Hospital Patient Housing

So I have realized that I have mentioned my hospital project in my blog in small blurbs on occasion, and I wanted to take this opportunity to really expound upon this project, because I do truly think it’s of great importance to my community at large. And because I need your help to make this dream, a reality.

When I first arrived in my village, like a week into my service, a man approached me to ask for help regarding the lack of space for overnight patients at the small hospital in my village. Now, when I say hospital, I mean a cement brick unit, with one room and a desk in which the one doctor and his two assistants, who show up randomly, serve the 50000 people in my commune who walk from 20 kilometers out just to get treatment. Last year my doctor treated over 14000 people. The building, which also has a maternity ward, is about 20 years old, built by an NGO back in the day, and is run and funded by the government. This hospital in the middle of nowhere is not high on the governments list of things to tend to in the near future, what with the political situation and the instability of Niger as a whole. There used to be two, two room buildings that were used to house patients overnight, but they have slowly been destroyed, and are now unsuitable for housing patients.

I know I blogged about how rainy season in Niger brought me to the hospital many a time, because of the amount of malaria that takes over Nigeriens, who have no real assess to decent prevention. I have stayed the night with friends and family who were suffering from malaria, overnight in the one building that still stands, barely. Let me tell you, it is not a place you’d want to be while trying to recover from a sickness that takes your body over with unbearable pain. You lie on the cold floor, maybe on a mat if you thought to bring one from your home, you sleep with no mosquito net, which only exposes you even more to more malaria. If it starts to rain, the windows and doors don’t close, and the ceiling (if you could call it that) leaks all over you. Think about the last time you were in the hospital, and imagine if the roof caved in on top of you, as you were recovering.

So, I originally told the man who asked me for help, to wait a while, until I had kind of gotten a feel for the language, and the community, and was really ready to take on a project of this size. He was very respectful of my wish, checked in with me on a weekly basis, not to ask about the hospital, but just to ask how I was doing, and has been a great support for me in my service. One day I approached him, and said, lets have a meeting, see what we can do. The next day, the entire board of directors for the hospital was ready; they laid out what they needed from me. I told them what I needed from them, and we got to work. My villagers are donating the water, sand, time, labor, food and lodging for contractors from my regional capital Maradi. They also came up with $180 dollars to buy some bed’s and mattress’s to put inside. Now I know that $180 dollars may not sound like a lot of money, but lets just say that 33000 of the 50000 people in my commune experienced hunger this past year, so it’s a lot. They are also helping transport materials from Maradi to my village.

We are building a two room facility, completely out of cement with metal doors and windows and a metal roof. We will put 3 beds and mattress’s in each room with mosquito nets and poles for the IV bags. This will be place of recovery, a clean, nice place that the people of my village and commune deserve to have. As my wonderful Aunt Dorthy wrote to me… “I am so excited about your project. Such a simple project - a room for patients to recover - with such far-reaching benefits.” Thanks Aunt Dor :)….You can’t begin to imagine the benefits that this will have. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope that you will consider donating to this project, I think my friend Jason said it best… “This is an opportunity to directly touch the lives of real people living in his village -- the same people who were gracious enough to take Will in, share with him with what little they have, and make him a part of their community.”

I’d like to end by saying that, this is the perfect time to implement this project. Harvest season is coming to an end, and the people of my village can afford to share food and money with those construction workers who are coming in from Maradi to help to build. It is also a down time for my villagers, who have worked the fields all rainy season, and are available to help in the construction process. That being said, please donate as soon as possible. I know you will be as generous as you can be.

You will be able to follow the construction process, online on my facebook account, with many photos for sure!!!

Thank you, and my villagers thank you. – Ousmane

Donate Now!!!

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=683-190

SANNU. KUN JI?

As we grow older, I feel that many things change, and that life throws more at us, tests us more frequently. Over my 15 months in Niger, I have been tested more than I could have ever imagined, from Terrorist groups threatening to kidnap ex-patriots in Niger, to family emergencies that I could not be present for. With the help of family and friends support and guidance, I have had the ability to overcome and conquer these tests that life has thrown my way, and I am proud to say that I have met these challenges with ultimate success. It was my Peace Corps Niger family that came together to help overcome what is by far the biggest challenge we have faced as an organization since my time here.

Last week, a newly sworn in volunteer named Stephanie, passed away in her home in the Eastern Region of Zinder, after only having maybe two weeks in her ville after training. This had a very powerful affect, as you could well imagine, on all of the volunteers in Peace Corps Niger. We are a family here, there are those who were greatly affected who had never even met this fantastic girl, because there are so few of us, we must be a family for each other in order to overcome the many challenges that Peace Corps in Niger present on a regular basis.

I feel very fortunate in the fact that I did have the opportunity to spend a short 2 weeks with Stephanie. She came to Niger to volunteer in Peace Corps from working as an accountant, probably living the lifestyle of one as well, and she gave that up to work with and support and better the country of Niger and its people. She was amazingly funny, and could brighten a room with her smile. I remember helping her to buy fabric to have a shirt made, that she really wanted, she just had to have it, and I spent like thirty minutes with her bargaining with this guy just trying to rip off a couple of ex-pats in Niger. She gave all the Niger staff American names, with whom she had developed very close relationships, and who were all greatly affected by her passing on as well. Needless to say, she stood out amongst her stage(the group of people you come to Niger with) mates, whom I know have been very deeply affected by this incident and I can’t begin to imagine the pain that they are experiencing.

Stephanie, you will be truly missed, know that you touched many people with your personality and your smile while you were on this earth. I’d like to share a quote that she kept on her blog…”I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness I can show to any human being, let me do it now.” Stephanie lived this quote in her life everyday. May we all hope to do the same. Allah Ya Jikinta. (May god watch over her as she passes on)

Take Care of yourselves and each other – Ousmane