It's Over

I am no longer a Peace Corps Volunteer. Thursday the 16th of April 2009 was my last day working for the US government. A new phase in my life is starting. I have had an amazing almost 3 years living in Burkina Faso and seeing life through from the bottom up. I taught math and science as a secondary school teacher to classes of up to 100 students in French. I have seen the realities of health care in West Africa in our small rural clinic. And I have made friends that will last a lifetime all along the way. The voyage has never been easy, but the best ones never are. As a teacher, I learned the realities of families who understand the value of education but unable to pay meager tuition for their children. As a health volunteer, I worked with mothers on nutrition programs for their children only to watch certain malnourished children die of malaria. But not all was sad and discouraging. I remember giving back an almost perfect score to a student who earned it to manage and pass to the next grade by studying with me in sessions after class, or when a student first uses a real microscope to discover a living cell with her own eyes, or when a good friend of mine goes to the clinic to pick up some condoms when he never did before, or when a child overcomes malnutrition after a nutrition program I taught. I really can’t begin to describe everything I have seen, along with the lessons I have learned, some of which I am still trying to understand. It has been an amazing experience that I would do again in a heartbeat and would recommend to anyone who wants to understand the world, life and development outside the US. I could ramble on and on about Burkina Faso and what I have seen/learned here but I don’t have the time to write it all and am not great with words. But in the near future over a cold American beer I could fill you in a bit more.

As for me now, the only thing I have to do in the next 3 weeks is make it to Dakar, Senegal to catch a flight. I am on the road for the next 3 weeks with a good friend Bryan from my original training group from 2006 on the way to Senegal. We are passing through Mali, Guinea, the Gambia, and Guinea Bissau on the way. We are taking bush taxis and have no real schedule. The excitement of travel and unknown has revived me into my old self. Then I am going to spend about 10 days in Morocco on the way back stateside for a layover. All said I should have a US customs entry stamp in my passport on the 22 of May.

Many of you may ask what a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer does after their service. Well most either search for work or return to graduate studies. Economy noted; I chose the latter. After applying to grad schools in Public Health, and having some good options, I have decided to return to Iowa and start classes the University of Iowa this summer. I can’t rationalize racking up loans at some high class private school with our current economy. Also loans are what tie most Americans down. I want to be free of these strings to make the choices I want, to live the life I want. Choosing a grad school was one of the toughest choices I have made. But overall I am budget kind of guy, getting the most for my money.

I am excited to return to the States and see all my family and friends. Africa has been amazing and I know I will return to Burkina Faso sooner than later. But as for me now I am again excited for a change and seeing the road along the way.

For those of you who want to know more in detail what I did for my Peace Corps service below is my Description of Service (DOS) a government document that each volunteer completes at the end of his or her service as an offical record of what they accomplised.



DESCRIPTION OF PEACE CORPS SERVICE

PCV Jonathan Schultz
Social Security No. xxxxxxx-4429
Burkina Faso 2006-2009

In late 2005, the Peace Corps awarded Jonathan Schultz the opportunity to serve for two years as a Volunteer in Burkina Faso, West Africa. His acceptance marked the final stage of a competitive application process, which stressed technical skills, adaptability, cross-cultural understanding, motivation, and French language skills. After a three-month Pre-Service Training, Mr. Schultz was assigned to teach math and science at the secondary school level in the West African country of Burkina Faso.

Pre-Service Training
Mr. Schultz began training on June 7, 2006, participating in an intensive eleven-week training program in Ouahigouya, Burkina Faso. The training program used community-based learning as its method of instruction, including 100 hours of language in French, Mooré, and Jula, 100 hours of technical skills in teaching, 25 hours of personal health and safety and 25 hours of cross-cultural training. Language training focused on French, the language used for the education system in Burkina Faso. The local languages of Mooré and Jula were also taught in order to prepare Mr. Schultz for cultural integration. Technical training included technical language in French, strategies and methods for teaching science and math with the Burkinabé context, and the requirements and expectations of the Burkinabé system of education. As part of the technical training program, Mr. Schultz taught science and math classes in a four week summer school program to prepare for the beginning of the actual school year. Cross-cultural training sessions served as an introduction to the culture, politics, and history of Burkina Faso. To enhance cultural integration, Mr. Schultz lived with a Burkinabé family for the majority of the intensive training.

Mr. Schultz successfully completed training and was sworn in as a volunteer on August 25, 2006. He was assigned to Balla, a village of about 5,000 inhabitants. Mr. Schultz was one of eight faculty members at the middle school in Balla which had an enrollment of 209 students and four grades of study. Mr. Schultz reported directly to the school principal, Mr. Saidou Sawadogo.

Primary Project
Mr. Schultz taught science and math classes. His teaching load was four classes totaling 19 hours per week during the 2006-2007 school year, with class sizes ranging from 42 to 78 students. The science courses he taught were physics and chemistry. His teaching responsibilities included all aspects of day-to-day teaching, as well as evaluating student progress through tests, quizzes and short homework assignments, and participating in faculty meetings.

Mr. Schultz developed demonstrations and labs that could be implemented in a Burkinabé classroom, with limited materials available. He actively collaborated with his colleagues and shared his teaching techniques with the other math and science teacher at his school.


Mr. Schultz also started a school garden to improve the nutritional value of the school lunch program. The garden was also used as an educational tool in teaching agriculture techniques and as a resource in biology lectures.

