Weeks 1 to 6 were an exciting experience. After four weeks of internship in the Boko hospital and two weeks of internship in some of the many health centers, it was time for us to be more ‘among the people’. From week 7, our internship days took place in several villages around Parakou. This was the chance for us to get to know life as it is here in Benin. We were able to see what a weekday is like for a large part of the population. Usually the men work in the city or elsewhere and the women stay at home to take care of the children, to cook, and also to work. Each village has a kind of specialization. In one village the women where the women make charcoal, we spent 45 minutes helping them also become specialize in preparing enriched bouillie (porridge) for the children. Another example are villages where they focus on making beurre de karité, while others gave us fromage du soya (better known to us as tofu) to eat at home.

The reason why we went to the villages was to see the work of the community workers of the Hubi & Vinciane Foundation. Often this was giving a kind of cooking class to the women along with education on topics such as nutrition for children. Each employee has his or her own villages, depending on where they live. Usually we arrived at the agreed place, looked for our guide and then waited for the many women who would follow. Since the villagers often did not speak French, a small explanation was given in the local language (often in Bariba). The visit is arranged through a collaboration between the employee of the Foundation and the person in charge of the village. These responsible persons are mainly articulate women who can easily encourage others to action and who will also be called upon, for example, in conflicts between villagers. This person in charge also takes on the task of gathering all the necessary ingredients for the cooking class. Then the cooking itself began. In between there was occasionally time to play with the children of the village and to take the babies on our laps. At the end, the meal was divided among all the mothers, and we always received a portion to eat on the spot.

On some of our internship days, we also did ‘dépistage’. This refers to the screening for malnutrition. Just as we were able to do during our village visits with the large group of Belgian students at the beginning of our stay in Benin, here too we were able to use a special bracelet that measures the upper arm circumference. Despite the fact that the Foundation regularly passes through these villages, we still found some children who were in the yellow risk zone. Our counselor then spoke to the mother of that child, although it sometimes seemed as if the mother was not really interested in improving her child’s nutritional status. These children are monitored several times a month by the Foundation.

On other training days we could follow along and participate in a presentation about nutrition for children younger than 2 years. Afterwards we could also be asked some questions by the women. Our guide was almost always needed for translation.

The difference a pen can make

Usually only the very young children are present during these sessions, as the children from 6 years old go to school. On one of our internship days, we noticed that the children had already returned from school before 10 am and that they were still present at the session in the afternoon. We then asked our guide if their break was not long over and why they were still there. It turned out that the children had come back home because they did not have a writing device to take notes in class and therefore, according to them, it was useless to go to class. We were quite shocked at this. The fact that a child simply cannot go to school because there is no writing material is something that shocks you.

In no time we started looking in our backpacks for what we had available and fortunately we were able to find three pens. The children were very happy, came to thank us and then rushed back to school in no time. At the beginning of our stay here, the group of Belgian students had given us a box of pens and some blocks of paper to donate where needed. So this was the perfect time to hand them over. Our supervisor of that day, Joseph, dropped us off at our house at the end of the working day together with the yam (a kind of large potato) that we had received from the women. We gave Joseph our pens, the blocks of paper, and some of our own paper as well. A few days later we received a picture of him showing some of the happy children who had received our pens. This way you see what a difference you can make, even if only by giving something as small as a pen.

Good news… or not…?

On the second Monday we went with Joseph on a home visit to children who are (on the way to being) cured of malnutrition. We were given the opportunity to follow up on a child we had seen in the hospital a month earlier when they came for consultation. In our week 2 blog you can read how this girl named Beauté, who weighed only three kilos at 15 months old, was in serious condition. Afterwards we were shown a picture of her when she was admitted to the hospital, at 9 months old, and then she was in even worse shape. Because of this, our guide told us that everything will be fine as she is in better shape than before. Now that we got to see Beauté again a month later, we can happily say that she is clearly in much better shape than she was a month ago. She has full cheeks again and eats well. Only we fear that Beauté has suffered serious brain damage due to malnutrition. You can see from the eye movements that something is not right and she barely makes a sound, let alone trying to communicate and can walk. Despite the improvement, we still fear for her future.

And now… holiday!

After these past two weeks, which we personally found to be the most interesting, interactive, and enjoyable weeks to date, it is time for a well-deserved holiday. Both we and Svea have been able to arrange a week’s holiday where our family comes to visit. Heather’s father comes over from Canada while Femke’s parents and sisters come to visit from relatively less distant Belgium. A week of traveling around will do us good. Afterwards we’ll get back to it completely, both on our internship and for our bachelor’s thesis. Our time here passes so quickly that the end of our internship here in Benin is already in sight.