We’ve been back just over 24 hours and have been asked the following question many times already: “So, was it a success?”
I’m finding that I think about the work less in these terms lately. Perhaps it is because the work is more complicated than I thought it would be, perhaps it is because success in this kind of work is so difficult to evaluate, perhaps it is because I’m maturing to realize that success really isn’t the point.
Yes we helped train 20 new village health workers from rural villages surrounding Akatsi over the course of three weeks with no dropouts, on a tight budget, and while receiving favorable reviews from those we worked for and with. But is that success?
While flying home and in the day since, I’ve tended to think more about our efforts to empower the women in the program to take leadership roles in their villages. I’ve spent more time reflecting on our relationship with the NGO director in Akatsi and how we can support him in the follow-up tasks associated with the program. Olivia and I have thought more about the future possibilities for these women and how they might apply their learning for the betterment of their villages.
Success in an educational program is hard to measure. The practices of generations upon generations will not be changed or modified towards better health overnight. These women will continue to bear the majority of the workload for the household. Children will continue to walk through the villages without shoes or pants on. Chickens and goats will continue to wander through the cooking areas and do their business where they please.
But this program is progress. We received word this morning from David that one of the women has already conducted a teaching in her village. It was the woman from the village we wrote about earlier, where someone died of diarrhea because they couldn’t get a ride to the clinic in time. I’m not sure what she taught about, if it was on diarrhea and oral rehydration solution or something else, but today she made progress in her village. Each lesson that is taught and misunderstanding that is clarified, each project that is undertaken and infrastructure improvement that is made, is progress.
So was it a success? I don’t know. But I do know that the people of Akatsi are making progress.
I think the pictures below do a better job describing this progress than I can with words.
