On sharing the adventure

     Sometimes when you travel it's not what you find that makes the trip but who. This is a thank you of sorts, a love letter, a petition, an affidavit, an inventory. To those now on planes hurtling away across oceans and continents: thank you, I love you, I miss you, I think you owe me 50 CFA.

The Clinic

     I walk in every morning to a full waiting room. Forty small villages depend in this poste de santé for medical care and we will work until they've all been seen. General cases wait for the nurse, pregnant women and new babies wait to see the midwife.

Each patient first buys a ticket. Adults pay about $4 USD for their consultation and any prescriptions. "The government set this price", the nurse explains, "it doesn't always cover even the price of the medications to the clinic."