The Start of Healthy Households

I'm so excited that I FINALLY got to start my primary project, Healthy Households. The grant took forever to process, then I received funds in April, was gone most of the month of May, and finally had the first meeting on June 2. 14 ACs are participating although I'm expecting 3-4 to drop out. Just being realistic.

I scheduled with each of the 14 ACs individually to visit two of their six households with them. We spent the first month doing baseline surveys to get a general idea of each houses' overall health situation. I really liked seeing the houses and meeting the participants. I truly believe in this project and that it will help the participants. For example, one mother said that she was giving her 4 month old baby coffee. My AC did a wonderful job educating her in a gentle manner that she should be exclusively breastfeeding, and that it's not a good idea to give a child of any age coffee. This program will also greatly improve the AC's knowledge and presentation skills. I set up a training for them on behavior change communication lead by a friend from Ambato and I've already seen the benefits of this training through the ACs increased confidence when administering the surveys.

72 of the 84 surveys were returned to me and I thoroughly read each one. I recorded the percent of participants who gave birth at the hospital, use birth control, clean their drinking water, have less than or greater than 4 kids, have an intestinal disease more than once every month, etc. At the end of this 8 month program, the ACs will administer the baseline survey again and I'll compare the data. The ACs also do a monthly survey to track the participants progress through the coming months.

I'll visit households with each AC individually for the first three months of the program and then they will be on their own to educate on safe motherhood, family planning, baby vaccines, respiratory infections, intestinal diseases, safe drinking water, and nutrition. I'm so excited to be working on this project with so much involvement from the community. There is a lot prep work, trainings, house visits, and survey/data collection involved but I feel so energized due to the motivation and dedication of my wonderful ACs.

You know you're a PCV when:
-You never know when a dance party will break out with your Malagasy friends
-You never know when you'll break into an impromptu solo dance party.

Education Volunteer for a Day

I covered classes for a day for one of the education volunteers in my region. She works at a private school and I taught 52 kids ages 9-14 years across three 2 hour classes. I feel like the loser RMC (regional malaria coordinator) because I never have malaria activities to report to the national malaria coordinator since my region (fortunately) doesn't have much malaria. Therefore I decided to teach the kids about malaria.

I was super nervous to teach as I had heard the kids were super mahay (good at) English and get through content quickly. I started off by writing basic malaria facts on the board in English then we translated them to Malagasy together. We then moved to malaria symptoms and the kids shouted out words in Malagasy then I wrote the English word on the board. After pronouncing the words in English (they struggled with the word 'diarrhea' and I had the whole class repeat that one several times before they pronounced it correctly), then creating actions for each symptom, we played 'Simon Says.' The kids loved acting out words such as vomit and fever and included lots of sound effects.

We discussed treatment, prevention, and net care, then moved on to the 'dream banner' activity. The kids wrote three goals for their future in English then pinned them on the mosquito net with the message that it's harder to reach those goals if you are sick. The kids wrote anything from ' I want to be a tailor,' to 'I want to go to university in the United States.' They really seemed to enjoy the activity.

After the classes, I asked the teacher's aide for feedback. She told me that I spoke too much Malagasy and not enough English. Who knew that I would eventually feel more comfortable teaching a lesson in Malagasy than in English. Makes me realize how far I've come in the last year.

It was fun to teach for a day but the life of an education volunteer is very different from the life of a health volunteer with positives and negatives in both sectors. I've already established my schedule and projects, and am happy to work in the field that I'm in.

You know you're a PCV when
-Your phone carrier texts you more than anyone else making it your best friend.
-You add sakay (hot peppers) to everything you eat.

 

A Few Challenges and a Few Changes

By joining Peace Corps, I stepped into the unknown. I had to dig deep down to find strength, flexibility, and commitment that I didn't think I had. I've learned to find humor in most situations because most situations are out of my control so what else can you do but laugh. Sometimes I feel I’m a completely different person than from when I left the States and other times I don't feel I've changed at all. I know in reality it's a mixture of the two. One trait that is often debated among volunteers is whether or not the volunteer is more or less patient. The answer: it depends. Personally, I have gained patience for things out of my control such as transportation or waiting for my grant to process or money spending because such is the nature of being a vazaha in Madagascar: you are going to get ripped off on everything all the time. However, I have lost a great deal of patience with people who treat me disrespectfully. Some days I can ignore the comments and other days I have to restrain myself from yelling back at them. I remind myself that I grew up in a melting pot of a country whereas few other vazaha visit my region.

Another way in which I've changed is body image. I live in a part of the world where being told that I'm fat is a compliment. It took me a long time to take this as a compliment however, especially when I gained 10 pounds in the first six months (for future volunteers: bring a variety of clothing sizes-every volunteer I know has either lost or gained weight here). I was adjusting to new kinds of food, stress, language, and also enjoying 4 meals per day including snack at the Peace Corps Training Center that was already cooked and ready for me. I started exercising again and my body returned to a weight I'm comfortable with. I remember one time though, a market lady noticed I lost weight. She was seriously concerned for my health and told me to visit the doctor. In a country where malnourishment and stunting is one of the main health concerns, being bigger is a sign of good health and enough money for a balanced diet. One of the reasons rice is so largely consumed is that it is cheap and fills you up without needing as much loaka (vegetables or protein). Now, when I get the comment that I'm fat, I acknowledge that they are really saying I look healthy, and I thank them.

I've also learned how to deal with site guilt. This is when you feel guilty for leaving site no matter the reason. When I first arrived, I was constantly thinking about what I should be doing rather than what I wanted to be doing. I felt that I should always stay at site unless it was a Peace Corps function that I had to leave for (trainings, VAC, medical reasons). I found myself staying longer at site but then feeling burnt out and leaving my house less and less. Even after just a weekend away in my banking town, I returned refreshed and ready to integrate at every opportunity. I learned that I shouldn't feel guilty for leaving site-go to that optional training or take that vacation-so that when I return, I'm renewed with fresh ideas and motivated to implement them. In the long run, is it going to matter whether I was at site those few extra days anyway? I'm not earning brownie points with anyone and I'm a much happier and more productive volunteer when I 'listen' to my moods and realize when I need some R&R.

Finally, I've learned how to handle seeing widespread poverty. In the States I sympathized with people who had financial difficulties but I didn't really understand as I was lucky enough to grow up in a financially stable household. Here, I've learned to empathize. I've seen kids drink sewer water and wash their clothes in it, I've visited friends who have a one room house with only dirt as the floor, I've watched kids run to the trash pit to dig through the garbage I just threw out, I've seen people wait for me to be done eating so that they can get my leftovers. It's incredibly difficult and upsetting to see and I wish I could help more. Unfortunately, it's like a switch that I have to turn off. I am here to help my community in whatever way they want me to and I can't constantly weigh myself down with problems that I can't help or control. I wouldn't be productive. But I do realize the importance of acknowledging the widespread poverty. I've learned when to appropriately turn the switch on to better understand the sacrifices my friends have to make in order to send their child to school or even just put rice on the table. And I've learned to turn it off to in order to continue living my days here.

You know you're a PCV when:
-You feel guilty when you splurge on vazaha things that used to be normal in the States
-You're not afraid to try any food