Since my last post several significant things have happened. Number one is that I received the funds for the chicken coop project, and unfortunately most of them were stolen. The police are involved, and the case has many twists and turns, but ultimately the story ends the same. It was very difficult telling the mamas about it, in fact one of the more difficult things I have ever had to do. The thief didn't get all the money though. We had enough to buy the chickens, and that's what we did. The challenges continue with this project as many of the chickens died from unknown causes. We are still working together to produce more chickens on our own. It has been a long difficult project, but the value to the mamas is high enough, so we won't give up, ever.
Volunteer medical training. I have been working with volunteers from each of the sub-villages since my arrival here almost two years ago. We have had multiple volunteer trainings and visited countless homes far from the beaten path. Our hope is that the knowledge that the volunteers have gained will spread among their sub-villages, reducing the incidence of disease, increasing the number of villagers who seek treatment from medical professionals rather than witch doctors or not at all, and developing knowledge about disease prevention. Toward that end, we had a grant supported training with district level healthcare professionals.
The training was intense, and the mamas were active participants. Just a little story about the training: one of the first questions the trainers asked me was where were the men? They said that men were the decision makers and they should be receiving this training rather than women. I explained that the women were more oriented towards their family and their community rather than self interest displayed from many of the men, and that the men did not want to work as volunteers but wanted to be paid. They accepted this explanation, and agreed that it was true, but they had never trained women before and they still had some doubts. Their doubts were unfounded. The mamas impressed both of them so much that by the end of the training they expressed their desire for more trainings of this type. It should be remembered that some of these women can't read or write, and one was a witch doctor herself.
In other news, the rainy season has arrived. It is amazing to me how quickly this area goes from brown, dry and dead to green, wet and alive. The farmers count on it, and the rains have started a little earlier this year. We are all hoping for the rains to continue, and the villagers lives depend upon it. I planted maize again this year, and my Moringa trees are flourishing. Let's hope the good fortune continues.
I'll be home soon. I hope to see everyone when I return.
Photos:
#1 Chickens arrived
#2 Chicks for the mamas
#3 Training the volunteer health mamas
#4 Mamas preparing the food for the training
#5 Wrapping the goat intestines for lunch
#6 Green farmland
#7 Getting my farm ploughed the old fashioned way
#8 Some of my farm helpers reaping their reward
#9 The sun has almost set on this adventure
