11/8/09

Today was my second day on demystification. Demyst is a four day trip that all the trainees make to stay with a current volunteer in order to see what life and work is really going to be like for the next two years at post. I and another trainee were assigned to a health volunteer in the Dosso region, which is Zarma-speaking. Unfortunately I don’t get to practice any of my Hausa, but it’s still a great experience so far. Yesterday was a very long day. We left Hamdy on the “magic bus” (the Peace Corps 20 passenger bus) at 8am and drove for several hours, dropping off people at their various destinations along the way. The countryside was interesting to see…a bit more green than I was expecting. Our trip was delayed for a half hour when the van got stuck in the sand at one of the sites, but after trying a few different strategies and garnering the help of the entire village, we were back on our way. We arrived at our post at around 1pm and sat and talked for a while. Then we had “bush pizza” for lunch, and talked more about what life for our PCV has been like for the past year. We walked around here village in the evening and were introduced to all her friends, neighbors and the chief. Her village is small, less than 500 people, but there’s a lot of activity. There’s a grinding mill, a water pump, people weaving mats, women pounding millet, a tailor sewing outside, people farming and mothers cooking. It’s so true that you literally have to stop and greet everyone as you make your rounds through the entire village. Everyone seemed so warm and welcoming, but it was also sad and eye-opening to see all the malnutrition everywhere. I would estimate that about 2 out of every 3 kids we saw had characteristic signs of Kwashiorkor—the distended bellies, stick-thin legs, ribs showing through the skin and thin, reddish hair. The PCV was telling us about how mothers will just wait until their child becomes severely ill before they take them into the clinics. Sometimes it’s hard because they may not have money at that time to pay for the hospital visit. Unfortunately the clinics and health centers don’t sound like the most inviting places for these mothers either. Apparently the healthcare workers can often be condescending towards villagers who come in because they feel that they are more educated and come from a more privileged background. Sometimes the parents are scared of the doctors and won’t communicate with them because they are afraid. She also mentioned that sometimes the villagers won’t find the visits to the clinic helpful because all the nurses will do is give the children two shots and tell them to come back several more times that week, which would not be feasible for most, given limited time and monetary constraints. The whole situation just sounds really sad and almost hopeless because the problems are so systemic. The good thing is that there are things the PCVs can do to address the gaps in the healthcare system. Our demister talked about how she teaches mothers who come to the hospital how to make their own nutritious porridges and therapeutic foods for their malnourished children, so that if the hospital is low on supply or if the women are not able to stay for very long, they can still go home with the knowledge of how to care for their babies. Overall, the demystification experience was really wonderful. After observing the daily activities of a health volunteer, I’m even more motivated to complete training. I’m also so excited to be at post where I can make my own schedule, have my own place and cook for myself. I can see myself enjoying the next two years, even though there may be some tough adjustments and challenges to face along the way.