Dr. Fofana Leads Côte d’Ivoire Service Trip

Côte d’Ivoire: Professor Fofana and students, Jude Aboukhater, Victoria Pouille & Laura Stehler spent nine days in Côte d’Ivoire in the northern villages of Gbémazo, Kondogo, and Karaba. They distributed a survey that covered topics such as attitudes toward vaccinations and women’s health, knowledge of hygiene and malaria, and underutilization of the public health center recently constructed in Gbémazo. They were fortunate to work closely with Professor Fofana, who had been hoping to construct a partnership between Boston College and his home country. His expertise in vaccines and the spread of disease was essential to narrowing our focus as well as our success in surveying the population. We are still processing our data, but preliminary results have identified clear knowledge gaps as well as systemic problems in the community that contribute to the spread of disease and lack of quality health care.

Kenya: Additionally Jude, Victoria and Laura spent two weeks living in Jera, a rural village in Siaya county, teaching a class covering menstrual hygiene, sex education, reproductive health, healthy relationships, and leadership skills. Joyce Edmonds of the Connell School of Nursing connected the group with Monica Onyango of the Boston University School of Public Health, who comes from this region and advised them how to achieve their goals and have a long-lasting impact during their short time there. She put them in contact with a friend and fellow women’s health advocate in Siaya, Maureen Oduor, who works with local schools and oversaw the entire process. At the conclusion of the two weeks, leaders were chosen and given a meetings manual that contained all the information our classes had provided the girls with the hopes that they will continue sharing what they learned with other young women.