Breastfeeding

The other day I was sitting with one of my good friends in village, Takko, who is in her early 20's, and her 5-month old baby, Aminata. We were shelling peanuts under the shade of the mango tree in her compound before she had to start preparing lunch. Aminata is slightly underweight for her age so I wanted to incorporate the subject of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months into the conversation. While talking about Aminata, I told Takko that I was breastfed for the first 6 months exclusively. I then explained what foods I was fed in addition to breastmilk after six months of age and up to two years. With my hands, I motioned how large I was, but she did not believe me.

Many women here believe that women in America feed infants formula instead of breast milk, which they believe is better for the baby. When something is bought, it is often seen as being of better quality than something available for free. I explained that the majority of women in America actually breastfeed and she was very surprised. Most women in the Gambia breastfeed, but will add water and other foods before the child is six months due to a lack of knowledge.

Remembering that I had pictures of me as a baby, I ran to my hut, grabbed my photo album, and brought it back to Takko. She laughed and laughed at my very chubby baby pictures. One specifically, I am in the sink at Keene Farm being bathed by my dad. The picture does an excellent job showing all of my large rolls. Many other villages came to see what Takko was laughing at. They peered over our shoulders to get a glimpse of the picture and couldn’t believe it was me as a baby. This was also a really neat moment because it allowed me touch upon gender roles in America and how they differ from the gender roles in Gambia, which are incredibly strict. Childcare is the task of women here so to observe my father bathing me in the photograph was very intriguing for them. I went on to explain that my dad cooks, cleans, and does laundry. They thought this was very funny as these are strictly female activities. Through the laughter, I was hopefully I able to get the point across that men are capable of doing these tasks. My most effective work here will be based on conversations and interactions like these between friends where we exchange information and stories and build trust and respect by learning from each other.

This is Aminata with her father, Saidu.