A little over a week ago, I went to a wedding at my site. Following the lead of my host sisters, we only went for a couple of hours at the end of the day. Apparently the festivities last all day. When we arrived, there was loud music and dancing, only women in attendance. I guess the male traditions were happening elsewhere. We went immediately to greet the bride who was sitting in her hut with her mother and some other women. We wished that she may have many children, among other things. As the dancing quieted down, chairs were pulled out into the concession (the outside area surrounded by the family's hut). We sat and waited for the bride to come out, covered in a veil. She was seated on a mat in the middle of the concession and surrounded by her mother, other female family members, and some older women. Her mother started to ritualistcally braid the bride's hair and the elder women began singing and dancing around her. A little while into the braiding, her bridal 'dishes' were brought out onto another mat in the middle of the concession - piles and piles of bowls, pots, and anything else deemed necessary for the bride to complete her womanly duties. It was at this point that I left with my host sisters, who had to prepare the evening meal, but as I understand, the bride was then taken to her husband's compound where she will remain. Aside from all the activity surrounding the bride, the wedding was also an opportunity for tons of women to gather together in their nicest clothes and socialize. All in all a fun event!
On a more serious note, I had a difficult conversation with my 22 yr. old host sister one afternoon. I was sitting with her in her sewing room (she is one of few women at my site I am aware of who is running her own business). She had just learned that a childhood friend of hers died. Deaths are announced on the radio. She was shocked because apparently this is a man that still calls her regularly, and there was no explanation as to how he died. I sat with her, unsure of what to say, as she started speaking about how she thinks Mali is a bad place because young people die all the time. She says she is so scared that sometimes she just wants to run to America. We both know all too well that escaping to America will never be an option for her. She then pulled out this bag of medicine, showing me her doxycycline. This is the same pill I take daily to fight off malaria. She says she can't take it because it makes her throw up. I tried to find an explanation saying maybe she's not eating enough before taking it or anything else I could think of, but she claimed she always ate it after lunch. I felt awful not knowing what to tell her, especially because now she says she just refuses to take it and malaria kills plenty of people every year at my site. Another host sister of mine was also complaining of an ear ache - to help her they poured machine oil in one ear. Is that crazy? I had no idea what to do.
We've been continuing the meetings in the Peulh quartier to discuss and plan for the well project. I felt that I was finally fulfilling my ideal image of development as I sat with a group of men on the ground under the moonlight discussing exactly how we want the construction of the well to go. I'm in Bamako now and the funding came in. Hopefully we can begin construction in the next couple of days.
Back to site today!
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
107 degrees and counting!
107 degrees in Bamako today...hot hot hot. The bike tour is finished and was successful! Feels great to have something tangible accomplished. In the end, we sensitized over 1000 people about HIV/AIDS, what it is, how it's transmitted, prevention, and the importance of fidelity. We also had over 200 people tested and found three positives, all women. It felt like a huge celeration everywhere we went, lots of loud music and tradtional dancing. They especially loved watching me and the other Peace Corps volunteers dance. Even had the chief dancing with us during the celebration in my village.
One sad event is that my good friend, a Malian woman who was one of two local health educators giving the animations, had her brother die on the first day of the bike tour (he's from a different region in Mali). She was unable to finish the event with us. Once again, I was surprised by how casually people talk about death here. Not that they aren't saddened but that it's a common occurrence. Her nephew died two days later.
Another interesting event at site these past couple of weeks, World Vision is conducting a massive malnutrition survey in my village and surrounding areas. I watched them interview my host family and was so frustrated to see my host family telling the intervewers what they want to hear about their habits rather than the truth. For example, they lied saying they always wash their hands with soap before eating (people here eat with their hands), which is unfortunately not true. It's frustrating because it just shows how difficult it is to get accurate information when people just tell you what they think you want to hear! Luckily I think the interviewer could see through the lies...
With the bike tour finished, I've been quickly thrown into major project number two. I am deepening a well to improve access to water for one of my village's poorest ethnic groups. Have been holding a number of meetings to discuss logistics and to ensure community interest. Now in Bamako again, I just now applied for funding from USAID so that we can hopefully begin construction before rainy season hits in June/July.
Bamako has been especially fun this time around because of the ceremony to welcome in Mali's newest group of volunteers. In honor of Peace Corp's 50th Anniversary, the ceremony was held at the residence of Mali's president ATT and probably close to 200 of us got to go. Nice to see him especially because soon he will really be in the spotlight with presidential elections coming up next year.
Back to site tomorrow to continue preparations for the well!
One sad event is that my good friend, a Malian woman who was one of two local health educators giving the animations, had her brother die on the first day of the bike tour (he's from a different region in Mali). She was unable to finish the event with us. Once again, I was surprised by how casually people talk about death here. Not that they aren't saddened but that it's a common occurrence. Her nephew died two days later.
Another interesting event at site these past couple of weeks, World Vision is conducting a massive malnutrition survey in my village and surrounding areas. I watched them interview my host family and was so frustrated to see my host family telling the intervewers what they want to hear about their habits rather than the truth. For example, they lied saying they always wash their hands with soap before eating (people here eat with their hands), which is unfortunately not true. It's frustrating because it just shows how difficult it is to get accurate information when people just tell you what they think you want to hear! Luckily I think the interviewer could see through the lies...
