Recently we were conducting a community nutrition screening on the outskirts of Nouakchott – weighing young children and measuring their arm circumference to identify children suffering from malnutrition. A three-year-old girl Aminetou was identified as being moderately malnourished, and she and her mother were invited to attend the Doulos nutrition program where the mother would be taught, together with several of her neighbor friends, to cook nutritious food from readily available local ingredients. Aminetou and the other children under age five who took part in the program would, for twelve days, gather at the home of one of their neighbors who opened her home for the program. Early every morning, the mothers would first cook a nutritious porridge together and feed their children. While the food is cooking and the children are playing, the trained community volunteers and nutrition coordinator teach the mothers important lessons about nutrition, health and hygiene.
Aminetou was moderately malnourished, but her eight month old baby brother, Sidi, showed signs of severe malnutrition. He lay apathetically in his mother’s arms, only looking at us if we picked him up. Because he needed more intensive care, we referred him and his mother to a local hospital where his mom was given little sachets of special calorie laden paste called “Plumpy Nut” to feed Sidi. Plumpy Nut is specially designed for severely malnourished children like Sidi who are too malnourished to absorb the nutrients in normal food.
Following the twelve days of nutrition training with the mothers and children, we always visit each child in their home to see how things are going and to encourage the mothers in applying what they’ve learned. What a joy it was to arrive at Aminetou and Sidi’s home and see the changes in Sidi after two weeks with Plumpy Nut. His cheeks were starting to get chubby and he looked around with interest as he was sitting unassisted on the floor. He proved that he wasn’t apathetic anymore by protesting loudly when we tried to pick him up, showing that he knew and cared about who held him. His mother must have been faithful to follow the instructions she had been given and we hope that she will continue to use the training she received in our nutrition program to better care for Sidi and Aminetou.

How far can you stretch $7?
Last year 24 men and women from poor neighborhoods in Nouakchott participated in Doulos’ first intensive business training course known as Dynamic Business Start-up Project (DBSP).

Each student used 2000 ouguiyas of their own money (about $7USD) as capital in some kind of small money-making activity. Students applied the basic business principles they had learned, and in three weeks their total combined profit was $840, all on $175 of start-up capital!

Students have benefitted from ongoing coaching, encouragement, and monitoring of their businesses since the initial 5 week course. Follow-up reports indicate that nineteen of the original 24 business are still operating over a year later, and 13 have been consistently profitable throughout the year.

This is a much higher success rate than has been typically seen in the poor communities of Nouakchott. Oftentimes, family pressures or unexpected health expenses will force a business owner to liquidate after only a couple of months. Students consistently testify that one of the greatest benefits of DBSP has been learning how to track their expenses, to save, and to reinvest a percentage of profits back into their business. These simple concepts have proved to be key in helping them succeed in their business launches.

To date, Doulos has facilitated three intensive DBSP courses. While most of the students’ businesses remain small, we are confident of their continued longevity, profitability, and potential to transform families and communities!

The menace of Ebola has come very close to Mauritania’s borders but we are thankful to not yet have seen anyone here infected.

Last week, together with the commune of Saada where our nutrition program is centered, we hosted sessions on Ebola readiness and prevention – familiarising locals with the nature and prevention techniques for the virus.

Read more (in French) in the local news at http://www.cridem.org/C_Info.php?article=664368

Every Monday, Lesley, an expatriate volunteer, visits the Community Development Centers’ kindergartens. She uses her expertise in education to train the teachers in student-oriented teaching methods. It’s a difficult task in a context where teachers prefer rote memorization over engagement.

Lesley works hard to establish rapport and productive working relationships with the teachers. Recently she started working with a new teacher. “She doesn’t have any experience,” Lesley says, “but she has the desire to learn. This week I’ll start training her on the job. She seems eager to learn!”

Doulos’ volunteers know that community transformation must begin by empowering and equipping people with the tools, skills, and education that will permit them to build healthier communities. Lesley and her colleagues demonstrate a tireless commitment to work alongside locals. Through their personal engagement within the communities in which they live and work, they have gained a deep understanding of the issues faced by the poor of Nouakchott, thus positioning them to help people identify and implement strategies for lasting community transformation.

Lesley testifies that several of the kindergartens are becoming increasingly self-sufficient and community supported. Community members are now responsible for paying the teachers and providing basic classroom materials. Lesley, as well as the rest of us at Doulos, is encouraged to see that parents recognize the importance of education, demonstrated by their active involvement and financial contributions to classroom needs.

Most Talibe boys lack the opportunity to attend school. Through Doulos’ literacy classes, occupational training, and school sponsorship program, the boys develop the necessary skills for obtaining meaningful employment in the future.

Education is a critical element in confronting the fatalistic attitudes which teach that we have no control over our lives and circumstances and must accept the fate which has been dealt to us. In Doulos’ work with Talibe boys, Qur’anic teachers, and local communities, we have actively sought to challenge this worldview and replace it with a more positive and active view of self, and our place in our community and wider society.