Garden and Nutrition Training - Part 3

Previously, I wrote about the garden and nutrition training that Megan and I started in the village.  After all our research and planning, after many delays for various reasons .... we finally started the training in the villages in April! 

Normally, when I teach the men, I do so on the village chief's land - in the centre of the 120 square km radius of the village.  However, the women cannot walk 5-15 km for training - they are busy with the work of the day (food prep) ... so for the nutrition training, we are driving to each area to teach the women!

The first village we taught in is an area called Kossey.    They have a few nearby village markets - one on Sunday and one on Tuesday ... but neither of these sell vegetables beyond onions.  So, if they want to eat vegetables, they need to walk 20 km into the capital city!  On top of that - vegetables and fruit are among the most expensive sauce items.  They seem like a "small price" on the surface, when considering the cost of each individually priced item:

1 small cabbage                                200 francs                                   45 cents

1 medium squash                             400 francs                                    91 cents

bowl of tomatoes                             400 francs                                    91  cents 

small tin of tomato paste                  25 francs                                      5 cents

small bag of sesame seeds              25 francs                                      5 cents

1 small bag of peanut butter          100 francs                                     25 cents

1 kilo of carrots                               500 francs                                        $ 1.14

However, in our previous barrier analysis - we learned that the ladies are spending:

- rainy season:   2,500 francs/week (~ $5.61)

- post-harvest season: 750 - 1,500 francs/week (~ $1.68 - $3.37)

This means, if the ladies want to eat more vegetables and they have, say 750 francs, to spend for the week ... they can buy:

- 1 kilo of carrots, 1 small cabbage, and two tiny tins of tomato paste.   ... Or ... 

- 1 bowl of tomatoes, 1 medium squash, one small cabbage, a small bag of peanut butter, one small tin of tomatoes, and one small bag of sesame seeds 

For their entire family (5-8 people) ... for seven days!

Thus, the training the we are doing is a two-strategy approach.  Teaching about nutrition, diet diversity, and increased quantity; however, because of the increased cost of vegetables and fruit  .... we are also teaching the women how to build a small kitchen garden, so that they can grow the vegetables we are encouraging them to eat!

We split the food groups into three categories to focus on, based on international health standards for developing countries:

- starch  

- protein

- fruits and vegetables

However, these words don't exist in Fulfulde ... well, fruits and vegetables do - but these are called, respectively, "children-of-the-tree" and "children-of-the-garden".  In our trainings past, we have called these groups:

- energy

- strength

- protection

However, as the Fulani often wear amulets to ward off curses ... protection ... from illness or curses coming via food - I didn't want to use the last word in a different sense to speak of food being protection.

Again, neither is the word "energy" available in Fulfulde - so it took a while to come up with a way to explain these food categories in a way that the women could understand - and it took the entire two days of the training to teach this, but when we left, the women had it down pat!

So, our food categories became, according to the usefulness that the food gives to our bodies:

- "un-tired" body

- strength

- health

And we also taught that in order to have "peace/health" in the whole body, one needs to eat all of these groups ... the groups eaten the most often are starch and vegetables (tree leaf sauce).  The Fulani get strength from all the milk they drink - but, we also spoke about needing a variety in the food groups.  Particularly the fruits and vegetables - as each food has a different usefulness for the body (heart health, averting colds (Vitamin C), eye health).

In order to reinforce, or visually connect for memory purposes, each of these food categories - we used common Fulani household items.

For starch ... energy ... "un-tired body" ... we used the mortar and pestle that the women use to pound their millet, sorghum, and corn into flour.  As most starches (aside from rice and potatoes) go through this kitchen utensil - we spoke of how they know that the food coming from the mortar and pestle has the usefulness of 'un-tired' body.  Eating this food is like putting gas in my truck ... without gas, my truck cannot drive.  Without starch, their bodies cannot work!

For protein ... strength ... we used a field hoe.  This shows how our muscles need protein to build strength in order to do the work in the field.

For fruits and vegetables ... protection ... health ... we had a packet of pills.  This was more of a contradictory signal - if we eat fruits and vegetables, we will be healthier and need medicine less.

I had a ton of fun with my newly constructed felt board ... and the ladies loved trying to guess all the food objects!

And the women had fun as well ... a few giving us sound effects of the animals on the board!!  

And if there was any doubt ... after they did the sounds for goat, chicken, and sheep - I asked for the fish sound.  They laughed and said: "fish don't cry"!!