With the bike tour finished, I've been quickly thrown into major project number two. I am deepening a well to improve access to water for one of my village's poorest ethnic groups. Have been holding a number of meetings to discuss logistics and to ensure community interest. Now in Bamako again, I just now applied for funding from USAID so that we can hopefully begin construction before rainy season hits in June/July.
Bamako has been especially fun this time around because of the ceremony to welcome in Mali's newest group of volunteers. In honor of Peace Corp's 50th Anniversary, the ceremony was held at the residence of Mali's president ATT and probably close to 200 of us got to go. Nice to see him especially because soon he will really be in the spotlight with presidential elections coming up next year.
Back to site tomorrow to continue preparations for the well!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Hot Season and Mangos
Life in village is continuing on as usual, with the exception of the arrival of hot season. Temperatures are rising above 100 degrees these days really starting to notice the lack of electricity!The positve side of hot season is an abundance of mangos and papayas. Many afternoons are now spent sitting in the shade devouring sweet fruit.
I'm in the midst of planning my first major project. I'm working in collabortion with World Vision, Population Services International, the Mayor's office, and Peace Corps to create an HIV/AIDS awareness bike tour. I secured 'Small Project Assisstance' funding from USAID last month. The dates are set for April 1-3. Myself along with 5-7 other Peace Corps Volunteers will join a team from PSI and local health educators to travel to 4 villages giving information about HIV/AIDS and offering voluntary testing. There are a number of people here who still don't believe HIV/AIDS exists. My village is especially vulnerable to HIV because of it's locaton along a main road. There are a ton of truckers passing through, and prostitutes as well. With all the misinformation out there, I believe this sort of project is very important.
I began planning this project by first holding weekly meetings at the Mayor's office to confirm community interest in the event and select the villages. I also accompanied a few community members to visit each village chief and selected others to ensure they both had interest and agreed to be a part of the event. I am now working out all the last minute details and am looking forward to beginning the event in just over a week.
Not much else new except for a new woman is now living in my host family compound. She is my host mom's brother's second wife. She was sent to help out with all the cooking. I'm still in love with Salifu and La, my toddler host siblings. Think I might bring them home to America...kidding! Well maybe.
I'm in the midst of planning my first major project. I'm working in collabortion with World Vision, Population Services International, the Mayor's office, and Peace Corps to create an HIV/AIDS awareness bike tour. I secured 'Small Project Assisstance' funding from USAID last month. The dates are set for April 1-3. Myself along with 5-7 other Peace Corps Volunteers will join a team from PSI and local health educators to travel to 4 villages giving information about HIV/AIDS and offering voluntary testing. There are a number of people here who still don't believe HIV/AIDS exists. My village is especially vulnerable to HIV because of it's locaton along a main road. There are a ton of truckers passing through, and prostitutes as well. With all the misinformation out there, I believe this sort of project is very important.
I began planning this project by first holding weekly meetings at the Mayor's office to confirm community interest in the event and select the villages. I also accompanied a few community members to visit each village chief and selected others to ensure they both had interest and agreed to be a part of the event. I am now working out all the last minute details and am looking forward to beginning the event in just over a week.
Not much else new except for a new woman is now living in my host family compound. She is my host mom's brother's second wife. She was sent to help out with all the cooking. I'm still in love with Salifu and La, my toddler host siblings. Think I might bring them home to America...kidding! Well maybe.
Monday, February 14, 2011
"I'm not a doctor, but in Peace Corps I play one."
Two months later... Sorry for the long silence! Just finished my best month in Mali yet. Finally starting to pursue some projects, so nice to feel more productive.
Last December, I finished two weeks of in-service training and then left immediately for vacation in Nigeria with Banky and his family. I enjoyed many of the creature comforts I'd been missing, good restaurants, malls, movie theater and the BEACH! Can't believe how much I miss the water in this lovely landlocked country. Most of all, it was just nice to be spending time with a family again. Had a rough transition back to life in Mali. Spent January trying to figure out where to start work-wise, setting up meetings with my homologue and the mayor's office. Things finally just started to come together recently.
I've been continuing to go to the CSCOM (health center) regularly. Pre-natal consultations on Mondays and Thursdays, baby vaccinations on Tuesday (when there are actually vaccinations in stock), and a malnutrition program on Wednesdays. One thing about pre-natal consultations I've been noticing more is that it's pretty much the norm here that at least one of your children will die. There are a series of questions each woman is asked during the consultation. 'How many children do you have?' and then 'How many are living?' Just still can't imagine living in a world where having at least one of your children die is normal. The baby vaccination program has been a bit frustrating for me. I'd say in the last four weeks, they've only actually had vaccinations in stock once. It can be challenging for women to give up an afternoon to come to the health center. Some will wait for hours only to be told the vaccinations are "finished." Annoying. The malnutrition program has actually improved greatly in the past few weeks. The 'chef de poste,' the CSCOM's doctor, has taken over the program. He and I conduct the baby weighings, and I'm finally starting to feel confident enough with the language to start giving mothers advice. Mostly about the importance of exclusive breastfeeding.
