El Zarzal Community Health Workers Monthly Training

I went on my second community health worker visit on Thursday. The Community Health Worker (CHW) Program is an extremely important supplemental program that greatly contributes to the sustainability of the medical brigade program. The CHW program selects eligible community members and then teaches them an extensive course where they learn first aid, emergency medical procedures, how to recognizes and treat the prevalent diseases in their community and much more. After they complete the course they receive a certificate and are able to support their community's medical needs when there is not a medical brigade present in their community. Every community receives a medical brigade every 3-4 months but the communities need someone to go to when there is no brigade around. Our long term goal is for the communities that we work in to be self-sufficient in every aspect including medical. The CHW is the first step to making these communities medically self-sufficient. The community health workers (guardianes de salud) are given a 3 month supply of commonly needed medications. Community members can then go to the community health worker and get treatment. Every 3 months we follow up with the health worker, review their documentation and replenish the medications that they have run out of. If there is an emergency, the community health worker has been given a phone and they can call us for transportation to the closest health clinic. 

Yesterday we went to El Zarzal to meet with the community health workers that work and live in El Zarzal and the surrounding communities. The community health workers serve the community member's needs in between medical brigades. Since their certification, the in-country staff go back to El Zarzal at least once a month to follow up with the community health workers, re-fill their stock of medications if necessary, and cover a topic for review. Yesterday's topics were syphilis and chagas. Before getting into the topics however we completed an introductory activity called una rosa, un boton y una espina (a rose, a bud and a thorn). We went around the room and everyone stated something good that was going on their life (a rose), something that they were hoping for (a bud) and something bad that was going on in their life (a thorn). This was a great way to figure out what was going on in their lives, discuss any problems that they were having and everyone seemed to really enjoy it. Afterwards, the nurse of the clinic in El Zarzal reviewed syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease. She discussed the signs and symptoms, how it can be transferred to a fetus and the importance of always using protection. The community health workers will be able to relay this information back to their community. The nurse also discussed Chagas, a disease that is spread by bugs that can live in their adobe homes. She taught them about what the bugs look like, the signs and symptoms of the disease and what to do if they think someone has the disease. After all their questions were answered we played a review game to review material they learned during their certification class. The community health workers also consulted our medical program lead, Dr. Jenny, about common medical problems that were occurring in their community. Once the new Community Health Worker Program lead, Dr. Bruce,  starts, we will be going to El Zarzal often to follow up with the community health workers. 

I learned so much during the visit and I know the community health workers did too. I look forward to going back to El Zarzal in the future and getting to know these guardianes better :). 

Moving Day!!!

October is finally here! This past weekend we moved out of Tegucigalpa and into a house located about 30 minutes outside the city in a small town called Santa Lucia. I have mixed feelings about this move. Although I probably had a small case of cabin fever, I am going to miss the convenience of living in the city. But besides going out on brigades and community visits we haven't been able to get much fresh air living in the city. Santa Lucia is about 10 degrees cooler and has plenty of fresh air. It is definitely going to be adjustment figuring out how to live with 21 other people in the same house though. I am sure there will be a lot of good times to come

 

The actual move went very smoothly. We were able to move 22 people out of two different houses, all of their personal items as well as all of the common area furniture in a day and a half. Luckily for us it only rained when were either trying to load the truck or unload the truck :). We did come across a few challenges a long the way- like how to get a romperos (similar to armoires) out of the upstairs apartments when they wouldn't fit down the stairs. They must have been put together in the rooms. So instead of taking time to take them apart we lowered them down from the balcony.

Overall I really love living in Santa Lucia. I am now able to go running outside in the mornings and don't feel as confined anymore. However, it is a lot more logistically challenging to get to the city or anywhere for that matter. I do feel much safer here though and am relieved to now have a separation between the place I work and the place I live.