Islamic Orphanage and Clinic (December 15, 2022)

We visited a nonprofit Islamic clinic co-located with an orphanage housing over 160 children. The clinic serves the needs of the children in the orphanage as well as the general public in the area. This is the busiest clinic we have observed in the Lungi area, serving between 30-100 patients every day. We met with Dr. Mohamed Adama Barry, a medical doctor originally from Guinea, and Mr. Abu Sesay, a lab technician who splits his work days between the clinic and working at the Lungi government hospital.

This is a small clinic, but people come from all around to seek treatment. Dr. Barry ensures that he does not treat for many common illnesses without first ordering lab tests to confirm a diagnosis. Quick tests for malaria, typhoid and other common diseases are available in the laboratory. One of the major issues is lack of electricity for the clinic. It is only connected to the Lungi power grid, which may provide electricity a few hours each day. Generally, the timing of the electricity does not coincide with the clinic hours of operation. Due to lack of electricity, the laboratory lacks any refrigeration and lab tests are limited to those that can be performed without electricity.

Dr. Barry listed many needs for the clinic, including:

• Electricity/lights (#1 concern)

• Quality drugs – many of their drugs are made in India and the quality is not as high as those made in Europe or North America

• Hand sanitizer – Dr. Barry purchases his own hand sanitizer and uses it before each patient he sees

• Waste baskets that open with foot lever – these would be more sanitary than touching the surface of the trash containers

• Ultrasound scan machine and technician

• Handheld thermometer to quickly test body temperature

• Blood pressure machines – Dr. Barry showed us a drawerful of cheap blood pressure machines, similar to those we might purchase at CVS, that no longer work

• Plastic covered foam mattresses for exam tables

• Crutches – Dr. Barry explained they have had crutches to lend, but sometimes patients do not return the crutches

• Bed sheets – depending on the number of patients, sometimes there is not enough sheets to change between each patient, which increases the risk of spreading diseases

• Transportation funds for patients that must be referred to other facilities for blood transfusions or to receive oxygen, both items not available at this clinic

In speaking at length with Mr. Abu Sesay regarding laboratory needs, he reiterated the needs for electricity. He also noted his microscope was an older model and had only one lens instead of two. Since there is no electricity, he must position the microscope near the window to use sunlight to see slides. Note the pictures of the laboratory included with this blog post.