Maternal Health Month!

A few days ago, I was reading an article in Nat Geo on the impact of Gandhi and his lasting legacy on India.  It was a really good article, but it also had a quote that I've probably heard before but forgot.  Anyway, this time it left its impression in my mind:

"A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history."

Just wanted to throw that out there.  So, now, let's talk about toilets.  The project is coming along well.  We have been able to get the floors put in for seven families, and enough wood is coming in that we should be able to have at least six toilets finished here in the next week or so.  That being said, we still need to put floors in for 24 toilets with 23 of those needing wood and zinc roofing as well.  If you're interested in donating money, please feel free to!  I've broken up the costs below (in USD) in case you want to specifically donate the flooring, roofing, or the frame for the structure.

2 bags of cement: $22.00
1 rod of steel: $12.50
16 buckets of sand: $16.00
3 sheets of zinc: $36.00
12 boards for wooden frame: $46.50
Wood, zinc, and cement nails: $5.00

With these prices, the cost to build an entire toilet is $138.00.  To finish the next 24 toilets, it will cost about $3,500.00 once transportation costs are taken into account.  Any little amount helps and it really means a lot to the people here.  The other day, I was helping a family put their flooring in when the son began to tell me how appreciative they were for the toilet.  He said that no one had helped them with anything like this before.

Alberto mixing the cement for his family's toilet

It really made me happy to see this kind of genuine appreciation, but it wouldn't have been possible without the help of those who have donated to this point.  If you're interested in donating, you can go to www.row.org and click on the "Donate" tab.  From their select "One Time Gift".  On the page that appears, you will see a "Donate" button (if you are interested in sending in a check as opposed to putting in your credit card information, select the "click here" below the "Donate" button for instructions).  For an electronic donation, select the "Donate" button.  On the secure webpage, fill in your information.  When you get to "Donation Details," type "Ac Yuam Development Project, San Vicente Latrines" and for "Donation Destination" select Belize.  And that's it! As I've said, any donations are greatly appreciated!  Every little bit helps!

Aside from toilets, I also gave maternal and child health lessons to the mothers in the village with the help of Emiliano, the Community Health Worker in the village.  To try and make it sounds a little more exciting, I advertised it as Maternal and Child Health Month.  We gave lessons on having a healthy pregnancy and delivery, warning signs in children and mothers, breastfeeding, and healthy weaning foods children 6 months to two years.  We even had a nurse come in do a lesson on family planning.  Over the course of the five lessons, we average 18 women per meeting, nearly a quarter of the women of childbearing age.

The lessons went really well.  For the first, my friend Rachel came in to help get the women excited and to open up dialogue.  They had a very candid discussion about the difficulties of going to the hospital to give birth.  During the next lesson, it was just Emiliano and I, but we handled it despite my limited knowledge of the Q'eqchi language.  The women were particularly surprised that I knew about all the different discomforts that came with being pregnant. For family planning we had 32 women come out! It was awesome to see so many there.  I'm not sure how many times they had been educated on the different birth control methods that were available to them.  Even if they don't start using the birth control method tomorrow, they at least know it exists now, and if at some point they decide to stop having children, I can only hope they take action and seek out the different methods that they learned about.  During the breastfeeding lesson, I whipped out a "baby" (made of my dirty laundry) and began to demonstrate breastfeeding.  They thought it was hilarious! For the final lesson, I asked my friend Sarah to come in to help me cook some food that would be appropriate for children that were weaning off of breast milk.  The lesson was a huge success and I think the women really enjoyed it!  

Overall, the lessons were pretty successful, but what I was happiest about was the amount of work that Emiliano put in.  The goal of Peace Corps is sustainability, mainly through the work that we pass on to our work partners.  It's awesome to see how he has transformed from someone not wanting to do lessons to someone who agrees to be at 5 in one month.  That's a huge commitment for someone who is also helping his father build a house and running his farm to make sure his family has the food they need to survive.  We have begun filling out his Ministry of Health forms that are required and have begun to plan lessons at the beginning of the month to make sure that we get his minimal of one village and one school lesson.  I can only hope that his enthusiasm continues to grow over the next year and beyond.

Aside from this, I'm continuing to work with the villagers, including my family, on non-health related topics, such as helping with building houses.  When someone builds a traditional Mayan house, they call all the village men together to gather cahun palm fronds (if you want to know what that is, you can google raffia palm; I'm not sure if it's the exact same, but they look very similar) and then sew them together using the beams of the roof as support.  Well, since I can't really climb or cut much and I've never been good at sewing, I usually just toss up the string for the men to sew the roof on with. I'm proud to say that I went 19-29 during my last outing.  Not quite Deshaun Watson type numbers, but I'll take it.  It was really just nice to be out and working with the men of the village, something I don't find myself doing as often as I'd like.  I've also been helping my host dad build his cement house which is looking really good.  I learned how to throw plaster!

Really, though, the highlight of the month came when I was sitting with one of the high school students, just talking and hanging out. He asked if there was going to be another Peace Corps volunteer after me.  I was honest with him and said I didn't know but I hoped so.  To this he replied, "Well, if so, I hope he's as good as you."  This was the ultimate compliment I could have received.  If I'm ever struggling through the day or if someone is unhappy or impatient with the latrine project, I just remember this.  It's what it's all about.  People might remember my work, but more importantly, they'll remember me and the person I was.  If I did great work but was disliked by the village, that's what they would remember and talk about to future volunteers or visitors in the community.  To be thought of as "good" is the ultimate compliment.  This conversation will be in my mind for the next year.  No matter what happens in my day, I now know that at least one person sees me as good.  What more could I ask for?