Necessities

Have you ever thought about water and soap before you step into a hospital? Every morning, I think about this combination, the foamy lather that cleanses our hands. Depending on the day, our clinic may have a power outage, a water shortage, and/or absence of the #1 disease prevention weapon: soap. I cherish a hand-washing experience and this appreciation has grown throughout the weeks.

Last week was an adventure of sorts in Kaolack and its neighboring city, Medina-Baye. The rain and storms turned the sandy roads into slush and large puddles of still water. Our trek to the clinic took longer because we avoided certain flooded roads. We experienced a water shortage in the neighborhood of Samm (Kaolack) and in Medina-Baye. This problem persisted for three days. Although this meant a tight distribution of water at the Thiam house, I did not expect a complete lack of water at the clinic. The clinic did not have a water reserve on site and its medical personnel had to purchase water from other vendors. Like usual, soap was nowhere to be found. These conditions brought up some questions: where is the infrastructure for a functional clinic? To what extent is the lack of water and soap exacerbating the spread of infections? These pressures are often experienced by NGO-sponsored clinics or public hospitals.