Aside from my work at the health center, I've begun working with World Vision to plan an HIV/AIDS awareness bike tour. This was a successful project in my village last year and I'm hoping to continue the tradition and make it an annual event. It involves educational activities as well as testing. Working on securing funding from USAID now...been kind of a long process but think it's going well.
I also just had my first girls group. I worked with an english teacher to select 16 girls, ages 12-15. We'll be meeting once a week to talk about health, America, music, whatever else they're interested in. Want it to be informal, just a way to get to know a group of girls.
A couple other white people have shown up in town this past month. First, there was a group of Canadians working with 'Pharmacists without Borders.' They spent a day at my health center before leaving for some surrunding villages. They gave a presentation to the health staff about the importance of vaccinations, when/what should be administered and such. Also played host to an english man who's a couple of months in to a year long bike ride from England to South Africa. And I thought I was lonely! Amazing what he is attempting to do.
Everything with my host family is going well. I've been making much more of an effort to spend quality time with them each day. I really enjoy the company of my younger host siblings, especially 3 yr. olds Salifu and La. They've got so much attitude for little kids, make me laugh all the time. My older host brother was also recently married and I love his new wife. She was a friend of mine before, a female tailor in town. It's rare here for women to have their own source of income. She likes to wear pants. Think these small forms of rebellion are great. It has been a little disappointing to me to see her new role in my host family after marriage. Her business has definitely taken a hit because she spends so much time cooking, doing the dishes, and sweeping the concession.
In other news, my sister's coming to visit!!! It's been over 7 months since I've seen anyone from my family and I am more than ready. We'll be meeting in Senegal. Over 30 Mali volunteers are busing it over to Dakar together to participate in a softball tournament between all Peace Corps West Africa volunteers. I plan to use the time to travel with Jess, before bringing her back to site in Mali. So excited for her to meet everyone!
Last December, I finished two weeks of in-service training and then left immediately for vacation in Nigeria with Banky and his family. I enjoyed many of the creature comforts I'd been missing, good restaurants, malls, movie theater and the BEACH! Can't believe how much I miss the water in this lovely landlocked country. Most of all, it was just nice to be spending time with a family again. Had a rough transition back to life in Mali. Spent January trying to figure out where to start work-wise, setting up meetings with my homologue and the mayor's office. Things finally just started to come together recently.
I've been continuing to go to the CSCOM (health center) regularly. Pre-natal consultations on Mondays and Thursdays, baby vaccinations on Tuesday (when there are actually vaccinations in stock), and a malnutrition program on Wednesdays. One thing about pre-natal consultations I've been noticing more is that it's pretty much the norm here that at least one of your children will die. There are a series of questions each woman is asked during the consultation. 'How many children do you have?' and then 'How many are living?' Just still can't imagine living in a world where having at least one of your children die is normal. The baby vaccination program has been a bit frustrating for me. I'd say in the last four weeks, they've only actually had vaccinations in stock once. It can be challenging for women to give up an afternoon to come to the health center. Some will wait for hours only to be told the vaccinations are "finished." Annoying. The malnutrition program has actually improved greatly in the past few weeks. The 'chef de poste,' the CSCOM's doctor, has taken over the program. He and I conduct the baby weighings, and I'm finally starting to feel confident enough with the language to start giving mothers advice. Mostly about the importance of exclusive breastfeeding.
Aside from my work at the health center, I've begun working with World Vision to plan an HIV/AIDS awareness bike tour. This was a successful project in my village last year and I'm hoping to continue the tradition and make it an annual event. It involves educational activities as well as testing. Working on securing funding from USAID now...been kind of a long process but think it's going well.
I also just had my first girls group. I worked with an english teacher to select 16 girls, ages 12-15. We'll be meeting once a week to talk about health, America, music, whatever else they're interested in. Want it to be informal, just a way to get to know a group of girls.
A couple other white people have shown up in town this past month. First, there was a group of Canadians working with 'Pharmacists without Borders.' They spent a day at my health center before leaving for some surrunding villages. They gave a presentation to the health staff about the importance of vaccinations, when/what should be administered and such. Also played host to an english man who's a couple of months in to a year long bike ride from England to South Africa. And I thought I was lonely! Amazing what he is attempting to do.
Everything with my host family is going well. I've been making much more of an effort to spend quality time with them each day. I really enjoy the company of my younger host siblings, especially 3 yr. olds Salifu and La. They've got so much attitude for little kids, make me laugh all the time. My older host brother was also recently married and I love his new wife. She was a friend of mine before, a female tailor in town. It's rare here for women to have their own source of income. She likes to wear pants. Think these small forms of rebellion are great. It has been a little disappointing to me to see her new role in my host family after marriage. Her business has definitely taken a hit because she spends so much time cooking, doing the dishes, and sweeping the concession.
