With your help the people of West Africa have "a chance, not only to change their own lives and their own destinies, but to change the future of an entire generation".

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Miss Lydia .. Healthcare educator

Submitted by Rachelle Milam

One of the best parts of the training this past Friday was watching the AvTech girls step up and take a part in teaching and demonstrating first aid techniques to the communities. Juliet assisted Michaela to talk about how to treat a burn, Emanuella assisted a visiting nurse to give a demonstration of stabalizing a fractured limb, and Lydia assisted Audrey, one of our long term volunteers, with showing how to treat a wound. They all did an amazing job and worked very hard with the rest of us to make Friday a success. The greatest impact, however, came when Lydia stood in front of the community reps and Queen Mothers and told the story of how her arm was disfigured. She explained that when she was very young, she'd been bitten by an insect. Because her parents had no knowledge of first aid, they relied on traditional healing methods, like mixing herbs and applying them to the wound. Sadly, because of these methods, her arm became infected and ended up becoming disfigured. While the communities were interested in all the demonstrations, it was easy to see that Lydia's story was what they really connected with. They related to it because they all had children who'd been hurt. It drove home how important these steps could be, because it's not a matter of loving their child or wanting to see them well; it's about being aware of the necessary steps to make sure that their child will be effectively treated if something happens. Lydia did such a wonderful job, and we hope that her story inspired the people to learn ways to prevent such a tragedy occuring with their own families.

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