Hello-
Today was amazing. We left around 8:00am to meet with ASDEK and CEPAD members. We split up into 2 groups. Heather went to conduct water testing and I went to visit schools and perform health assessments of the children. The drive to Kilambe mountain was unbelievable. The road conditions were nothing any of us could imagine up and down very steep and narrow dirt roads and through rivers. My goup had 2 truckloads of people. We had a psychologist intern from Sweden joining us to watch out assessments. The schools conditions and the health of the children were much much worse than I thought they would be. The poverty is everywhere. One room schools with one or two teachers teaching 4 grades at a time. One school had 85 children with one outdoor bathroom and no access to water at all. Children who often walk 4 hrs to school each way bring their own water to school. many children have had lice, sores in their mouths, are very tiny in stature, have dizziness, stomach pains (parasites), fevers, and even black outs all which equal signs of malnutrition. When I asked the children what they wished for they said another bathroom, water, or paper for schools. There is so much need.
More visits tomorrow...
Katie
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