Send-off to Senegal: Netlife Round 2

My Peace Corps friend Andy Sherman is at it again. A rising 4th year med student at St. Louis University, he and his classmate Jesse Matthews have created, developed,and expanded their non-profit organization "NETLIFE" over the last couple years. Netlife is about raising money stateside to provide remote villages with mosquito nets in hopes of reducing local malaria transmission. This is their second summer-long trip to southeastern Senegal in the heart of ndungu (the rainy season). Arriving in NYC yesterday...here are the boys with their charges in front of Port Authority.


Exactly 2 years ago they made their first Netlife trip over to our beloved Kedougou region to distribute about 600 nets. I was lucky enough to have had the support of Bob Rivera and Mary Gough-Swett to be able to join them for a couple weeks. Here we are in July '05 distributing nets in the village of Thiokoye:


Having fundraised over $20,000, Andy and Jesse plan to distribute over 1000 nets this summer. And this time? Their bikes are coming, too, so they won't have to rely on Peace Corps Volunteers for wheels. Still a ways from village paths, here we are lugging bikes and bags through Times Square:


We had to stop off at Dave & Busters in honor of Glenny and Ag. And to race and drink beers. The manager who initially gave us a hard time for all the baggage? Oh, he turned out to be from Dakar. Our baggage was no problem after that.




Tradition dictates Andy must dine at Malecon in upper Manhattan before leaving NYC. Amy and Egan joined us for mofongo, chicken and Presidente. Although Egan made it very clear "I don't drink that stuff."
Bon Voyage, Ablaye and Youssouf! We'll be thinking of you as you bike your way down the road to Bandafassi, past the Tandabe farming their okra, and beyond the quartiers of Kedougou southbound to Fongolimbi. May you travel in peace and may you and the villagers we love always have a net to crawl under!

To see images from Netlife's first trip to southeastern Sengegal, refer to the previous blog posting. Netlife's blog and website are also linked at left.

Scenes from Senegal: Netlife 2005 trip

Bandafassi is a medium-sized village about 18 kilometers west of Kedougou on the laterite road to Salemata (road in picture). It is significant in that it is one of the local Senegalese government headquarters, but if you roll into Bandafassi, you'd never guess it. Mud and grass huts are the norm and the "electricity" presence consists of a couple of top-loading refrigerators in which you may find a luke-warm Coke, or a street light that may or may not illuminate the dirt path passing through the village.

Bandafassi also is home to the regional "Poste de Sante", or Health Post. This is a 3 roomed-cement structure that functions as the primary clinic for approximately 44 villages spanning over 100 kilometers. It is staffed by a nurse. That's right, one nurse, with the help of a handful of community health aids, of which I was one during my Peace Corps service 1999-2001. This photo at left is of Mactar Mansaly, the nurse who runs the health post and my friend. Below is actually the Health Post at Bindefello, another post 40 k to the south on the border of Guinea. It looks similarly to the Bandafassi post, of which I have no digital photo. We worked extensively with the nurse in Bindefello, as well. His name is Badji and he, too, has been a wonderful friend and resource to us.
When I returned for a visit in the summer of '05, I was able to see patients with Mansaly at the health post and to catch up on what's been happening in the area. In the above photo, we were reviewing statistics he keeps in his clinical log on malaria illness in the surrounding villages. I was trying to get a sense of where the disease hits hardest from the numbers of visits to the health post. This information is only so helpful, of course, since the distances from some villages to the clinic are great and those people would clearly be less likely to seek treatment there, even if they lived in a village by a stream with rampant malaria. Nevertheless, I was there to collect some numbers for my friends Andy and Jesse.

Andy and I served as health workers in the Peace Corps together. His village was a 45 minute bike ride from mine and we trained health educators from the surrounding area. I in fact preceeded Andy in the Peace Corps by one year, so I set up his village. He claims he'll never forgive me for biking him out for his first trip to the village with only the stars to light our way. I say he loved it ; ).

