Scouting Out Netlife Villages

After some bike problems, we had some luck go our way. In Kedougou, we found some French surgeons working out in a hospital in a village called Nenefecha. These very nice gentlemen gave us transport out that way and gave a very nice tour of the hospital, including its pharmacy, laboratory and operation room. They told stories about some of the crazy things they had seen in Senegal and all over the world. When evening came, Jesse and I walked the hour and a half path to Asoni. There we greeted many people and toured huts in the area, looking for mosquito nets. We were also getting an idea of how many beds were in huts compared to how many people lived in that compound of huts. This way, we found a good way to estimate mosquito net need.

For example, in a compound of eight huts, there were 9 beds and 28 people using the huts and beds. 8 of these people were married women and 1 was a village elder without a wife. So in order to cover all 28 people, we will plan on giving a net to every married women, and if we find an older guy without a wife, we'll give him one too, so everyone has access to a net.

After this tour, we met with village elders, including a man named Fula, who was the village health liasion. Together we talked about village needs and a plan to distribute mosquito nets in the area. They agreed to make a census of married women in the village with consideration for elders without wives. Needless to say, they were very excited and thankful to hear this news, since they had such difficulties with malaria in the past few years. Overall, the discussion went very well, and we agreed to distribute the nets toward the end of the month.

On our way back from Asoni to the hospital town of Nenefecha, Jesse and I got lost on the wrong path for about two ours. Our legs are very sore, but we were fine and ended up finding a ride back to Kedougou. Now we are planning some efforts in some other villages including Patassi, Boundoucoundi and Sylling. Take care out there. - Andy