Plans
Summer 09 - Consolidation
20/03/09 23:03
Hello all!
We’re planning our summer 09 trip to take place from mid-July (18th?) to mid-August (18th?). This will be a shorter trip with a slightly different agenda than our other trips.
Because we’ve worked with three cohorts now, it is time for us to spend some time consolidating and applying what the TBAs have learned. We’ll spend about a week (between 4-7 days, most likely) at each of the three sites. We’ll do some refresher training and some advanced training, but most important is the follow-up on the TBAs projects.
The women of the Pellie cohort are preparing for their second year working the peanut garden, and they are planning to increase the size of it. This will let them grow other things they can share with malnourished women, and they can sell the surplus to buy themselves supplies and to lend to women who need help paying clinic fees or for transportation. The Pellie cohort has had some discussion about direction and focus, and they’re ready to move on to the next phase of maturity. MOMS will provide support for their expansion.
The women of the Jokibu cohort have three gardens, one near each of the major villages in the area. They’re working similarly to the Pellie women, supplying food to hungry women and financing clinic visits and transportation. These TBAs seem to have a stronger focus on influencing the men, but we’re not sure whether and how they’ll do this. THey’ve submitted a proposal to continue the three gardens plus create a rice field. MOMS will provide the initial financing for the rice field and support the gardens again this year.
The women of Daru have committed to outdoing their sisters in Pellie and Jokibu. They want to connect with another initiative in the area to provide transport for maternity cases. They’ll work with the elders in the area to plan the project, and MOMS will help.
So much of our time in each area will be spent viewing the gardens, discussing results, and planning next steps for their projects.
In addition, we want to teach them a way to conduct peer review sessions. We demonstrated that when we were there in February, and will review this process with them again. We’ve taught them a problem-solving model, and the peer-review sessions will tie into the evaluation phase of solving problems.
And each group has asked for more training. At Pellie, we’ll conduct a review of the entire program, focusing on pre- and post-natal care, handwashing, and a few other things. At Jokibu, the women want to know more about anatomy and physiology, post-natal care, and lactation. At Daru, the women want to know everything about everything. We’ll go more deeply into anatomy and physiology and nutrition.
Check out the new pictures of the Winter 09 trip to Daru
Trish
We’re planning our summer 09 trip to take place from mid-July (18th?) to mid-August (18th?). This will be a shorter trip with a slightly different agenda than our other trips.
Because we’ve worked with three cohorts now, it is time for us to spend some time consolidating and applying what the TBAs have learned. We’ll spend about a week (between 4-7 days, most likely) at each of the three sites. We’ll do some refresher training and some advanced training, but most important is the follow-up on the TBAs projects.
The women of the Pellie cohort are preparing for their second year working the peanut garden, and they are planning to increase the size of it. This will let them grow other things they can share with malnourished women, and they can sell the surplus to buy themselves supplies and to lend to women who need help paying clinic fees or for transportation. The Pellie cohort has had some discussion about direction and focus, and they’re ready to move on to the next phase of maturity. MOMS will provide support for their expansion.
The women of the Jokibu cohort have three gardens, one near each of the major villages in the area. They’re working similarly to the Pellie women, supplying food to hungry women and financing clinic visits and transportation. These TBAs seem to have a stronger focus on influencing the men, but we’re not sure whether and how they’ll do this. THey’ve submitted a proposal to continue the three gardens plus create a rice field. MOMS will provide the initial financing for the rice field and support the gardens again this year.
The women of Daru have committed to outdoing their sisters in Pellie and Jokibu. They want to connect with another initiative in the area to provide transport for maternity cases. They’ll work with the elders in the area to plan the project, and MOMS will help.
So much of our time in each area will be spent viewing the gardens, discussing results, and planning next steps for their projects.
In addition, we want to teach them a way to conduct peer review sessions. We demonstrated that when we were there in February, and will review this process with them again. We’ve taught them a problem-solving model, and the peer-review sessions will tie into the evaluation phase of solving problems.
And each group has asked for more training. At Pellie, we’ll conduct a review of the entire program, focusing on pre- and post-natal care, handwashing, and a few other things. At Jokibu, the women want to know more about anatomy and physiology, post-natal care, and lactation. At Daru, the women want to know everything about everything. We’ll go more deeply into anatomy and physiology and nutrition.
Check out the new pictures of the Winter 09 trip to Daru
Trish
We are off
23/01/09 13:55
January 24th, we take off for Sierra Leone. “We” is Ami, Chris, and Trish. We are excited and, as usual, a little nervous. This is Ami’s first trip, and will have many totally new experiences.
For Chris and me, we still get a little edgy - although this will be our 7th trip, there is still so much to learn. Every trip has included “drama” of one sort or another, and this one is not likely to be an exception. In the past, the drama has ranged from misunderstandings with minor government officials (which had significant effects) to car wrecks (which provided us with some learnings, but no real problems).
We hope that you will continue to send us your good thoughts and prayers. We need wisdom, humor, patience, and endurance. Tolerance of heat and resistance to mosquitos are also important!
Thanks to all of you whose gifts have been this trip possible. I’ll update this blog when I can, and will send a report upon our return.
Trish
For Chris and me, we still get a little edgy - although this will be our 7th trip, there is still so much to learn. Every trip has included “drama” of one sort or another, and this one is not likely to be an exception. In the past, the drama has ranged from misunderstandings with minor government officials (which had significant effects) to car wrecks (which provided us with some learnings, but no real problems).
We hope that you will continue to send us your good thoughts and prayers. We need wisdom, humor, patience, and endurance. Tolerance of heat and resistance to mosquitos are also important!
