Helga's story from ADRA India

II am sitting here in 42degree heat in the shade, my feet in a bucket of cold water and I enjoy a quiet day on the weekend. Our work is often very hard. Sometimes we have to go through the forest for more than one hour to reach a meeting place. The roads are in a terrible state and it takes a long time till it is repaired. The local people tell us that there are elephants and tigers in the area. Luckily we haven’t encounter any of them so far. Once a boy showed us a foot print and some marks of an elephant. He also told us that once saw a tiger and quickly ran into a house to save himself. It’s school holiday and our work with the children will continue on the 1st of June. Two months ago we started a Child-to-Child programme. All children involved in this program have to think about their own health problems, problems in the family or village then write them down on pieces of paper anonymously and hand it in for the group to discuss . Most of the children talked about skin diseases, quarrels in the house, no space for studying, lack of drinking water and no proper access road to the village.
Our Indian team members, a nurse and community worker, were very worried at the beginning how to solve the problems of the children. However, we explained them that not ADRA is not there to solve the problem but the children themselves. We are only facilitators.
The children decided to look in more depth at the topic of skin diseases and quickly understood what their role in the programme is. In the beginning they all thought that a skin disease would get worse when visiting a doctor. After a few weeks the children have analyzed what they already know about skin diseases. However, they still suggested conducting an interview with a local doctor to find out more. The children learned many important life skills. They are not shy anymore to approach a doctor and talk to her. They learned to work in groups, cooperate and find solution for the problems.
We know already that the children have started to tell their parents about their learning and so we hope that the parents will also gain more knowledge through their children and loose their shyness as well as gain the useful knowledge.
We have also started a First Aid Training at four different schools. We have prepared flash cards with the most important steps to take during an accident. It is important that the children know what to do first during an emergency, for example what are the phone numbers for an ambulance, a hospital, or somebody in the village who can get help. The children also learn how to describe an accident to a person who they try to get help from. They also practice how to make a bandage, how to secure the accident scene, how to protect yourself from fire, how to measure the pulse, to check consciousness, etc.
At the beginning the children were very shy. Now the children work in mixed gender groups and also the Afro-Indian and Indian children mix. We wish we would have achieved as much with the adults as with the children.
Within our women’s groups there are hardly any mixed groups of Afro-Indians and Indians. And if some of our Afro-Indian Health workers visit an Indian group, the Indians are not taking their advice seriously. however, if the children come home and tell what they have learned from _Madam_, the mothers are taking it much more serious. The status of the children has risen tremendously in the families. Were are very grateful for this success and pray that everything they lean and practice will not be forgotten too fast.

*Helga Weldrich is from Austria, volunteer from ADRA Austria
working in the "Medical Care for the Afro-Indian Community Women’s Project"
in the area around Yellapur, a town in Karnataka State in South India.
Helga has been volunteering since 2004.

 

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Elfie's expreience

During a routine visit for a medical camp in the forest villages around Yellapur (town in South India) we came across a mother who just gave birth to twins. The villagers sent us to her to check the well-being of the mother and her children. My colleague and I are nurses and we thought that the babies (a girl and a boy) were highly dehydrated. We advised the mother to drink lots of fluids. The medicine-man gave her a type of root which should help to increase her milk flow. He told her that she must not drink a lot, only little. We explained her that if she does not drink she can’t produce milk. The children will dehydrate and die quickly.
The clay hut was almost completely dark. There was only one small window.
We could hardly see the mother and the babies.
She didn’t know that the children need day light and sun to develop.
In addition, there were kitties and puppies jumping around the babies.
We removed the animals and told the family that they are a danger for the babies.
When we left the family, we didn’t know if the mother will follow our advice.
Every second day we took the 2 hour long walk to the village in order to visit the family.
We brought them baby milk formula because the mother had not enough milk for the
babies and nutritional supplements for the mother. We also brought them a mat.
Six months later we visited the family again.
The boy was healthy and well nourished.
The girl looked undernourished and we think that preference was given to the boy
while breast feeding. Later we found out that the mother has already TBC for many years and she was advised not to have any more children. Sometimes, when she is not feeling well, she consults a doctor.
Coincidentally we met the doctor and she told us that the mother of the twins doesn’t take the TB medicine regularly and is not willing to come with the children to the hospital. She was also concerned that without regular treatment the mother will not be healed and the family could pass on TB to all the other villagers.
I try very hard to help people, but people are very suspicious of our ideas and are not cooperative to listen to our advice or the advice of local doctors. It often makes me very sad. I came to India as volunteer with a lot of hope that I will be able to help the people we are working with. However, sometimes it is not possible to spread our ideas about health and health care. I learnt that it is not enough just to give medicine to the people, but educating them about diseases so that they will change their attitudes towards healthy living and disease prevention.

Unforgettable experience. My experience with ADRA Cambodia has been an excellent one. I am happy to have come from Nigeria and spent two years of my time with ADRA Child Survival Project in Kampong Province as a Component Technical Advisor. Although I was not officially a volunteer, my salary was similar to a stipend as I was essentially an intern coming right from getting my MPH degree at AIIS into development work and I volunteered much of my personal time and energy with the community and with ADRA. I joined ADRA Cambodia team in October 2004. Before this time, I was helping with an Independent Health Ministry project in Maliksi, as project manager, with Pastor James Park, as the fund raising and advisor for this project, in the Philippines. I was overwhelmed from the very first moment I arrived, to serve with ADRA in Cambodia. During my service, I teamed with the local field staff in conducting research different areas relating to maternal and child health; as well as documenting the research findings. Within these two years, we have succeeded in document and disseminating three research work conducting within the Child Survival project at the national level workshops. This task was unique and challenging; and at the same time, it was a real learning and good experience for me. This is an unforgettable experience. It had been a blessing for me to be able to serve with ADRA Cambodia for these two years. The staff and local community members were very friendly. The mothers and children in the communities are so precious and I am so grateful to have able to spend time with them. The ADRA Cambodia administration has been so wonderful as well! They made me feel as part of the family. Thank you everyone for making my time here so wonderful! You will always be close to my heart and in my prayers! Continue the good work that you are doing. Christy C. O. Onuiri