I went to Senegal the last week of May and first week of June for the joint CDC/USAID planning visit for President's Malaria Initiative for FY2009. I had been on the Madagascar PMI team, but there was some administrative shuffling and I was switched to the Senegal team. I'm going to miss Madagascar!! My family lived in Senegal for a year while I was in elementary school, so I was curious to see how things has changed. Dakar (the capital) is so much more built up and crowded as to be unrecognizable. Here is a picture of the streets - these colorful bus/taxis are everywhere!
....But the food is still delicious! Here is the joint CDC/USAID team, including the local USAID team and a member of the National Malaria Control Program, at lunch near the USAID offices.
The national dish of Senegal is cebu jen, fish and vegetables cooked with tomato rice, and is delicious. One evening, we were invited for dinner at a USAID staff home, where they served the cebu jen in traditional Senegalese style - on huge platters - everyone sits around the platter with their utensils (or their hands). Here is before:
And after!!
We did get to take one trip outside Dakar to see a health facility in a more rural area - here is a local roadside market.
Heaps and heaps and heaps of mangos for sale along the road - simply irresistible!
Horse drawn carts are still a common sight, both in and out of the city.
And a little donkey cart hauling firewood.
Small collection of huts typical of how most Senegalese still live.
We visited a village health committee and were shown the activities at the "health hut". Here is the health committee in the health hut.
They had arranged for our visit to coincide with a presentation on malaria prevention at the local school. Here is a member of the village health committee giving the presentation.
They had also held a competition in which the students made drawings illustrating important messages about malaria - the students with the drawings judged best received an insecticide-treated bednet - very cool! One of the winners:
And her winning drawing:
My USAID colleague and I with the nurse at the closest health post. He was a really sharp guy and gave terrific responses to all my questions - I just had to quiz him a bit. ;)
The view from the USAID mission in Dakar, right on the beach!
....But the food is still delicious! Here is the joint CDC/USAID team, including the local USAID team and a member of the National Malaria Control Program, at lunch near the USAID offices.
The national dish of Senegal is cebu jen, fish and vegetables cooked with tomato rice, and is delicious. One evening, we were invited for dinner at a USAID staff home, where they served the cebu jen in traditional Senegalese style - on huge platters - everyone sits around the platter with their utensils (or their hands). Here is before:
And after!!
We did get to take one trip outside Dakar to see a health facility in a more rural area - here is a local roadside market.
Heaps and heaps and heaps of mangos for sale along the road - simply irresistible!
Horse drawn carts are still a common sight, both in and out of the city.
And a little donkey cart hauling firewood.
Small collection of huts typical of how most Senegalese still live.
We visited a village health committee and were shown the activities at the "health hut". Here is the health committee in the health hut. 
They had arranged for our visit to coincide with a presentation on malaria prevention at the local school. Here is a member of the village health committee giving the presentation.
They had also held a competition in which the students made drawings illustrating important messages about malaria - the students with the drawings judged best received an insecticide-treated bednet - very cool! One of the winners:
And her winning drawing:
My USAID colleague and I with the nurse at the closest health post. He was a really sharp guy and gave terrific responses to all my questions - I just had to quiz him a bit. ;)
The view from the USAID mission in Dakar, right on the beach!
No comments:
Post a Comment