Participated in the measles campaign in the Province of Kinshasa last week, where I helped supervise the downtown area. I was surprised and pleased as punch to learn that downtown included 10 islands. The islands are home to about 12,000 children eligible for the campaign but access is not easy. Teams had to rent dugout canoes with outboard motors and go island to island looking for children. Reaching the islands was the hard part. Mothers were eager to get their children vaccinated and came to the shore when they hear the outboard approaching.
We started out crossing paths with barges, arriving from or departing to the interior. We approached on arriving barge and approached carefully in our little motorized dugout to let mothers know that they could take their children straight to the vaccination posts in port where nurses were standing by.
The next surprise was to live the vastness that is the Congo River at the level of Kinshasa. It could have been the ocean from our level. It was rather intimidating, but the guy steering seemed to know where he was going.
The team I was with took it all in stride. They had been on the river for 4 days already in the campaign and typically travel these same paths periodically for routine immunizations. The supervisor was le Pasteur, known to all, serving the community's health and spiritual needs for 22 years. He manages the boats, guiding the guy steering and keeps the teams going. After 2 islands in 2 hours, I was ready to call it a day even with my stash of sweet tea to keep me going. The team had nothing, getting about $2 to work the campaign for 5 days. I do not know what sustained them other than the Pasteur's energy, but we hit 3 more islands to make sure there weren't any missed children. I had been working land-based sites the other days and found 30 - 50% of the children unvaccinated. On the islands, the only unvaccinated children had arrived after the team had last passed.
The team I was with was one of three. In our boat, we all had vests including 3 that I had provided thanks to donations by the paddling and Peace Corps communities. Another was labeled Delta, so check for yours next time you board a flight over water. The team members were grateful to have vests, regaling me with tales of people who had fallen in the river while working. They are not used to receiving such small considerations. Alas, they were the last 2 I have and it doesn't even meet the needs of the islands of Kinshasa.
The next surprise was to live the vastness that is the Congo River at the level of Kinshasa. It could have been the ocean from our level. It was rather intimidating, but the guy steering seemed to know where he was going.
The team I was with was one of three. In our boat, we all had vests including 3 that I had provided thanks to donations by the paddling and Peace Corps communities. Another was labeled Delta, so check for yours next time you board a flight over water. The team members were grateful to have vests, regaling me with tales of people who had fallen in the river while working. They are not used to receiving such small considerations. Alas, they were the last 2 I have and it doesn't even meet the needs of the islands of Kinshasa.
