Special Guest Appearance

For the last few months the baby, Amadou hasn’t been gaining weight. He is starting to eat solid food and breast milk just isn’t enough. This really concerns me; is it so important to maintain a healthy weight and proper nutrition for the first five years of a child’s life. Child mortality is a huge problem in the developing world. Children are more susceptible to malaria and other potentially dangerous diseases. So what can I, an Ag-Fo Volunteer do? Should I feed this child myself? Lecture my family on proper nutrition when I know that it’s a challenge to put rice in the bowl some month? Both those options didn’t really feel like options. In some cross-sectoral project work, I brought in my friend and local Health and Community Development Volunteer Marnie to assist me with a demonstration.
We coordinated with the village women’s group to pick an afternoon to gather at my family compound. Marnie and I demonstrated a version of Pap, which is baby gruel/porridge. The demonstration became a great social event, and over 20 women came with their children. Everyone loved Marnie, and joked with her in mandinka. Her presence made the demo more legitimate, since she works with the hospital. I’m sure the women were impressed that I brought in an expert.
As per usual, the women know how do make the pap, and what age to start feeding at. So why don’t they do it? I think the overarching reason is that it’s difficult to use a new method. At first it requires extra work to make pap, and the baby is the only person to eat the food, so it’s not very versatile. We discussed teaming up with another woman to trade off making pap everyday, to lighten the load. Also, the cost and availability of ingredients can be prohibitive. All the ingredients are usually available, and inexpensive, but it becomes another cost that a family may not have the budget for. At this point I am trying to really push my family to make and use pap, both to serve as an example for the village and, more importantly get Amadou healthy!