Monday, June 7, 2010

Mobile Clinic with Médecins San Frontier- Part 2

Here are some more pictures from the MSF trip.

The first three are of people waiting to be seen and of kids.

Kids always want their picture taken and then to be shown it. Digital photography is a good way to break down barriers
Below is the traditional way to get by the river instead of using the ferry. These next two picts were taken from the ferry. The piroques (canoes) are carved out of trees and are used to carry people, motorcycles, supplies and sometimes people drive a truck on to two of them placed parallel in the river to navigate smaller crossings.

And finally on the way back we had more mud. there was rainstorm on the way back and the driver had a lot of fun navigating that.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Mobile Clinic with Médecins San Frontier- Part 1

Stephen had an opportunity to take a trip with a group of medical personnel who work for Doctors without Borders or Médecins San Frontiers (MSF). MSF started working in our area in December and since then we have shared a lot of patients. One of the things they do is surveying refugee camps for health status and doing mobile clinics. Stephen was invited to go on one of their trips.

The first couple of pictures are of the trip there. The village is about 70 km north of Impfondo, but it took about 3 hours to get there. The roads were difficult to navigate, and there was a wait for the ferry.

The ferry is free for use in Congo.....if you buy the diesel fuel to put in it. If you don't bring the fuel then you don't go anywhere on the ferry.
The picture below shows how full the truck was. There were plastic chairs and tables on top, and the back was filled with medicines, supplies and the four nurses that went with the team. There were also three people in the front.
This picture is the photo of the church that was transformed into the clinic. There were tarps placed in the front of the church to provide consultation rooms. The other half was devoted to a pharmacy and "observation area."
These are some of the people who were waiting to see the MSF team. Everyone had vital signs done, a rapid malaria test done and received medicines. They were limited on Tylenol though, so only the kids got it.


More to come...