So, I just got done with this Malaria Mural project I was doing with the middle school kids in my village. We (and when I say we, I mean they did all the work) painted a mural which was supposed to encourage people to sleep under mosquito nets. I was pleasantly surprised, thinking I was gonna have to force these kids to get anything done; they took all the brushes and paint from me and went to work. They wouldn’t even let me raise a brush on my own. It turned out really well, and while I was still basking in the glory of having responsible, hard-working students on my team, I scheduled a meeting after it was done to plan the unveiling to the village community, only to have them not show up. For 3 meetings, in a row. Well, it can’t be all peaches and cream. So, I went to the school and hunted these kids down, and we finally got this meeting in order. The kids all played parts in a sketch to demonstrate the importance of mosquito nets and a ton of people came out to see the mural and talk about malaria.
Well, as excited as I was to have this turn into a success, I talked to the staff at the village clinic, and found out that there are no mosquito nets for sale or otherwise at the clinic. So, I went to Sokode, the big city, to find out why. And this my friends, is a situation, which I think, characterizes my whole work experience in Togo so far. I go to the hospital in Sokode 3 times (about a 35-40 mile round trip each time), because there’s one man that I’m supposed to talk to about this and he’s never there. The 3rd time I go to Sokode, I finally get to see this man. So, I tell him the situation, that I’m trying to promote the use of mosquito nets in my village, and I just did this project and I want to have mosquito nets for sale at the clinic for those who don’t have them already. He’s like, ‘That’s great! But there are no mosquito nets in the Centrale Region.’ There was a huge bed net campaign in 2011 to give bed nets to people all over Togo, and apparently, ever since then, they have not had any mosquito nets supplied to the hospitals or clinics throughout the country. I asked when he thought the government would start supplying them again: ‘Maybe, when they have the next campaign.’ ‘And when is the next campaign?’ ‘2015.’
How can there be no bed nets available for sale in one of the most Malaria prevalent countries in the world? That’s Togo for you.
At least my mural looks good.
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