Sadly, I recently completed my last project in Peace Corps. It was a Mother’s Nutrition Project. The last two years I’ve helped every Tuesday I can at weekly baby weighing and vaccinations at the hospital. I’ve seen the under weight babies, and I know how unbalanced the Togolese diet is of starches, oil, salt, and more starches. So, I decided to organize a nutrition project.
Ever Tuesday (coinciding with baby weighing day) for three weeks I came down to the hospital and held a quick two hour long formation. Every week we would prepare porridge and sauce enriched with Moringa leaves. We discussed the importance of good nutrition and what it means to eat a balanced meal with the women. We also talked about the wonders of Moringa. Kimi, the new volunteer from Kame and my host Mom were a big help with my project.
The Hospital Chef Observing the Formation
Morigna is a tree that has leaves heavily enriched in a lot of the basic vitamins and minerals. Additionally, dried leaves are even better. For example, Morigna has 7 times the Vitamin A of an orange. So essentially, this tree can solve a lot of Africa’s malnutrition problems. These women are poor and can’t afford things like meat, vegetables, and eggs. Moringa costs nothing especially since I provided seeds to everyone who came.
Moringa
Kimi Bagging Moringa Seeds for the Women
This project was a lot of fun and less pressure/stress than the other projects I’ve done. It was small scale and my Dad funded it (thank you Dad!) since I missed the cut off for receiving Peace Corps funding. I really enjoyed cooking for the women and they seemed really into it and posed lots of questions. I hope they take what they learned to heart and start giving their families better food or at least incorporating moringa into all there sauces. This was also my first project that required a translator. The Chef of the hospital volun-told one of his staff for the task. He was great and translated all my French into Adja for the women to understand.
Preparing the Food (My Wonderful Host Mom to Left)
Cooking With Peanut Butter is Messy!
A Mom Checking to see if Her Baby Likes the Porridge
It was sort of sad to complete my last ever project in Peace Corps. I was super happy how it turned out. Again, I want to thank my Dad. This amazing project would not have happened without you. Thank you for always being there for me and supporting my service.
Translating Very Loudly From French To Adja.
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