Just back from our latest visit
Just returned last week from our latest visit to Bobo-Dioulasso where we spent 2 weeks with our friends Moise and Elizabeth Oubda. During our stay we visited Guinkere, the village where we dug the most recent well. The village people were so pleased with their new source of water, and the older women in particular, as they had to carry water significant distances during the dry season and this was very difficult for them. The village itself was quite poor, with a lot of ill health being evident in the children. We’ll attach some photos as soon as we get them sorted!
The Bana clinic has now opened and our new nurse Claudette has started working there. She seems to getting well integrated into the village community and people are speaking well of her. Her husband works many hundreds of miles away at present so this is a challenge for her and her young baby, but we ae hoping that her house will be completed soon (the rainy season put the building on hold) and we’ve upgraded it slightly to make life easier for her. An inside toilet will prevent her having to make a long walk at night to the toilet block, which despite the presence of the guard is a daunting prospect for someone living by themself.
Our daughter Bethany was left behind (!) at Bana to conduct her research for her Masters. She is looking at treatment seeking behaviours for Malaria and helping us do some market research into the local service users views of the clinic. early reports would suggest some people in the village don’t come to the clinic because they prefer to use traditional remedies first, others because they think the cost will be too high! Bethany is helping us correct those views.
Dr Diallo, the consultant ophthalmologist we have made friends with in Bobo received the Slit lamp microscope that had been donated to us. Unfortunately, due to problems with the plane flight, we were unable to see it before we left and we look forward to some photos being emailed to us in the next few weeks. Embryonic talks have begun regarding starting a Diabetes clinic / centre in Bobo. 60% of all Dr Diallo’s work is related to Diabetes, and because he does not have access to a retinal laser, there is no treatment he can offer. Thee is only one diabetes specialist in city of 500,000 – and with the prevalence of diabetes currently standing at 4% and rising, that means one doctor to advise 20,000 patients. No wonder life expectancy for some diabetics stands at less than 1 year after diagnosis. Provision of a clinic with a laser along with another diabetes specialist would be a huge asset to the city and we are currently looking into ways in which we may be able to help with this.
Pictures comning soon!