We made it!

Madiha and Dani here— we have arrived safely in Ganta, Liberia. In the coming weeks, we will be working with the Ganta United Methodist Hospital, the local nursing school, and other local partners to complete a Training of Trainers in Compassionate Labor Care.  The idea for the project game from our experience in the United States as doulas, as well as from a report by Leah McManus that concluded that the main reason cited when a woman chooses not to have a facility birth is the fear that she will not be supported and respected by health facility staff. Funding for this project was provided by a Davis Projects for Peace Grant, and we are grateful for this opportunity.

Today was our second full day on site, and a Sunday.  Sundays are slow, so we spent the day catching up on sleep and putting final touches on our programming.  We had the pleasure of meeting many of the administrators we will be working with Saturday morning, and are looking forward to focus groups with maternal health staff, expectant mothers, doctors, and nurses this week.  We also will be making a few site visits so that we can go into training weeks with a full picture of how healthcare works here in Nimba County.