby plus they won't drink enough milk if they fill up on water but women still want to give their infants water and other foods. This too is slowly changing and, when questioned, many women say babies shouldn't eat or drink anything but breastmilk for the first six months. This knowledge must come first and hopefully there will be some behavior change eventually.
Its amazing how this little girl represents so much of my experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer. It saddens me to think I won't be here to watch her take her first steps as I have with the other babies born in my family though.
Friday, May 7, 2010
What's For Dinner?
My mom asked me a long time ago to talk more about common food here and to take pictures. I never got around to get very many pictures but my friend Yoshi has photos that she uses in programs to teach about proper nutrition. I'm uploaded a variety of them and wrote short descriptions so check out Picasa to learn more about what my villagers eat as well as what I live off of here.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
MCH Nutrition Workshop
The last two months I have been very busy planning a maternal and child health (MCH) workshop focused on nutrition in Tenkodogo. Six PCVs participated and each brought two villagers that were interested in doing projects with them once they return to site. I ran into lots of problems planning the workshop and was very frustrated leading up to and during it with all of the behind-the-scenes stuff but I think the actual event went really well. Everyone seemed to have learned a lot and enjoyed themselves and I hope will apply what they learned back in village.
We covered a variety of topics that fit under the main theme and I tried to include lots of activities, discussions, and visuals to make it more intersting. Workshops and meetings here are usually very formal with a facilitator that lectures to participants the entire time. When it comes to questions, everyone asks them at the end and he writes them all down before answering them all in order. If there are powerpoints, they are just slides full of sentences. In other words, not at all interesting! The facilitators that I tried to work with really didn't understand what I was trying to describe when I said I wanted it to be interesting and in simple terms but I think they were impressed and learned about a more American style for conferences.
Our basic topics were malnutrition, proper nutrition and the 3 food groups (yep we use 3 in Burkina), moringa, breastfeeding, weaning, baby nutrition and making enriched porridge, hygiene, sanitation, childhood vaccinations, prenatal consultations and giving birth at the health center. We also focused on specific nutrition needs of pregnant and breastfeeding women and young children. I included a session on family planning as well since if there are less mouths to feed, everybody can have better nutrition. The last day we talked about womens group that can offer support, education, or do income generating activites such as savings & credit clubs, gardening, soapmaking, and making packaged porridge to sell. We also talked about different ways to present the info in village such as giving sensibilizations and how to make them interesting, working with a theatre group, doing porridge demonstrations, and doing large murals on walls with health topics.
The final activity was each of the village groups had to prepare a sensibilization and then give it to the full group in order to get some practice with public speaking and thinking of making a presentation interesting. None of them were wonderful but at least its a start and hopefully they can make improvements as they work with their volunteer back at site. Everyone also wrote an action plan of activities they want to do in village so I am excited to hear what they end up doing.
I brought three participants since I was the closest and there was an extra space. They included my village midwife and best friend Dabre who does all my porridge demos with me as well as prenatal consultations and deliveries at the CSPS, Lene who also works at my CSPS and does a lot of the childhood vaccinations and helps out with lots of other stuff, and Assetou who works at a new health center in the next village over and does many of the same things as Dabre but wants to do more activies with women. I am excited to continue working with them back in village now.
I've posted many pictures of the event. I am looking forward to spending some time in village after travelling to Tenkodogo 3 times during April for planning this and a trip to Ouaga for a work meeting. I have been out of village for at least a night every week for the last 6 weeks so its been hard to feel settled or have any kind of routine. Even now I will only be in village for three weeks with one short trip out before I have several more events planned that will take me through until August. I'm exhausted from all of the travels and don't want to think about everything coming up. Crazy schedule!
We covered a variety of topics that fit under the main theme and I tried to include lots of activities, discussions, and visuals to make it more intersting. Workshops and meetings here are usually very formal with a facilitator that lectures to participants the entire time. When it comes to questions, everyone asks them at the end and he writes them all down before answering them all in order. If there are powerpoints, they are just slides full of sentences. In other words, not at all interesting! The facilitators that I tried to work with really didn't understand what I was trying to describe when I said I wanted it to be interesting and in simple terms but I think they were impressed and learned about a more American style for conferences.
