Gettin' Busy

Things have started to pick up lately, as my Etude de Milieu (first three months at site) begin to wind down. I have just about one month left before I am to return with my fellow health volunteers for three additional weeks of training. After returning from that at the beginning of April, I will be able to actually start planning projects and working more. These past couple of weeks have been packed with activities.

I have been helping out with our vaccination campaign here in Aorema, writing down names and dates for the different vaccinations inside each person's carnet, a booklet that keeps a record of all their medical histories. Most of our vaccines are for young babies under 11 months and include the likes of polio, measles, yellow fever. We also give vaccines to pregnant women. All these are subsidized by the government and are given free of charge to the population. We begin this week to do vaccinations in the three neighboring villages.

I have also participated in two sensibilizations this past week. This is just just a fancy (French?) word that means giving a presentation or demonstration to tach about a certain health topic, like when dental hygienists or nurses go to elementary schools with a giant toothbrush and a set of large plastic teeth to show the kids how to properly brush. This is a key aspect of my job here - to organize and perform sensibilizations. Both of these I attended, one led by my major and the other by the midwife, were focused on going to the CSPS for vaccinations, prenatal consultations and childbirth. I saw a lot of things that I can work on to improve. For one, they lasted about 3 hours each, way way to long for busy moms who ended up talking, sleeping, or walking out half-way through. They need to be shorter, more dynamic, with a much more focused topic. At least there was a fair number of women who turned out, about 50 or so at each.

I begin Mooré ¨class¨ tomorrow, so I am looking forward to that. It isn't actually a tutor like I wanted but rather a group of illiterate women who go to learn how to read Mooré. SO I don't think I will learn specific vocabular and grammar like I had hoped, but at least I will have the exposure with the language more.

So that's about all the exciting news about my job. At some point in the next four weeks, I need to gather all the info for my Etude de Milieu, write it up, and type it up to turn in to my APCD, the boss. This report is basically a mixture of demographic, geographic, and health-related information as it pertains to Aorema and is due when I go for training in March. I also plan to make a trip to Ouaga the capital to attend FESPACO at the end of February, Africa's largest and most famous film festival that takes place here every other year, as well as to pick up a box that has finally arrived that was sent from the US in November! Until next time. Wend na kod nidaare!