DJ on the Radio

My second or third time doing this went much smoother. I feel more confident without a script even and just focusing on a dialogue with the "animateur." Today M. Haidara and I talked about the health of pregnant women. I was amused how he would just answer his cell phone during the show. Our main message was for women to come to the hospital for deliveries. But we covered everything from the signs of eclampsia to nutritious food, from birth spacing to birth certificates. And of course M. Haidara made a political comment of how Malian President ATT has helped pregnant women to by making C-sections subsidized. Even the transport to get a C-section case to the hospital is free. We talked about the difficulties in convincing people to trust the educated staff of the hospital. Tradition is good, but here are people given to you by the Grace of God to serve your community and ensure healthy babies and mothers. I also liked his analogy of how pregnancy is like 'a women who is asked by her husband to fetch water. She doesn't know if she'll get water until she has made the journey to the river and back; and she doesn't know if there will be a lion waiting to attack along the way--but if she communicates with her husband and understands the risks in going to the river, it is more like she will return with water and all in one piece." Here, without ultrasound and amniotic fluid testing, etc. they don't know about lurking lions; but it is amazing with what diagnoses I've seen made correctly just based on experience and intuition. Plus, you have to believe nature wants the baby to be born in good health too. Went to Bebe's for dinner after the show; they get branched electricity from the cell tower, meaning we got to watch a ridiculous Qing-dynasty kung-fu movie. I miss Chinese. Helped my host-sister with her English when I got home. Even just basic sounds and letters need work. I hope I can help her enough to be able to pass her bacc!!