23/01: Clinic At Rufisque Women's Prison
Today, Wednesday, we held a clinic at Rufisque women’s prison. The town of Rufisque is not far from Dakar. It took us less than an hour to reach our destination in the middle of the town. Traffic was unusually light this morning and we did not have any flat tires-yey!
Our Trinity UMC group has an established relationship with this prison through a member of the local church in Dakar. Our group held a clinic at this prison last year. During our introductory meeting with the prison official (a woman) we had the opportunity to ask questions about the prisoners. All of the prisoners and all of the uniformed guards are women. We learned that the women here are not only from Senegal, but from many other countries on the continent. They are from Ghana, Mozambique, and as far as South Africa. The lengths of their sentences vary, as do their crimes. Some are here simply awaiting trial, and some have been here for as many as ten years. A few of the women have their children with them. Before setting up the clinic, we were permitted to tour the prison, but we were prohibited from taking any photographs or even writing in a notebook.
This was generally a healthier group of patients than we have seen in the villages. The women are given a relatively balanced diet. They sleep on mattresses and have mosquito netting in their dormitory-style rooms to help protect them from malaria-carrying mosquitoes. They do all of their own laundry, cleaning and cooking, as well as embroidery work. They are permitted to have visitors on Wednesdays and Sundays. For most of the prisoners whose families are far away, there are not many visitors, although we did see a few. We provided compassionate contact along with medical treatment. The women were quite personable, eager to speak English if they could, or teach me new words and phrases in French and Wolof. One of my favorites is jamakajam ("jahm ack jahm"), which means "peace, only peace", or literally "peace with peace" in Wolof.
We were without Dr. Bashir and his group today, so Dr. Carol was the only doctor. We saw 27 prisoners, 3 babies and 9 guards. How many doctors do you know who have seen this many patients in three days? Please pray that the members of our team are given the stamina they need to accomplish this work. Tomorrow we will go to Camp Penal women’s prison in Dakar, a larger population but a relatively shorter commute. - NF
Our Trinity UMC group has an established relationship with this prison through a member of the local church in Dakar. Our group held a clinic at this prison last year. During our introductory meeting with the prison official (a woman) we had the opportunity to ask questions about the prisoners. All of the prisoners and all of the uniformed guards are women. We learned that the women here are not only from Senegal, but from many other countries on the continent. They are from Ghana, Mozambique, and as far as South Africa. The lengths of their sentences vary, as do their crimes. Some are here simply awaiting trial, and some have been here for as many as ten years. A few of the women have their children with them. Before setting up the clinic, we were permitted to tour the prison, but we were prohibited from taking any photographs or even writing in a notebook.
This was generally a healthier group of patients than we have seen in the villages. The women are given a relatively balanced diet. They sleep on mattresses and have mosquito netting in their dormitory-style rooms to help protect them from malaria-carrying mosquitoes. They do all of their own laundry, cleaning and cooking, as well as embroidery work. They are permitted to have visitors on Wednesdays and Sundays. For most of the prisoners whose families are far away, there are not many visitors, although we did see a few. We provided compassionate contact along with medical treatment. The women were quite personable, eager to speak English if they could, or teach me new words and phrases in French and Wolof. One of my favorites is jamakajam ("jahm ack jahm"), which means "peace, only peace", or literally "peace with peace" in Wolof.
We were without Dr. Bashir and his group today, so Dr. Carol was the only doctor. We saw 27 prisoners, 3 babies and 9 guards. How many doctors do you know who have seen this many patients in three days? Please pray that the members of our team are given the stamina they need to accomplish this work. Tomorrow we will go to Camp Penal women’s prison in Dakar, a larger population but a relatively shorter commute. - NF
Dolores wrote:
Not quite like talking on the phone, but reassuring to hear from you.
Take care, love, Dolores