Plenty Midwife Project Manager Mary Kroeger, with help from Plenty Belize volunteer Reva Kidd and staffperson Leah Cho, organized a three day Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the 22 village midwives on January 8-10 at the Red Cross and at the University of Belize Campus in Punta Gorda. The AGM was also well attended by representatives from the Ministry of Health and several health-related organizations working in the Toledo District. This first Annual General Meeting of the midwife group was planned to be a strong community-building event for all participants, as well as a time to review critical skills such as rescue breathing for newborns. Prior to the AGM, Mary visited each midwife in their home village to understand their working conditions better, assess their strengths and abilities and where they might need extra help. One visit required a one and a half hour trek through the “back woods” of the Toledo District! These visits are really appreciated by the midwives and others in their villages, and lead to additions and adaptations in the overall program activities. For example, we determined that about 1/3 of the midwives needed help with basic reading and writing , and literacy classes were begun in December as part of the midwife program activities this year.

We just completed Week 8 of the Literacy Classes for the midwives in Punta Gorda and have two more weeks to go. We hold classes twice a week with two groups split according to their literacy level. Over the weeks, the specific needs of each midwife have become more and more clear and the differences between the two groups have become more pronounced. Some women have just learned how to write their name for the first time, which is a real triumph! During classes we have the midwives name as many relevant words as possible using specific letters (ie: R: real, rush, run, rescue, red, relax, rash, rest, ribs), we prepare and use handouts with words and pictures of local animals and trees, use flashcards, and have them practice filling out the Ministry of Health birth register, using each other’s birth stories as examples. Each midwife also has a vocabulary list of mostly birth/health-related terms. They have been practicing how to use this as a resource when they need to communicate in writing about a birth. I want them to leave the class knowing that they have more information and skills to use in their professional work.

(Our sincere thanks to Reva for her good work in support of the village midwives! Plenty plans to keep the literacy work going with project volunteers this spring and summer and is actively seeking donations to support this and other midwife continuing education.)