Still hard to believe (that we have to leave)

 

3 months? Are you serious? Where has my time gone? How did it happen that is already March if we arrived in town yesterday? Still really hard to believe that our time here is finishing and the project is ending. And YES we have to leave, YES, we have to say bye to Victor, to the seamstresses, to John... I have never thought it was going to be that difficult.

 

Kongo market square and KoCDA office (in blue)

Victor, resting at shea butter house

  

John and I at shea butter house

And while I try to believe, things are happening and life goes on. During the months of February and March my work was focused on 4 main aspects:

-          Giving Sexual Education Sessions to Junior High School students

-          Production and distribution of reusable sanitary pads

-          Performing health assessments to new sponsored children and to cases that needed follow-up

-          Training sessions at Ayamfooya Memorial Clinic

Sexual Education Sessions are always a little bit difficult to start. We all feel so shy to talk about these topics and we start laughing with our friends. 🙈🙈🤭🤭😅😅 How can we "break the ice"?

1. We have our SECRET QUESTION BOX 📬❓❔! At the beginning of the session, all the students will write down anonymous questions and place them in the box. Anything they want to know! Questions that we are too shy to ask to friends/teachers/family! We will answer all of them during the session. And of course, this is confidential, what they talk with us in the class, stays in the class.

Sexual Education Sessions: Question box 

 

2. Let's play! We are also using self-awareness INTERACTIVE GAME called BAABA'S STORY. We all go together through the story of Baaba a 15 years old girl who struggles to make decisions, and depending on which one we click it lead us to different scenarios. We discuss all together the decisions and consequences and everyone gives their opinion!! It is really nice!! This game is inside the ASANKA device, developed by @techaidegh in Ghana. It contains offline local materials and educational tools for teachers, especially for these areas where there is no internet or it is too expensive. The one that we are using has been acquired by the Kongo ICT center and is available there. Good ideas, from Ghanaian company to Ghanaian schools 💡💡. Let's use it!!!

 

Sexual Education Session at Dasabligo JHS

The production of reusable sanitary pads, I have to admit, was a headache at the beginning. How are we going to do this? Where are we going to buy the materials? How many yards? How many towels? Half of the seamstresses have never done it and don’t speak English, the other half do not want to split the work and just get the money, and that didn’t help during the long meetings. But, as always, the best things take time, and thanks to John's special and indispensable help, several visits together to check the work, and a few beers all together at the market, the team did their job. 8 seamstresses helped each other to get the pads produced in the agreed time (which wasn't much) and I can't be more proud of them. Local seamstresses with local materials sewed the sanitary pads for the girls and women of the village. I strongly believe in the power of women as a growing force.

 

Distribution of reusable sanitary pads in Kongo JHS

I will never forget Pufaba and her leadership and energy, Constance and her calm and serenity, Linda and her perpetual smile even though she did not understand me, Teni and her kindness and sewing skills, Lariba so small and so hardworking, Talata and her unruly twins, Cynthia and her professionalism and talent, and finally Linda Tiyong always busy and with her sharp eyes.

Portrait of Teni

Portrait of  Cynthia

Janek, Linda Tiyong, Marina, Linda, María,Teni, Constance, Cynthia, Pufaba, Victor, John and Talata

Closing meeting with seamstresses

Just before I left, as part of the "Tuesday Trainings" at Ayamfooya clinic, I prepared a session on patient-centered care, communication, and ethical issues for health staff. It was very interesting as they were the ones who chose the topic from other options. We discussed models of care, communication with the patient and family (for what we did a funny role-play), and some ethical issues that arise in hospitals there and here. The search for excellence towards quality care, centered on the patient and including the family unit in the decision-making process improves health care and makes us better professionals!

Role-play: How do we communicate with patients? What behaviors do we need to avoid or improve? When I put myself in the patient's shoes, how do I feel? Principal actors: Justice as the patient, Mark as the nurse, and Marina as the doctor.

Training session at Ayamfooya Memorial Clinic

 

Something I'm going to miss a lot is moving around on my motorbike, going to remote schools through crazy roads full of mysterious holes, and with all the surprise animals that can cross your path. I don't remember how many times I had to fix my bike, nor if it was worth it, but I do remember the happiness on it, the challenges driving, the times I thought "I don't cross that way, it's impossible" and the times I finally crossed it. And I am very proud of myself.

Ready to go!

New skills: driving with a skirt

And finally, it's really over. We are left with the desire for more, for more time, for more sharing. We are hooked to this rhythm of life and to this atmosphere full of illusion and teamwork. And if we leave sad it is because there have been many joys here. And what we have learned is that we are the ones who take the most. That in Kongo life goes on, ideas emerge and projects prosper, and we volunteers are just passing through (as it should be) to realize it. 

See you soon my friends.

Felicia, Cynthia and Noble came last day to say bye-bye

María, Noble, John and me

Zaan hills

Marina Castrillo (Nurse EU Aid Volunteer in Kongo, Upper East Ghana)