Anyhow - these two crazy dudes founded a non-profit based out of St. Louis where they attend med school at SLU. Their organization is called NETLIFE and they basically fundraise money to purchase mosquito nets to distribute to villages in the Bandafassi area. Partly because this area is the farthest from the capital, it is the most underserved from a health perspective of all of Senegal. Finding nurses to work there is difficult; it is the bush, afterall, and well-educated health practitioners would much prefer to live and work in nice areas of Dakar, the capital. Mosquito nets for sale under subsidy from the Minister of Health often don't even reach the Bandafassi area, so its villagers rely on torn, older nets and the clothespins we used to use to patch the holes at night. And, this is the part of the country with the most substantial rainy season. It rains twice a day for about 4 months starting at this time of year. Having lived through 2 rainy seasons, and having contracted falciparum malaria myself, I can attest to the hardship faced by this population during what we call "summer".

We've known each other since....

...we were 7. That's what I think. Sarah seems to think we were 8 when we started 2nd grade at Cougar Tech. I say she's a little off, anyway, so why should you listen to her? We hit the Ice Cream afterparty for some refreshing beverages after a glorious day at our favorite city spot, Coney. The cyclone never ceases to thrill: Sit in the back for the best ride.
Michael and I go back to Richmond days of Church Hill and southside and have a history of bad, up-close self portraits: Check out his websites - ice cream truck songs and ONE RING ZERO - listed at left.

Songs for Ice Cream Trucks

"It's cold and it's sweet, a tasty treat; ice cream's here to stay..." so goes one of my friend Michael Hearst's new SONGS FOR ICE CREAM TRUCKS. He had a CD release party tonight at Housing Works, complete with his full band and free ice cream by 5 Boroughs (I recommend Cha-Cha Chocolate). Cassidy is shown here, sporting her ice cream hat. She was a pretty big hit at the party, dancing and clapping and even playing some of the smaller instruments. Look for both Mike and Cassidy on the TODAY show this coming Saturday June 2 - they were there to film the show!

Cousin Liz graduates from GW

Lady Liz, our super cool cous on the McNabb side sure made us proud this weekend. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from GWU in DC with a major in English. AND she wore that graduation cap with style unmatched by any of those other graduates - ie. tilted way back. Here she is with Mom Lindy & Dad Ed.

Here was our view from the bleachers. According to a graduation speech by an honored physics major GWU's student body can be summarized by the following: "gay men, poli-sci majors and Jewish girls from Jersey."

Perhaps most of these people fell into those 3 categories?


Here's our graduate for our pre-ceremony Starbucks party - - which fell only after the pre-pre-ceremony bloody mary's at the Watergate:


...and here she is with her coolest cousins and with her roommate Stevie right after the ceremony.
















Bar shots and trash-talkin' in Foggy Bottom:

Julia Blanca's Baptism

Julia Blanca Viego was baptized today at St. Bridget's Catholic Church in Richmond, Va. You were right, Gabriel, Carey does have 3 sisters and this one was so glad to have made it to Richmond despite the wind and rain. And Sarah even found the right church, after some trial and error.

We all enjoyed seeing little Julia look like a princess in her christening dress from 1884. Many a Thompson has been christened in that special, white gown and Julia looked truly lovely continuing the family tradition.


Here she is with auntie Sarah at the brunch Carey and Fernando hosted on Floyd.

Snowy Easter = Party Time

Ahh, the vibrant color possibilities of PAAS easter egg dye! I used to diss PAAS, said it was for wimps. Food coloring with vinegar was more my style. But this year Sarah and I wanted those wire dipper things, so we invested in a couple PAAS sets. These were the eggs we dyed. They were gorgeous, and they got more exciting the drunker we got. We figured since it was snowing, and neither of us could get south to Va, we may as well enjoy the holiday.

Here's our ham:





Here's Sarah making her famous key lime pie:





Egg portraits of 2 very important individuals:










And the grand finale?

the tastiest treat imaginable at Easter time:the BURGERMALLOW:

Happy Birthday to me!

