From one Planned Parenthood to another

With the thoughtful donations from staff at the Mt. Baker Planned Parenthood office in Bellingham, Washington, I was recently able to purchase a motorbike for PKBI and a few instruments for our clinic.  The motorbike has been purchased for PKBI to loan to current (me) and future volunteers in order to increase their mobility and thus, work capacity.  In just the short time I have been using it for commuting to work, attending program activities in the field, and daily life it has proved incredibly helpful.  I am so thankful for the donations and I know that future volunteers will greatly benefit from having their own mode of transportation right from the beginning.  My quality of life and ease of work have already improved drastically.  Just this morning I went to a village with a few staff members to share information on family planning and was able to catch this photo of me with the new bike:

I wish this photo could have been taken 30 seconds later when a mother and her two children got on behind me, implying that I give them a ride home.  So the motorbike is already appreciated by the community as well as my coworkers!

The setting of the meeting this morning was itself a sign of the need for family planning in Jambi.  The house we were invited to talk to local women was filled with mothers and to many toddlers scrambling around for me to count.  There were pregnant women, nursing women, young women holding babies and little kids just running around.  I thought dang we picked the right audience; I hope they pass this information on to their friends!  My coworkers and a midwife from our clinic came to explain the purpose, different types and methods of taking birth control and also about options to handle unwanted pregnancy.  However, it was hard for the women to keep their undivided interest with babies and kids demanding feeding and attention.  It was interesting though when the discussion began and the women started asking personal questions.  Some were worried about the side effects of taking birth control pills and others wondered how to feed their children nutritiously.  Some bought condoms and pills, and some had injected birth control, but at a whopping $2 a month that was considered the expensive version.  All had their blood pressure checked and as we said goodbye to all their smiling faces it was asked if I would take a photo with the children.

In this photo are the faces of neighbors in the poor neighborhood we visited.  It is  unfortunately common for girls to be forced to stay home to care for younger siblings and get married before finishing high school.