Mosquito Net Distributions in Fongolimbi

I am really proud of my fellow volunteers right now. This last week the volunteers in the Kedougou region pulled together and made some pretty incredible things happen. One of those things was the distribution of over 4000 mosquito bed nets, the first line of defense against Malaria.

We biked from village to village with huge compressed bails of nets in tow. Going out in pairs, we covered 16 villages in nets, sometimes working all day long without food or drink. There were so many people who had never owned a bed net because it was prohibitively expensive. Free bed net distribution has been shown to have the greatest effect on decreasing malaria contraction. In my village I see the Malaria ravage all members of society, seriously affecting their ability to generate income and lift them selves out of poverty. It felt so good to do something for the people of Kedougou that was tangible and necessary.

A pile of nets await their new homes.



Kay writes names on nets with a beautiful village scene in the background.




This village, Thioune, was stunning!






Walking home we saw a huge rainbow.




The next day, an old man and a young boy wait for their nets.




A sweet angel of a little girl goes home with her new mosquito net.



An old woman and young man rest in the shade of a tree.



The chief of the village in Lombel was so happy he gave us a chicken.



And I intended to ride it home on the handlebars like Kevin and Winnie from Wonder Years.



But it broke free and we had to chase it down in the bush. Not taking any chances we tied it to my baggage carrier.




Yummy…



Can you believe I was a vegetarian for 10 years.

And the best part, we found even more waterfalls. This one in Thioune was stunning, and gave a great northern view of unblemished forest.




As we retired to Fongolimbi after a day in the bush a scary tree says good night to the sky.




And the sun sets on a day spent well.