Happy Birthday Senegal!

Q - Senegal is a former colony of what country?
A – France



Q- When did Senegal gain independence?
A – Senegal declared its independence on April 4, 1960



JP and I were supposed to be in Gambia for a conference over the 4th of April, but chose to stay in Niaguis for the promise of a full day of festivities and an opportunity to interact more with the locals. Sadly, due to limited funding, the ‘full-day festivities’ were scaled down to a morning parade. Typically, the celebrations start the evening before and continue late into the night of the 4th complete with traditional dancing and wrestling (think Sumo wrestling with much skinnier wrestlers) and lots of feasting.
The parade was actually a showcase of all the schools from surrounding villages with representing students marching ever so proudly to loud music over an intercom. Also in the parade were the 100+ kids demonstrating their Tae Kwon Doe skills, the military and the local transport vehicles and their drivers - a fleet of 4 or 5 cars that hold almost fame status since there is a terrible vehicle shortage in the Casamance.
In the late 80s, certain Casamance leaders campaigned for independence from the rest of Senegal - the Casamance is separated from the rest of the country by Gambia – which involved an armed rebellion. This rebellion was intense at times and greatly affected the local villagers and tourism. The latest peace agreement reached with the rebel leaders in 2004 seems to have taken effect and by all accounts, the region is starting to return to its former state: a safe, quiet place to live indeed.

Flag of Senegal

From the youngest to oldest, they all strutted their stuff in the same manner...the little ones were especially cute!

One of the gems that travel regularly between our village and the city...
How can you not feel safe when you have a military post in your own town...of course they paraded their whole arsenal...jeep, tank, bazookas and automatics...

Diagnosis: Positive...for everything!

JP and I have been struggling and praying about our lack of diagnostic capabilities and the need for such services to better treat our villagers. With proper diagnosing we would not only be able to treat the illness more effectively, but we would also be able to save our villagers money by minimizing the amount of medications they are required to purchase when using the ‘shot gun’ approach to treatment – one of our villagers’ greatest barriers to seeking medical help. We would also be able to minimize the number of broad-spectrum antibiotics that are currently being prescribed - a major contributor to antibody resistance.
Well, our prayers have been heard and we’re following 2 leads – the first is a supplier of malaria test strips. Turns out there is such a thing but very few people have even heard about them here in Senegal. We imagine the profitable anti-malarial medication industry (pharmaceuticals) aren’t too eager to market these puppies since malaria is definitely over diagnosed!
Also, we received a visit from a man yesterday employed by ‘Biologiste Sans Frontiers’ (Biologists Without Borders) who is working at a Catholic Dispensaire in Ziguinchor. Apparently, he has been contacted by another NGO and instructed to contact local clinics to evaluate each clinic’s current laboratory services and determine the need for assistance with lab set-up and training! We gave him a tour and expressed not only our need but our enthusiastic interest in their assistance. We are to get together, hopefully next week to discuss it further, so please keep this in your prayers!

Hump Day...

I found out Monday morning that I was to be working alone for the rest of the week since the midwife was to be away attending an inservice on AIDS. So far, I’ve been keeping busy treating malaria and all sorts of bacterial infections, rehydrating people, stitching and dressing wounds, and diagnosing STDs – most of which are outside of my comfort zone! Seeing all kinds of weird and wonderful things and wishing I had someone to tell me what they all are! Last night I was called out to a family’s home whose grandma was ‘sick’. I quickly learned she was over 100 years old and hadn’t had anything to eat or drink for 2 days! She did not look well to say the least and died shortly after. Let’s just say I’ve made it through ‘hump’ day and am looking forward to the weekend - not that the weekend promises rest since the sick find me at all hours wherever I am.
JP on the other hand is whipping the administrative end of things into shape and has been a great support to me…he’s losing as much sleep as I am over our villagers.
The minous on the other hand, are ready to look for adoptive parents since they don’t see much of us and are starting to feel neglected. Little do they know how much comfort they bring to us. Below is a picture of my boy trying to escape the heat…he cracks me up!

One Week Down ...

We survived our first week, thanks to a great deal of prayer, and we were happily looking forward to a weekend rest. Sadly, we were woken up at 3am Saturday morning for a baby delivery. The woman, who was about my age, was having her first baby. She was married to a MUCH older man who had taken her as his wife in the hopes that she would bear him a son - he already had 1 son and 7 daughters by another wife(ves). In Muslim culture, a man is allowed to take up to 4 wives. This woman was tough as nails though...she barely let out more than a moan when the baby crowned and was walking home 40 min after delivery...craziness! They don't make girls like that in Canada! :)
I hadn't known at the time that the man had been hoping for a son and proudly brought a perfect, beautiful little girl to show off to her dad, only to have him show his disappointment. I guess he didn't realize it's his sperm that determines the baby's sex! JP told me later that he had a good chat with the man and educated him on how to improve his chances of having a son 'the next time'...don't know where he learned that :)
So after catching a few more hours of sleep, and to escape any other weekend intrusions, we decided to take the motorbike to Cap Skirring for a look-see and a little R&R. Cap Skirring is a popular European getaway for its beautiful soft sand beaches. But, no trip with the Duchesne's is ever simple and the couple of hours spent lazing on the beach came at the expense of my nerves. All told, we broke both clutch and brake handles, had a spark plug die on us (it was only 2 weeks old), ran out of gas, wanted to eat when restaurants weren't opened (everything closes for an afternoon break), and got a sunburn! Now we head back to work to recuperate from our weekend of 'rest'!

