Greetings from Ho! I have been in Ghana for a few days now, and am loving every minute of it! It has been so neat to meet the community and H.O.P.E. Center staff members, and become more familiar with the surrounding area. Yet, my favorite part so far has been my first visit to the H.O.P.E. Center. Seeing the actual structure has been a dream come true! It is so awesome to be able to visit the place that all of GlobeMed’s hard work and energy goes into supporting. The Center is a remarkable place — it is embraced by the community as a safe place to come for medical treatment, advice, lessons on proper nutrition and support. Our partnership with them is truly a privilege.
I have already begun discussing with the Center’s head nurse, Margaret, about ways in which we can expand our partnership between the Center and GlobeMed. One of our primary goals while the GROW students are here is to increase the childhood nutrition program. This has been a highly successful program, and we are currently looking for ways to improve upon and expand its positive influence. Stay tuned for more updates on this front!
My personal project while I am here will be to assess the nutritional status of pregnant women in the surrounding communities. We are interested in learning more about their current nutritional beliefs, practices, and knowledge. This information will help us create new facets within the current nutrition program that will best meet the nutritional needs of these women. I have begun speaking with my interpreters so that we can develop a plan to be able to interview the women and gain the data in a timely fashion. I am looking forward to working with them in the coming weeks.
All in all, life is great here! I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the rest of the GROW students, and can’t wait to experience more of the great things that the H.O.P.E. Center has been doing!