Revitalized by some community education!

Yesterday Sharon (my friend and nurse at the local Hospital St. Fraciose) made the rounds to talk about STI's. First we spoke at a clinic within walking distance from here to a group of 20 or so medical students, nursing students and auxiliary community health workers. They had many questions and seemed to find the information valuable. The doctor in charge asked us to come back next week to speak on Malnutrition signs and symptoms. They even had a some light refreshments for us and the group afterwards which was very sweet!

Making food for all the children

Afterwards we headed to Shada which is a place Sharon has kindly taken under her wing. This is not small under taking as it is an area of about 4000 who live in severe poverty and despair. They are unable to feed themselves and their children and most are unable to attain any amount of medical care. I always invite them to come here but it is about 35 minutes away and it is hard to come when most families have many children to take care of. We showed up and Madanm Bwa who is our main contact there and a traditional birth attendant greeted us, she is also one of the most amazing people around. She was getting ready to complete her second day of 'free cooked lunch' for the children of the area. With the help of donations from Food for the Poor (rice and beans) and with money from friends and family of Sharon's they were able to purchase vegetables, stoves to cook the food and fruit for the children. Some of the local women cooked and viola! food for 250+ kids. It was awesome and heartbreaking to watch the children line up for what was probably their first meal of the day and most certainly the most complete meal they have had in a long while. Not a drop of bean sauce or grain of rice went to waste. I would love to be able to help Madam Bwa do a meal like this at least once per week for these kiddos.

So many kids so much love.

After the meal we gathered some women and spoke about STI's. It was completely different from the group of students we spoke with earlier in the day as many of these women have never been to school and don't have access to testing and other medical resources. They had many questions which Sharon and I did our best to answer. I also offered to come back in two weeks and bring medications to treat certain STI's if the women would go and get tested. They seemed very happy to have this option and maybe this is another incentive to get everyone tested for HIV and Syphilis, both are free tests. HIV meds are given free by the local hospitals though many people have still never been tested. I really hope this starts a movement of women getting tested for things like Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Syphilis, HIV and Trich.

The talk turned to the use of condoms and they all began to laugh and talked about how the men refused to wear them. They also talked about lack of access to contraception due to financial constraints and how the med were unwilling to help out. It seemed par for the course that the men would use force if they wanted to have intercourse and the women didn't as well as the fact that the men were providing food for the women and if they tried to make the man wear a condom or get tested or abstain, they would not be able to eat. In one woman's own words, "if I don't do it, he beats me and my children don't eat." This is not a situation of a woman staying with an abusive significant other because she can't leave physically, this is a story of survival in which women must rely on these 'men' to eat and to be able to feed their already malnourished children. Many want contraception as they know they cannot afford another child however there are no programs offering these services for free and in Shada which is considered the slums of Cap, if it is not free it is not affordable.

Kids love photo ops!

With our lovely group of ladies in Shada

A view of the water from Shada

I left feeling like I needed to come up with a plan for these women and that we need to invest time in education throughout the community, including the men. The women laughed when we proposed this but Sharon and I said we would seek them out and talk to them one by one if need be, that this behavior is unacceptable and that these women are strong and have each other to rely on if need be. They are beautiful women who can say 'no' and have their words respected. Though at the end of the day, we get to go home to our comfortable beds in our safe houses while these women live in a world full of desperation, abuse and hunger.