Market Research

What happens when the internet is not working, your time to work on a worthwhile project is counting down, and the weather is nice?
You do your market research on foot!
Googling (is that a verb?) this area previously had not produced beneficial results. I decided it was time to venture out of the hospital and find out what local hospitals and clinics there were in the area. This was to deem the "competition" for MRN and how it could improve its processes based on other available healthcare in the area.
With the help of wonderful MRN employees (Amy, Modeste) we were able to come up with a list of private clinics (and the one public hospital) in the area and a game plan to research them. Modeste and I ended up hiring a motorcycle taxi to take us to all the locations in the area; there are six private clinics in the immediate surrounding neighborhood (Ahala). By this time I had become very comfortable with riding the motorcycle taxi. I created a list of questions I wanted Modeste to ask the clinics as they were less likely to communicate with me [outsider]. We spent 1-2 hours completing this and celebrated our success over beignets. The information gathered from this endeavor was included in the field report created for Project HOPE.
What this research showed me is that when one doesn't have ready access to needed information, you have to get creative. Think outside the box and step out of your comfort zone. Its akin to going to the library and looking up the needed information in books; who does that anymore when you [normally] have the power of the internet at your fingertips. It's just not so in most other parts of the world.
Anyways - this was probably as fun an experience as I'll have doing "market research".

Cameroonian Pharmacy

Recently I had the opportunity to visit a Cameroonian pharmacy while downtown, to purchase some medication. I knew exactly what I needed, the only problem was I didn't know if the medication was available here (or only in the USA). I entered the pharmacy and it was a very well-kept shop. Very neat, organized, clean, and full of everything. Mostly what I saw were medications lining the walls and further back in the back of the store. One section of the store was dedicated to beauty products.
That was it. No toilet paper, no chewing gum, no office supplies. This pharmacy had a small beauty section and the rest of the store dedicated to medications. I went up to the staff and unfortunately nobody spoke English. Between Lexicomp, some hand motions, and a few broken French words I was able to communicate what I needed. The pharmacist brought me a few medications that might help. I recognized the classes of the medication, but they were definitely ones I had not heard of. Luckily one medicine of the pile was pretty much what I was looking for and it worked. The pharmacist showed me the directions on the box and started counseling me on how to use it, I was glad to see that.
All-in-all a good experience. I'm glad I found what I needed. I'm also glad I was able to see what a Cameroonian pharmacy was like, to compare it to the States.

Vaccination Program

This morning we spent a few hours in the immunization clinic. The clinic runs on Wednesdays and Fridays, from 7:30AM - 11:00AM. Vaccines are an important service offered by the hospital, with 95% of the immunizations for babies/children. The government has programs set up to provide certain free immunizations for babies/children.
At 9:00AM Mr. Adolphe (pictured) gave a short lesson in the importance of Vitamin-A vaccinations for babies, and asked questions of the mothers. Education is something we are pushing here at these immunization clinics. There was a full crowd today and only one nurse, so volunteer Kelly Fromuth was called into action. I was there simply to shoot pictures/video. I did end up trying to draw up some syringes to facilitate the process. It was very hectic watching them give immunizations. There were many crying babies. It was a whirlwind of activity for about 2 hours until all vaccinations were complete.
The babies are weighed and vaccinated at these check-ups, and the information is recorded on their vaccination card.
Its a very good service offered by the hospital, funded by the government, and hopefully after some analysis we may give some pointers to smooth out the process.

