Monday, November 16, 2009

Nutrition Lesson

Recently, I taught a nutrition lesson at the local weaving co-operative. I wrote out the lesson so that it addressed nutrition issues specific to women and young girls. A young girl from my town helped me correct my lesson and then also helped me present it. I told the women that Briana and I would bring snacks if they provided tea. They did as was agreed and I brought over a bunch of fruit and Briana brought a cake. After they got over the fact that we were eating fruit as a snack (more on that later), I commenced to talk to them about women's health and nutrition. It was actually really frustrating because some women would start to talk amongst themselves or one would pull me aside and ask a question pertaining to her personal health. Teaching a large group of energetic women is quite a challenge. Haha. Teaching them is nothing like teaching children. The young Moroccan girl helping me had to keep grabbing their attention just so we could get through the main points of the lesson. Though they may not have listened to every point I made, they did all seem to take an interest in the topic. I told them about various vitamins and minerals, what foods to find them in and why those particular vitamins and minerals are important for women.
After the lesson, various women came up to me with questions about their health. One woman is concerned that she never seems to gain weight and yet other women wanted to know what they should do to lose weight. I had never given much thought to the issues that women here have with body image but now I have really begun to notice their concerns with their bodies. I will expand on this later. I'm just glad that the women in my town are taking an interest in their health because now I may be better able to advise them on proper nutrition. :)