Dakar Calling
Yesterday, Youssou released a “Special End of Year 2009 Album.” We walked through the big open-air downtown market in Dakar and heard it blaring out shops and being sold on street corners.
How does this relate to malaria? Every (non-pirated) copy came complete with a flyer in the sleeve with information on “Artistes Contre Le Palu” (”Artists Against Malaria”). That’s music to our ears.
One of the key components of any effective malaria campaign is follow-up. You can’t simply hand someone a mosquito net, check them off your list as another prevented case of malaria, and pat yourself on the back for a job-well-done. The only time mosquito nets help to prevent malaria and save lives is when people actually use them! That’s why Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) can be so useful during malaria campaigns; they live in communities, learn local languages, and build relationships with people. This puts them in the best position to promote proper bed net usage and to follow up with individual families.
Marisa Van Osdale is one of the PCVs with a Malaria No More FlipCam. She has been documenting malaria related activities in her region of Matam in Northern Senegal, and here she shares a video of a family receiving mosquito nets and pledging to use them every night. But, as she explains below, it’s important to remind people to use the nets through subsequent visits.
And by the way, I’m Adam Horowitz, a 3rd year Peace Corps Volunteer here in Dakar. I was a Health and Community Development volunteer in The Gambia for two years and recently transferred to Senegal and extended my service for a year. Among other things, I’ll be acting as the new point person for PCVs with MNM’s FlipCams, so you should be hearing a lot more from me – and other volunteers – in the near future!
Enjoy,
Adam
Marisa writes:
“Although Northern Senegal’s climate is mostly dry, during the rainy season, malaria becomes a real concern, threatening the health of families. In my village of Goudoude Diobe, one family is shown turning in the coupon to receive two lifesaving mosquito nets. The distribution of nets is just the beginning. As development workers, we must continue the campaign by completing follow-up with families to ensure the success of the project and use of the nets.”
At the Xeex Sibbiru office, we have been reading a study that shows that malaria is at its worst here in Senegal at the end of the rainy season, between now and mid November, when the waters stagnate and mosquitoes are out in force. It’s a lesson I learned all too well this week.
On Tuesday night, when I went home after work, I had a headache. It quickly escalated: I vomited all through the night. I couldn’t sleep. The next day I was miserable. I had no appetite. Recognizing the symptoms, I rushed out to get a rapid test at a tiny clinic downtown. It cost almost $20, but I had to find out if I had Paludisme.
Sure enough: by the time my test came back positive, my temperature was up to 101 degrees Fahrenheit. They made me a prescription for Coartem. By noon, I was able to eat something and so I took my first dose, along with some paracetamol to manage the fever and some Vitamin C to replace what I had lost.
It took two more days before I felt well enough to get back to work. Anyway, I’m glad to be back and fighting malaria in Senegal, rather than fighting it myself at home. To make sure this doesn’t happen again, I got a new moustiquaire impregnee. And you can bet I’ll be sleeping under it every night.
–Andrea Gbedeko [Translated from French by Martin}
Faith saturates life here in Senegal. Prayer calls issue from local mosques and hum through the city morning and night. The names of the holy centers and religious brotherhoods decorate taxis and buses. Graffiti images of Senegal’s most famous Sufi Saint, Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba, adorn walls and signs everywhere you look.
The “Xeex Sibbiru” campaign is celebrating its first Ramadan (the month-long season of fasting and prayer that celebrates when the first few verses of the Qur’an were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad) by visiting the major Muslim Brotherhoods, or Confreries, to get their blessing and engage them in the malaria education campaign.
It has been a truly once in a life-time experience… and we hope a life-saving one for the people who will learn about malaria as a result. Below are pictures of Youssou, Bouba, and me visiting the most revered Khalifes and Marabouts in Senegal, all of whom pledged to activate their extensive national networks to get the word out about malaria:
Yoff (Layenes)
Youssou presents a bed net to El Hadji Abdoulaye Thiaw Laye, the Khalife General of the Layenes
El Hadj Bara Mbacke, General Khalife of the Mourides, offered his encouragement and blessing.
Serigne Maodo Sy, one of of the senior Marabouts of the Tidjanes, offers his prayers for the campaign
Government health worker Aminata Ndieye discusses Senegal’s national integrated bednet campaign as it rolls in the village of Gourmel. Footage captured by Lauren Canton; translated from its original French version into English.
With her MNM FlipCam, Lauren Canton has been documenting how mosquito nets are being distributed and making a difference in the village where she is living called Podor. Located in the Northern St. Louis region of Senegal, Podor is right along the Senegal River near the border of Mauritania.
Check out this first film where Lauren guides us through the processes of the local distribution!
In this next video, Lauren observes as a national health worker distributes Vitamin A and deworming medicines to an infant. Following this, the mother is given mosquito net vouchers for her family. This integrative approach brings more life-saving health interventions at once to people in rural areas of Senegal.
We have equipped 4 Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs), who are working and living in rural Senegalese villages, with Malaria No More FlipCams. The footage they capture with these cameras will provide a first-hand perspective into the reality of malaria as well as the national mosquito net distribution campaign in the farthest reaches of Senegal. Look for the “PCV” tag to see clips from their villages on how malaria has affected the local communities.
Malaria No More and Youssou N’Dour Plugged on the PC Senegal Website
Hey Everyone! My name is Hayley Droppert and I am an intern here at Malaria No More in New York. I met Martin when I was in Senegal several months back and have been working with him on the Surround Sound Senegal campaign all summer.
Check it out: Youssou and Martin in a 4-minute radio interview published by Voice of America featuring “Xeex Sibbiru” throughout!
Youssou and Martin- Voice of America
Read the accompanying article from VOA News
