Friends,
Yesterday wrapped up with student presentations on nutrition using their felt boards, construction of "tippy tap" handwashing stations, and a discussion of community mental health concerns. Jane, Janet and Carol are all impressed and excited about the progress the students are making.
The felt boards were brought by the team along with many sheets of printed drawings of foods and kitchen utensils. The students attached felt strips to the back of the their set of drawings and then learned techniques for using the drawings when presenting concepts to their fellow villagers. After questions and re-iterations, the group broke up into three sets of students and a translator. Each student then presented a particular nutrition concept to the other students and instructors present. All of the students showed excellent comprehension and skills in this exercise.
After lunch, Harvey presented the "tippy tap" - a handwashing station constructed from a 1/2 gallon plastic bottle. You can google it for more details. Harvey had to adapt the design to the local 10-liter bottles available - Senegal does not appear to have our familiar 1/2 gallon milk containers. After explaining the purpose, Harvey turned three groups loose with a bottle and materials to construct their own "tippy tap". The students were very excited and succeeded wonderfully. We hope this idea can be deployed near latrines or kitchens to encourage handwashing without wasting water.
Karen led the final session on community mental health. She asked questions to start conversation about problems of village life today. Are villages growing or shrinking? What types of behaviors bother villagers? The ensuing discussion was intense and enlightening. The students and local instructors discussed problems with alcohol, conflicts between traditional and modern medicine, homosexuality, and other familiar issues.
After the end of class, the team walked down to the ocean beach and back. The sunset was lovely. On the beach, dozens of young men were exercising - primarily training for soccer - and no women could be seen. We were back to the rooms around 9:30.
Today, Thursday, the team will complete food handling safety and then instruct the students on treating diarrhea. Later, Jane will show the "diarrhea dolls" and how to use one to instruct others on the causes and treatment of diarrhea. Most child deaths result from diarrheal diseases.
The beading continues full-steam and the students there have created beautiful rope necklaces. Their appetite to learn this skill seems insatiable!
We are now looking toward our trip home Saturday morning. The weather in NY and Chicago looks good for that day, so we hope that we will be at home on time. We have to be at the airport at midnight Friday night and the plane leaves at 3:30am local time Saturday, but because we travel with the sun, we get back to Chicago at 2:30pm the same day!
-- Tom
Yesterday wrapped up with student presentations on nutrition using their felt boards, construction of "tippy tap" handwashing stations, and a discussion of community mental health concerns. Jane, Janet and Carol are all impressed and excited about the progress the students are making.
The felt boards were brought by the team along with many sheets of printed drawings of foods and kitchen utensils. The students attached felt strips to the back of the their set of drawings and then learned techniques for using the drawings when presenting concepts to their fellow villagers. After questions and re-iterations, the group broke up into three sets of students and a translator. Each student then presented a particular nutrition concept to the other students and instructors present. All of the students showed excellent comprehension and skills in this exercise.
After lunch, Harvey presented the "tippy tap" - a handwashing station constructed from a 1/2 gallon plastic bottle. You can google it for more details. Harvey had to adapt the design to the local 10-liter bottles available - Senegal does not appear to have our familiar 1/2 gallon milk containers. After explaining the purpose, Harvey turned three groups loose with a bottle and materials to construct their own "tippy tap". The students were very excited and succeeded wonderfully. We hope this idea can be deployed near latrines or kitchens to encourage handwashing without wasting water.Karen led the final session on community mental health. She asked questions to start conversation about problems of village life today. Are villages growing or shrinking? What types of behaviors bother villagers? The ensuing discussion was intense and enlightening. The students and local instructors discussed problems with alcohol, conflicts between traditional and modern medicine, homosexuality, and other familiar issues.
After the end of class, the team walked down to the ocean beach and back. The sunset was lovely. On the beach, dozens of young men were exercising - primarily training for soccer - and no women could be seen. We were back to the rooms around 9:30.
Today, Thursday, the team will complete food handling safety and then instruct the students on treating diarrhea. Later, Jane will show the "diarrhea dolls" and how to use one to instruct others on the causes and treatment of diarrhea. Most child deaths result from diarrheal diseases.The beading continues full-steam and the students there have created beautiful rope necklaces. Their appetite to learn this skill seems insatiable!
We are now looking toward our trip home Saturday morning. The weather in NY and Chicago looks good for that day, so we hope that we will be at home on time. We have to be at the airport at midnight Friday night and the plane leaves at 3:30am local time Saturday, but because we travel with the sun, we get back to Chicago at 2:30pm the same day!
-- Tom
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