In other news, my sister's coming to visit!!! It's been over 7 months since I've seen anyone from my family and I am more than ready. We'll be meeting in Senegal. Over 30 Mali volunteers are busing it over to Dakar together to participate in a softball tournament between all Peace Corps West Africa volunteers. I plan to use the time to travel with Jess, before bringing her back to site in Mali. So excited for her to meet everyone!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Turkey Day Mali Style
Funny things about my town: There are watermelons everywhere right now. Honestly they come in by the truckload. My town thinks I’m a weirdo whenever I go on runs…realized people don’t really need to exercise here because daily life is full of exercise anyway. Just started thinking how funny it is that we obsess so much about dieting in the US. Pretty sure if I told my host family or others in my town, they’d be completely confused about why people would try so hard not to eat. This is especially true here because a lot of times larger women are considered more beautiful than skinny women because they’re believed to be wealthier. People also wear skin lightening cream because they think it’s more beautiful. No need for fake tanner here!
In the last month I started going to sit in on some of the 7th, 8th and 9th form classes. They have four schools in my town and an English teacher I’ve gotten to know pretty well. Each student has one notebook and two pens, one red and one blue. Each grade has students of all ages, sometimes an age difference of 5 or more years. Guess this is because kids start school at different times and may have to drop out occasionally to work in the fields, or help out at home. There were close to 60 students in the younger classes and not a single student has a book. There is a book the teacher uses to teach and students must copy down all the lessons into their notebook. There are noticeably fewer people, and a lot fewer girls as the grades get higher. Had one disturbing day when this teenage boy came up to the front of the class near the teacher and I to say he was unable to do his homework. The teacher kind of mocked him and asked why not. The student’s excuse was that he had a problem at home. Still mocking, the teacher asked what was the family issue and they boy replied that his mother had died. The teacher looked to the class for confirmation before letting him return to his seat. What was especially difficult about this for me was that this didn’t seem like a big deal to them at all…when I asked the teacher after class if that was really what had happened he laughed at me when he saw how shocked I was.
Celebrated a major Muslim holiday this past month known as Seli Ba. It’s meant to commemorate Abraham’s faith for willing to sacrifice his son. In the end, God replaced his son with a goat. Every family, if they are able, purchase a goat to sacrifice. Festivities begin early in the morning, went to one of our town’s mosques with my host family. Then came back to their concession to take pictures with the goat before they performed the sacrifice (could NOT watch that one). Was a major point of pride for my family that they were able to purchase a pretty big goat. After the sacrifice, families go around offering different parts of the goat to other families while reciting a string of blessings. Everyone puts on their nicest outfits (most people get new, expensive outfits tailored). Children get dressed up as well and go house to house reciting the blessings and receiving small change or candies along with blessings in return. There was plenty of loud music and dancing, celebrating went on for three days. Felt nice to be included in such a special tradition.
Got to see Mali’s president! He paid a visit to a nearby village in order to draw attention to a new cow vaccination campaign.
Also I had a really wonderful Thanksgiving. All of the Peace Corps volunteers in the Koulikoro region were invited to dinner at the house of the US Ambassador in Bamako. She has a beautiful home and served us the most amazing, Thanksgiving meal with turkeys flown in from the US, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie…all the good stuff. Afterwards we went across the street to another expat’s home. He had a table full of delicious desserts and probably close to 100 expats just socializing, drinking, and eating. Peace Corps volunteers are really welcomed warmly here, the other expats (embassy employees, USAID workers, etc) seem to want to spoil us because they know how hard it can be for us. It’s a nice community to be a part of. As much as I enjoyed my holiday, was sad to be away from my family celebrating my grandma’s 90th birthday! You were all in my thoughts this past month especially you grandma! Also HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM and DAD!!! So wish I could be there to celebrate. Love you! I have the best family in the world no question.
So sorry it takes so long in between updates. Been especially frustrated with internet lately, it’s just constantly out. Only have access to internet about once a month, and even then it’s not always working. Now I’m in Bamako for two weeks of training with all 80 of the volunteers in my training class. Yesterday we had a woman come speak from Helen Keller International. She was a former Peace Corps volunteer in Guinea and now is heavily involved in HKI’s malnutrition program. Malnutrition is incredibly prevalent in my area, all over Mali really, so really appreciated hearing from her. Aside from that, just really excited for Christmas. Leaving in less than two weeks for Nigeria! Looking forward to a very sunny Christmas.
In the last month I started going to sit in on some of the 7th, 8th and 9th form classes. They have four schools in my town and an English teacher I’ve gotten to know pretty well. Each student has one notebook and two pens, one red and one blue. Each grade has students of all ages, sometimes an age difference of 5 or more years. Guess this is because kids start school at different times and may have to drop out occasionally to work in the fields, or help out at home. There were close to 60 students in the younger classes and not a single student has a book. There is a book the teacher uses to teach and students must copy down all the lessons into their notebook. There are noticeably fewer people, and a lot fewer girls as the grades get higher. Had one disturbing day when this teenage boy came up to the front of the class near the teacher and I to say he was unable to do his homework. The teacher kind of mocked him and asked why not. The student’s excuse was that he had a problem at home. Still mocking, the teacher asked what was the family issue and they boy replied that his mother had died. The teacher looked to the class for confirmation before letting him return to his seat. What was especially difficult about this for me was that this didn’t seem like a big deal to them at all…when I asked the teacher after class if that was really what had happened he laughed at me when he saw how shocked I was.
