So i'm not sure if any of my previous posts have given a good, succinct overview of the nature of my work here. which deserves to be done. my role could best be described as 'grassroots community health educator'. We (that is, peace corps health volunteers) are commissioned by the Madagascar Ministry of Health to address certain health issues unique to life here in Madagascar...specifically, good nutrition (esp. targeted at pregnant woman and young children); healthy pregnancy; vaccines for the newborn through 1yr old; prevention and treatment of diarrhea mostly through sound hygiene practices and treating drinking water with chlorine (as there is no large scale water treatment process); prevention and treatment of acute respiratory disease (high prevalence due to using wood to cook and the abundance of smoke in the often poorly ventilated kitchen that hinders and eventually renders ineffective the natural defense mechanism of cilia lining the trachea); prevention and treatment of malaria; family planning; and finally reproductive health esp. targeted at adolescents and prevention of STI's/HIV/AIDS.

i work every weds. morning at the clinic weighing the women who come for family planning 'consults' (i.e. to collect a 3mos supply of the pill or get their depo-provera injection...also good for 3mos) and then typically commence a teaching on HIV/AIDS. The other days I typically go out on foot or bicycle to the outlying rural villages to address some of the above mentioned topics. i speak almost entirely with women and children. There is a saying in this line of work of public health in the context of the 'developing world' that i believe rings pretty true: teach a man and you've taught one person; teach a woman and you've taught a whole family.

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