Meeting with Work Counterparts in Dassalami Soce

On Monday the 19^th, I had my first meeting with my two work counterparts in Dassalami Soce. My official Peace Corps counterpart, Alassane, is the Agent de Sante Communautaire. Our Case de Santé serves three villages: Dassilami Soce, Boutilimite, and Saroujia. These three villages are all situated along the asphalt road that leads to Karang to the South, and Sokone to the North. I also hope to work with Ben, a manager at Pharmaciens sans Frontieres, who played an important role in the realization Venchele’s projects. He primarily works on an island called Djinack Bara, which is a 10 min ferry ride from Karang. He’s done quite a bit of work with the elementary school, and also built a Case de Santé there.

During this meeting, we went over the following topics:

• Projects to be initiated, continued, or bolstered in the near future.

1) According to Ben and Alassane, the latrine project is our biggest priority at this point. Most latrines in my village are not deep enough, and aren’t made well. Usually, people just cover them up and dig another hole when the first gets full. Obviously, this can pose some serious health risks, especially during the rainy season—when human waste is likely to come floating back to the surface.

We had initially found an organization wiling to finance it, but they estimated that each latrine would cost upwards of a million CFAs. Studies have shown that when locals also pay a portion of the cost, they are more invested in seeing the project through and are more likely to use the new infrastructures. The villagers have agreed to contribute 7,500 CFA per household; if we were to work with this particular organization, they would have to pay a lot more, and no one here has that kind of money. So now, we have to find another partner willing to shoulder the bulk of the cost, while requesting a reasonable contribution from the villagers.

2) Even though the Case de Santé is built, it still needs work. We’re hoping to have a maternity ward here; for now, I’m not sure if that means we’d have to build another building adjacent to the Case de Santé, or if we have enough room in the Case de Santé for a materity ward.

We also do not have access to running water; we only have access to well water here—and pulling water is hard work and time-consuming. So perhaps a robinet project would be a good idea.

We also don't have any electricity; as of now, we’re hoping that Pharmaciens sans Frontières will be able to help us get solar panels.

We also need to figure out how to maintain basic cleanliness in the Case de Santé. For now, the money to pay women to clean is coming out of Alassane’s own pocket. There’s no trashcan, and no way to dispose of medical waste.

3) Trash in the village is a problem in general. My village is pretty clean by most Senegalese standards, but litter (especially plastic, plastic everywhere) is still omnipresent. Ben said that he had already built a trash-burning oven in another village, and that it had worked really well. I’m not quite sure what these ovens look like for now, but I think it would look something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AJvTBeAUGY.

4) I have two schools in my village. In the French school, the children eat lunch on the floor, so Ben thinks it might be a good idea to build a cafeteria for them.

5) Eventually, the difficult subject of contraception or birth spacing will probably have to be broached. There are way too many children here; there’s a naming ceremony just about every day. For both financial and health reasons, fewer births are more advantageous.

• Ben and Alassane also gave me some really interesting advice about working and living in Dassalami Soce.

I was under the impression that the best way to find something to do was to ask villagers directly what the most pressing health concerns and needs are; my work partners suggested that, to the contrary, I should avoid asking such direct questions. Instead, I should be able to get a sense of immediate and long-term needs from indirect communication, everyday casual conversations, and direct observations. For example, I’ve noticed that my family members never wash their hands with running water and soap; usually, they use a communal water bowl to rinse their hands after eating (keep in mind that many people here, especially women, eat with their hands). I’ve also noticed that kids tend to eat unripe mangos. Both of these behaviors greatly contributes to the spread of many diseases, including diarrhea, which can be deadly in young children.

More to come, as soon as I have internet access.