Celebrated a major Muslim holiday this past month known as Seli Ba. It’s meant to commemorate Abraham’s faith for willing to sacrifice his son. In the end, God replaced his son with a goat. Every family, if they are able, purchase a goat to sacrifice. Festivities begin early in the morning, went to one of our town’s mosques with my host family. Then came back to their concession to take pictures with the goat before they performed the sacrifice (could NOT watch that one). Was a major point of pride for my family that they were able to purchase a pretty big goat. After the sacrifice, families go around offering different parts of the goat to other families while reciting a string of blessings. Everyone puts on their nicest outfits (most people get new, expensive outfits tailored). Children get dressed up as well and go house to house reciting the blessings and receiving small change or candies along with blessings in return. There was plenty of loud music and dancing, celebrating went on for three days. Felt nice to be included in such a special tradition.
Got to see Mali’s president! He paid a visit to a nearby village in order to draw attention to a new cow vaccination campaign.
Also I had a really wonderful Thanksgiving. All of the Peace Corps volunteers in the Koulikoro region were invited to dinner at the house of the US Ambassador in Bamako. She has a beautiful home and served us the most amazing, Thanksgiving meal with turkeys flown in from the US, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie…all the good stuff. Afterwards we went across the street to another expat’s home. He had a table full of delicious desserts and probably close to 100 expats just socializing, drinking, and eating. Peace Corps volunteers are really welcomed warmly here, the other expats (embassy employees, USAID workers, etc) seem to want to spoil us because they know how hard it can be for us. It’s a nice community to be a part of. As much as I enjoyed my holiday, was sad to be away from my family celebrating my grandma’s 90th birthday! You were all in my thoughts this past month especially you grandma! Also HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM and DAD!!! So wish I could be there to celebrate. Love you! I have the best family in the world no question.
So sorry it takes so long in between updates. Been especially frustrated with internet lately, it’s just constantly out. Only have access to internet about once a month, and even then it’s not always working. Now I’m in Bamako for two weeks of training with all 80 of the volunteers in my training class. Yesterday we had a woman come speak from Helen Keller International. She was a former Peace Corps volunteer in Guinea and now is heavily involved in HKI’s malnutrition program. Malnutrition is incredibly prevalent in my area, all over Mali really, so really appreciated hearing from her. Aside from that, just really excited for Christmas. Leaving in less than two weeks for Nigeria! Looking forward to a very sunny Christmas.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Ne? N bora Ameriki, n bena sans fila ke yan.
Month two in village DOWN. Feels really good to finally have some more time here under my belt. There are less surprises now and it’s so nice to settle into more of a routine. I have some friends in my town, know how to feed myself well, I’ve figured out how to do the dishes with no running water and get my laundry done without washing machines. Gave up quickly on trying to wash clothes by hand on my own. Lucky for me a teenage girl in town is eager to help if I pay her…I justify it to myself by thinking I’m putting money into the economy, right? It’s making my life a lot easier anyway.
These past three weeks have been filled with trips to the health center, still trying to get a better understanding of how things work, who comes to use their services, and what the major health issues are. They perform pre-natal consultations twice a week - once for the women in my town and once for people who come in from the “bush” (from one of the 40 surrounding villages that also use the CSCOM). They also give vaccinations to babies two days a week - again once for my town’s babies and once for babies from the bush. One thing I didn’t notice last month is that they’ve been conducting baby weighing sessions on Wednesday mornings.
SO just a little about baby weighings. Health centers conduct baby weighing sessions as a way to monitor childhood malnutrition in the area. They take the babies height, weight and the circumference of the arm. There are different charts we can use that tell us what combination of height/weight is healthy, moderately malnourished, or severely malnourished. My health center will usually decide the level of malnourishment using the arm band, how fat the baby’s arm is. You can also use the combination of height and age. Trying to use this combination has been most frustrating for me because so few people have any idea of their age here! Most mothers seem to completely guess the age of their babies and look at the health relais like they’re crazy for even asking. Most babies do have vaccination cards that mothers will bring with them but I know for a fact the date of birth written on these are not always accurate either. Twice I saw dates written that have not occurred yet, clearly an impossible birthday for a baby. Most baby weighing days will examine probably 30-40 babies and all but maybe five fall into the yellow, moderately malnourished category. Two-three are severely malnourished and maybe a couple are deemed “healthy” weights. Any moderately to severely malnourished babies will get Plumpy Nut, peanut butter packages, that will hopefully help them start to put on more weight. But I know there is a limit to how long the health center will continue to provide the Plumpy Nut. There are so many babies coming from so many different villages that I’ve been having trouble figuring out if the same babies are coming each week. Not sure if anything is actually being monitored or if we’re just kind of going through the motions. I’d like to know if the babies are actually consuming the Plumpy Nut they’re given and if it’s helping. Still pretty overwhelming! I see a lot of promise but also a lot of problems with the system and hope that this is an area I can focus on once my language comes along a little better…
I’ve been continuing on with my needs assessment. So far I’ve made it to 15 different households conducting my survey. I did have one pretty disturbing event towards the end of this month. I was sitting in a family’s concession with my health relais, the women who is helping me with language as I conduct the survey. I was interviewing one of the male heads of the household (most households have two to three men, maybe six women, and ten to fifteen kids). In the middle of the survey, a women carrying a three year old boy ran out of her hut hysterically crying. The other women in the compound immediately ran to her and within moments were all crying too. In all the commotion, all I could understand was my health relais telling me the child was not well. As far as I could tell, his eyes were closed and he was not moving. I suppose he must’ve been sick for awhile and took a turn for the worst. I just continued to sit, dumbfounded, not really sure what to do with myself. I know I did feel incredibly inappropriate being there and could not even remember the customary blessings we’re supposed to say in such an event… I’m still not sure if the child died or what was the end result but just to be that close to one family’s grief was really traumatic for me. A child died in my training village a few months ago, and the other trainees and I were relatively shielded from the whole event. No one ever cried in front of us and it was possible just to push the event out of our minds. But with this child, their grief was so intense, so real and since seeing that it’s been really difficult for me to come to terms with their suffering. It’s easy to forget the common nature of death here with all the laughing and joking that goes on. Guess these sorts of experiences are just going to be a reality of my life here, still need to figure out how I’m going to handle it.
