Field Trip to Gaibandha

Happy International Women’s Day!  Women’s health and women’s rights are so important to me, and I hope you enjoy reading about a couple programs that specifically focus on women.

Last weekend my colleagues and I went to rural Gaibandha in northern Bangladesh to observe two eHealth programs in action so that we could learn from their experiences and explore ways in which we can collaborate. 

The trip took about 8 hours on a long two-lane road in which our driver seemed to play “chicken” more times than I could count with oncoming buses and trucks so that we could pass any vehicle ahead of us.  It was a little nerve-wracking, but I am learning that that’s just how everyone drives here.  There were also some pretty interesting vehicles to watch that almost seemed to defy physics (also note that we are on the wrong side of the road here).

Gaibandha is absolutely beautiful.  There are rice fields as far as you can see on both sides of almost every road.  At this time of year, farmers have just planted and are now aggressively irrigating their fields.  Most fields actually have about an inch of water over the soil with vibrant green plants springing up.  

The vast majority of people in the area are farmers.  We saw a couple fields of wheat, corn, bananas, and hot chilies, but rice is the primary crop.  After the rice is harvested, it is heated over fire and then dried out on large tarps before being husked.  Planting, harvesting, and drying are done primarily by hand in Bangladesh, so the process is very labor intensive.

One program that we visited was the Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA) initiative.  This program provides informational SMS and voice messages in Bangla to pregnant women and new moms, as well as their husbands, mothers-in-law and other decision makers in the family.  They receive one to two messages a week that are tailored to the week of pregnancy or the age of the child.  Messages remind moms and their families about what to expect during pregnancy, warning signs of complications, preparation for childbirth including where to go to deliver, healthy nutrition for mom and baby, breastfeeding, and other issues.  The program sends regular health information to families who may have limited access to clinics and providers.  Moms (like the one to the right) were able to recall messages they had heard and tell us about the resulting changes they made in their diet to improve nutrition.

The MAMA initiative is a great example of how mobile phones can help families stay healthy and be more prepared for pregnancy, childbirth, and caring for young children.  Below, a health worker registers an expecting couple for the MAMA messages. 

The other program that we visited was called Info Lady.  This program selects ambitious young women in their community and provides them with a laptop, Internet connection, speakers, a camera, some basic medical equipment, and a bicycle.  After a comprehensive training program, the women are prepared to go out into their community offering a variety of services.  They organize discussion groups with couples, mothers, adolescents, farmers, and other groups where the Info Ladies show relevant videos about health, agriculture, and other topics and then discuss and answer questions.  They can test for diabetes, monitor blood pressure and provide basic medical and emergency services. 

Info Ladies can also connect people in the community to physicians or other experts via webcam.  Info Ladies charge a fee for some of their services, so they are able to make a respectable salary, and the community is able to access useful information from the Info Lady herself and using her technology.

It was inspiring to meet several Info Ladies and observe their discussion groups in action.  One group was discussing and watching videos about safe motherhood and breastfeeding, and another was a group of young girls discussing adolescent health and HIV/AIDS. 

 

The benefits of this project are multifaceted.  The community is able to learn and discuss a variety of issues with a trained Info Lady, and they can also reach out beyond their community to learn from experts.  The Info Ladies themselves also benefit immensely.  They earn a good salary (the father of a young Info Lady confessed that his daughter made more money that he did), and they also gain invaluable skills in health, education, communication, and community mobilization, that will benefit their future careers.  All the Info Ladies we met were confident, empowered, and independent young women.  The program provides these impressive women with leadership experience and new opportunities, and they become great role models for other young women in their community.

Overall, it was a great trip.  Seeing programs in action and talking to the people who benefit from them reminds me why I’m here and why I have chosen this field.