A day at the beach; Kribi

The weekend of Nov 22-23, the Project HOPE team traveled to the beach town of Kribi. The drive is four hours long and included passing through many towns, rest stops, and lots of jungle. I am continually amazed at how lush & green this country is. Thankfully the road to Kribi is well built (by the Germans I believe, from many decades ago). Rules of the road still applied; meaning no rules. It is extremely dangerous, in my opinion, to drive in Cameroon.
We passed a 10km stretch of "Palm Tree plantations", where they grow palm trees to harvest the oil. It went on forever, it was great. Every town we stopped at, our car was swarmed by people trying to sell us their wares. We finally arrived to Kribi and the driver (Bala) and our guard (Yves) immediately bought dried fish. The fish from Kribi is the best, freshest in the country. We checked into the hotel, Hotel du Phare (best in the area) and went straight for the beach.
The beach was very nice, brown sand but not full of seashells/rocks/stuff. We are told the sand at Limbe (other beach resort) is black due to oil pollution and volcanic ash. The water was actually warm, way better than I expected. We hung out at the beach until it was time for dinner. We were invited to go to a family friends' house for a late lunch, then a restaurant in-town for dinner. The town of Kribi is very similar to Yaounde in some aspects. Kribi really starts to set itself apart once you get to the beach.
Dinner was delicious, Sole fish prepared with vegetables, plantains, and fries. I tried the head of the fish for the first time in my life. Its a common thing to eat in Cameroon, and some people prefer the head to the rest of the body. Lets just say, it was my "Andrew Zimmern" moment. I couldn't handle it. The night was spent on the beach with a good book.
The next day we had a wonderful "French" breakfast at the hotel, I had fresh coconut from a local vendor, and we spent the rest of the morning on the beach and purchasing goods. Being a tourist destination, many local vendors bring their items to sell right up to the hotel restaurant. I went for a walk on the beach and jumped in the Atlantic Ocean for a last time.
We left the hotel, which was very nice, and had a late lunch again at the family friends' house. It was delicious fish.
After lunch we went to a famous tourist destination, the Chutes del la Lobe. We took a canoe ride around the bay, saw the nearby fishing village, and went right up to the waterfalls. This is the only waterfall in the world that falls into the Ocean.

Unfortunately we had to leave Kribi after being there only one day. It was definitely a needed respite from continuous work at the hospital, and very nice of the Blaz family to set it up for us. We traveled another four hours back to Yaounde, arriving well after dark.

I want to give another shout-out to Jellybean. Megan sends a shout-out for JC & KMo. Kelly sends a shout-out to no one in particular.

Video series: Training videos

I was sent here to Cameroon with an armament of electronics, all in the effort to assist me with capturing my time here with Project HOPE. Use of the video camera has been slow until now; I didn't really know what I should be recording with it. After seeing the YouTube videos created by Alisa/Emily during their Project HOPE rotation, I am inspired. I thought up an idea of recording educational videos for the staff here at MRN hospital. I have been working with Project HOPE volunteer [Kelly Fromuth] to come up with ideas/implementation for these videos.

We just finished shooting our first training video: How To Do An EKG. Although it was a bit rough around the edges, I would call it a success. We plan on analyzing the video and shooting a second one (hopefully more polished) to be used by the staff here. Other ideas include: hand sanitation, aseptic technique(s), vital signs, and more.

Stay tuned for updates on our Video Series.

Motorcycle taxis: will I risk it?

Ever since coming to Yaounde and seeing the prevalence of motorcycle taxis I have wanted to ride one. They are a cheap mode of transportation here and everyone uses them. Apparently they only travel short distances (this was told to me by a taxi driver) so they can have quick turnaround of customers. I've seen all sorts of people on motorcycle taxis. From toddlers going to school, businessmen in suits going to work, and entire families (most I've seen is 5 people on one motorcycle).
I'm told it is a very dangerous method of transportation and there are many motorcycle accidents on a daily basis. I have seen some of the aftermath of motorcycle accidents (nothing too serious) at the Yaounde Central Hospital.
One of the main problems with the motorcycle taxi system is that anyone can purchase a motorcycle and start riding. There is no "Class M license" like in the States. There are no driving schools for motorcycles. No requirements. All you need is your identification card and enough money to purchase one.
True survival of the fittest.
I bring this up today because during our morning run (Yves, Haris, myself) we were constantly honked at by motorcycles. They dodge and weave to beat traffic. We were running at 6:30AM so luckily not as much traffic.
I think I have gotten over the desire to ride a motor cycle taxi. At first I thought it would be a fun roller coaster ride...now I think I might just get hurt. Who knows, maybe I'll do a short run.

We NEARLY ran out of food!

Last Thursday we Nearly ran out of food at HOPE House. We had been warned by previous volunteers to keep on top of the food situation but its been pretty darn good so far. The tipping point was when we ran out of peanut butter (an important protein source for one of the volunteers here). The backstory: due to the previous Sunday being an election day (all stores closed) we weren't able to go to the supermarket to replenish. Thursday night we had cous-cous 'potatoes', at least they were shaped like potatoes. We didn't even know they were couscous. The next 2 days we scraped by on the bare minimum. Saturday morning we literally had nothing in the fridge so we ventured out to forage. We came across a roadside stand directly across from the hospital that sold 'beignetes' (basically donut holes). We were salivating. They are so good.
Breakfast on Saturday turned out to be very unhealthy and delicious, followed by a late large lunch. Needless to say, at the supermarket yesterday we STOCKED up on food.
One thing I learned...people can become a little more irritated if food runs out. So always keep the fridge stocked.