On wonderful women

This Wednesday marked the end of the first phase of my women's health promoter course Hogares Saludables. For the first four months, we worked together to understand health concepts from proper hand-washing techniques to different breast-feeding positions to cooking with healthy green vegetables. After the course, each woman took a final exam to become certified as a community health promoter, a hefty and important title that merits an official ID badge and certificate!

And next week, after they receive their official health promoter badge, phase two begins. The women will be trained on how to conduct house visits and educate their peers on important health topics like childhood health, chronic illnesses and HIV/AIDS. In six months, si dios quiere, we will be certifying the houses as "Healthy Homes" in a cool celebration full of stickers and cake! My women will then be in charge of educating a new group of health promoters and I will act as a supervisor for the second year of service.

Meet some of Copey's newest health promoters - hardworking ladies making a difference in our community. I'm so proud!

Franca is our oldest health promoter and will do an amazing job on the home visits as she is spunky and vivacious, just look at that grin!

Alida is my only student to have finished the course with a 100% attendance rate!

Ana, a community health promoter who cannot read, scored a 95% on her final exam and has been the group's biggest motivator.

Local colmado owner Bernadina is one of the brightest students and will be an amazing health worker, despite not knowing how to read.

Shiomara is an outspoken and motivated student, scoring 100% on her final exam!

Carmen, a sassy doña, is always the first to volunteer for my games, reviews and dinamicas. 

Solmerys' mother and brother passed away in the same week about a month ago. Two weeks later, she came to me and told me that she was still determined to finish the course. I spent weeks reviewing with her even though she was still mourning her loss. She was determined to finish and told me it was to make her mother proud. 

Carmen joined the group late but attended every single make-up session to ensure she earned her health promoter badge with the others!

Keki has been beyond helpful during the course, working patiently with the four illiterate women in our group. 

Malde told me on the first day that she didn't think she was smart enough to finish the course. Four months later, she was one of my highest scoring health promoters!

Noelia has been a lifesaver throughout the course. She takes attendance, reminds me to get back on track and keeps me organized.

Yesenia is the president of our Centro de Madre and my project partner. I consider her another one of my Dominican mothers and have grown very close to her during my year here. Together, we graduated sixteen women as health promoters, started our floor cleaner project, made batches and batches of mabi de palo (kombucha type juice made of sticks) and formed the Women's Center of Copey. I have no doubt that Yesenia will continue this work long after I leave.

This is Genesis, Yesenia's daughter. She's our honorary health promoter as she's only 13. She is the president of our youth group, Escojo Mi Vida, and has already approached me to start her own group in her church.

And here I am: Bea the Jefa (Boss).

Thanks for checking in! 

On health myths

Happy Tuesday! 

All is well here in Manzanillo, gracias a Dios! I am ready for a busy summer. Schools out now and I am determined not to let my kids slack in attendance even though the beach is calling and the sun is shining (a little too much if you ask me, it's a solid 88 degrees here everyday and every night and it's getting harder and harder to sleep at night)! 

As my women and youth groups advance in our education course, the topics we cover become more advanced, there are often more details to cover, more misinformation to correct and more myths to debunk. This week, here’s a list of my top myths I’ve heard in my women and youth groups. Play along and see if you need to be in my education group!

Health Myth Quiz: True or False

1. President Obama sent the newest mosquito-born-illness, chikungunya (starts with an awful fever, turns into body pains and ends in a gruesome rash), here as a biological weapon to kill inferior races.

FALSE: I had to patiently explain to my host brother that, no, Obama did not create the chikungunya virus, and no, he is not trying to kill Dominicans. Another relative said the Haitians sent it over, but again I reminded them that the hospital is full of both Haitians and Dominicans, we are suffering just the same. Which led them full circle, “So like I said, Bea, it is Obama’s fault.”

2. You can’t get pregnant if you pee after having sex.

FALSE: My youth were really confused by this one. “You mean it doesn’t work like that? I can still get pregnant?” I looked at my youth and said, “Now kids, let’s review the lady and man bits once again.” After examining my beautifully drawn lady bits, they understood that the “pee hole” and the vagina are in two different places. Ahhhh...who knew?

3. If women have diarrhea, they shouldn’t breastfeed.

FALSE: “Pero, Bea, hace daño al niño!” No, my doña friends, having diarrhea does not to damage to your child. You should continue to breastfeed just the same. And as I’ve repeated more than a thousand times by now, “Dar el seno solo seno!” or “Give the breast, only the breast!” And on a positive note, my cousin just gave birth to a cute baby boy and she told me, “Bea, I promise to breast feed him!” YAY! One point for Bea! 

4. The moon is bigger than the sun.

FALSE: My host brother’s logic for this was that when you look at the moon it appears bigger than when you look at the sun. Again, after a little astronomy lesson and help from my favorite friend Google, we debunked this myth.

5. Real cows milk boiled with garlic cures brain cancer.

Well, who knows? From WebMd: “Garlic is used for many conditions related to the heart and blood system. These conditions include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, coronary heart disease, and heart attack. Garlic actually may be effective in slowing the development of atherosclerosis and seems to be able to modestly reduce blood pressure. Some people use garlic to prevent colon cancer, rectal cancer, stomach cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and lung cancer. It is also used to treat prostate cancer and bladder cancer.” So who am I to judge these homeopathic remedies? But it is also my job to make sure they get themselves checked out at a health clinic!  

