In Senegalese culture it is hilarious when a man serves a woman. Just imagine the laughs when all the male personnel of the clinic, including the director, served the women bowls with food. March 8 is International Women’s Day. It is a day to bring the rights of women to the attention, but in Sene[...]
Archive for the ‘Africa’ Category
On mission in your own country: visiting colleagues in Northern Senegal
How do you find food for the cattle in the dry season? How do you make a tasty meal from a sheep’s leg? How do people from the Fula nomadic people greet each other? What is it like to be the only Christian living in a village? Why are the Fula so long? Why is […][...]
December 30th, 2016 - 21:28 § in Africa
An orange ribbon for the pediatric ward
“And then I call it … the Orange Room”, with these words the Dutch ambassador cuts the orange ribbon and opens the new building for the pediatric ward. What started four years ago just once a week, has now become an important pillar of care in the clinic. Thanks to the Dutch Embass[...]
October 31st, 2016 - 12:08 § in Africa
A businessman as development worker
“Blessed is the day we met for the first time!” One would not expect that these words are spoken at the end of a seminar on finance. This participant is impressed with the program and he is sure it is going to help his company to the next stage. “Supporting the middle class is an […][...]
Washing the dishes with Fulani women
Aminata shines when she talks about her daughters. They both go to school and one is the best in her class. She herself has never had that opportunity. Growing up as a shepherd’s daughter in a small village there was no school to attend. This Easter Sunday we wash the dishes together and chat in [[...]
Twenty white coats in the green south
“It’s really not far away, let’s just walk” says the nurse as he takes me to show me the clinic. Right behind those trees over there. The sun burns on my head while I’m walking from orange tree to mango tree, saluting everyone on the way as we try not to trip over chickens and [...]
October 5th, 2015 - 08:44 § in Africa
Mud or new glasses?
The medical campaign was a great success. Over 300 people received a pair of glasses in a week time. These glasses make an unbelievable difference in the daily lives of these people. An old widow is again able to knit for a living, a young mother is able to remove small stones from the rice, [&helli[...]
October 5th, 2015 - 08:43 § in Africa
Constructing a pediatric ward, how one slowly catches a monkey
On a random Thursday morning I am again confronted with the importance of this construction project. I am in the midst of a teaching session for the nurses on common children’s diseases. We are preparing for a specialized pediatric consultancy which will start once the construction is done. Paulin[...]
At war with a virus
“Last week Friday the first Ebola case was confirmed in Dakar, and ever since we are in war.” The head doctor of the Northern Health District of Dakar has called for a crisis meeting for all Health Post leaders. The whole world now knows that Ebola arrived in Senegal, and international organizat[...]
A baby in the sheep hut; medical campaign in Widou
A car parks next to the straw hut at twilight. It is the hut of Ahmed, a shepherd like virtually all of his people group (Fulani) in northern Senegal. He isn’t poor, as shown by his large herd of cows and sheep. For this wandering tribe medical care is not taken for granted. This counts […][...]
