Volunteer Service

So it has been almost a year in-country and I have yet to mention in my blog anything about my volunteer service.  That is because up until recently I haven't been completely sure what my assignment really is.  Not that we are not given a set of goals, but the means by which to achieve them are not specified.  So I (like many of my fellow volunteers) have been groping around in la oscuridad, trying to find my place.  Where can I make the biggest impact, where am I happiest, where am I needed, what fits my schedule?  After 9 months of service, I have finally figured out how I want to be spending the next 15.

In general, I am a “health educator” and have been giving health charlas to patients in the waiting room at the Health Center, Health Posts with brigades to more rural sites, health fairs, and to pregnant women at the Casa Materna.

Casa Materna, Boaco

Casa Materna is a refuge for underprivileged rural pregnant women who do not have immediate access to health care.  Ordinarily, these women succumb to midwifery or arrive at the nearest hospital many hours after labor has begun.  Unfortunately, this practice has resulted in many maternal and or child deaths due to infections, hemorrhages, or a high-risk condition called preeclampsia.  Women who stay at the Casa Materna two to four weeks before they are expecting decrease risk of complications because they have direct access to a hospital or health center.

I like giving charlas to the women here as opposed to waiting room patients because I have the opportunity to befriend the women.  They are not gone the next day like the patients in the waiting room.  I also like to conduct interactive activities after to the charla to see what the ladies have learned!  The atmosphere is much more relaxed and the audience more attentive.  When I am not giving charlas I like to do crafts with the ladies.  In turn, they show me how to make corn tortillas!

I have also enjoyed making informative posters for the Health Center.

The truth is that I am really just getting started now that I know how I want to serve and what I want to accomplish as a volunteer.  Not to mention I am trying desperately to perfect a foreign language as to be taken more seriously by my listeners. . . So much to do in so little time! 

Charlas Topics I have given:

Nutrition for Pregnant Women

Personal Hygiene

How to Take Care of a Newborn

Breastfeeding

PAP Tests

HIV/AIDS

The Birth Process

Warning Signs for Pregnant Women