The accompaniment program and the mosquito net treatments are finished! In total, we treated around 300 mosquito nets (the first treatment last spring treated 100, so we’re growing!) and were able to receive and distribute 37 nets! The organization went much more smoothly for the second half of the accompaniment: we got the vaccination cards in advance in order to find the unvaccinated early to make sure they got to the clinic. For everyone else, we took down names and information to ensure they received their mosquito nets. We only had one pregnant woman come in for her consultation, though the other women had received consultations and still needed mosquito nets. It is our hope that as we continue to implement this program in the family sectors we have created that it will become better attended and publicized (much like the net treatments!). I’m including some photos from the last net treatments as well. You can observe our nice sign, which says the name of our organization, Sigida Keneyali. It also says welcome to Sikoroni in French, and below that it welcomes in Bambara!

Now that there is a pause in my work after all that activity, I took the opportunity to catch up on sleep! I have had slower days now sorting out our financial dispenses and stamping receipts that will be used in the collection of funds for the new clinic. I’ve also been honing my tea skills. Today Niang (our director) let me make tea for his mother, so I must be getting pretty sweet! This next month is going to be less focused on projects and more focused on organizing the committee for the clinic fundraising and the community health action group. It’s also going to be Ramadan in a bit over a week, and apparently things slow to a halt during le mois de Carème (I’ve no idea how the French spell that one) as people seldom eat during the day and you party at night. I’ll let you know how it goes, though I think I might skip on skipping meals. If I don’t “eat my hunger” my hunger eats me.

Speaking of food, I woke up a few days ago and a chicken was hanging outside my door by its feet, with its neck dripping blood. We had chicken and potatoes for breakfast the next day. In Niang’s family, where I eat lunch and dinner, we also had chicken. No part is wasted, so the head appears in the dish as well as the intestines. I try to avoid, but sometimes it’s hard to tell what you’re eating in the sauce. So I had my first chicken intestine today. Not terrible! There are chickens running all over his yard and apparently there’s going to be a little party this Tuesday night. I anticipate plucking and washing a lot of bird carcasses. Kind of like after a pheasant hunting trip, eh dad? I have no idea how many people, but there sure are a lot of chickens!

Happy September with lots of love and hugs!