This week I received a letter from a friend who is working with Visions in
Action in Tanzania. She is a young university graduate. She has no medical
training but has been working in a local hospital. Her stories are
heartwrenching. She has seen more in the year she has been there than I will
ever see in a lifetime. Part of the time she works in a health unit teaching
mothers about reproduction. She writes,  "Discussing family planning methods
one day, one lady told me she had an excellent method of birth control that
was perfectly acceptable both culturally and within the tenets of her
religion.  Before having sex, she always affixes a postage stamp to her
navel. Why? "Because, when the baby gets in there and sees that air hole
blocked, it leaves." Trying to maintain a serious attitude, I asked "Who
taught you this method?" She responded, "My mother." And how many children
has she had?" "She has had eleven children, but she was too poor to afford
the big Tanzanian air mail stamps I use."

Sometimes when we become frustrated with the system and can't seem to make
any progress with breastfeeding it is helpful to put things in perspective.
Things are so much better than they were. For those of us who have been on
this "scene" for what seems like forever, we can look back and say we are
going forward. My friend's letter (and her sense of frustration at her
situation) made me realize that mine is nothing in comparison.
Anne Brooks RN,BN,IBCLC