Since first applying to Peace Corps, I've often received the question: 'So what is it you actually do?' I didn't have a concrete answer pretty much up until now.
Before the invitation I would say, "help create sustainable change...but I don't really know."
After the invitation: "I'm a Community Health Advisor...whatever that means."
During PST: "Provide health education to my community...but I don't know my community yet so it's hard to say..."
During the first three months at site: "Integrate and complete my CDS...but after that I don't know."
And now, after almost 7 months in this country, I finally have a work plan for the next year or so (although still vague). My first primary project is called Healthy Households or 'Fandaram-asa ho an'ny Tokan-Trano Salama' in Malagasy. I plan to start this program towards the end of January and implement it until July/August. Ideally, 18 healthcare workers from each of the 6 fokontany would have 6 households that they visit twice per month. This totals 108 households, each household averaging 6 people meaning 648 people reached with health education that have limited access to the CSB. Each month the ACs will undergo a training lead by me about various topics such as prenatal consultations, family planning, nutrition, vaccines, and water, hygiene, and sanitation. The ACs will deliver the health message one-on-one to the household and do a different activity each month such as building hand washing stations, drawing vaccine timelines, making water covers, etc. Then the AC will visit a second time to administer a post test. I'm focusing on healthcare for pregnant women and children under 5 years. I've asked the medicine inspector at the district health level to partner with the program but need to finish and present the training manual before they decide. I'm currently working on writing a grant to pay for the necessary materials to complete the trainings and demonstrations.
I've had a lot of requests to teach English and after 4 months of saying, 'I'm a health volunteer ,not an English teacher,' I broke down and started a club. It's every Monday afternoon for 6 weeks only. They requested to learn the lyrics to a song and so I chose 'Waka Waka' by Shakira. In hindsight this may have been a bad choice since the chorus is in another language besides English but I have a lot of memories with this song and plan to teach them the dance to the chorus. Also, I was teaching vowel pronunciation last week and noticed they kept spelling words with 'o' as having a long 'a' instead (ex. dog but spelled dag). Soon there will be an entire village in Madagascar that speaks English with a Minnesotan accent.
In October I'm starting a Youth Club with my ACs. I plan to have weekly meetings with lessons on life skills such as peer leadership and effective communication skills. I also want to talk about education and job opportunities beyond middle school and high school level, dating, and safe sex. The main goal of the club is to provide a safe place for 15 girls ages 13-20 years to ask questions about health, education, and life where they may not have had a person they felt comfortable asking before. Ideally two ACs each week will help me plan and conduct the meetings.
The kids are on winter vacation right now but start school again in October. I plan to continue handwashing and hygiene education with them and have a goal to build a few handwashing stations at each school (there are maybe 12 schools in my community). Also, a past volunteer published a children's book in Malagasy about Malaria and I hope to have a book reading at each school.
Lastly, I plan to increase the number of cooking demos. Right now I do one or two each month in one fokontany. There are two other fokontany that have a health resource center that I'd like us to use. There are some barriers to this, the main being not enough money to buy the food and supplies. I suggested us starting a garden specifically for cooking demos at each location. I then asked who is willing to keep up the garden. They said, 'you are!' We are still working out the logistics on that project idea.
So on top of preparing these programs and projects, I am working at my CSB two mornings per week either helping with the prenatal consultations or the baby vaccinations. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with the work ahead of me in the next few months but really, it feels good to have a clear idea of what I am actually doing here.
You know you're a PCV when:
-Natural objects become obscure landmarks. Ex. Turn left
at the second boulder, pass the ugly cactus-like plant, climb up the
red wall and that's where you get reso
-Finding phone reso at site becomes a yoga exercise.
-8am and 4pm have become 'cow rush hour,' and it's terrifying.
No comments:
Post a Comment