La santé avant tous

Health Club

February 4th

“La santé avant tous!”

That’s what I say in response to the kids in my health club’s chants of “Le Club de Sante!” when I pass them on the street, in the market, or greeting everyone after church.

It’s supposed to be a members’ only thing. You know. Real secretive and exclusive like. Mostly I think they do it just to make me happy. And it works. every time.

Tomorrow will be the 4^th meeting of my health club at the CEG (ages similar to Jr. High). We meet each Wednesday from noon to 13h.

Despite having done this 3 times already, I still get really nervous.

Trying to give a technical presentation that’s fun, informative, and in a language you just started working on 6 months ago to a bunch of teenagers is not a piece of cake. It’s actually more like a whole cake. that’s cream filled. with 4 tiers, fancy icing flowers, chocolate covered fruits, and pearl strands. That shoots fireworks off of itself.

But, for the time being, it’s the only real work I can say that I’ve begun here in Togo. And it’s also something that continually makes me very happy to be here and gives me a lot of hope for what’s to come.

I’ll try to give you a brief synopsis of the meetings we’ve had thus far and my own insights on them.

Our first meeting was the second Wednesday after school started for the second trimester. We did introductions, discussed rules and expectations, reviewed the syllabus for the next few months, and talked about ideas for the club’s chant (to be continued..)

I find a secret pleasure in telling people my real name. I guess by saying that my American name is Shea, I feel like I’m reminding people that I had a life before Kemerida and Kumealo. Usually, I’m either overwhelmed by the feeling of being a complete stranger, or the feeling of losing myself just to be a little bit more like everyone else. Introducing myself as Kumealo-but oh-wait-really-it’s-Shea, to me, is my way of saying, “I am here by choice. I willingly accept this impossible challenge of conformity and integration, (hell, I volunteered for it) but I am also still the person I always was.”

Also during this meeting, I discovered the lack of originality in self-expression. Or more so, the lack of value in personal identity in the Togolese culture.  When I did my introduction, I also included things that I liked, at home and here in Togo. Then, I asked the kids to introduce themselves and say one thing that they liked. My observations were that 1. I will never learn all their names. ever. They aren’t as elementary as Nala and Simba. And 2. Everything that they like, is everything that I like. Including things that don’t exist in Togo. They just repeated to me things that I had already said, like Mexican food and yoga. It made me reflect back on my childhood in the States where I’d be pissed if someone said their favorite color was red before I did. “Bitch, stole my color!” (Okay, maybe that’s the more adult version of what I would have thought as a child, but I’m working to make this relatable, okay?).

In the U.S., from a very young age, we try so hard to come up with original ideas. Every one wants to define themselves with a different idea, opinion, or desire. Being able to think for ourselves sort of shows we’ve figured out a little bit in this crazy world. But here, the people don’t feel that intellectual pressure. When all of your time is directed towards simple survival, there’s not a whole lot of room for entertaining philosophical ideas and contemplating the unknown. How they measure how much they’ve mastered in this life is whether or not they can perfectly mimic the technique for making pate, doing laundry, and carry things on their heads. Through careful observation, you can see that each person’s physical actions are done in a very specific and deliberate manner. A practice that’s been perfected and passed down through history. When all of your time is directed towards simple survival, there’s not a whole lot of room for entertaining philosophical ideas.Repetition here is the way only way to learn. It ensures you master the information and methods you need to succeed without the whole trial and error process. The kids repeated what I said because they didn’t want to run the risk of getting it wrong. Everything here is wrong or right. Black or white. There’s not a gray area for “hey I think this, let’s have a discussion about it.” This will definitely be something I keep in mind for the remainder of my time working here in Togo.

Week 2, we continue easing in to all the technicalities surrounding health education. As our first official lecture, we discussed the importance of good health – essentially, why you made a great choice joining this club and how this knowledge is going to improve the rest of your life! (insert jolly thumbs up motion) I had 4 posters: 1. What does it mean to have good health? 2. Why is good health important to you? 3. Why is your good health important to others? 4. What are some general practices to maintain good health? Then we had a group discussion to fill them out. My personal favorite was number 3. I felt that by being a catalyst in this discuss about how your health affects so many other things, I was able to encourage these kids to take on a new perspective. To think outside their own personal box. We started with immediate effects on friends and family, but then were able to get into the economy and development. At the end of the lesson I asked them, what is the main thing that we learned today? One student silently held up a portable chalkboard that said: “La santé avant tous.” And that’s how we got our slogan.

That chalkboard was then passed to the back row, where a group of boys had to work together to write out “I love you, Shea” (I inserted that comma. Not giving them too much extra credit here) and held it up for me to see. First, I’m impressed they remembered my real name. And spelled it correctly. Second, I’m rolling my eyes in my mind. But also smiling/giggling outwardly. Three, wondering how old these kids even are. And four, why the heck do they have a little chalkboard. And where can I get one. After the meeting, they invited me to go drink tchouk in the market with them, but I declined. For one reason, I still had work to do and tchouk puts me.. in a good place. But also, would it be inappropriate to drink with the students in my club? To be determined..

Also, a girl brought me a bag with four papayas. My mind went to, “Man, one of these things is like 8 apples.” (Please get apple/teach reference – I’m very self-conscious about my sense of humor via typing.)

Last week was not my favorite. I needed a filler week - something to pass a lesson before starting HIV that could be completed in one hour and required zero follow up. We did.. the importance of hand washing. It is a very very addressable issue here in Togo. It just also happens to be one of the least exciting to talk about. I drew a diagram about how everyone’s shit from outside (because the majority of people use the bathroom outside) ends up on our hands, in our food, and consequently, in our stomachs. Then we did a demonstration with oil to illustrate the importance of soap. I poured some on my hands, and then had 5 kids stand in a line next to me. I shook the first persons and then it continued down the line. In the end, each person had it on their hands – demonstrating how we share microbes from one person to another. Then, we washed our hands with just water. Shockingly enough, the oil wouldn’t come off. But the second time with soap.. now that did the trick – demonstrating that the microbes are only effectively removed when one uses soap.

We wrapped up this week with a survey on HIV. Since I’d be starting lectures on it next time and continuing with them for a month, I wanted to see what the kids already knew. Then, at the end of my 4 lessons, I’m going to give them the same questions to see what the learned. Really, I’m just forcing them to unknowingly partake in an evaluation of myself..

They freaked out about the questions at first, convinced they were a test. I had them write their names on them for attendance, but that may have been a mistake.. I asked them 1. What does HIV attack? (14% correct) 2. What are the three modes of transmission? (19% correct) 3. What are two ways to prevent getting HIV? (47% correct) and 4. Is there a cure for it? (86% correct).

Despite how uneasy it made them, and the fact that I’m now afraid no kids will show up next week, I’m really glad I asked those questions. Less than 50% can name two ways of how to protect themselves. Some even said a prevention method was washing your hands. Then, when I asked about transmission, I learned some are convinced you can get it by simply having dinner with a person with HIV. It’s empowering to know that they have something to learn and that you can be the one to teach them. It makes me feel like my work here is meaningful and can at least make a difference to a few people. I’m really excited to see the survey results in 4 weeks!

And now for tomorrow. Our first lesson on HIV/AIDS. We are going to learn about how HIV attacks the immune system by playing a game with elephants and lions. Leaving out the tigers and bears. IT’S SO COOL.

One person is the baby elephant in the middle. It is protected by a group of 10 – 15 students in a circle around it that represent the rest of the herd. Then, 3 – 4 students are lions, whose objective is to break through the herd’s circle and attack the baby.

Round one: The lions fail to attack the baby elephant (ideally, it works this way…)

Then, a hunter comes in and kills off half of the herd protecting the baby elephant.

Round two: The lions serve the baby elephant up on a platter.

Then, I’ll make the miraculous connection between the animals and the elements of HIV. Baby elephant = immune system. Big elephants = white bloods cells that protect the immune system. Lions = opportunistic infections. Hunter = HIV. So what happens when HIV is present? It kills off the white blood cells protecting the immune system so that it’s easier for opportunistic infections to attack.

That just blew your mind.

I’m so pumped for this lesson. Fingers crossed it works out like it’s supposed to…

Also, I’ve had a lot of experiences lately that I’ve wanted to write about. However, there’s an inverse relationship between the time spent having those experiences, and the time available to write about them (that’s the excuse I’m using anyway). I have a list, but be patient. I’ll get it all out eventually.

My goal is to have 3 other blog topics addressed and linked to you before I touch American soil.. IN JUST OVER 4 WEEKS! (Just short vacation. Coming back in order to keep feeding your blog reading addition. Promise.)

In the meantime, I’m going to go teach some kids about the relationship between our body’s immunity and The Lion King.

La santé avant tous,

Kumealo