Back in Bamako now and so happy to be with Americans again, eating good food and speaking English. Have eaten well and had a great time celebrating a friend’s birthday. Leaving Bamako in a few days for site until Thanksgiving.
These past three weeks have been filled with trips to the health center, still trying to get a better understanding of how things work, who comes to use their services, and what the major health issues are. They perform pre-natal consultations twice a week - once for the women in my town and once for people who come in from the “bush” (from one of the 40 surrounding villages that also use the CSCOM). They also give vaccinations to babies two days a week - again once for my town’s babies and once for babies from the bush. One thing I didn’t notice last month is that they’ve been conducting baby weighing sessions on Wednesday mornings.
SO just a little about baby weighings. Health centers conduct baby weighing sessions as a way to monitor childhood malnutrition in the area. They take the babies height, weight and the circumference of the arm. There are different charts we can use that tell us what combination of height/weight is healthy, moderately malnourished, or severely malnourished. My health center will usually decide the level of malnourishment using the arm band, how fat the baby’s arm is. You can also use the combination of height and age. Trying to use this combination has been most frustrating for me because so few people have any idea of their age here! Most mothers seem to completely guess the age of their babies and look at the health relais like they’re crazy for even asking. Most babies do have vaccination cards that mothers will bring with them but I know for a fact the date of birth written on these are not always accurate either. Twice I saw dates written that have not occurred yet, clearly an impossible birthday for a baby. Most baby weighing days will examine probably 30-40 babies and all but maybe five fall into the yellow, moderately malnourished category. Two-three are severely malnourished and maybe a couple are deemed “healthy” weights. Any moderately to severely malnourished babies will get Plumpy Nut, peanut butter packages, that will hopefully help them start to put on more weight. But I know there is a limit to how long the health center will continue to provide the Plumpy Nut. There are so many babies coming from so many different villages that I’ve been having trouble figuring out if the same babies are coming each week. Not sure if anything is actually being monitored or if we’re just kind of going through the motions. I’d like to know if the babies are actually consuming the Plumpy Nut they’re given and if it’s helping. Still pretty overwhelming! I see a lot of promise but also a lot of problems with the system and hope that this is an area I can focus on once my language comes along a little better…
I’ve been continuing on with my needs assessment. So far I’ve made it to 15 different households conducting my survey. I did have one pretty disturbing event towards the end of this month. I was sitting in a family’s concession with my health relais, the women who is helping me with language as I conduct the survey. I was interviewing one of the male heads of the household (most households have two to three men, maybe six women, and ten to fifteen kids). In the middle of the survey, a women carrying a three year old boy ran out of her hut hysterically crying. The other women in the compound immediately ran to her and within moments were all crying too. In all the commotion, all I could understand was my health relais telling me the child was not well. As far as I could tell, his eyes were closed and he was not moving. I suppose he must’ve been sick for awhile and took a turn for the worst. I just continued to sit, dumbfounded, not really sure what to do with myself. I know I did feel incredibly inappropriate being there and could not even remember the customary blessings we’re supposed to say in such an event… I’m still not sure if the child died or what was the end result but just to be that close to one family’s grief was really traumatic for me. A child died in my training village a few months ago, and the other trainees and I were relatively shielded from the whole event. No one ever cried in front of us and it was possible just to push the event out of our minds. But with this child, their grief was so intense, so real and since seeing that it’s been really difficult for me to come to terms with their suffering. It’s easy to forget the common nature of death here with all the laughing and joking that goes on. Guess these sorts of experiences are just going to be a reality of my life here, still need to figure out how I’m going to handle it.
Back in Bamako now and so happy to be with Americans again, eating good food and speaking English. Have eaten well and had a great time celebrating a friend’s birthday. Leaving Bamako in a few days for site until Thanksgiving.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Aminata! Aminata! When you go to America, we go together?
Think I'm overdue for a long update, internet has once again been hard to come by but lots to catch up on! My stage of 80 other Americans officially became Peace Corps volunteers on September 3 when we recited an oath at the American Embassy. The Ambassador was incredibly encouraging - saying she would never have the courage to do what we do and that she thinks we're the best diplomats the United States has to offer. So maybe this is a little over the top but I really appreciated the sentiment. I'll take all the encouragement I can get at this point! Peace Corps has been one challenge after another and this past month has been no different. Following our swear-in ceremoney, we enjoyed a day by the pool at the American Club and then a night of dancing out in Bamako. We had one more day to regroup before a morning of pretty intense goodbyes and departure for site. After spending almost every day with the 7 volunteers in my host village for training, I wouldn't have the chance to see some of them for three months.
