Rain, Mosquitoes, and Malaria

The rainy season months are June to October. We have seen some rain, and when the heavy rain comes, much of life is Dakar comes to a halt. Drainage is very bad, so the streets are standing in water, and people just do not want to get out in the rain if it is not necessary.
The first picture is taken on the street we must walk to get to a taxi.

Next is a picture taken from a taxi on the way to the church building one morning.

Next is what the upstairs "classroom" looks like when there is rain! When it rains, the ceiling downstairs in the church auditorium leaks and the plaster flakes off in 4" to 6" chunks.

The next pictures are taken from the same upstairs classroom.

There are no drains even when there are curbs in the city. All water must find a lower place to flow to or it just stands until it evaporates. There are large portions of unfinished roadways that stand in putrid water all the time. Cement ditches are full of garbage and trash which float until the water evaporates.

The rainy season brings the mosquitoes, which in turn bring malaria to thousands of people in Africa every year. We are taking malaria medication, so we are not worried about contracting the disease, even though we see the mosquitoes. However, the malaria did strike close to home, when two of our readers were ill with it. The first was Andre, one of Ron's readers. One day he complained of not feeling well, then the next day he said his fever was gone and he felt better. Then he missed his sessions the next week, and we learned that he had died of malaria. Ron, David and Arnold went to his house to visit with his family. He lived very close to the church building.
He was a very nice, sincere man who wanted to be close to and to obey God. His family home was very well kept and maintained. His relatives showed appreciation for the visit from strangers. Following is a picture of Andre.

To get to his family's house, one must walk toward the left from the church building. This is the alleyway heading toward Andre's house. At the end of this alley, we had to locate someone who knew Andre's family to give directions to his home. It seemed everyone within 2-3 blocks of his home knew them. We wonder if any of the people 2-3 blocks from our home know us.

Another of Ron's readers, Odette, also had malaria and was in the hospital for over a week. Thankfully, she recovered and was able to attend our last party.
From the church building if one goes to the right, this is the alleyway that one sees.

One day we noticed that the following canopy had been put up. This was in front of a home where someone had died, probably also of malaria. Several hundred people came to visit and comfort that family. Although they were not members of the Eglise du Christ church on the corner, the church leaders went to comfort this family.

Health organizations from other countries, especially the U.S. and France, are trying to help combat the malaria problem by handing out mosquito nets and malaria kits, especially to the people with young children. One man said that malaria is the old friend that all Africans live with their whole lives; it's fever and headaches come and go unexpectedly. It is a treatable disease, but few people here can afford the medicine to combat it.