Hi, it's me, Lucie. I'm Holly's cat and I was born in a barn in Mechanicsville, Va exactly 10 years ago today. I remember those early days, when I would pile on top of Roxy, Sugar and the other kittens and nap in the sunshine between feedings. Our mama was a fat, white cat - not unlike yours truly, though my weight is contolled these days.

Before coming to NYC a few years ago, I lived all over Virginia: Church Hill, the Fan, Ashland, Winchester, and Edinburg. I even did a stint in the Outer Banks, but I didn't like all that sand very much. I prefer the mountains to the beach - mountain air is simply better for my coat. But now I'm an uptown city kitty. I enjoy watching pigeons out the window, napping in the bed Barry made me and running laps up and down the hallway in out apartment. I recently overheard Holly's dad George asking "Does Lucie ever AGE?". I took it as a compliment, since I do consider myself quite youthful.

Josh Camp coined the following proclamation: "Hi, I'm Lucie. It's a pleasure to meet me." Please see below for my recent photoshoot in honor of my birthday:

A trip to Bennington

Shea and I made a quick jaunt up to Bennington, Vt to see Lali, Mike and Jake the dog. The Lynch family is preparing for the arrival of little boy Lynch who may or may not be named "Ta'Quon Forrest Javier Lynch, IV". Trips to the pediatrician will be made via snowmobile, dirtbike or other perfectly unsafe mode of transportation readily available in their garage. Mike is currently busy with his nose in the baby instruction manual we brought for him. So far he has reached the chapter on "initiating sleep mode".

Bennington's got character, alright. If you're up there in the near future, check out the "Bennington Collects" exhibit at the local museum. Highlights included Pez dispensers, juicers, and slide rulers (my favorite collection, hands down).



Lali looks great - here she is with Shea at the Battle of Bennington monument.




After a sizable feast at the local restaurant:







Jake!

Congratulations Nurse Esme!

Our dear co-worker Nurse Esme just became a mommy! She is adopting this beautiful baby boy from Guatemala. She leaves tomorrow to fly down there and spend a few months getting to know her new son and his homeland. We at St. Luke's are so happy for her and little Pablito! Don't you love his head of hair?? Bon voyage, Esme!

Give up the dough it's StPatty's, yo

Teetles in da house for St Patty's and it's a cold one. Sarah C was too scared to hit the scene too early, so we let her off the hook till the REAL party started. BarrioChino, evangelical northern Virginians, and a whole lotta traipsing through sleet, ice and more slush.

Popovers & Parks: a day with Cassidy & Egan

One of the first spring-like days calls for some good fun with some of my favorite friends in the city. I spent the morning visiting with Patricia and her daughter Cassidy on the U.W.S. We finally made it to the Popover Cafe where Cassidy managed to eat most of my salmon and most of her mommy's popover. I swear that child has the most adventurous palate:
We played around Central Park a little bit so Cassidy could ride the horses. That is, until the big blowout ....(see Cassidy's blog for details). Our park trip was cut a little short after that, but I still had hours of good park time to go...

So, I took the 1 train all the way up to Van Cordlandt Park where I met up with Amy and Egan. Egan told me ALL about General Isiah Porter whose statue stands in front of Van Cordlandt mansion at the north end of the park. Here's Egan trying to hide from us and defending us with his sword. Amy fixed us all yummy pizza back at their place in the Bronx. She also shared a classic piece of collective writing by her 4th graders. See the following post.

Which direction?

Barry and I were dining on Malecon take-out last night at 95 Cabrini and we got to talking about blogs. His is pretty well established - he started it for his semester in Brazil and has been adding to it since. (You can link to it at left). I told him how I haven't done much with mine yet and I keep wondering: do you go backwards or just start with the present and move forwards with events in your life - capturing memories as they happen?

We decided that a timeline - or in my case a "space" line - is in order for our blogs. If I didn't represent the Cougars, Strawderman, Bucknell, Senegal, Richmond and NYC, what would my blog be? Fa what? And of course there's my recent Niger trip, which is what's inspired me to start this thing in the first place.

