The Giant Baobab: Opportunity Gaps

"Rats and roaches live by competition under the law of supply and demand. It is the privilege of human beings to live under the law of justice and mercy." -Wendall Berry

Another wonderful, busy week has gone by.

On the way to Taita Taveta we spotted a giant baobab!

This past week, I returned to the Taita Taveta district - the target area for the Mwanzo Mwema project (which I wrote about earlier). My time back in the little town of Voi was quite a different experience from my earlier trip. It was a week consisting mostly of meetings and discussions on the progress of the project. The three organization involved in Mwanzo Mwema - the University of Manitoba, ADS Pwani, and World Renew - came together to discuss the data, challenges, successes and goals.

Discussing and evaluating

I was blessed with a chance to experience the long (often very long) project review meetings and have some insightful conversations with doctors, public health experts and community development workers. There are some valuable things that I learnt through my experience. Here are a few of the biggest lessons learnt:

-Partnership and teamwork are essential for a public health project. Different experiences, expertise, and skills help strengthen the team. In our meetings, we would have time to split into different speciality groups such as the management team, the health team, the programming team, the finances team, etc. It showed me just how valuable teamwork is.

-In public health, you should always be aware of your denominator. That way you can know who you have not been able to reach yet and why. You need to be constantly thinking about how you can reach the unreached.

-Something one of the public health experts said during the meeting still resonates with me, "gaps in the project aren't something we should feel bad about. They are 'opportunity gaps' to improve the project further and help more people."

The health team

Travelling in style: riding in the trunk to go on a home visit

In the midst of our review meetings, we decided to split up into groups and spend an afternoon going on field visits to meet with the beneficiaries of the program. My group visited the home of a lactating mother, Doris, and spent some precious time interacting with her.

Walking to a beneficiary's home with the community health workers

The family of seven had just recently moved to their new home and were all sleeping in one tiny mud hut. The hope I saw was starkly different from the poverty that surrounded the family. Doris was determined follow Mwanzo Mwema's lessons and was practicing exclusive breastfeeding. As a result, her 2 month old Paul, was a fat and healthy baby. The family was building another hut to expand their home and the mother said that the next time we visit them they will have a big house ready.

Adorable Paul

Davis lovingly held Paul thoughout the home visit

On the last day in Taita Taveta, my supervisers felt that we all deserved a break from our long week before driving 6 hours back to Nairobi. We stayed the night at Saltlick Lodge, a hotel located in the middle of a game park. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. The lodge had salt water ponds that attracted herds of wild animals. Our rooms were suspended 15 feet off the ground to protect us from the wildlife. In my excitement, I found myself waking up early in the morning to watch the herds of elephants come to drink water. As I sat on the balcony, the savanna grasslands stretching as far as my eyes could see and the birds singing morning tunes, I was yet again reminded of my Father's vast and intimate love. He didn't have to let me stay at the lodge that day, but I felt like it was his small gift of love for his daughter.

I was grinning from ear to ear the rest of that day.