Off to Famorila

Today is a holiday - Army Day (Independence Day from France). Another surprise for us, since we thought we'd be scanning patients and training. And as a result, there is no clinic due to the holiday. Like I said earlier, you need to be prepared for anything! So, as before, it became a lecture day. Bill released me and I joined the group going to one of the rural clinics - Famorila. It's a 3.5 hour drive there - approx 2 hours on paved road and then the rest on bumpy dirt roads - or shall I say paths? That was fun - 7 people in the Jeep, 3 of whom needed move closer to the front after a while. Yup, that was me. It was long 8 hours today. (and fyi... that number keeps growing - Claire said it took 10 hours  :))

The countryside is beautiful and changing. Near the river were lots of palm trees, yet as we headed more east the landscape moves to forests of the Baobob tree and brush - and very flat. There has been a tremendous amount of deforestation due to erosion over the past few years. This clinic is oftentimes not passable during the rainy season (July - Sept).

This clinic was chosen because it is one of the best run - Allaye Coulibaly - our last year student gets the credit here. They were extremely hospitable for us. The clinic was open for patients and the nurses (midwives) came in - did I mention this was a holiday? They were very gracious to answer lots of questions and show us around - I have lots of clinic photos to share.

Then... they invited us for lunch! A typical African meal - (fonio)couscous topped with a sauce (and some meat) in a large bowl that we all ate out of. We didn't do it in true African fashion though - we were given spoons! That was so special, and yummy!

Well, that's all for now. I'm sure I'm missing lots of details, but will continue this everyday.