Geoff and Julie were invited to visit the village of Bakang in May 2005. They were asked for financial help to build a Health Clinic.
The nearest medical help is a 4 hour journey by donkey cart. This means there are many fatalities, due to the time lapse before appropriate treatment can be administered.
Malaria is a big killer in this area but there are many others: T.B. pneumonia, typhoid, diphtheria, polio, diabetes. There are the usual hazards of broken limbs, infectious sores and snake bites. So the need for medical help was obvious.
Asked about the labour for building a health clinic, the villagers said that they would provide all the unskilled labour, as they would be the main beneficiaries of such a facility. Skilled workers would have to be paid for the actual building, roofing, plumbing, electrical work, carpentry and plastering. The villagers would be there to fetch and carry for these skilled men.
Asked about the staffing for such a facility, assurance was given that young people, who had left the village to gain qualifications, would be pleased to come back to live and work in their home village.
Having had lengthy discussions with their Gambian friends, Geoff and Julie said they would do all they could to help.
Geoff and Julie opened a bank account in the U.K. and also in The Gambia, so the funds could be transferred as needed. Plans for the clinic were drawn up and approved by the necessary authorities.

This Health Clinic provides the following facilities:

Seating for outpatients will be provided along the whole veranda area of the clinic.

Please remember, there is no electricity, no mechanisation and all water is drawn by hand, from a 20 metre deep well.

A 7 stage building plan was drawn up, to aid monitoring and control of the project.

The stages are as follows:

1. Making by hand, 3,600 concrete blocks. Completed in July/August 2005. £1,850 sent out to cover cost of materials, (including wheelbarrows and shovels), transportation, making of moulds etc.

2. In January 2006 the digging out of the footings was started followed by the laying of the foundations of the clinic. Drainage pipes were put in place and also steel bars to strengthen walls. A further £2,000 was required to meet the cost of materials and this stage was completed in December 2006.

3. Commenced January 2007. A mason and 2 men were employed to build the walls, exterior and interior, to roof level. More blocks had to be made and the skilled men paid. £7,750 in total was sent to complete this stage.

4. Erecting the roof beams, trusses and attaching galvanized sheeting.
In September 2007 the materials were bought and shipped across the River Gambia and transported to the site. Despite the heaviest rains for 30 years, work progressed and the roof was completed at the end of December. A price of £6,000 was agreed to erect the roof structure. £4,000 was sent out to buy the materials and the remaining £2,000 was sent on completion.

Payments are only made after consultation at each stage. All money spent is closely monitored and accounts and receipts are sent to the charity's treasurer in the U.K.
In this way, all money raised is guaranteed to be used for the purpose for which it was donated.

5. Plastering walls and making and fitting windows and doors.
January 2008 the gable ends were plastered first, followed by the outer walls.
A carpenter was employed to fit the wooden rafters to take the hardboard ceiling, the latter will not be fitted until the wiring and plumbing has been completed. A further £6,000 was sent to cover the costs of professional labor and materials.

6. Installing plumbing and electrical wiring.
Geoff and Julie took electric cable and components, (generously donated by a member of a Nottingham Rotary Club), to the clinic site on their recent visit. The "first fixing" was completed by a qualified electrician before they returned to the U.K. March 2008.

Since then the electricity wiring has been completed and the sockets sited. Now, in April 2009, the ceiling pendant sets, finger switches, pull switches and the main fuse box and control panel have all been installed.

Alasan installs the fuse box.

All that is left to do in the clinic regarding the electricity is to link up the solar power to the internal wiring. - this will be done in early June. The electrical requirements for the staff accommodation and the utility building have been agreed and the materials are about to leave UK.

We are pleased to report that recently the Solar Power had been linked up to the internal wiring of the clinic (September 2009). This solar power will also provide all the lighting requirements for the staff accommodation and that of the utility building.

And then there was light!

The total cost of providing the solar power + installation £10,271

The vaccine fridge has also been wired into its own DC Solar Power Supply. It was decided to keep this unit separate from the other electrical needs in the clinic. Any failure there would not effect the safety of the vaccine in the fridge.

Vaccine fridge in pharmacy.

The cost of the fridge, Solar Power Supply + installation £2,726

For the other equipment and lighting in the clinic, staff accommodation and utility building the solar power will pass through the inverter and so be changed from DC to AC supply.

On the plumbing side all the toilets and showers are in place as are the wash basins in the wards, the consulting room and the treatment room.

One of 5 toilets in the clinic.

Wash basin in women's ward.

Wash basin, shower & toilet in the maternity ward.

In April 2009 it was decided that all showers and wash basins should have both hot and cold water on tap.
This has now been implemented with the introduction of the Solar Powered Water Heater.

