I was sitting on the porch the other night with our friendly neighborhood Peace Corps Volunteer, Raven KuyKendall, when a young man came by, introduced himself and said he wanted to ask us a few questions. The role of GHEI at the most basic level is to be a resource to the community. It’s our job to answer questions. So, when somebody came wanting to ask them, we were thrilled.
He stayed for almost an hour and asked us everything from how to tell if a condom is OK to use and how different viruses spread to how far a mosquito travels in its lifetime. Here is a bit of our conversation:
“What does it feel like if you have HIV?”
“It could feel like nothing. Some people even have HIV and have no idea.”
“So, how do you find out if you have it?”
“It’s in your blood. These are the places you can go to get tested and find out….”
“Then what should you do?”
“Tell others to get tested too. And always be careful, it’s not worth it to risk getting it.”
“I heard keeping your gutters clean can help prevent malaria. Why is that?”
“Mosquitoes breed in standing water. So you always want to get rid of any around your home.”
“Ok, what about the frog pond near the edge of the village? There must be a lot of mosquitoes there. Can you put oil or something in the water to kill them?”
“That’s a cool idea, but it probably won’t work.” Regardless, he was thinking. He wanted to know exactly what caused malaria, and how to eradicate it. “What about cleaning mosquito nets. Can you put them out in the sun to dry?”
“No, always dry them in the shade. See this line under the roof here? This is where we dry ours.” We talked about how fabrics fade in the sunlight and why you need to be extra careful washing bed nets.
“What kind of soap should you use? My mom makes soap from plantain leaves but said you shouldn’t use it to wash bed nets since the potassium would have a bad effect. Is that true?” He finally stumped us. “I have no idea but we can find out. Come back tomorrow and we’ll let you know.”
We chatted a little more and eventually he left. He thanked us and we told him he was welcome to come by with questions whenever he wanted. He said he would write a list of new ones for us.
At GHEI, We believe that healthy, well-educated young people have the power to lead their communities out of poverty.
He was a perfect example. This young man wanted to understand how to improve his own health and that of others in his community. He had the confidence to come to our house and just start asking questions.
We joked after he left that this was why we practically lived at the office- so that we were always available to help. Luckily, we have a great time doing it. And in case you were wondering, we couldn’t find any reason why plantain soap would be an issue.
He stayed for almost an hour and asked us everything from how to tell if a condom is OK to use and how different viruses spread to how far a mosquito travels in its lifetime. Here is a bit of our conversation:
“What does it feel like if you have HIV?”
“It could feel like nothing. Some people even have HIV and have no idea.”
“So, how do you find out if you have it?”
“It’s in your blood. These are the places you can go to get tested and find out….”
“Then what should you do?”
“Tell others to get tested too. And always be careful, it’s not worth it to risk getting it.”
“I heard keeping your gutters clean can help prevent malaria. Why is that?”
“Mosquitoes breed in standing water. So you always want to get rid of any around your home.”
“Ok, what about the frog pond near the edge of the village? There must be a lot of mosquitoes there. Can you put oil or something in the water to kill them?”
“That’s a cool idea, but it probably won’t work.” Regardless, he was thinking. He wanted to know exactly what caused malaria, and how to eradicate it. “What about cleaning mosquito nets. Can you put them out in the sun to dry?”
“No, always dry them in the shade. See this line under the roof here? This is where we dry ours.” We talked about how fabrics fade in the sunlight and why you need to be extra careful washing bed nets.
“What kind of soap should you use? My mom makes soap from plantain leaves but said you shouldn’t use it to wash bed nets since the potassium would have a bad effect. Is that true?” He finally stumped us. “I have no idea but we can find out. Come back tomorrow and we’ll let you know.”
We chatted a little more and eventually he left. He thanked us and we told him he was welcome to come by with questions whenever he wanted. He said he would write a list of new ones for us.
At GHEI, We believe that healthy, well-educated young people have the power to lead their communities out of poverty.
He was a perfect example. This young man wanted to understand how to improve his own health and that of others in his community. He had the confidence to come to our house and just start asking questions.
We joked after he left that this was why we practically lived at the office- so that we were always available to help. Luckily, we have a great time doing it. And in case you were wondering, we couldn’t find any reason why plantain soap would be an issue.
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