On May 16, 2007, Mr. Schultz was medically separated from the Peace Corps due to an injury that required medical procedures not available in Burkina Faso. On February 2nd 2008, Mr. Schultz was reinstated as a community health development volunteer to complete his 27 month commitment. Mr. Schultz changed sectors due to his interest and experience in the health field and the fact that his education position had to be filled for the following school year.

Pre-Service Training
Subsequent to his reinstatement, Mr. Schultz completed three weeks of training in early February to become familiar with the Burkinabé health care system and the work of a health development volunteer. This training included understanding the workings of a decentralized health care system and the adoption of the Bamako Initiative, and shadowing a current health development volunteer in his village.

Primary Project
Mr. Schultz was re-assigned to the new village of Bouendé, in the Southwest region of Burkina Faso. He worked at the local health clinic (Center for Health and Social Promotion), which serves approximately 2,500 people in seven villages.

As a health development volunteer, Mr. Schultz collaborated with the health clinic staff and the village health management committee to build capacity in health promotion and disease prevention and to improve the organization and administration of preventative services. He worked under the Ministry of Health and reported directly to the Head District Physician of Bobo-Dioulasso. Throughout his service, Mr. Schultz integrated into his community by participating in daily village activities, agricultural work, and local traditions and ceremonies which provided him with a deep understanding of the local culture and the realities of a developing country.

The major achievements of Mr. Schultz’s service are as follows:

Community Analysis – Needs Assessment: To gain a deeper understanding of the community and its main health concerns and resources Mr. Schultz undertook a month long community needs assessment in collaboration with community leaders, the local health center management committee and health clinic staff. He conducted informal interviews and a door-to-door survey in the village, reviewed health center statistical data and observed appointments and procedures at the clinic. The results of the study later served to develop health education activities to address the needs identified by the population which were determined to be HIV/AIDS, child nutrition and basic hygiene.

Clinic Activities: As part of his regular activities at the clinic, Mr. Schultz participated in monthly vaccination sessions, weekly baby weighing and nutrition consultations, and pre-natal consultations. He advised the health staff on innovative health education approaches. He also assisted in developing health education talks, promoted outreach activities, collaborated with health staff in developing an annual action plan, and became an advocate on behalf of patients. Additionally, Mr. Schultz assisted local health workers and community volunteers during the “National Immunization Days” campaigns, an intensive international effort to distribute essential vaccines to children under the age of five.

Positive Deviance/Hearth Model Nutrition Education Program: In May of 2008, Mr. Schultz attended a training seminar on nutrition education in Ouagadougou with staff from Peace Corps Headquarters, PC/Guinea and PC/Mauritania. The Hearth Nutrition Model is based on positive deviance theory (the acronym in French is FARN, for “Foyer d’Apprentissage et de Réhabiliation Nutritionelle”). The program is used to rehabilitate malnourished children by identifying examples of positive nutritional behavior within the local community and teaching these behaviors to other mothers within the community. Each day a nutritionally complete porridge high in protein is prepared from local ingredients by the participants themselves to rehabilitate the malnourished children. With assistance of a local clinic health worker, a different health topic is discussed each day of the two-week program. Topics include: hygiene, weaning, diarrhea, vaccinations, family planning, HIV/AIDS, prenatal consultations, balanced diets, potable water, and local endemic tropical diseases. The three PD/Hearth sessions conducted by Mr. Schultz had positive results, with almost all children showing sustained weight gain and parental behavior change.

Moringa Project: In conjunction with the malnutrition prevention program at his health center, Mr. Schultz developed a project to provide the health center with moringa tree leaf powder to be used as a therapeutic component for malnourished children. Moringa is a nutritionally rich tree that is internationally recognized as an effective agent to combat malnutrition. Mr. Schultz’s project successfully started a field of 50 moringa trees at the health clinic to be used for nutritional reinforcement.

VAST Grant AIDS Day: With HIV/AIDS as an identified health concern of the community, Mr. Schultz collaborated with clinic staff and community leaders to write and manage a $1,000 Volunteer Activates Support and Training (VAST) Program grant. This grant was sourced from the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) provided the financing for an AIDS day program at the clinic and follow up informational retention study on the effectiveness of the HIV/AIDS outreach program. The program included a theater presentation, forum debate on the stigmatization associated with disease, along with a video projection that explained prevention, transmission, and treatment of the disease, and how to live with those already infected with the disease. The program was supported by the Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative (BIPAI) whose staff discussed treatments available at their new clinic in the regional capital. Mr. Schultz's initiative was recognized by the regional hospital in the local capital and which offered additional support to increase the effectiveness of the initiative. Finally, Mr. Schultz organized coverage of the events by both national and local media (newspaper and radio). Subsequent to the AIDS Day activities, voluntary HIV/AIDS testing increased at the clinic, as did condom sales.

International Women’s Day: In the spring of 2009, Mr. Schultz successfully collaborated with the clinic staff, village leaders, and women’s groups to plan and implement the celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8, 2009. Women participated in a bike race and soccer match as well as an activity portraying the uneven distribution of work between genders. Over 700 people attended the day’s festivities.


In-Service Trainer: For three weeks Mr. Schultz served as a volunteer facilitator for the new community health development volunteers. Mr. Schultz worked closely with Burkinabé counterparts to plan and facilitate the technical training component of the in-service training. He was responsible for facilitating technical sessions, evaluating trainees’ progress, and assisting trainees’ integration into Burkinabé society. The training sessions included project design and management, health education in rural environments, the Nutrition Education/Hearth Model, and how to work cross sectorally with other Peace Corps Volunteers.

Jonathan Schultz
Peace Corps Volunteer
Burkina Faso
2006- 2009