Gowns and Graduations...

Seven.  Seven Community Health Education graduations over the past six weeks. It was so great to celebrate with everyone on a job well done-for many of our beneficiaries getting a certificate with their name on it is a huge highlight.  For me, it's seeing communities and people transformed by what they have learned in the passed year. Many of the CHE participants testified how they have changed-and as a result their communities are being transformed.  

At every graduation-our staff participated in the program-here are some of the people and things we are participated in...

We spoke...first graduation at Foya Dendu

 Then Elizabeth spoke at Kpalawu...

We handed out certificates...

 and more...

and more...

 Then Steffani came up and handed out more certificates...

 

Elizabeth got in on some handing out!

Sarah from our SP Canada office handed some out...

Then Kathy (pilot Roy's wife) got to hand out certificates at our last graduation.

In the end there were over 400 CHE graduates from over 50 communities. Super proud of our staff for living out in these communities and being so committed to their job.

Some of the graduates

Some more great graduates!

 Graduates marching into the church to start the program

 

Another proud group of graduates from Nyema

Then there were the gowns...You see, when you are the 'guest speaker' or one of the leaders of the program-the chances of you getting a gown are pretty good.  They came in all colors and styles-but they were all given and received with gratefulness-her is the gown fashion show!

Gown #1 the matching look...

Gown #2 the country cloth jungle green number...

Gown #3 the "wow my eyes hurt" lapa set...

Gown #4 the matching hat get up...

Gown #5 the pink diddy-that everyone seemed to really like...

Gown #6 The "body parts" lapa suit

Now you may be thinking "what is she going to do with all of those gowns?"  Well, I have brought them back to Canada to store for now-but I would love to get someone to make a quilt or two-to remember all the places and people that we have worked with.  There was also some food - some of it, well you just aren't sure what you may get-even after 8 years I am never sure what type of "meat"  will be in my bowl!

Yes, there is a chicken leg-but my question is what is that round thing on the bottom left...hmmmm...

Eating Geebee with some goat-Elizabeth actually loved it!

It was such a great 6 weeks flying and driving around to our project sites to participate in each graduation.  Our pilots were so helpful getting us to all these places when the roads were impassable-and our staff did a wonderful job planning each program.  

 One of CHE graduates

As I reflect back on all that was accomplished-I remember what one of the beneficiaries stated at one of the graduations " We have learned so much to make our lives better, we are not getting sick as much, our community is united and our church is growing."   The CHE motto is: "Changed lives, Changing lives and Changing communities."  It is evident that the program this year was a success-despite all the challenges-everyone pushed on. 

As I have said before-much like running, a lot of what we do in our projects takes endurance.  It takes commitment. It takes perseverance.  It takes a shared vision of the goal that lays ahead of you.  Words cannot express my gratitude to our staff for their hard work, to the participants of the CHE program who walked-for some over an hour or more-just to come to the weekly training sessions.  All of us celebrating together was a perfect ending to my year!  I am so blessed.

What we know and what we do...

There is a term that us field people use (not just field workers other profession as well), to describe the "gap" of what we know we should do and what we actually do.  The "knowledge-practice gap" is something that we all have experience with, in fact all of us experience some measure of this gap.  "Who me?" You might ask-well yes, you.  For example we know that exercise and eating healthy is good for us-doctors tell us, studies prove it.  However, the reality is, obesity is a national health problem in the U.S. and U.K. and people struggle to stay discipline for any length of time on a exercise program. We know we should put a few dollars away every paycheck for an emergency-but how many of us actually do that?  (If you do well done). So when something comes up that we need extra money for we put it on card and next thing you know we have more debt then we do money to pay it off...

In our work the knowledge practice gap can be HUGE.  We all know that eliminating the gap completely is very difficult.  So instead we work at taking one step at time to decrease the size of the gap.  As I mentioned in an earlier entry I have been able to go to many of our CHE graduations. I have had the opportunity to see first hand how over the past year of training, our community health education program has tackled the "gap" by providing simple skills that can make a huge difference.  For example...

Dish racks. Yep. A simple dish rack.  You see, many rural Liberians wash their dishes, pot and pans and silverware and place it on the ground to dry.  Not good.  Putting clean dishes on the ground only for them to get contaminated with the germs and animals roaming around. Participants gain knowledge on how germs spread-but then they have to put that knowledge into practice.  Our community development facilitators, who teach CHE, ask the participants to build a dish rack above the ground to prove that what they have learned has been understood and put into practice.  Some do-some need encouragement!  Ultimately, it is their decision to take the knowledge they have gained and put it into practice.

 A beautiful site...

Another household example of the "gap"-can be found in our own little Kauffeldt household. Everyone in the house KNOWS that if the water jug has under 2 inches of water in it-they should fill it back up with water from the filter.  Ahhh yes, so simple right?  And yet this seems to difficult a task for people to understand -including...myself.  So there our poor yellow, cracked water jug sits, and the water that is in it is never taken-because heaven forbid you be the one that finally empty it and have to fill it up.  Thus, our "knowledge-practice gap".  We know we should do it-we have been taught to fill.up.the.jug. But we don't put that knowledge into practice.  

 Count all those dish racks!

 

The "gap" in this village is getting smaller!

A common mistake by us in the developed world is to misunderstand those who don't wash their hands after they poo-poo or those who drink dirty water.  "Why do they do that?"  "Don't they know that drinking that water is bad for them?"  Actually, they do know but they may not have an option or maybe they don't know because they never had access to education. They have never been told our taught that washing their hands is good for them.  The ironic part is that in the western world we DO know what is good and bad for us, we HAVE unlimited access to education to learn and gain knowledge to help our health.  And yet we still choose not to do these things-hmmm, so I ask you this, "who has the bigger knowledge - practice gap?"

To take it a step further let's look at some personal things... I know that I shouldn't do certain things-like get overly frustrated and angry at -well, let's pick taxis.  I even tell my boys that mommy is trying to work on not loosing my temper and saying things I should not say. But then I am driving and one cuts me off -or randomly stops in front of me in the middle of the road, and off the handle I fly! Sigh...let's take it to running.  I know I need to work harder on a work out to get better-to want to achieve a goal, like qualify for Boston, but I don't.  The days leading to a big run I know I should drink more water to stay hydrated - but i don't, I drink more coffee or I don't drink at all.  Gap (and i ain't talk'n the clothing store!).

 Speaking at one of the CHE graduations on how to keep using the knowledge our participants have gained. (picture joni)

If you want a great example from the Bible look at Paul's ongoing struggle in Romans 7:15-20.  Mercy-now there is a knowledge -practice gap!  But much like the village with all the dish racks there is hope.  Hope that when knowledge is attained, hearts are changes-the gap gets smaller.  Little by little we make better decisions that not only help us but our families and communities. I leave you with this challenge:  What areas of your life is there a knowledge - practice gap?  The fact that you can think of one should tell us that we too can take small steps in shrinking it.  Go ahead-build a dish rack...