Valley Stream man's mission to make a difference
When Thomas Szymanski graduated from Vassar College, he wanted to experience something different. The Valley Stream native joined the Peace Corps and has been stationed in Africa for more than six months.
Szymanski, 23, is a rural community health volunteer in Bessassi, a city in the Republic of Benin located in West Africa. “There’s a big problem with malnutrition here,” he said.
He oversees malnutrition programs for communes, which are like counties, which have about 120,000 people. Szymanski’s job is to educate people about proper nutrition and treat children who are malnourished.
Additionally, he works with a women’s group to make an enriched baby food for infants. There is a lot of produce in Bessassi that is being exported, rather than used to feed the residents. Locally grown food, including peanuts and soy, are full of nutrients yet children are being provided a corn-based food that is nutritionally empty, he explained. The profit from selling this food for infants, Szymanski said, will be put into a bank account and used for future health initiatives.
Szymanski distributes a product called Plumpy’nut, a peanut-based food used for famine relief, for children younger than 5. The product is provided by UNICEF and helps children gain weight and get the necessary nutrients. He also works with community health agents to find children who are malnourished and work with the parents to create a plan to get the child healthy again. In his time in Africa, he has seen children who are 4 months old and weigh less than four pounds.
Headquartered at a local health center, Szymanski said he comes in contact with about 200 people each day. Some of the amenities he was accustomed to growing up in Valley Stream — running water, electricity and even cell phone reception and computer access — are scarce.
He is the only Peace Corps volunteer working on health issues in his commune and there are a total of nine in the country. In Benin, there are about 80 volunteers total focusing on issues relating to health, small business, education and the environment. “I find it extremely rewarding, extremely eye-opening,” he said.
