WABA

WABA Offices

I've been here in Penang 2 weeks, and I've begun to establish a routine.  Every weekday morning I get up at 6am, have my daily quiet time while the bath water is heating, shower, dress, have breakfast (either hot oatmeal, or a fried egg sandwich, plus some type of fresh fruit), straighten up the flat, pack up and head down at 9am to meet Mr. Suresh, who is ALWAYS waiting for me by the time I get down there.  Traffic is always crazy, but Mr. Suresh gets me to WABA's headquarters always at the same time  - a 15 minutes journey.

the first floor front office with Harjeet & Devi

My upstairs office with Aida & Sam

My desk is up in a large back room office on the 2nd floor of headquarters.  Our building was once the combined office and home of a physician, so it has multiple rooms, a full kitchen and 2 full bathrooms.  I share work room with 3 others of the staff: Aida works on youth and gender issues, Sam handles all the IT aspects of WABA's work, and Jennifer coordinates WABA's development programme.  Most of my day is spent in front of my laptop, researching information, writing documents.  Additionally, I've met with several local physicians to explore ways in which I can provide lactation education and clinical assistance to the health professional community here in Penang.
When Sarah, WABA's executive director, and I set up my practicum objectives, we listed some 'teaching' objectives involving my instruction of local mother-peer counselors as well as medical and nursing students, an objective involving my development of several breastfeeding fact sheets on frequently requested information by breastfeeding women, and an objective involving my review and updating of other health-related breastfeeding information available on the WABA website .  I've gotten a good start on the development of the fact sheets, and I now at least have a topic for both of my upcoming presentations.

This Tuesday, 14 February, is WABA's 21st anniversary as an organization. In honor of this date, the staff have asked me to prepare a presentation for them on recent advances in lactation education. This coming week I will also be traveling across the bridge to the mainland to spend some time at the government hospital, rounding with the staff and developing clinical recommendations for improving their facility's lactation services.  Currently there are only 4 board certified lactation consultants in the entire greater Penang metropolitan area.  And although all Malaysian government hospitals are 'Baby Friendly' and therefore do not provide any artificial milk substitutes to newborns unless clearly medically indicated, the national breastfeeding rate has dropped over the past several years from 29% down to 14% exclusve breastfeeding for the first 6 months.

On every wall of WABA's office,  I see artistic depictions - paintings, sculptures, photos, batiks - of breastfeeding women. Every piece of artwork inspires me to give this professional opportunity my very best effort for I am reminded that women throughout the world share the common struggle of providing the best life for their children, life that is biologically meant to begin with breastfeeding but that often encounters all sorts of overwhelming breastfeeding challenges - challenges that are frequently rooted in cultural biases and political & economic injustice.   Basically stated, overcoming and eradicating these challenges is WABA's purpose.

Needless to say, we (notice that I include myself as part of the WABA 'team') have our work cut out for us.