So - on that note, I will start with Niger and move through space to the mountains of Edinburg, the foothills of the Fouta Djalon, the pool days in Goochland, and the special Parker reunion in Highlands. It'll all make it in there somehow.

This photo is of Bo, Barry and me back in the summer of '05 when Barry moved away from NYC. Since Bo just moved to Portland, I thought I'd pay a little to tribute to him here. He is sorely missed on the hall. (Leysie is in the background, seducing bartenders and causing a general rucous.)

"Fulbrighter" Steph in Niger: a glimpse at a public health issue

My good friend Stephanie is in Niamey, Niger (West Africa - see map) for 6 months. Today is her birthday, and since she's possibly one of the coolest people I know, I am going to tell you a little bit about what she is currently up to. She is in Niamey doing research on the women who undergo obstetrical fistula repair. For those of you who are not medical people, obstetrical fistula is essentially a tear in the wall of a woman's birth canal that results from childbirth gone wrong. That's the least graphic way I can describe it. Why does it occur? If a woman is in labor for an excessively long time, with the baby's head continually pushing against the mother's bones in the pelvic area, the pressure of the baby's head will cut off oxygen supply to the tissue adjacent to the bone. This dead tissue will have become a hole between the birth canal, plus the urethra and/or rectum - and the mother will most likely have delivered a stillborn baby. As if that isn't bad enough, she will then essentially leak urine or feces because of this hole, or fistula.

Obstetrical Fistula (O.F.) is a grave problem in underdeveloped parts of the world, including Africa. It is a complex issue involving many socioeconomic, anatomical and cultural issues. But some of the main reasons behind its prevalence are: girls often marry and deliver babies at a young age; their immature pelvises can have a hard time handling the demands of labor. Girls and women frequently labor in remote areas with limited to no access to modern medical care, including the C-sections that would be indicated in cases of prolonged, obstructed childbirth labor. These girls/women who incur O.F. may smell badly indefinitely until they are able to have the fistula repaired. You can read more about it at the UNFDP's website "Campaign to End Fistula" - see link above.

In recent years several "fistula repair centers" have cropped up across Africa. There has also been a fair amount of press coverage of the centers, of the patients who have had successful repairs, and even of the western medical teams who send over short term repair missions.

When Steph finished her MPH this past May, she started pondering the notion of fistula....afterall, she and I had spent over 2 years in Senegal as health extension volunteers with the Peace Corps. The topic interested her on a personal level - she had known women like the ones she read about, who'd experienced difficulties in childbirth. Here was a population of women who were making international headlines for "finding their way to repair centers in hopes of having OF repair surgery". Stories relayed the life-changing proceedures and how the women were healed and rid of all their worldly problems.

But Steph, who thrives on investigating public health situations first hand, wondered the following: what really happens to these women socially and emotionally through all this? If these patients were on the fringe of village life to begin with once they started leaking urine and smelling bad, were they allowed to return home after repair surgery? What was the experience of being at the hands of western medical teams like? And what were their hopes and fears about reintegrating back into their villages, far from the capital and the fistula center at the national hospital?

Steph took her inquiries to the Fulbight committee, and they, too, saw the value in having someone examine the situation on the ground. She was subsequently awarded a Fulbright grant to take a closer look at the experiences of these fistula patients. She is officially, as they are known in some parts, a "Fulbrighter". (Incidentally, I like saying "Fulbrighter" and try to work it into sentences as much as possible.)

She arrived in Niamey in December and will remain there through May. She has been interviewing the women who currently reside in the fistula compound of the National Hospital in Niamey and getting a sense of where they come from and where they may be headed after their surgeries. Her blog is linked here, so please refer to it for many more wonderful details chronicalling her time and work there.

The photo above is of Steph flipping through some charts of OF patients associated with the non-governmental organization (NGO) in Niamey called DIMOL






This photo is of Steph in front of DIMOL that I took of her in my first week there. DIMOL is one of many NGOs working with OF patients in some conjunction with the national hospital in Niamey, where they go for repair surgery.


This one is of one of the fistula patients: