cervixes (cervices?).

{ January 31, 2011 @ 5:26 pm } · { Uncategorized }

So enough writing about Senegalese holidays and parties.  Sometimes, Peace Corps volunteers to development work too, surprise !

The past three weeks have been the busiest, most exhausting yet most fascinating and fulfilling weeks of my service thus far.  For a few months now, Chris (the volunteer in my district capital) and I had been planning a project with Peace Care, which is an organization founded by a former PCV that seeks to implement sustainable health interventions in the developing world, using Peace Corps volunteers as cultural, lingual and logistical liaisons.  Three family practitioners, one gynecologist, one medical student (and conveniently an RPCV in Mali who speaks Bambara, which is almost like Malinke), a public health specialist and a photographer avoided east coast snow storms to come to the district of Saraya to implement a cervical cancer screening program.

After a short orientation in Dakar, Chris and I integrated the group right away by taking public transportation all the way to Kedougou, and they all made it without injuries or loosing any luggage.  The hospital workers and the Malinke community gave them a warm welcome in Saraya alike.  The first week, the group trained midwives, a doctor and a lab technician who work in the Saraya Health Center how to screen for cervical cancer.

Which, by the way, is so easy, even in low resource settings like we find here in the developing world.  All you need is a speculum, some table vinegar (yes, like you would put on your salad for dressing; I may not be able to have salad dressing for a while), and a flashlight! You see, when vinegar is placed on the cervix (which doesn’t hurt because there are not many nerves on the cervix), if there are pre-cancerous cells, they will turn white, and you will be able to see if this person tests positive for pre-cancer or not.

The Saraya hospital team was enthusiastic about the project and learned quickly.  They all had experiences in seeing women who they thought may be positive for cervical cancer and were eager to have the chance to take part in preventing this debilitating disease which affects many women in the developing world.

Because Peace Corps, and in turn, Peace Care favor sustainable projects, we use a method called “training of trainers.” Which is exactly what this was.  In training the hospital group how to screen for cervical cancer, this group of experts can now train others how to screen for cervical cancer.  The second week, they did just that.  Other midwives and nurses from throughout the region of Kedougou arrived in Saraya to learned from our newly trained trainers, who all taught the material like they had been teaching it for years.  It was remarkable to watch the project progress so quickly.

So what did I do during these two weeks? I took the role of cultural liaison, advising our group on cultural norms and how they may be able to teach in a culturally appropriate manor.  I also worked with Meera as French translator, and in the examining rooms, I worked as Malinke translator and hand holder.  Because most health workers here come from somewhere else in Senegal, they do not speak Malinke, which is a minority language in Senegal.  In patient history taking, this becomes difficult, so I sat in the rooms translating for the workers while they screened patients for cervical cancer.  At the end of the two weeks, we went to two different villages to test women aged 30-50 for cervical cancer.  All health workers showed expertise and sensitivity in performing the exam as well as pre and post test counseling.

I was so satisfied this week to work with a team that promotes sustainability and cultural sensitivity in implementing health projects.  There are many, many NGOs here in Senegal and many doctors who come to give a helping hand by offering free consultations and medications and then leave.  Not to say that these people do not mean well, but their approach is simply unsustainable.  I felt honored to work with a group that recognizes the abilities of the health infrastructure already in place to create change in their own country.  This project will continue with more trainings led by Senegalese health workers and more testing days to test women for cervical cancer.  We hope that if Peace Care comes back they can train workers how to treat pre-cancer using cryotherapy, which is also easy in low-resource settings (all you need is a nitrogen tank, no electricity needed!)

It will be sad to see our new doctor-friends leave, who have taught me not only how to diagnose pre-cancer but about many other things about cervixes and the human body and about life.  They have also all attempted to convince me to go to med school, which is not happening.  I saw enough vaginas this week to last me a lifetime.

 

check out more about peace care including their blog here: www.peacecare.org