This last month has been the most
productive month I’ve spent in country so far. I can actually say I’ve been
busy. Most times I don’t realize how much I’m doing until someone asks what it
is that I do and I have to list everything. The end of February was spent for
the most part in trainings. There was one training for Moringa and one for my
Amour et Vie team (see older posts for definitions). I really enjoyed the Amour
et Vie training because it gave me a chance to form relationships with my team
members. Both were really beneficial and informative. Plus, I had a chance to
see other volunteers and bake a cake for 2 birthdays and make mac & cheese
because, well, does anyone really ever need a reason to make mac & cheese
or waffles? I finally started my Moringa tree nursery, planted 35 trees and
only 10 survived but hey it’s a start. And now I’m a part of the Moringa
initiative.
I’ve started consistently doing weekly baby
weighing’s and consultations at the health center. It was hard getting started
with this because my health center is so busy during vaccination days (we see
at least 50 or so mothers and children) and this is the only day possible day
to do the weighing’s, but after discussing its importance with the health
workers we’ve been able to fit it in. Which was made possible by me being
partially excused from paperwork (which can be a headache anyhow) and allowed
to solely focus on the weighing’s. And if I see, after weighing, that a child
is underweight I tell the mother to wait a few minutes of to the side and then
I go counsel her on what she’s doing and what she can do to improve the health
of her child. I then give her a follow-up meeting so I can check to see if
there was any weight gain.
After the trainings I realized that I only
had two weeks to spend in village before our next mandatory trainings on
nutrition and sanitation so I went a bit into panic mode. I had so much to get
done. However, In two weeks span I managed to fit in three primary school
meetings, prepare a Hygiene & Sanitation pre-test to the primary school
students, hold two care group meetings, do two baby weighings, one Amour et Vie
meeting, one English club meeting, launch my health club, and finish and submit
my 6 month report on my work. I tap myself on the back for my efficiency and
send a big thank you to to-do lists and calendars.
By the way, can you believe that by the end
of this month I would have already spent 9 months in this country? 9 months,
that’s one third of my service already finished. That’s a human life being
created. That’s a long freaking time. That leaves only 18 more months until
back in the land of fast-food.
