30/01: Wednesday 1/30
Yesterday we visited Nianing, the only village that we have seen each trip we have made to Senegal. It is perhaps our favorite place to hold a clinic - it was the first clinic of our first trip. The people are uniformly pleasant, they are very attentive to their health and that of their children, and they have invested in employing a school teacher for the village. Perhaps they seem more "progressive" to us than other places.
The two hour ride was uneventful until we made one stop to rotate some seating. One of our team didn't see the street curb (which goes DOWN to shed water into the sand, not UP like ours do to form a gutter) and took a header. Luckily, this person only suffered an abrasion on the arm. Of course, with all the supplies we had on board (sort of a MASH unit!) we patched it up quickly. Everything is fine now.
We arrived and set a limit of 100 patients so to get home by 7pm. The quarters were a little cramped but we were very efficient. We started at 11am and by 3pm we had seen 90 of the 100 patients. Lunch was late (as was the water) and we ate at 3:30 after completing the 100 patients. There was no one waiting - so for the first time we were able to leave without a feeling of having to cut off care.
The lack of drinking water became a noticable problem. Some of our team got a little stressed and others got very tired. I guess we just didn't bring what we needed to get us through a hot day before the lunch arrived. Lesson learned.
I forgot to tell you that the bus was fixed! The new engine cost $1600. We have used it on the final two clinics - it was great to have the leg room. However, on the way back from Nianing, the radiator fan stopped working and the engine began to overheat. Dion (our driver) pulled over in Mbour and look for a place to help fix it - I couldn't determine how he decided where to stop because all of the car fixing shops look alike. However, he picked one and after about 30 minutes the problem was diagnosed (broken wire) and repaired at no cost! Strangely, two men simply dropped what they were doing and dove into the job, seeming to enjoy the challenge and the satisfaction of receiving our profuse thanks. I can only imagine how a service station back home would have presented the problems to us.
Once back in Dakar, we supped at Karen's house and retired for the night after sorting the many excess items we have for donation here. Tomorrow the team will be meeting briefly with TOSTAN and then beginning the shopping that has been postponed for so long. A couple of the team have mild GI issues, but hope to be back to normal tomorrow.
-- Tom
The two hour ride was uneventful until we made one stop to rotate some seating. One of our team didn't see the street curb (which goes DOWN to shed water into the sand, not UP like ours do to form a gutter) and took a header. Luckily, this person only suffered an abrasion on the arm. Of course, with all the supplies we had on board (sort of a MASH unit!) we patched it up quickly. Everything is fine now.
We arrived and set a limit of 100 patients so to get home by 7pm. The quarters were a little cramped but we were very efficient. We started at 11am and by 3pm we had seen 90 of the 100 patients. Lunch was late (as was the water) and we ate at 3:30 after completing the 100 patients. There was no one waiting - so for the first time we were able to leave without a feeling of having to cut off care.
The lack of drinking water became a noticable problem. Some of our team got a little stressed and others got very tired. I guess we just didn't bring what we needed to get us through a hot day before the lunch arrived. Lesson learned.
I forgot to tell you that the bus was fixed! The new engine cost $1600. We have used it on the final two clinics - it was great to have the leg room. However, on the way back from Nianing, the radiator fan stopped working and the engine began to overheat. Dion (our driver) pulled over in Mbour and look for a place to help fix it - I couldn't determine how he decided where to stop because all of the car fixing shops look alike. However, he picked one and after about 30 minutes the problem was diagnosed (broken wire) and repaired at no cost! Strangely, two men simply dropped what they were doing and dove into the job, seeming to enjoy the challenge and the satisfaction of receiving our profuse thanks. I can only imagine how a service station back home would have presented the problems to us.
Once back in Dakar, we supped at Karen's house and retired for the night after sorting the many excess items we have for donation here. Tomorrow the team will be meeting briefly with TOSTAN and then beginning the shopping that has been postponed for so long. A couple of the team have mild GI issues, but hope to be back to normal tomorrow.
-- Tom
Mary Denson wrote: