Last day

After we bade goodbye to the CHWS we had some time to rest, then returned for a gala evening at the church mission for dinner, fish & frites and salad, and of course yassa. It wasn't served until 9pm and we were pretty tired by the time we were done and planning to be up early to go to Goree Island, and then Christine brought in patisserie and chocolates that Catherine and Jim had ordered to celebrate our last evening.  All the children were there as well and they sang a song Catherine had taught them and then we all enjoyed cake while we watched two fantastic videos Joe had made about our mission, complete with music and of course photos of all we had done. He will give us copies to bring home with us. We didn't  get back to bed until midnight.

And then we were up at 7am to go to Goree. We barely made it on the boat--I think the young woman guard was trying to impress David Makobo, and let us on even though they first told us the boat was full. It was a beautiful day, the ferry ride was smooth and aside from the annoying street vendors, our day at Goree was delightful. I was finally able to hear the complete guided tour, which was excellent, but we were all pretty tired out by the time we got to the hotel and were able to enjoy our showers. Catherine and Jim chose not to join us--I can't imagine the overnight return trip without a shower. I can hardly understand why the hotels make you check out at 10 am when none of the flights leave before 8pm. We had a mistake with our flight reservations, so Charissa and Edie are going to stay an extra two nights. I hope they'll let us borrow their shower before we go Monday.

Church service at Nord Foire UMC in Dakar

Charissa, Deb, Edie, Kathe and I plan to go to the EMUS church service at Nord Foire tomorrow,  then probably spend the rest of our time here relaxing on the beach or by the pool. Charissa will help Christine if her accounting software from GBGM gets here, and I'm sure Edie can keep busy offering PT evaluations and instruction to all the church staff - it appears that they don't even have a term for physical therapy.

After church with Bill Gibson, Gwen Gibson, and Joe Bleck

This was an incredible trip. I am sure we will all be in tears when we leave, everybody has been so wonderful. Of course, they always are, but they are really family for me now. They keep saying that when we come back next time they hope they will be in the new church. I told them I will come back and I will find them, wherever they are.

CAM

Friday wraps things up

Friday in Senegal is the last day for training, shared meals and visions and dreams. Deb's class to fight poverty and build micro businesses has been very successful!

Team Senegal 2016 

CHW Graduation day

Today did not get off to a good start. As we were preparing to leave the guesthouse, two men on a motor scooter drove past and snatched Katie's fanny pack. It was so fast we were stunned,but Charissa and a passerby chased after them. Unfortunately they escaped. We were thankful Kathe was not hurt but lost her cellphone, her credit cards and and fair amount of money. Our hosts at EMUS and all the others said this never happens in Nord Foire neighborhood and they were devastated. Gaspard said we were certainly targeted as foreigners and also because we were all women. (Jim had left early with Catherine).

Kathe recovered after talking with her husband Mark, who would notify the appropriate institutions and we continued our day. We had a brief review of the week's material, then invited the women from the Women's Skills Center to be the CHWS first trainees. Our CHWS did a fantastic job teaching both adult and infant CPR and Heimlich maneuver and we judged that they were in fact ready for Prime Time.

After lunch, each group of three CHWS presented their skit for demonstrating their share of the skill set to great applause.  Finally we had our closing ceremony with certificates, prayers, heartfelt thanks all around, and lots and lots of photos.  Valerie told them she and Paulette could come to their village with the manikins if they organized a CPR training. I am confident that several of them will do so.

The CHWS then gave me a list of topics they would like to cover on our next visit, ranging from hypertension to cervical cancer to tetanus! It was quite a tall order!

Our team was very moved by the gratitude of our students and the entire experience of doing the training.  It has been a challenging week, with many "ups and downs" but I believe everyone considers it a rousing success. Twenty five people in Dakar and Theis can now be first responders and if even one life is saved (and I believe it likely that we will hear of one before we return next year) it will have been worth the trip.

CAM 

Renderings of a planned church for Dakar

The Methodist Church in Senegal (EMUS) has plans for a church building in Dakar.

Who doesn't like to hold a baby?

Community health care trainers, Edie, Jim and Kathe enjoy time with baby Stan, the son of one of the community health care students. EMUS had a widening circle of friends, members and possibilities for building the kingdom right here; right now!

Team Senegal 2016

Certificates

Its the final day of training for the Community Health Workers. Certificates are being prepared by Pastor Joe, his wife Paulette, and Charissa of Team Senegal. 

It's a glorious day at EMUS! 

Thursday training at EMUS

Today was a day of consolidation for the CHWS.  We did not teach any new material but encouraged them to teach the material back to the class--and to us. They were shy and uncertain, so I started "playing" real life scenarios: choking, fainting, having "my baby" not breathing. As they gained confidence, they became better at teaching. We feel comfortable that they know the material and will be able to teach it back to their communities with the aid of the manikins Edie is donating.

Edie instructing on infant CPR

After reviewing our PT exercises and CPR training this morning, we were very impressed with how well our students had recalled and been able to reproduce and even teach their lessons, so we pressed on with infant and child CPR. Now that they understand the basics, the CHWS  are thinking on their feet and asking good questions and showing they are able to extrapolate. I gave them a challenge when I pretended to be the Frantic Friend and they had to get me out of the way in order to perform CPR.  My point was that there would be a lot of hullabaloo when and if an emergency happened, that they would be performing under stress and they might need to tell people what to do to help.

Deb, Charissa and Gaspard
role-play negotiation training

Meanwhile, Gaspard had brought some "tourist" objects for us to look at. Deb began to negotiate with him and then decided the negotiations would be great examples for her class. Her class was very enthusiastic about these "real-life" negotiations and learned a lot from the experience. Later we saw Fatou Lo with her children Marie and Michel.

After class, while the students were working on their presentations for tomorrow, Christine and Paulette took Edie and Kathe and me to the fabric mart so that Charissa and Edie could have clothing made by Paulette's tailor.  It was quite a production, choosing fabric and necklines and sleeve lengths and decorations, and being measured. He finishes the outfits in less than 24 hours. We can't wait to see how they turn out. We saw Paulette's three daughters on our way back to the church: Mavis is so grown up, and Emma and Kitty Paul are not far behind, all lively, lovely girls.

Then after dinner we were invited to the home of Binta, Edie's guardian angel. She lives only a few blocks away in a very nice home with her daughters, while her husband works in Italy. Christine came with us to translate, as Binta speaks very little English and of course the rest of us speak very little French.

All around, it was a day of revelation about these wonderful people we are getting to know. Everybody at EMUS is so friendly, helpful and anxious to accomodate us.  Martine and Awa have been providing us with the most delicious food (nobody has been ill) and plenty of filtered water. I wish I could bring them home with me.  Gaspard is endlessly helpful, Valerie and Paulette and Christine are our mainstays. Bill and Joe are always around and available for "consultation".

Hosting teams must be a very challenging task and to do it with the grace and flexibility our hosts in Senegal have shown us is outstanding. I am humbled by their friendship and the kindness they show us every day.

CAM