First Day...

Had our 1st day at the clinic...we reported for work at 9am only to find about 30 people in the waiting area. I probably would have started to cry, if I wasn't so proud, as I anticipated the work ahead of me. Thankfully, they weren't all waiting to see the nurse. Turns out a young girl had just been hit by a car and had been brought to the clinic...nothing too serious it seems but we sent her to the hospital for further assessment...the rest were just onlookers. Spent some time trying to learn the ropes...this is real baptism by fire! Lots of pregnant moms and even more sick babies! Sometimes the only symptom is 'fever'...which in Africa, can be very serious! My greatest challenge will be adjusting to medical practices here in Africa. It seems common practice to overmedicate in the hopes that something you have prescribed will be effective since diagnostic testing is available only in the city and families can't get into the city nor have the money to pay for the testing.


JP and I hope to visit the hospital in Ziguinchor next week to speak with the Chief Medical Officer about getting some inservicing on African medicine. But I still hope, possibly nievely, the little we know of North American practice may be used to improve some of the current practices. Any of you NP's interested in doing a locum with me??


Below are some of the pictures of our new workplace...

This is currently the vaccination room - we hold 2 vaccination clinics per month in this room...I've decided to make it my office...good thing I'm married to 'the boss' :)

The medication cupboard...you can see why the villagers are upset that they often can get the medications they need here. This too will change with better management.

The hospitalization room...

The birthing room...yikes...

These little guys made our day...they were born outside of our window at the clinic.

Internet at Last!!

Still no internet at home - since we're still waiting for the telephone company to come to our house to fix our phone line - but we have managed to hook up internet services at the clinic (we share a phone line with the clinic). This means 2 things...firstly, if anyone calls the clinic after hours, we're the lucky ones to answer; and secondly, we're back to good old fashioned dial-up...and it's sloooooooow!

So much has happened in these last couple weeks that I don't know where to begin! I'll try to catch up on some of the more important things over the next little while but first things first...

Many have asked for pictures of our new home so below you'll find our 'before' pictures.
No need to start passing around a collection for our return ticket home just yet…with a few more supplies and some more elbow grease we hope to have this place in tip top shape in the not-too-distant future! JP and I have been very busy trying to get running water to the house, mosquito proofing, putting up a privacy fence (who needs tv when you have 'toubabs') and have spent long days lifting old tile, laying new ceramic, painting, etc. There is still plenty more work to be done but the place is starting to feel more like a home. The work on our home is going to be a little slower going forward as we start at the clinic on Tuesday. We will be sure to share the 'after' pictures when the work is finished.

This is a view of our kitchen... Seems not one cupboard door closes but who needs cupboard doors anyway? The fridge in the picture didn't work but we've scored a small medication fridge for the necessities - like a cold glass of water! We also have a small gas stove that has 2 operating elements. My greatest joy however, over the last couple of weeks has probably been the successful installation of running water to our house! FINALLY!! You would be amazed at how good a person gets at conserving water when you have to lift it by the pail full from a 70 ft deep well, then carry it to your house! The water still cuts out all the time, but we're happy to have it when we do! So, with a good coat of paint, this kitchen will be the envy of all of Niaguis!

Our living room/dining room... We've just finished lifting what was left of the tile but progress has been stalled due to a cement shortage. Seems Senegal is developing by leaps and bounds and cement manufacturers can't keep up. We hope to buy the necessary cement tomorrow to start laying our new ceramic tile. The furniture is in pretty good shape except someone decided to discourage thievery by writing "DAN" (Dispensaire Adventiste de Niaguis) in permanent black marker on every surface.

Our bedroom the first night we stayed in our new home...Donna, I don't know that you'd like it :) The red rust looking marks on the wall are actually residual termite tracts. We have since moved our bedroom to the other end of the house since this one became a furnace with the afternoon sun. We also have a new mattress :)

Quick Update

Just wanted to let you all know that we are alive and well. Still no internet as yet...we're at an internet cafe in Ziguinchor. We hope to have internet (dial-up... but we'll take what we can get) set up at our house by the end of the week. Nothing happens quick here! We are hot and tired but having a great time. Lots of stories and pictures to come so look for future postings when we get our internet working.