Senegal 2010

International Volunteers of Urology Blog Entries Senegal, Africa Team Members: Francis Schneck - Team leader – Urologist Mark Bellinger – Urologist Igor Seminov – Anesthesiologist Gaayana Rha – Urology fellow Julie Palmer – OR circulating nurse Nathaniel Cook – OR scrub tech Sarah Schneck – Trip logistician Stacie Pearce – Recovery room nurse

Day 1: April 4, 2010
Entry by: Stacie Pearce
Hi there everyone, we have arrived safely in Dakar, Senegal. My flight from Salt Lake City to New York City was uneventful except for the holding formation our flight had to endure, thus causing me to have to run to catch the flight to Dakar. Once on that flight we were about to take off and then the pilot announced that there were bags on the plane without the owners onboard…a safety concern….so we turned around so they could take off one or two bags. This was an one hour delay. However, the flight itself was not bad at all. Only eight hours. Not too shabby. We arrived in Senegal at 0500 this morning and was promptly picked up by Mohammed (Jalloh), a good friend and urologist from last year. He brought our equipment to the hospital and brought us to the hotel for breakfast and sleep. Afterward, he picked us up later that evening and took us to Senegalese Wrestling match. I have never seen anything like it! It was their national independence day and was held at a large stadium. They had multiple performances of traditional dancers, fireworks, and Akon, the rapper artist now famous in America showed up to Julie’s excitement. There were three wrestling matches and the wrestlers wear a loin cloth and fetishes. They are blessed and have to do multiple traditional blessings. The matches can last only seconds because the moment the wrestler’s head or four extremities touch the ground the match is over. Afterward we went to Dr. Seringe Gaye’s home and to dinner. It was a wonderful first day to start out our trip in Senegal. Tomorrow we have our clinic to decide what surgeries we will perform and to and set up the operating room.

Day 2: April 5, 2010 Entry by: Stacie Pearce
Today we had a fantastic breakfast at our hotel (I had 5 pastries myself….which would probably explain why my pants ripped already on day 2) and then we went to the Hospital de Grad Yoff to perform clinic and set up the operating room supplies. We saw 28 patients and only four were cancelled due to no shows or surgery deemed uneeded. The parents seemed very appreciative already just to have their children seen. It’s amazing to see what the urologists have been able to do with so few resources. Later in the evening we walked around downtown Dakar and had traditional Ivory Coast dinner. I look forward to starting the OR tomorrow.

Day 3: Tuesday Entry by: Stacie Pearce
Today we had our first surgeries. Much of our day was filled with “Do we have this supply?” “We can jimmy rig this or that” and “how do you say this or that in French?” The team from Senegal is very accommodating and gracious hosts. They are patient with us and happy to learn and teach. I worked in recovery and am always amazed at how tough these kids are.