Here I go!

Hi! This is my first time doing this blog-thing, so we'll see how it works out. I decided to do it to document my work in Liberia. Here is a little synopsis of what I will be doing this summer:

I will be working with a Christian non-profit relief and development organization called EQUIP Liberia. This organization specializes in training and equipping local community groups to improve the health status of their community members. The Positive Deviance/Hearth methodology is used to provide sustainable rehabilitation to malnourished children. The Positive Deviance approach identifies affordable, acceptable, effective, and sustainable behaviors already in practice by community members with well nourished children, despite limited resources and equal risk for disease. The Hearth component involves enabling women in the community to educate other women based on the premise that mothers learn best from a peer who they can identify with, and who understands local customs and conditions. The three objectives of the Positive Deviance/ Hearth approach are to rehabilitate malnourished children, enable families to sustain improved nutritional status with existing resources, and prevent malnutrition among the community’s other children, present and future. EQUIP Liberia is attempting to restore communities in Liberia and counterbalance some of the devastating effects of fifteen years of civil war.

My position with EQUIP Liberia will be a nutritionist in a health clinic for malnourished children in Bong County, Liberia. I will be working alongside physicians, nurses and other technical health staff. In addition to the clinic I will be involved in the implementation of the PD/Hearth methods. I will be educating mothers of malnourished children about how to achieve adequate micronutrient and macronutrient intake using the resources already available to them. The program is entitled, “Come Eat at My Table” and involves training local women in the community to become “Community Health Ambassadors” (CHAs). Once trained, the CHAs invite other mothers in the community into their homes for a meal and education on proper nutrition for their child. The children and their entire families are involved in the process and the women provide education once a month for four months. The CHAs are also trained to identify and refute cultural misconceptions, and to educate the community on proper dietary and health practices to achieve maximum health and nutritional status. The children are provided two meals daily for the duration of the four month program. The meals are prepared and distributed by the CHA in order to assure proper allocation of the meals and the practice of proper sanitation habits.

I will be staying in Liberia for ten weeks, from May 27th to August 11th, 2009. Here is a little video about the organization. http://www.equipliberia.org/Assets/Equip%20Liberia%20(small).mov

I will be documenting my experiences on this site as often as I can. Internet access with not be regular, but I will do the best I can. Check in and please pray for my safety, health and the women and children I will be working with in Liberia. Also please pray for my finances. Tufts was able to offer me some money, but it was not enough to cover my expenses. Praying I can make it work! Thanks for your support in this endeavor!

Thanks!

Nicole