NaNA and PACKAGES!

*Disclaimer* If you are totally bored with Nutrition, you probably shouldn't read this.
Chad, a fellow Aggie in my group, and I went to the National Nutritional Agency office today.  I was really excited to see how professionals view the Nutritional status of Gambians and what areas were major concerns.  When we first arrived we were sent to the Director of Program's office.  Alieu gave us a general overview of the history of the organization and what exactly they do.  He talked about the breastfeeding policies in the Gambia and how women are sensitized to this information.  Over 60% of all births in The Gambia are at home with the help of a TBA, or traditional birth attendant. Because these women at not at a clinic where information on the importance of breastfeeding cannot be relayed, NaNA has teams of 8 that go out in the community to talk to TBAs about the policies they support.  I think this is awesome! I can't believe that the number of births we see at the health center is only representative of 40% of the births occurring in the area.  There are so many babies here! He also talked about the 3 major micronutrients that are of concern in The Gambia.  Iron is a concern for citizens of all ages.  The normal hemoglobin count for patients in the US is about 12.  In contrast, a good value for a patient here is anything above 8.  The iron in their diets is so low due to the amount of fish they eat, instead of meat.  Iodine is also a major concern, which is rarely mentioned as one in the US.  The salt produced in the area isn't normally iodized, so UNICEF has funded mobile salt iodizing plants which will iodize local salt production for free.  The last nutrient of concern is a deficiency in Vitamin A which is the leading cause of childhood blindness in the world.  Eye abnormalities and blindness are very common in The Gambia because of the prevalence of these deficiencies as well as the prevalence of syphilis is pregnant mothers.
After chatting with Alieu for a while we were fed lunch and then directed to a presentation over nutrition for people living with HIV/AIDS.  I learned so much about the disease and its low prevalence in eastern and middle Africa.  It's a common misconception that the AIDS epidemic is widespread across Africa.  In actuality, sub-Saharan Africa is the major area where this disease is so common.  There are 33 million people in the world living with AIDS and 22.5 million live in southern Africa. After covering the statistics of the disease, we talked about how it is crucial that an infected person have adequate nutrition.  I learned so much about such an interesting topic. I didn't want to leave when it was time to go!
After dodging a near death head-on collision on the way home compliments of the fantastic driving skills of Gambians, the rain started in.  A few of us were determined to get the post office today and decided to battle the rain, thinking it would probably quit soon anyways.  Oh my goodness were we wrong.  It poured and we definitely didn't have a rain coat.  We laughed the entire way there.  Thankfully the trek paid off because I got 2 packages! My parents sent a package of goodies and the English's and Reeder's sent one together.  I am so blessed to have family that loves me so much! Thank you for being so thoughtful! Normal American junk food is way better than Gambian junk food any day! Thanks again for sending love half way around the world!

Tomorrow we are celebrating our last day of work with a little end of the day party to say thank you. Saturday we will start our travel week of crocodile pools, river cruises, camel riding, and lots lots more! Can't wait to write all about it!

Love you all so much-
Morgan