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July 11, 2006
Le Premier Jour de Formation
Today was a truly wonderful day. After many months of planning, we finally kicked off the first day of Here Bolo (the Bambera translation of La Main de l’Espoir) and began training 20 peer educators – 10 men and 10 women. This is more than we had originally anticipated, but much better, because it means we will have even more capable people working to educate others in the Sikoro community.
I was a little nervous when we began training because although my French has improved drastically since I have arrived here, it is still not the best. Furthermore, although most of the peer educators began talking in French when asking questions or making comments, they often launch into Bambera mid-sentence, so I had difficulty always understanding what was going on. Luckily, I had Dr. Kone and of course, Ramatoulaye, to assist me, and they translated from Bambera to French when necessary, so I was kept in the loop.
What pleased me so much about today is that everyone was really and truly engaged. Although the training was scheduled to last from 3pm to 5pm, we ended up staying until 6pm because the peer educators asked so many questions and were truly interested. This gives me hope that the program has the power to be sustainable and last after I leave Sikoro – I feel that people are truly invested in it. One thing that I also learned today and throughout my work designing the project is that it is necessary to step back and let the Malians take charge of the program. This is the only way it will truly become their own. When we first began training today, I had planned all of these points that I wanted to make, but quickly realized that it was more important to let the peer educators talk – to let THEM ask questions, and to let them discuss the issues at hand. I am also so lucky to have Dr. Kone and Ramatoulaye work with me, not only because of their wealth of knowledge, but also because they are Malians, and have been able to help me make others take the program and curriculum seriously. It was great to see that all of the peer educators liked the curriculum and the mnemonic. When I was designing the curriculum, I was concerned that it may or may not be culturally relevant, and I also wanted to make it easy to remember and easy to teach. The five points taught by the mnemonic are “Hope,” (thumb) “Identity,” (Index finger) “Transmission,” (middle finger) “Marriage, Fidelity and Family” (ring finger) and “Community” (both hands together). After the program training is completed, all peer educators will be responsible for going out and teaching the mnemonic to other members in the community. Any one who learns the curriculum will be told to come to the Sikoro clinic for a free HIV test, and if they can recite the five points of the program curriculum properly, they will also receive a free “Here Bolo” tee shirt. Ideally, I would like to have each peer educator educate 10 people before I leave Sikoro – which would be wonderful, because then 200 more people who have the knowledge to prevent HIV and past the knowledge onto others.
Today’s lesson, “Hope.” was basically an introduction, and emphasized that hope is knowledge, which allows for HIV prevention; hope is access to medical treatment; and hope is research for a future HIV vaccine. Tomorrow, I am giving all of the peer educators a simple 12 question survey to evaluate their knowledge about HIV, and I will then administer the same survey at the end of the program to assess their progress. Listening to the peer educators ask questions and discuss HIV today was incredibly interesting because even though they are some of the most educated and respected people in the community, they still weren’t clear about basic facts, such as the difference between being HIV+ and having full-blown AIDS. I think they were all pretty shocked to learn that Ramatoulaye was HIV+ - many of the men looked pretty unnerved when she took out her medication and passed it around.
Outside of the program training, I have been having a truly wonderful time in Bamako. This past weekend, I spent Saturday with Ramatoulaye and had lunch at her house with her entire family went to her niece’s first birthday party and to a concert with her and some of my other friends in the evening. I enjoy working with her so much, and am happy that we are becoming friends outside of our collaboration on Here Bolo. She is going to take me to work with her this Thursday at Point G Hospital, where she works as an HIV educator and counselor, so it will be really interesting to see her at work. I am also going to be spending a few nights at the clinic some time next week to help my friend Victoria assist the midwives with births.
Posted by Madeline DiLorenzo at July 11, 2006 08:27 PM
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