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Mary Louise Roberts
Country of Service
Madagascar
Dates Served
2004 - 2006
Volunteer Position
Health Education Volunteer

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Description of main volunteer activities:

During my service, I taught daily at the health clinic in Maevatanana, a small town in Western Madagascar. I taught about infant and maternal health, nutrition, family planning, and HIV/AIDS. After teaching each day I assisted the midwives with vaccinations and prenatal visits. I counseled women who gave birth at the clinic about the importance of breastfeeding.

My clinic became a site for HIV testing during my service, and HIV/AIDS education was an important companion to this service. I led AIDS awareness clubs at the local high school and middle school. The students learned about prevention and about the disease itself, and they provided animations to other students and community members.

How Peace Corps service influenced decision to go into nursing and future plans:

I realized during my service that I wanted to know more about health in order to be able to teach about it more effectively. I also wished that I had been able to help people directly with their health problems. I felt like I would have had more credibility and more knowledge to share if I had been a nurse. I saw how being a nurse would have allowed me to do so much more good for people in my town.

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Mary Louise Roberts