So for the past months, I've been living in my permanent site alone. Didn't see another American once. Again it's total language and cultural immersion. Had to speak bambara all the time. There is close to zero structure to my day. I have mornings where I wake up and literally have no idea what to do with myself. The minute I leave my 'apartment'/hut, I am completely on display. I can't walk down the street without having to greet every person I walk by. Probably every other person demands that I "na yan" or come here and chat. I sit and chat in a language I can still barely speak. Usually our conversations end fairly abruptly when I say I don't understand and they laugh at the silly American as I walk away. And then there are the longer chatting sessions that involve tea. They drink tea out of these shot glasses. It's incredibly strong and they use maybe a quarter cup of sugar to sweeten it. THere are three rounds of three and it's polite to stick through them all. I've had so many hours in silence with no idea what's going on. Other conversations are more predictable and I understand only because I literally have the exact same conversation ten times a day. It goes something like this:
Me: good morning! how is your family? how are your children? you are healthy?
Random guy/group of guys: We are fine. All are healthy. What is your name?
Me: My name is Aminata.
Guy: What is your last name?
Me: Traore
Guy: Eh, Traore is bad. You should be Jarra (another last name). You must like beans.
Me: No I don't like beans. Traore is good.
Guy: Are you married?
Me: I have a fiance (NOT true but this lie is essential here)
Guy: In America? That is no good. You must marry someone here.
Me:No I like my fiancee. See you later!
Guy: Ok, But Aminata, when you go to America, we go together.
Me: Yeah sure. After two years we'll go together.
Most days I go to the CSCOM (local health cente). I had the chance to look through some of their records and it's amazing to see in print how many children here women actually have. I don't mean to be cultually insensitive but I swear a lot of women at least in my town and surrounding villages are baby making machines! Many start around 18 (all are married first) and have a child every year or two well into their thirthies. I'd say most women in their records had 7 or 8 kids. And this is only taking into account the women who actually visit the CSCOM. My guess is many that don't have even more kids than those that do. Another thing that surprised me is there is just one doctor at the CSCOM, a couple of matrones, and maybe 6 others with some level of education (not more than 9 years). And this CSCOM not only serves people in my town but also the FORTY surronding villages. Two days a week, pregnant women from "the bush" (surrounding villages) come in for pre-natal consulatations. Also twice a week, mothers bring in their babies for vaccinations. I actually really like having so many babies around, holding them can really help on a bad day.
Also wanted to talk about what I've observed with the birthing process here. First, my matrone spent three days in a row this past month without going home because so many women were going into labor. Secndly, there doesn't seem to be any sense of urgency when women give birth. One day, my homologue and I were eating lunch at the CSCOM(rice with sauce - still eating with our hands in a communal bowl) when this woman walks in and stares at Djegue. She's obviously uncomfortable but to me it just looked like she had a headache or something. She said nothing to Djegue (my homologue) and we just kept on eating. Finally, Djegue got up and motioned for the woman to walk with her to the back room. I didn't watch the birth but I swear fifteen minutes later there was a baby. Through the whole process, it was silent until the newborn cried. It was so bizarre. And then after giving birth, many women stay for just a couple of hours and then walk right out with their babies. After one woman gave birth in the morning, in the afternoon, I watched her climb in the back of a donkey cart with her mother and newborn and ride right on back to her village.Sometimes I see the husband come by to visit. And that's about it.
On September 22, Mali celebrated 50 years of independence. I was in a nearby town the night before and they celebrated with music, dancing and rice. Most all the women including myself had special outfits made with 50th anniversary fabric.
So to sum up, all I really did for the month was walk around town greeting people, chatting and drinking tea, observing work at the CSCOM and trying to learn as much Bambara as I can. I did have a productive meeting with my homologue and the general secretary of my town where I was able to discuss with them some ideas. I also had a chance to look over their PDSec, or my town's plan for development. Even though it was in French, it had some good info on the history of the town, the geography, the ethnic groups and health statistics. I also began the baseline survey. Every health volunteer is supposed to survey as many families as possible in the first three months. The survey includes all sorts of questions about their level of education, disease prevention practices, and knowledge of AIDS and family planning. Luckily I had one of my town's health relais help with the translation (she spoke some French so could help me with the Bambara when I was trying to speak with families. Health relais are basically just community health workers. They are volunteers who come to the CSCOM for training on different pertinent health issues and then go out to the surrounding villages and my town and try and share these messages with their neighbors.
Honestly, motivation has been a bit of an issue here. Volunteers are lonely, hot, usually hungry (mostly missing American food) and a lot of times sick. Think I'm just still in survival mode. But it's hard to face all these challenges when you're not feeling productive. Still one day at a time.
Just had a week of language training back in Bamako, which meant time with Americans, more familiar food, electricity, and at least some sporadic internet. It was a much needed break. Volunteers are so supportive of each other, just wish I had the opportunity to see them more (the closest volunteer is three hours away from me). Anyways back to my town on Monday until Halloween! Hope to continue on with the survey and keep working on the language.
