Routines

I seem to have got into a bit of a routine - or even the beginning of a routine. One week Lubombo, one week Shiselweni. The nutritionists who aer doing the training are becoming more proficient each week although there is still a way to go. It does feel like handing over a baby to a slightly careless person. I've out loads of work into this training package and into the project - I just have to trust that they will be able to do it. I sit at the back of the training sessions and watch proceedings thinking of ways of making it easier to deliver or clearer to understand. Obviously it's all in siSwati so I don't understand the majority of it but I am coming to grips with the phrases and words that come up often. Ema pilis - drugs. Dokotela - doctor. Also, I can follow the training in the English version of the training guide and see where the difficulties are.

On a lighter note, I did learn a cultural lesson this week. It is not permitted for a person from Mbabane to come and ask someone to remove their manure from the training venue. Even though it might make the place not conducive to learning, it will be offensive in Swazi culture. It is better to hope that someone from that community asks that the manure be removed, because then it's OK as we are not coming in with our 'Mbabane ways'.

The smell was removed just in time for the first break on the first day. Result.

Royal Residence

How quality is this photo. I took it just outside one of the places we were training. Zweli, one of the team said - I wonder if Elisabeth is in. Maybe this is where she comes when it's all too much at Balmoral.

Prayer before training

Before each training, before food and after the training finishes, all the people we have trained pray in song. It's beautiful. I love it when they sing! I tried to subtly catch the singing last week for your viewing pleasure. Sorry about the thumb in the way - I couldn't ask them for permission so I was trying to be not too obvious!

Week two of trainings

That's week two of 38! Sounds a bit daunting at the moment but I'm confident it will fly past. The picture is me in the process of making the fake boobs that many of you have been expressing an interest in. They have been useful in that the trainers are able to use them to describe breastfeeding and breast conditions without any loss of professionalism, but of course, the women we are training have no qualms about showing us all properly. We had a live demonstration of breastfeeding today! Nothing like the real thing. The community health workers that we are training are being really receptive to what we are teaching. Some already have quite a high level of knowledge, which makes it even more fun, to try and challenge and encourage them in their work, and still involve the older ones who perhaps are not so up to date. Our oldest one so far is 82. Not sure we will be beating that record in a hurry.

I'm also putting in a picture of the canteen at one of the clinics we support. A big plastic bucket with fermented maize porridge in it. Delicious!! Better than the fried food at St Mary's??

Over the weekend we attended the family health day at the Cabrini Mission - one of our partners. It was a day for all the partners to come and give health information to the community and to tell them about what we are doing in their area. We were there with our drama team again - Pelepele. They did their drama about HIV and malnutrition for about 1000 people. It's a really nice piece - starting and ending with a song to draw people's attention to the message. I love it! We gave out lots of literature on eating healthily, and some apples and a few squishy bananas for healthy snacks.

Oh my gawsh! Broadband!!!

Hello y'all!

I am currently in Phumula guesthouse, my new temporary residence for the week and it has broadband!! Proper internet. I'm on the Moot pages already downloading all the podcasts that used to take me over an hour to do. Now it estimates almost 30 minutes for 3! I can't express my excitement. Seriously. So excited!! This means I can properly celebrate Easter. :o)

So the training starts tomorrow and we have sandwiches for 50 people to paste and prepare. I think it's going to be really good if we can get the little things sorted. (Thanks Karina! :ox) We went to a meeting this morning with the Bucopo, which is like a community leaders meeting. Very powerful. They informed us that the 45 people we had budgeted for and catered for would be more like 120. We had to let them down gently. Now it seems the budget will have to stretch to 55. Not sure how that will happen, but we think that many will not turn up. It's a bit of a negotiation as to get to the active community workers, we also have to train the aging, partially sighted, not active ones who are always up for a free lunch. It's difficult but we have to take the rough with the smooth.

The machine was not fixed in the end and the jolly man who was slightly more expensive got a bit more jolly as we rocked up and asked him to print 4500 booklets, 4500 pre and post tests and 32 A3 laminates for teaching. A very jolly man. He has printed 160 for us at the moment and will do the rest in the next few weeks. That suits me well as out stock room would not be able to hold all the booklets we have coming. Each participant gets a plastic envelope with an A5 exercise book, an A5 work tool, a pen and a tape for measuring Mid Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC). The hope is that with these goodies and the inspiration and information they get from us, we can prevent malnutrition before it even develops and catch the others in the early stages. It's an aspiration!! People at the Bucopo seemed very enthusiastic, until we realised they thought we were going to roll in on a truck full of maize like a carnival float, flinging emalangeni at happy children. We thought it probably best to correct this view.

Oh well, at least our approach is sustainable, even if it is a little less carnival like.