6. HIV is transmitted through mosquito bites, hugging and handshakes. 

FALSE: HIV is transmitted through four substances and is present in one other. 1) Semen (including pre-ejaculate), 2) Breast milk, 3) Vaginal fluids, and 4) Blood and is present in saliva (but technically you would have to drink five gallons to acquire the virus). Additionally, as the acronym would suggest, it is a virus that is only transmitted from human to human: Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

7. Vicks Vapor Rub will cure anything.

TRUE: What, you didn’t know? From broken ankle to mosquito bites to stuffed up noses, Vicks will do the trick! To be used liberally much like Windex is used in My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

It makes sense that many Dominican have these misconceptions. They come from speculation and a lack of education. As I’ve mentioned just a few times, Dominicans have quite a lot of time to sit around speculating and many do not receive formal education. These myths illustrate the importance of the work I am here to do. Education! 

There are some days when I get down on myself and feel like I have nothing to teach them, but then its comments such as the above that remind me why my work is so important. Let’s not continue to allow Dominican teenagers to become pregnant solely because they think they can have sex standing up and not get pregnant. And let’s help Dominican doñas go to the medical clinic when they have throbbing headaches and not just stay at home and drink garlic milk. There are interventions and education that I can and should provide within the cultural context here. Respecting a culture and improving lives and health outcomes do not have to be at odds with one another.

Oh, and I sure hope you got 100 percent on the “Health Myths Quiz” otherwise book your ticket down here and let's get you in my health groups!

Besos y abrazos, 

Bea 

On questions from 4th graders

Today I opened my computer to an email from an elementary school teacher of mine who let me know that her 4th graders have questions for me! How cool!!!! Kids ask the best questions. Here's my answers! Thanks for the curiosity Mrs. Salmon's 4th grade class! 

Is it a one-room school-house?

The schools here (two elementary schools and one high school) actually have a bunch of different rooms. There is one room for every grade and you enter from the outside. The bathrooms and office are also outside with lots of open windows because we don't have a lot of electricity so there are not lightbulbs that turn on, just light from outside. As a teacher, it is very frustrating because the rooms are all very loud and the kids like to talk and scream, so it's hard to be a teacher when you are always yelling over the kids. The classrooms have desks and chairs and chalkboards, but nothing fancy. 

Do all kids go to school? 

Most kids go to school, yes. Unfortunately, you need to show a birth certificate to go to high school and many of the Haitian immigrants do not have these documents so they cannot go to school past 8th grade or else they will be kicked out of the country. It's pretty sad. Also, students with disabilities do not go to school. There are no resources here for special education, so kids who should e in separate classroom to help them learn just stay at home. Also, going to school is not mandatory and many teenagers drop out after their second year at high school. There is also a very high percentage of teenage mothers (girls who get pregnant before they are 18) and the majority of them drop out of high school. 

How educated are they?

The education system here is really different, most people just copy homework from their classmates and they do not have to write essays or do much research on their own. They do a lot of copying from wikipedia too when they can find internet access. I would say that a student here who completes high school probably has the education level of an American 7th grader. Some people go to the university after high school, but most do not. Most of the older people here (65 and older) are illiterate and never made it past 5th grade. 

Are there seasons there? 

The weather almost never changes here but there is a rainy season and a dry season. The rainy season is from April to November and the dry season is from December to March. There are many hurricanes during the rainy season and many of the homes are made of wood and will be crushed in big storms. It's pretty dangerous and a lot of people are unable to leave their communities because the roads are washed out with mud (most of the roads are dirt here). In December and January, there is a nice breeze in the morning and it is about 80 degrees during the day and 65 at night. For the rest of the year, it's very hot and humid - about 90 degrees all the time and 70 at night. No one leaves their house between the hours of 12pm-2pm because it's too hot to walk around.

Any mountains above 5000 feet? 

Yes, in fact there are a few! The most famous mountain is called Pico Duarte and it is 10,164 feet. I plan to climb it in January. It's the tallest mountain in the Caribbean! There are 3 major mountain ranges and a lot of little towns are in the mountains with people living on the side of hills! The Dominican Republic is a very diverse country in terms of terrain!  

When is the sun going down right now?

The sun goes down here around 7:30pm. It will go down later in the summer (but not too much later), and earlier in winter months (even though it's not actually a change of season). We do not have Daylight Savings here either. 

What is your opinion of plantain? Wikipedia says its a kind of banana.

I have mixed feelings about plantains (platanos). I really like to fry them and make tostones, basically little small flat fried pieces of plantains that you put salt on and eat like you would french fries. Also, you can boil them and mash them into a food called mangu and eat it with fried salami or fried cheese on top. I eat it every night for dinner and I'm getting kind of sick of it, to be honest! You can also eat them boiled and cut into pieces but they taste like nothing. A lot of people boil them and mix them with spaghetti (yuck!).

Thanks for the questions, I'll look forward to more! 

On teaching second graders

Wanda, the regular 2nd grad teacher, was out sick today. So she rang me up and asked if I would teach her class for the afternoon. Of course I said yes, but I didn't go without reinforcements. My host sister, Elenne, came along to help out!

Sachel with her teachers Bea and Elenne

Jose Gabriel Garcia Elementary/Middle School

Ay, seems so cute! 

Math, fascinating. 

Snack time.