Food For Thought...

For the past couple days, I spoke to my PTA and APCD about the meeting that will be hosted in my village on Health Hut Management. During IST, I spoke to my PTA on key points I would want to be covered during the meeting on September 14. During this meeting, I want to seek more clarification on the role of the Imam, the Health Committee and the ICP in the start of projects. I think that this is a great way to start the baseline survey to assess the needs of the community quantitatively.

For the past three months, I have felt that every situation is placed on my counterparts’ shoulders. I want to explain in the meeting that this is not an effective system since the health hut accounts for more than 1420 people. It is important to train other matrons before the new health hut is built. This is important not just for the management of the health hut but one of the Peace Corps’ goals is to build capacity in communities. It is taking this holistic approach to serving people in the health community. The purpose of setting up care groups will facilitate the work we do in reaching out to more than 100 people per month. The objective is for the information to be disseminated over a wider coverage of the population.

Since last Thursday, my PTA has spoken to my counterpart, ICP, the Imam, the Village Chief, among many others to explain to them the purpose of the meeting.  I have been sending all my activities to the director of Djinack Barra, who is collaborating with me on the project of the health hut. Before coming to IST, I identified about 6 organizations that were intervening in my region. I thought the book my APCD gave to me was very useful to help me get an idea of how these organizations could help in future projects.

On August 27^th, my APCD and I held a meeting on the NGOs I had identified and he drew a list of the ones he knew. He decided he will send letters introducing me to these organizations next week. This will forge partnerships and make me look more credible as a health volunteer. He will also give me an updated list of the contact information of the NGOs I will be meeting soon. I will be drafting a contract whose purpose will be to make people more accountable of their roles in the project. In the meantime, I will be taking three days off to relax before I head back to site.

I also had time to send the information I gathered of the needs assessment of the schools in my village. I sent it to the person responsible for these projects at the U.S. Embassy on August 30^th. I hope to get an answer within two weeks. The director of Djinack spoke about my library project to Pharmaciens sans Frontieres, and they approved the project. The report will not be written until I get back to site. I am happy that the NGO is excited about this and that the idea fits into their projects for the village. My village will be the first one to get a library. Those initiatives are not going to start until the end of the construction of the health hut.