BAMM!

BAMM! It’s blog about malaria month in Peace Corps, so I would like to share results from our Pout Malaria Tour that happened earlier this month.

Pout is a region located just outside of Thies in western Senegal that is considered a red zone for malaria. The tour was organized to help educate CEM and Lycee level school children (grade school and high school) about malaria. Topics of conversation included facts and misconceptions of malaria, how to test and treat it, the importance of using one’s MILDA (long-duration insecticide treated mosquito net), and enforcing the students’ role as malaria spokesperson in their community. I traveled along with PCV’s Andrew Wynn and Lisa Floran to all CEM and lycee’s in the Pout region. The tour took a total of 4 days. Our presentations were conducted in both Wolof and French.

I compiled information from each class visited, asking students the following questions: (1) Do you own a mosquito net? (2) Did you sleep under your net last night?

Here are some photos from throughout the week-

 Lisa Floran using our mosquito to explain about malaria transmission.

 One of the doctors reinforcing information about how the Anopheles mosquito.

 Demonstrating the importance of using your mosquito net with a student volunteer.

 

 CEM Pout was one of nine total schools visited.

 Students gather around and raise their hand if they used their mosquito net last night.

 Demonstrating net usage at another CEM school in Pout.

 Talking about proper net washing and how to repair a torn net.

 Our fantastic health worker, Ndiaye Fatima, who traveled with us to every school. 

Students answering questions about facts vs. myths of malaria.

PCV's Andrew Wynn, Lisa Floran, and myself at a CEM in Pout.