Day 7 Koutiala

The second run on the electrophoresis machine went great!  We screened 68 people and picked up 3 adults with sickle cell trait and 3 with C trait.  These adults were given genetic counseling.  We also found several newborns with sickle cell disease who will be started on penicillin to prevent a certain type of infection that is thought to kill 40-50% of these patients prior to their 5th birthday.  In fact, the death rate for children in Mali is so high that the families do not even hold funerals for anyone less than 14 or 15 years old.

This large open area behind the hospital is used to pan for gravel to be sold to producers of cement.  Most of the homes in Koutiala are made out of mud which does not hold up very well in the rainy season.  If you have enough money, you can put a thin layer of cement on top of the mud so that you do not have to replace the mud on your house as often.

Koutiala's version of barbed wire.... broken glass bottles on top of a cement wall.

Donkey cart full of kids coming home from a day's work.  All of the kids are out of school for the rainy season.

Collecting gravel to sell to cement producers....looks hard on the back!

This little boy (Yohana) was seen several weeks ago for abdominal pain and headaches, but no direct cause could be found.  He returned with his father today with the complaint that he was eating all of the time but that  he kept losing weight.  Brett ordered a blood sugar which was 380, revealing his diagnosis of type 1 diabetes.  This is the third patient with diabetes that the hospital has diagnosed in the last year.  His father is a Christian pastor who has been placed in a church in a small village outside of Koutiala.  The father's salary is $30 every two months which is barely enough to pay for their food and home.  He does not have the money to pay for treatment or the hospital time while his son is learning how to give his insulin.  The poor fund at the hospital is available for this type situation and is always in need of additional funds.  The link for this fund is:
http://tinyurl.com/khpoorfund

Yohana receiving his first insulin shot.

Yohana's father.  While he was in the office, he was asked about the fruits of his christian church in the village.  He told us that there were no believers when he arrived in the village several years ago, but there are now 20-30 members of his church and that 2 men have been baptized.  He also told us that most new believers come to know Christ through works of healing.  This is the case for most Malian christians.  It is no wonder that Koutiala Hospital has such an amazing impact in bringing people to Christ!

"Cola" nuts.  These nuts are appropriately named for their stimulant properties when you chew on them.  I didn't try any, but I heard that they are very bitter.  Traditionally they were given as a gift from a man's family to the family of the girl he wanted to marry.

The village market in the rain today....things were starting to close up.

Boys cleaning fish in the market.