Rural field trip to Arashkol

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Introduction
Departure
[About Arashkol
Daily Activities:
Wednesday 16th November 2011; Day 1
Thursday 17th November 2011; Day 2
Friday 18th November 2011; Day 3
Saturday 19th November 2011; Day 4
Sunday 20th November 2011; Day 5
Conclusion
Recommendations[/color]
I[color:76b7=darkred

]ntroduction
Ahfad University for Women conduct rural field trips annually, which students from all six of the schools participate in. Their participation is a university requirement. The students a divided into groups made up of students from all the different schools in the university and a supervisor. They then visit villages all over Sudan spreading awareness on a number of social, cultural and medical topics.

Departure:
The ‘Rosa’ type bus moved from the university campus, which was the assigned meeting point, at 9:30am on Tuesday 15th November 2011. The driver took the eastern route out of Khartoum, that passed by the Awliya Mountain, Giteina City, Al Garasa City, Al Niaima City and Al Dowaim Cit, the largest city in the White Nile State.
From the Bakht Al Rida campus, the bus headed west, off the tarmac road and on to the dirt roads, passing through Al Sitaraya village until the intended destination, Arashkol was reached.
The journey was interrupted by a short break at a resting area in Giteina City for an approximation of 15 minutes. The entire duration of the trip, with the stop included was estimated at 5 hours. The time of arrival at Arashkol was 2:30 pm.

About Arashkol
The village was named Arashkol allegedly because it is believed to be where the forefathers of the Ja’ali tribe first settled in Sudan. Arsh means ‘throne’, and kol is a Nubian word meaning ‘owner of’, therefore the translation of the name Arashkol means ‘owner of the throne’.
According to the sheikh of the village, the village is currently inhabited by approximately 4,000 people, with an estimate of 700 households.
It is divided into three main neighbourhoods; Northern, Southern and Eastern. The Northern and Southern neighbourhoods are separated by a valley; they lie East of the Arashkol mountains. The mountains are an extension of the Al Markheyat Mountains of Omdurman. The Western neighbourhood lies behind the Arashkol Mountains.
The village has electricity, but has no running water because of the nature of the land, which is fractured and holds large quantities of ground water, rendering the installation of pipes a failed mission.
The area is surrounded by Miskeet trees. The roots of these trees spread underground and have a tendency to cause the destruction of walls and difficulty in building the area.
There are over 300 houses in the village. The majority of them built with mud, however there are some, the more recent ones, built of locally made blocks of sand extracted from the Arashkol Mountains containing a mineral called Mika. The schools and health centre were built with stones from the mountains.
There are two sites in Arashkol that are very important to its people; the tombs of Sheikh Al Samani, and the his brother Sheikh Zein Al Abideen.
The livelihood of the majority of the villagers is in agriculture and pastoralism. In addition some of the people originally from Arashkol have gone on to hold very important positions in the country.
The village has two kindergartens and two primary schools; one for boys and one for girls. There is one secondary school that is divided into two to accommodate the gender segregation.
There is one khalwa, four mosques but only one health centre, which is currently under construction.

Daily Activities
Wednesday 16th November 2011; Day 1:
The Ahfad students and their supervisor were accompanied by Uztaza Nour Al Wasila Al Samani from Al Dowaim, who served as a guide to the visitors and their bus driver, to Arashkol, where they were received at the house of the village Sheikh, in the Northern neighbourhood, by Sheikh Thabit Al Samani and his family. Drinks were served to the students and their supervisor, while they rested after their arduous journey.
The students and their supervisor were moved to the adjacent house which was vacant because its owners were out of town. The house had one kitchen and veranda, two bathing rooms, two pit latrines, there was a separate sitting room and attached bedroom and then there was the main house which consisted of a sitting room and five bedrooms, two of which were not used.
After the students settled down they were visited by several women and young ladies from the village and engaged in a discussion with some of them about FGM.
The students were recipients of the generous hospitality of the people of Arashkol, which continued throughout the duration of the stay in the form of meals served to the students, as well as coffee and tea on some days.
The rest of the first day was spent by the supervisor and the students in placing a plan and a schedule for the duration of the trip, and the division of roles and responsibilities.


Thursday 17th November 2011; Day 2:
The workday began at 9:00am with a visit to the secondary school where the female students and teachers were spoken to about a number of topics. The programme included a presentation, poem and role play about the risk factors relating to breast cancer; the symptoms, prevention and treatment of it, followed by a demonstration of self-examination. The session concluded with questions and a discussion.
The second event of the day was a visit to sixth, seventh and eighth year students and their teachers at the girl’s primary school. The same programme as that of the secondary school was repeated for them.
Several students conducted an interview with Sheikh Thabit Al Wasila after their return form the secondary school.
At 4:00pm the students met with the women of the community at the primary school. These were women from the Northern neighbourhood. The breast cancer programme was repeated once again for their benefit.
The students felt that they were well received, and were felt optimistic about the fact that their message was conveyed and understood by their audience. The overall consensus was that the day was a promising start to the week.