Thanks to all of you whose gifts have been this trip possible. I’ll update this blog when I can, and will send a report upon our return.
Trish
Next trip
07/01/09 11:25
We are getting ready for our next trip to Sierra Leone. We're leaving on the 26th of January to return the 10th of March, again a 6-week trip. The best news is that the airlines have rolled back their prices a bit as the cost of fuel has gone down, so each ticket is a couple of hundred dollars less than in July. We'll be able to put that savings to good use, paying for extra baggage!
We'll be working with our third cohort, in the town of Daru in Jawei Chiefdom. Our class will draw from several area villages, and we hope it will have no more than 25 or 30 women! Daru is the seat of the Jawei Chiefdom, and our favorite Paramount Chief, Musa Ngombuklah Kallon, lives there. It is a larger town than we've worked in before, with about 10,000 people or so. A nice clinic is in the middle of town, with several skilled staff members, so the environment will be very different from what we are used to having.
Needs!
We need to take lots and lots of supplies and mama/baby packets as we are supporting several areas now. Each mama/baby pack includes the following if we have enough to go around:
1 hat (lightweight crochet is nice)
2 onesies or tshirts (one plain and one cute)
1 pair socks (2 if we can get enough)
2 simple receiving blankets
1 cloth diaper (2 if we can get enough)
1 travel-sized bottle of shampoo
1 travel-sized bottle of lotion
1 travel-sized bar or bottle of soap
We'd like to take 200 packs if we can. The critical pieces are the hats, tshirts, receiving blankets, and luxuries for the mothers. All the cloth items will be washed by hand and dried on a line, so lightweight, sturdy cotton with little decoration is best.
We need to take gloves to the MOMS' TBAs in the Jokibu area, as they are out. We weren't able to take any last trip, so we'll take as many as we can, and put 20-25 in a baggie for each MOMS' TBA. They are very careful with gloves, washing them and hanging them to dry in a protected place. If we get nitrile, they will last longer, even though they cost more.
(It will be glorious when Sierra Leone gets trustworthy mail and delivery service. For now, sending a 50-pound packing box costs over $400. We could fit two dozen boxes of gloves in it, but we can't be sure we'd get it, we'd have to spend 3-4 days at DHL's office trying to pick it up, and it would cost us several other "processing fees". Boo. We do take extra bags on the plane with us - they cost about $200 each.)
We also need to take other supplies to them, and gloves and supplies to Pellie and to Daru. Umbilical tape is one request, along with scissors and hemostats.
Also, we found last trip that our posters for teaching had gotten mildewed and nasty, so we need to replace them. I'll be buying the laminated kind, which will last longer. We also like to take flip-chart paper for ad-hoc drawings! Thank you, Cindy, for the markers.
If you'd like to send us some of these items, wonderful! If you'd like to help us buy them, please send us a check or use your credit card on PayPal. Our website has links.
A new volunteer will be joining us this trip. Ami is a CPM and is studying for her BSN and will use this experience as part of her training.
As always, if you have questions or comments, let us know!
Trish
We'll be working with our third cohort, in the town of Daru in Jawei Chiefdom. Our class will draw from several area villages, and we hope it will have no more than 25 or 30 women! Daru is the seat of the Jawei Chiefdom, and our favorite Paramount Chief, Musa Ngombuklah Kallon, lives there. It is a larger town than we've worked in before, with about 10,000 people or so. A nice clinic is in the middle of town, with several skilled staff members, so the environment will be very different from what we are used to having.
Needs!
We need to take lots and lots of supplies and mama/baby packets as we are supporting several areas now. Each mama/baby pack includes the following if we have enough to go around:
1 hat (lightweight crochet is nice)
2 onesies or tshirts (one plain and one cute)
1 pair socks (2 if we can get enough)
2 simple receiving blankets
1 cloth diaper (2 if we can get enough)
1 travel-sized bottle of shampoo
1 travel-sized bottle of lotion
1 travel-sized bar or bottle of soap
We'd like to take 200 packs if we can. The critical pieces are the hats, tshirts, receiving blankets, and luxuries for the mothers. All the cloth items will be washed by hand and dried on a line, so lightweight, sturdy cotton with little decoration is best.
We need to take gloves to the MOMS' TBAs in the Jokibu area, as they are out. We weren't able to take any last trip, so we'll take as many as we can, and put 20-25 in a baggie for each MOMS' TBA. They are very careful with gloves, washing them and hanging them to dry in a protected place. If we get nitrile, they will last longer, even though they cost more.
(It will be glorious when Sierra Leone gets trustworthy mail and delivery service. For now, sending a 50-pound packing box costs over $400. We could fit two dozen boxes of gloves in it, but we can't be sure we'd get it, we'd have to spend 3-4 days at DHL's office trying to pick it up, and it would cost us several other "processing fees". Boo. We do take extra bags on the plane with us - they cost about $200 each.)
We also need to take other supplies to them, and gloves and supplies to Pellie and to Daru. Umbilical tape is one request, along with scissors and hemostats.
Also, we found last trip that our posters for teaching had gotten mildewed and nasty, so we need to replace them. I'll be buying the laminated kind, which will last longer. We also like to take flip-chart paper for ad-hoc drawings! Thank you, Cindy, for the markers.
If you'd like to send us some of these items, wonderful! If you'd like to help us buy them, please send us a check or use your credit card on PayPal. Our website has links.
A new volunteer will be joining us this trip. Ami is a CPM and is studying for her BSN and will use this experience as part of her training.
As always, if you have questions or comments, let us know!
Trish