On the fourth day, Tom and I headed out with the team from Le Korsa which is an NGO that does a lot of work in Senegal.

Our first stop was to visit a community garden outside of Tambacounda. Le Korsa was able to provide the piping and the well for the garden that it is run by a woman’s collective from the local village. One thing that struck me when I first saw it, was how lush it looked in the midst of such a dry and arid landscape.

Sweet potatoes growing in the first garden we saw

A bounty of very large sweet potatoes

One interesting fact: the food in the garden is used to feed the village and what is left over, is sold. When the men are not working during the rainy season, the women lend them money until they go back to work and are able to pay them back. Never under estimate the power of a working woman!

The women’s collective from the first garden

I took a picture of this woman in the garden and then I saw her take my picture a few minutes later.

Then we took our pictures together!

Everywhere I went, I was taken by the warmth of the Senegalese people. They were always welcoming and happy to show the work they were doing.

The second garden we went to was started by a spinoff of the first garden. There were too many women in the first garden so the second group started another garden in another village. This garden was larger and had slightly different crops.

Peanuts which are a staple of Senegal, getting ready to be harvested.

Most women had at least one child working with them

The women of the collective saying goodbye to us

As someone said, water, garden, women’s collective equals power!! I agree. It was great to see. More to come on the second part of our day.

We began our day at the hospital regional de Tambacounda. This hospital serves as the regional hub for all the outlying villages and is very busy for this reason.

The first stop was a meeting with the Chief du Service and Financial Director of the hospital, Khalifa Fallou. He was so happy that GoDocGo has returned for their sixth visit to this hospital. It has helped to establish connections with the doctors and midwives and to have continuation of treatment.

The GoDocGo team with the Financial Director of the hospital and Dr. Deme

The next stop was a presentation about the LEEP machine that Maggie gave in french, no less, to the OBGYN doctors and midwives. There was a large turnout with much interest. The highlight of the presentation was being able to practice with the machine on an uncooked chicken. Everyone got a better understanding including me!

Maggie demonstrating how to use a LEEP machine

The patient for the demonstration was an uncooked chicken

Dr. Deme practicing and me being an assistant

What is interesting to observe is the camaraderie of the midwives and their eagerness to learn.

The midwives and doctors who attended the presentation

The purpose of our visit was to do follow up screenings where there had been questionable results. There were several midwives as well as Dr. Deme and Maggie and me in one of the exam room with the patients.

Maggie and Dr. Deme working with the midwives

The rest of the day was filled with screenings and treatments. Of 38 women screened, eight were positive and most could get treatment. Without this type of work, many women would not have access any treatment. For some, it will save their lives. Previously in Africa, women were not screened for cervical cancer and many died from this disease that is easy to prevent.

Dr. Deme, an OBGYN doctor, performs a LEEP procedure on a patient

The day ended with a visit to the Foyer de Jeunes FIlles in Tambacounda which houses 184 young women from age 11 to 20. These girls are sent there by their families so that they can continue their education away from home. The Foyer allows the girls to live in a safe place that is part dormitory, part community and part supplemental education. Girls come to live there from outlying villages in order to continue their education and not marry at such a young age. The Foyer is run by the NGO Le Korsa which is actively doing a lot of outstanding work in Senegal. GoDocGo works under an arm of Le Korsa.

Tom Meyer beginning his class at the Foyer

Professor Tom Meyer from SUNY New Paltz, has come on this trip to teach a writing class for any girls from the Foyer who wanted to participate. They chose to come to his class at 5 PM after a long day of school. When the girls first arrived, they were quiet and shy. Over the course of the two hour class, a transformation took place. By the end, many girls were enthusiastically choosing to share their writing in the author’s chair. The class was a success and the girls will work with Tom through Saturday.

We are staying in Tambacounda where we have had spotty internet and it has been hard to post anything. I now have a wireless hotspot that should help this process along because there is a lot more to come!!

We are having a great trip. The only problem is the internet. I hope to be able to get access tomorrow afternoon. With any luck, I will have a few posts to share!!

After a smooth seven hour flight, we landed in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, at nine this morning. It was good to be back and step out into the warm sun. There were six of us on the flight. Dr. Maggie Capenter, the founder of GoDocGo, Patricia Bacon, GoDocGo program director, Dr. Kristen Austin, Dr. Tom Meyer, Allegra Itsoga, Director of Le Korsa and Julie Stevenson, GoDocGo board member and resident blogger.

Dr. Maggie Carpenter, Dr. Kristen Austin, Pat Bacon, Julie Stevenson and Tom Meyer – Allegra took the picture

Vieux Toute is the In-Country program director in Senegal here with Dr. Kristen Austin

We did not linger in Dakar. The GoDocGo team headed three hours east to the Hospital Regional de Kaolack and worked with Dr. Sy and two other OBGYN colleagues. The GoDocGo team had been to this hospital in June to do screenings and training. Today we brought a LEEP machine which can burn away any legions that appear on a women’s cervix and can cause cancer in the future.

Maggie and Kristen preparing

The purpose of our visit today was to train the doctors on how to use the machine and to treat ten women who needed to be rescreened due to some concerns. We also brought a thermal ablation gun that can be used to remove very small legions. At the end of the day, two of the ten women needed treatment that we could provide. The others were either normal or needed treatment that we could not provide.

The doctors practiced using the new machine on a chicken.

Drs. Sy, Sene and Bakhoum work with the GoDocGo doctors

At Kaolack, Allegra and Tom continued on the journey to Tambacunda where we all met later in the evening. Starting Wednesday, Tom will be teaching writing to young women who go to school in Tambacunda.

More to come today. Internet problems yesterday!!

We made it to Dakar, Senegal this morning after a smooth, seven hour flight. It has been a busy day and I do not have good Wifi. More to come tomorrow when I can connect.