Solar Powered Water Heater

The total cost of the Solar Powered Water Heater + installation £1,649

This now completes stage 6.

7. Tiling of all floors, veranda and walls of the toilets and shower cubicles.

We are delighted to say that this job has been completed in a most impressive way and has made a tremendous difference to the overall appearance of the clinic, as can be seen from the photos below (February 2009).

Male ward tiled.

Floor tiling looks good.

Tiled ramp at the front of the clinic.

Tiled steps at the back of the clinic.

The primer coat of paint has been applied to all the internal walls and ceilings and the exterior walls. Further coats of paint will be applied nearer the date of the clinic "opening".

On completion of the construction, the furnishings and the fittings will be financed by the JDDF. Local craftmen will be employed to make as much furnature as possible, giving local employment, the people a sence of ownership, and keep freight costs to a minimum.

Getting Ready for the Opening

The Big Day!!

Yes! it has happened, the KANKUDIBI HEALTH CLINIC was officially opened by Dr Gaye, the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, on Saturday 7th November 2009. This is 4 ½ yrs since the first visit to the village and the request for a Health Clinic was made.

Minister of Health Cuts the Tape

This was a momentous day for the villagers and they certainly celebrated in true Gambian tradition. There was plenty of drumming, clapping, dancing and singing and of course the usual problem with G.M.T. – Gambia Maybe Time. The proceedings were programmed to start at 11:00am, but it was 1:00pm before the final government official appeared! We then had all the speeches, plus a few extra, which were not on the programme, before it was time for Dr Gaye to cut the ribbon on the entrance door of the clinic and declare the clinic “Open”. It was then time to take the distinguished guests on a conducted tour of the clinic. We showed them the ROWSLEY WARD [Maternity] the BAKEWELL WARD [Women & Children] and the MATLOCK WARD [Men’s] and explained that these names were those of areas in which groups of people, who have given us much support, lived.
There were many very favourable comments made about the overall layout of the clinic, the high standard of workmanship, the facilities it offered and the thought that had been given at the outset of the whole project. At the end of the tour the minister showed his approval by signing a very special quilted wall hanging, a signature quilt designed and created by Vivien Finch, which shows the front of the clinic as the centrepiece. Around the central picture are many quilted squares, which after making a donation to the project, people have signed with their good wishes.
Before his departure the Minister again expressed his appreciation and that of the Government for what had been achieved and said that it was the best Health Clinic in the Gambia and a building of which we should be very proud. With these words ringing in our ears it was time to for us to leave and make our long dusty journey back to the port of Bara and wait for the next ferry to cross the river to Banjul and then back to our accommodation. It had been a long hot day, but one that all of us present will remember. We had left behind several hundred very happy Gambians who celebrated this momentous occasion long into the night.

The Team Celebrate

Mission Accomplished

The Minister holds the Wall Hanging

The following day we heard that there were several pregnant women, in the Jokadu District, who were all wanting to be the first to give birth in the clinic. We also heard that the first patient was a suspect malaria case, who was kept in overnight for treatment and then released.

Everybody who visited the clinic site was most impressed with all the work that Lamin, the gardener, had done. He had transplanted grass at both the front and back of the clinic and had flowers growing on what had been just barren sandy land on our previous visits.
A list of garden seeds that Lamin had requested will be bought locally. The gardening tools he needs are to be sent from the UK and should arrive just before the rainy season starts. Needless to say he was very frustrated at problems the goats, sheep, donkeys and cattle were causing, for during the nights they were either eating off or pulling up the plants that he had so carefully planted during the day. You will notice from the photos that he has constructed his own fencing to keep them away. Hence, we felt it was very necessary to work out where the perimeter wall and fencing was to go and get the job started straight away.

Garden at the front of the clinic

Lamin in the garden at the back of the clinic

Details of Staff Accommodation & Utility Building

In February 2008 it was decided to add the construction of staff accommodation and that of a utility building to the Kankudibi Health Clinic project. Plans were drawn up for the provision of 4 bedrooms and 4 sitting rooms for the nursing staff along with a room for use as a medical library/reference centre. Details of the plans are shown below.

Staff Accommodation Plans

Plans have also been completed for the utility building, which will provide:

A secure storage room, Kitchen, Laundry room, Mosquito net dipping room, and Toilets.

Now that the rains have stopped, Dec 2008, it is all hands to the spades and shovels to complete the digging out of the "footings" for the staff accommodation and the utility building.

Utility building

Staff accommodation

Work on the 2 large septic tanks/soak-aways, 1 either side of the clinic, has been started by a local contractor.

Ready for the blocks

The septic tanks have now been constructed and it just remains for the clinic outflow pipes to be connected and the concrete tops to be made and put in place.

A section of a septic tank