K'an b'en kofe! (see you later)
So for the past months, I've been living in my permanent site alone. Didn't see another American once. Again it's total language and cultural immersion. Had to speak bambara all the time. There is close to zero structure to my day. I have mornings where I wake up and literally have no idea what to do with myself. The minute I leave my 'apartment'/hut, I am completely on display. I can't walk down the street without having to greet every person I walk by. Probably every other person demands that I "na yan" or come here and chat. I sit and chat in a language I can still barely speak. Usually our conversations end fairly abruptly when I say I don't understand and they laugh at the silly American as I walk away. And then there are the longer chatting sessions that involve tea. They drink tea out of these shot glasses. It's incredibly strong and they use maybe a quarter cup of sugar to sweeten it. THere are three rounds of three and it's polite to stick through them all. I've had so many hours in silence with no idea what's going on. Other conversations are more predictable and I understand only because I literally have the exact same conversation ten times a day. It goes something like this:
Me: good morning! how is your family? how are your children? you are healthy?
Random guy/group of guys: We are fine. All are healthy. What is your name?
Me: My name is Aminata.
Guy: What is your last name?
Me: Traore
Guy: Eh, Traore is bad. You should be Jarra (another last name). You must like beans.
Me: No I don't like beans. Traore is good.
Guy: Are you married?
Me: I have a fiance (NOT true but this lie is essential here)
Guy: In America? That is no good. You must marry someone here.
Me:No I like my fiancee. See you later!
Guy: Ok, But Aminata, when you go to America, we go together.
Me: Yeah sure. After two years we'll go together.
Most days I go to the CSCOM (local health cente). I had the chance to look through some of their records and it's amazing to see in print how many children here women actually have. I don't mean to be cultually insensitive but I swear a lot of women at least in my town and surrounding villages are baby making machines! Many start around 18 (all are married first) and have a child every year or two well into their thirthies. I'd say most women in their records had 7 or 8 kids. And this is only taking into account the women who actually visit the CSCOM. My guess is many that don't have even more kids than those that do. Another thing that surprised me is there is just one doctor at the CSCOM, a couple of matrones, and maybe 6 others with some level of education (not more than 9 years). And this CSCOM not only serves people in my town but also the FORTY surronding villages. Two days a week, pregnant women from "the bush" (surrounding villages) come in for pre-natal consulatations. Also twice a week, mothers bring in their babies for vaccinations. I actually really like having so many babies around, holding them can really help on a bad day.
Also wanted to talk about what I've observed with the birthing process here. First, my matrone spent three days in a row this past month without going home because so many women were going into labor. Secndly, there doesn't seem to be any sense of urgency when women give birth. One day, my homologue and I were eating lunch at the CSCOM(rice with sauce - still eating with our hands in a communal bowl) when this woman walks in and stares at Djegue. She's obviously uncomfortable but to me it just looked like she had a headache or something. She said nothing to Djegue (my homologue) and we just kept on eating. Finally, Djegue got up and motioned for the woman to walk with her to the back room. I didn't watch the birth but I swear fifteen minutes later there was a baby. Through the whole process, it was silent until the newborn cried. It was so bizarre. And then after giving birth, many women stay for just a couple of hours and then walk right out with their babies. After one woman gave birth in the morning, in the afternoon, I watched her climb in the back of a donkey cart with her mother and newborn and ride right on back to her village.Sometimes I see the husband come by to visit. And that's about it.
On September 22, Mali celebrated 50 years of independence. I was in a nearby town the night before and they celebrated with music, dancing and rice. Most all the women including myself had special outfits made with 50th anniversary fabric.
So to sum up, all I really did for the month was walk around town greeting people, chatting and drinking tea, observing work at the CSCOM and trying to learn as much Bambara as I can. I did have a productive meeting with my homologue and the general secretary of my town where I was able to discuss with them some ideas. I also had a chance to look over their PDSec, or my town's plan for development. Even though it was in French, it had some good info on the history of the town, the geography, the ethnic groups and health statistics. I also began the baseline survey. Every health volunteer is supposed to survey as many families as possible in the first three months. The survey includes all sorts of questions about their level of education, disease prevention practices, and knowledge of AIDS and family planning. Luckily I had one of my town's health relais help with the translation (she spoke some French so could help me with the Bambara when I was trying to speak with families. Health relais are basically just community health workers. They are volunteers who come to the CSCOM for training on different pertinent health issues and then go out to the surrounding villages and my town and try and share these messages with their neighbors.
Honestly, motivation has been a bit of an issue here. Volunteers are lonely, hot, usually hungry (mostly missing American food) and a lot of times sick. Think I'm just still in survival mode. But it's hard to face all these challenges when you're not feeling productive. Still one day at a time.
Just had a week of language training back in Bamako, which meant time with Americans, more familiar food, electricity, and at least some sporadic internet. It was a much needed break. Volunteers are so supportive of each other, just wish I had the opportunity to see them more (the closest volunteer is three hours away from me). Anyways back to my town on Monday until Halloween! Hope to continue on with the survey and keep working on the language.
K'an b'en kofe! (see you later)
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