Friday 18th November 2011; Day 3:
At 11:00 am the students at Daiwan al Omda, a guest house in the southern neighbourhood. They were taken there by Uztaza Ahlam, one of the primary school teachers.
The students filled out the ‘pre’ portion of the questionnaire with the women of that neighbourhood who were gathered at the Daiwan.
Following that the students gave the standard breast cancer presentation and demonstration of self-examination. This was followed by presentations about Kalaazar and Hepatitis based on requests from the audience. Then there was a presentation about STI’s with an emphasis on HIV/ AIDS was given and a role play about the transmission of HIV was presented. A role play about early marriage and fistula was performed followed by a talk on early marriage and its effect on the occurrence of vesico-vaginal fistulas. The programme was concluded by a presentation and discussion about FGM. Finally the ‘post’ parts of the questionnaires were then completed.
A visit was paid by the supervisor and students to Professor Al Fatih Al Samani’s house, a professor in the School of Medicine, Ahfad University for Women. The professor’s mother, sisters and other members of the family welcomed and received the visitors graciously.
Upon their return the students were thrilled and humbled to discover that the Sheikh had slaughtered a sheep in honour of their visit.

Saturday 19th November 2011; Day 4:
At 9:30 am the students and their supervisor left the house to visit the Arashkol Mountains accompanied by some of the young ladies from the Sheikh’s family.
At 10:45am the students went to the house of one of the women who had visited them on the first day to encourage her to come to one of the programmes they were holding.
The young ladies escorted the students and their supervisor to Daiwan Anas, a guest house in the Western neighbourhood, where a congregation of women from the neighbourhood had gathered.

The students proceeded to fill out the ‘pre’ portion of the questionnaires with the women present. This was followed by the standard presentation on breast cancer and demonstration on self-examination. A presentation on family planning, then HIV/ AIDS followed by its role play and a presentation on safe motherhood were given. This was followed by the early marriage role play and presentation and lastly the presentation and discussion about FGM. Finally the ‘post’ portions of the questionnaires were filled.
Professor Al Fatih Al Samani gifted the students with a sheep, that was sent to them with his brother.

Sunday 20th November 2011; Day 5:
The students and their supervisor left the house at 11:00 am to meet the secondary school boys.
The topics covered were; a brief presentation on breast cancer, Kalaazar, Hepatitis STIs including HIV/ AIDS and was concluded with the FGM presentation and ensuing discussion.
Following the presentation a meeting was held with five of the secondary school boys, sic secondary school girls and several of the female primary school teachers to discuss the formulation of peer groups.
The students then split into three groups to discuss in more detail the aim, meeting places, frequency and overall plan of the three peer groups separately.
In the afternoon, one of the students conducted an interview with Uztaza Ahlam about the village.
At 5:00 pm, the student divided into two groups; one group went to the primary school for the third and final session with the women of the Northern neighbourhood. These students gave a presentation and role play about early marriage, a presentation about Kalaazar, then another about safe motherhood, hepatitis and finally FGM.
The second group, accompanied by Uztaza Ahlam went to the Hemirab neighbourhood, where they met some of the women from that area. The students filled the ‘pre’ part of the questionnaire with the women. They then proceeded to give their presentations, starting with breast cancer including a demonstration of self-examination, followed by a presentation on HIV/ AIDS and lastly FGM and its resulting discussion. Finally the students completed the ‘post’ portion of the questionnaire

Conclusion
The people of Arashkol were very warm and welcoming and were, mostly, receptive to the information that was imparted. However there were certain drawbacks and restrictions; the first being the inability to meet with the men of the area despite efforts to do so. Secondly, some women exhibited a very determined reluctance to listen and comprehend what was being said, especially when it came to FGM.
The students are of the opinion that the kind people of Arashkol were very cooperative, helpful and to some extent knowledgeable about the topics that were discussed. The students feel that the trip was mutually beneficial; the students shared the information they had and in return they learnt about a different way of life, social organisation and gained life altering experiences.

Recommendations
It is the opinion of the writers of this report that there should be future trips to this area covering the following topics:
o Kalaazar
o FGM
o Hepatitis
o Malaria
o Adult illiteracy
It is also recommended that the duration of the trip be prolonged so that the students have more time to observe the workings of society more intimately.
Finally it is suggested that there be fewer topics and more attention and information dedicated to them so that a greater impact may be achieved.