Eye Clinic Recap

On jaaraama, y'all,

First off: Thanks Nana! I got a great package full of stuff to keep me going from her, so thanks again! Love You!

Just wanted to send a quick update while Im still in a place with electricity to let you all know how the Eye Clinic went down. I ended up staying for the full 10 days, and while it was exhausting, actually going back to an 8am-6pm or later work day was a little tough, it was an amazing experience nonetheless. The two opthomalogists, with the help of their team of a consulting doctor and OR nurse, as well as that of the PCVs acting as translators (and much more), were able to perform 107 cataract surgeries, many of them performed on patients who were nearly completely blind; and the next day, they could see. It was the most surgeries they said theyve ever performed on one of these missions, and they credited the volunteers with playing a large role in that success.
I personally ended up with a cool job after a couple days, which ended up being why i chose to continue working there and not returning to my village, working solo in the pre-op room. I got to deliver the pre-op instructions to patients in the local language, which was great practice for me, as well as prepare them for their local anesthesia and ultimately their surgery, which included administering a lot of different eye drops, taking blood pressure, stuff like that, then helping them after surgery and making sure they knew to come back and when.
It was a really fulfilling experience, one which many of the veteran volunteers credited as being one of the most interesting things theyd been able to do during their service, and one which, to borrow my friends words, showed what can happen when two different development groups come together and do what they do best. It also showed the value of having people around who spoke both English and the local languages; many things had to be explained to patients, some less reassuring then others. There were several times where it became the volunteers duty to tell a patient there was nothing that could be done to save their vision, giving the doctors orders on behalf of the doctors. Tough parts aside, we were all really pleased with what we were able to accomplish, so much so that the docs intend on returning next year and try to expand the patient-base even further.
In terms of personal work, besides the village, it looks as though Im going to be collaborating with another PCV from up north, who is apparently extending for a third year simply for the sake of producing educational murals at the middle/high schools throughout the country. Ill be working with her to begin a tournee of all these schools in Kedougou with a health-related mural design that we will be working together to complete. Id also like to try to expand on this project during my service to do not one but several murals at each of these same schools that would cover other topics besides health; such as malaria prevention, AIDS, nutrition, etc. You could argue they all have to do with health anyway...but please dont. Im also in charge of beautifying our regional house; which is more like a compound with multiple huts, by muralizing them as well.
Which brings me to another big undertaking that we as a region would like to see succeed, and thats our bed net distribution I mentioned last time. In an effort to reduce the amount of incidents of malaria and malaria related deaths, the PCVs will be delivering enough nets to cover each bed in one of the largest departments in our region. In order to do that, we need not only strong legs to bike out to all these village, but also some financial help as well. For a reminder on the nitty gritty, you can refer to my last email, since i know this ones gone on long already.

Thank you so much to everyone who already donated, and if you would like to still donate, here's the link again: http://www.againstmalaria.com/netlife

Remember, its only approximately $2.50 for one net, so a donation of 5 bucks can help protect two people, probably kids, who would otherwise remain vulnerable.

Thanks so much again for the emails and the support, and talk to you again soon (inshallah)!

Love, Steve "Samba" Sullivan

Update...and a small request...

Hey everyone!

Thanks so much for all the birthday wishes! It was an interesting time in the village, and a way to spend my bday that I wont soon forget. I didnt do much on my actual birthday, but this Friday I headed to Tamba where we were celebrating all the recent birthdays that had happened in the last few weeks, so I still got to see a lot of my friends, have cake, the whole nine yards.

I'm now back in Kedougou, where tomorrow I'm going to begin helping as a doctor's aid/potential translator for an Eye Clinic being held for locals in the area in need of glasses or affected by cataracts, which PCVs are going to be helping with in a big way.

I'm afraid, however, that I have an alterior motive in writing this time besides giving the usual updates, and that's to ask for YOUR help...in a semi-big way. Below is a blurb about a major project coming up for the Kedougou region (I didnt write to whole thing, so forgive me if it sounds cut and pasted...it is).

As you know, malaria is the biggest public health problem in much of Africa, and the largest killer of children in Senegal. Last year, with the financial support of the non-profits Net Life and Against Malaria, these Volunteers put together a comprehensive program in about 20 villages to provide a malaria prevention education and 100% coverage with insecticide treated bed nets.

The results were amazing: malaria-related sickness dropped by more than half and malaria related deaths after the bed net distribution dropped to zero. In another village where Peace Corps/Senegal Volunteers worked, serious malaria illness cases dropped from 48 the previous year to 6. This year, the Kedougou Volunteers plan to conduct a comprehensive program in the Department of Saraya, an area of 45,000 people with some of the highest incidence of malaria in Africa. They project that our program will save about 20 lives per year over the current state, in which about 40 kids per year die of malaria. They need 16,600 nets, along with what the Senegalese government is doing this year, to cover the whole department.

Right now, they and their partners have raised enough funds for about 10,000 nets. You can do the math, but the gap represents the lives of about 12 children this year. Against Malaria, the British charity we partner with, guarantees that they can get the absolutely lowest price quality nets delivered to Dakar at no cost. Plus, they will match every donation dollar for dollar, so the effective cost of these nets is about $2.50 per net. Every penny that we raise will go to buying the bed nets needed to cover this area.

Here is where you can donate: www.againstmalaria.com/Netlife.

Thanks so much in advance for your consideration, and hope to talk to you all again soon!

Love,

Steve "Samba" Sullivan

P.S. Ill try and post some pics in the next week to make up for the very business-like post.