So, as many of you know, internet is crazy slow in Chad. I have been able to upload a video so check it out!
This will be getting a bit more love in the coming month. With a clear focus and understanding now of what is going to happen, this blog will be the main site for work related posts. For our personal blogs, check out zgately.com and lifeawayabroad.blogspot.com!
If the Video doesn’t work, heres the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsTJLJx1df4.
Recently we have been strung out with trainings: trainings for our community health workers (CHW) and our traditional birth attendants (TBA). I was head of the CHW training and Charis was in charge of the TBA trainings.
We started off with 20+ CHWs ready to be trained. Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication with the chiefs and the 20+ CHWs (with a few TBAs thrown in) quickly was reduced to 5 as they realized that only those who had not completed training had to attend. Once this was all figured out, we were able to start.
The week went as smooth as it probably could have gone. Everyone passed and we were so excited to welcome them to the CHW family.
The TBA training is actually still going. As you can imagine, there is a vast amount of knowledge that needed to be taught to these wiling women. On top of an extended training, most of them cannot read or write. This requires us to go slowly with them, ensuring that they have memorized this information correctly and accurately.
It is powerful working with the community here. We see women who are taking a stand to assist other women in their quarter in family planning and proper birth procedures. We see men going against the grain of Chadian society to provide care for men, women, and children equally. They are dry sponges searching for knowledge! I wish we had the funds to keep them supplies to proper standards but working with a minimal budget has proved difficult.
As the holidays are upon us, please remember Project 21. Your small donations go far here and can make the difference for life or death for many people. No small donation goes unblessed or unnoticed.
We have also been busy getting into the community! Like I mentioned before, we visited all 21 villages/quarters to inform them of our happenings. We also participated in a prayer conference, bringing together everyone of all denominations and faiths. It was neat to see how the community has come together, regardless of difference of faiths. Daniel and I also had the opportunity to visit a school over in the south central part of Chad with a local pilot. The kids meet under the mango tree for classes. It was neat to see that there is development happening around the country.
Happy holidays and blessings to all!
Zachary Gately
p21.zgately @ gmail.com
Berep21.wordpress.com
The crowd at the prayer conference.
Here is my fellow employees with one of the delegates.
Our CHWs are in the middle of their exam.
Here are the children in school under the Mango trees.
Just like last Tuesday, we are preparing for feeding malnourished children currently being treated at the hospital with additions to their rice porridge today. It’s exciting today for 1 major reason: we have a real certified dietician to speak to them. Sarah, a recently transplanted nasara, is working at the nutrition center a few kilometers down the road. Her and her husband moved to Béré three weeks ago, with him working as a mission pilot. We are excited for this young addition to our extended team here in Béré.
Unfortunately, the feedings are the relaxed part of today. We also must travel to visit as many village chiefs today as we can to prepare for the up coming trainings of community health workers, traditional birth attendants, and the presenting of community health lectures. It’s truly energizing to meet with the chiefs to share what we want to do with them and their community members.
Please consider a donation at the top of this blog page. We have many things we need to purchase such as medical kits for the new trainees, food for the malnutrition feedings, and saving for our transportation fund. If you would like to help in any of these ways, please don’t hesitate to click how to help or email us directly!
Zachary Gately, MPH
p21.zjg@gmail.com
+235 9112-2492
L’Hopital Adventiste de Béré
52 Boîte Postale
Kelo, Tchad
Africa
Today marks week three of nutrition classes taught to the mothers of malnourished children. Every Tuesday, we gather outside of the pediatric department, huddled over a charcoal fire. We demonstrate how to make the local rice porridge with an extreme amount of nutritional value. Often, it only consists of rice and water. Some add in a little salt, sugar, peanut butter, lime, or fortified powdered milk. We encourage all of these things to be added.
Our aim is not to change their process of life in a drastic measure but instead to provide them with easy things they can do to enhance what they are already doing. For instance, fortified milk powder is extremely expensive. It’s even expensive by western standards, leaving most villagers without access to essential vitamins and minerals. Thankfully, there is local tree that grows wild in the plains of Chad that has all these nutrients that can be thrown in this morning power dish! It is locally sourced and costs 5 cents for enough to nourish a large family for a day.
After lecture, we feed all children who are malnourished by CDC and WHO standards (these levels are slightly adapted for the normal baseline here). Most children are at the hospital for malarial treatment rather than solely malnutrition. Both malaria and quinine (malaria medication) cause dehydration, low blood sugar, lack of appetite, and vomiting. This causes even more malnutrition in already disease susceptible bodies.
Wish us luck and prayers as we continue feeding these children who desperately need both to survive. I pray that these mothers see the importance and difference in how to prepare their daily meals, ensuring the success of this young generation.
This is only the beginning. Ideas flooding and trying to still make a sustainable difference to those living here in Béré, Chad. We keep adding programs and ideas and slowly but surely, they are coming together. People are learning. Knowledge is growing. Quality of life is improving. It’s not an over night change, but Project 21 is committed to changing these lives, one hut at a time.
Join us, whether in prayer or in thought, as we embark on the next phase of this journey. Contact us, pray for us, and share this with your friends. Big things are happening in ways that only God can do!
Email: p21.zjg
Phone: +235 9112-2492
Project 21: Health For Tommorow 