Our basic topics were malnutrition, proper nutrition and the 3 food groups (yep we use 3 in Burkina), moringa, breastfeeding, weaning, baby nutrition and making enriched porridge, hygiene, sanitation, childhood vaccinations, prenatal consultations and giving birth at the health center. We also focused on specific nutrition needs of pregnant and breastfeeding women and young children. I included a session on family planning as well since if there are less mouths to feed, everybody can have better nutrition. The last day we talked about womens group that can offer support, education, or do income generating activites such as savings & credit clubs, gardening, soapmaking, and making packaged porridge to sell. We also talked about different ways to present the info in village such as giving sensibilizations and how to make them interesting, working with a theatre group, doing porridge demonstrations, and doing large murals on walls with health topics.
The final activity was each of the village groups had to prepare a sensibilization and then give it to the full group in order to get some practice with public speaking and thinking of making a presentation interesting. None of them were wonderful but at least its a start and hopefully they can make improvements as they work with their volunteer back at site. Everyone also wrote an action plan of activities they want to do in village so I am excited to hear what they end up doing.
I brought three participants since I was the closest and there was an extra space. They included my village midwife and best friend Dabre who does all my porridge demos with me as well as prenatal consultations and deliveries at the CSPS, Lene who also works at my CSPS and does a lot of the childhood vaccinations and helps out with lots of other stuff, and Assetou who works at a new health center in the next village over and does many of the same things as Dabre but wants to do more activies with women. I am excited to continue working with them back in village now.
I've posted many pictures of the event. I am looking forward to spending some time in village after travelling to Tenkodogo 3 times during April for planning this and a trip to Ouaga for a work meeting. I have been out of village for at least a night every week for the last 6 weeks so its been hard to feel settled or have any kind of routine. Even now I will only be in village for three weeks with one short trip out before I have several more events planned that will take me through until August. I'm exhausted from all of the travels and don't want to think about everything coming up. Crazy schedule!
Monday, April 19, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Traditional Bissa Dancers
There is a group of young women in my village that practice and perform traditional Bissa dancing. I think they are fascinating to watch and was excited to get a video of them when they were just playing around after a big performance they did in Tenkodogo back in February. Several of the girls are in my family and like to come hang out at my house. Aren't they great?
Damn Hot
Hot season is in full force and I forgot just how awful it gets. I think we've been hitting highs at about 110-115 degrees Fahrenheit every day and it maybe cools down to 90 degrees at night. Here's a few anecdotes just to help everyone back home understand my suffering. I have been sleeping outside for about 2 months now because my little cement house with tin roof becomes an oven throughout the day and doesn't cool off until 2 or 3 am. I am up before 6 am every morning because its too hot to sleep any longer. By 9 am I am sweating profusely even if all I am doing is sitting in the shade. My Blue Band margarine is no longer a solid. Leftovers (which I used to be able to keep for a day) start smelling really funky after 2 or 3 hours. My metal chairs are uncomfortably hot to touch even when they are in the shade. Puppy hates the heat so much that he stares up at me and whines hoping I'll make it cooler somehow. He really likes it when I pour water on the dirt or sand and he digs himself a bed since its cooler. After my bucket baths, I can't tell if I'm still wet or already covered in sweat again. In the city, where they have such amazing amenities as fans and showers, many of the freezers cannot get cold enough to make ice.
The one thankful thing is that the humidity is still very low here so everything dries really quickly (a wet cotton tshirt is probably dry in 20 minutes). The rains will start in about a month though and then it will get humid and thats a whole other problem until rainy season really starts in June & July.
I read a great quote lately that I think is great for Peace Corps both literally and figuratively.
The more we sweat in peace, the less we bleed in war.
-Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
A PCV friend also shared another great quote with me that sums up my PC experience.
You cannot do great things but you can do small things with great love.
-Mother Theresa
The one thankful thing is that the humidity is still very low here so everything dries really quickly (a wet cotton tshirt is probably dry in 20 minutes). The rains will start in about a month though and then it will get humid and thats a whole other problem until rainy season really starts in June & July.
I read a great quote lately that I think is great for Peace Corps both literally and figuratively.
The more we sweat in peace, the less we bleed in war.
-Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
A PCV friend also shared another great quote with me that sums up my PC experience.
You cannot do great things but you can do small things with great love.
-Mother Theresa
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