Meghan Greeley |
| Country of Service |
| Guinea, West Africa |
| Dates Served |
| 2002 - 2004 |
| Volunteer Position |
| Health educator |
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| Description of main volunteer activities: |
| During my service, I worked mainly at a local village health center assisting them with organizational and skill development, program implementation, and overall improvement of patient care, focusing primarily on infant and maternal health. We focused a great deal on growth monitoring and offered food demonstration sessions for women whose children were underweight. I trained 21 secondary school students and 1 secondary school teacher in the transmission, consequences, and prevention of unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS, and information dissemination techniques. This group was then responsible for village sensitization sessions at the local dances and celebrations. I developed and distributed a secondary school-level health workbook to 250 students and followed with a series of weekly health classes. With a committee of village members and the junior high principle, I secured US$2,000 in funding for and managed the creation of a community library containing 350 documents and staffed by nine community librarians, serving 16,000 people in five villages. |
| How Peace Corps service influenced decision to go into nursing and future plans: |
| It was truly my PC service that convinced me that I wanted to go into nursing. I loved the public health projects that I worked on throughout my service, and I know that public health will always be a focus of what I do. But, I also yearned for the clinical skills that would enable me to provide direct care for those needing it. I believe that my service in the Peace Corps will influence everything that I do in the future. I plan on taking my nursing and public health skills back abroad at some point in my career, and I know that my PC experience has prepared me to handle the challenges that come along with this work. |
| Impact of RPCV Fellows experience: |
| It is amazing for me to realize how much I have learned during my time at JHUSON. I also gained a lot out of my time as an RPCV Fellow. The Fellows program was not only a great opportunity to connect with other volunteers but it provided me with a wonderful opportunity to work in the community in Baltimore. The experience of being able to apply my nursing skills through the Community Outreach program was great practice for me and deepened my commitment to providing community-based care. |
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