Author: Shah Neena

Today proved to be a very productive and rewarding day for the team overall. We were able to take a big step in our data gathering process. Today the malnutrition team started of the day like every other: baking our products in the Betteh Bakery. After a disappointing turnout yesterday, we were excited to hopefully gather as much data as possible today in the Graceland (Barracks) village and test our products there.

While the rest of the team headed out with our three translators, Chris worked to bake different trials of the muffins to identify possible variations to use for taste testing. Chris tested a wide variety of additions and removals of sugar (+/- 1-4 grams), corn meal (+/-1-3 grams), and banana (+/- 1-4 grams). He was also able to learn the correct process of preparing palm oil which is frying the red palm oil for five to ten minutes until the oil returns to its original color

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(Neena, Chris, and Kayla preparing muffins for the day)

Upon arrival, we had to gain approval of the elder “chief” of the village to be able to interact with his people. As a village recently ravaged by the horrors of Ebola, they were hesitant to allow us to conduct taste tests. However, after explaining to him the contents of our products and our overall mission of reducing childhood malnutrition, the chief allowed us to conduct taste tests there for the remainder of the day. We immediately had tons of mothers and children that we were able to get some great feedback from. Walking through the village each house we came upon was home to at least one child under five and a willing mother, easy to agree to the taste tests. After a few hours, we were able to complete forty-six successful questionnaires.

(A baby enjoying our pudding product)

(An infant from the village eating our muffins)

(Kayla exploring the Graceland Village)

As we returned to the World Hope headquarters, we worked to enter the questionnaire information into our digital form and compile it into a well organized excel sheet. Because of our success today, Kayla and Neena worked with our translators to find a few more villages similar to Graceland where we could go over the weekend and into next week. They were able to travel to the Rogbalan Area as well as the SLMB Area of Makeni with the goal of convincing the chiefs of these areas to allow us to conduct questionnaires there as well. These conversations went really well, and we were able to plan taste testing in Rogbalan on Saturday and taste testing in the SLMB Area on Sunday afternoon. We really look forward to exploring these new areas, and gaining as much data as possible.

(Gorgeous views in the Rogbalan area)

Today was a very productive day for the malnutrition teams. Some of us, Neena Shah, Rachel Caffrey and Karli Manko, were able to travel to two clinics, the Kalangba Clinic and Kamabai Clinic, to not only garner information about these places, but to establish relationships with the head community health workers (CHWs) and other employees. Meanwhile, the others, Christopher Fereno, Matt Feryo, Seanna Corr and Kayla McMillan, worked at Betteh Bakery to help build relationships with the bakers we will be working with in the next 3 weeks.

First, we headed to the Kalangba Clinic where a neo-natal clinic was being held. Being that this was our first time experiencing a foreign clinic, the team took a few minutes to tour the building and generally get a sense of the clinic’s capabilities. We were greeted by Osmon Movlai Contola, the head CHW, and Zaiuab Deen-Conteh, the head of nutrition at the clinic. We were able to talk to them, communicate our mission, explain our products in depth, and discuss the impact we hope to make. Next, Karli, Neena, Rachel, Osmon, and Zaiuab conversed about the other malnutrition products on the market (Bennimix and Plumpy’Nut), which the CHWs were already familiar with and have a history of using in the clinic. After asking their opinions on these products, Neena, Karli, and Rachel found out that there has been a shortage of these items for about the past 4 weeks and therefore, they have generally been hard to access and generally too inexpensive. We were able to ask Osman and Zaiuab if we could come back with lots of our products and have mothers and their children sample them and answer our questionnaires so that we could make any improvements possible. The CHWs happily agreed and told us that they would confirm with their superiors and send the word out to other CHWs to encourage children and mothers to visit the clinic on a date that we will agree on. The team very much looks forward to working more with Osman, Zaiuab, the mothers, children, and the Kalangba Clinic in general!

(Inside of the Kalangba Clinic)

Next, the team headed to the Kamabai Clinic where they met Ramotu O. Kamara and Vivat Kamara, two helpful CHWs. Similar to our conversation at the Kalangba Clinic, our team communicated what we were doing and how impactful our products could be. We were also able to learn about the measurements the CHWs use to test malnutrition in these children, which include height, weight, and mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC). After conversing for a while, Ramotu and Vivat agreed to have us come back multiple times on their vaccination days (Mondays) and malnutrition days (Fridays) where the team would have access to many children and mothers under five who we could test our products with! We plan to go back as soon as this upcoming Monday, the 12^th, with lots of our products and an eagerness to gain feedback.

While Neena, Karli, and Rachel were at the clinics in the morning, the rest of the team, Matt, Seanna, Chris, and Kayla, revisited Betteh Bakery. We were able to join Katis and the bakers as they made their first batch of dough to create their first loafs of tea bread and hamburger bread!

(Dough being made at the Betteh Bakery)

After making the dough, we were taught how to roll and reshape the dough into spirals for tea bread and balls for hamburger bread. Next, Catherine and the other bakers explained to us how the dough must ferment for about four hours and then can be baked for about 20 minutes. We were very lucky to be able to experience the Betteh Bakery’s song and dance as they celebrated taking the first successful loafs of bread out of their wood-fired ovens!

(Tea bread made at the Betteh Bakery)

(The team with the bakers and the manager of the Betteh Bakery)