Marathon, here we come!
Days 5 and 6, Tafraoute
Electric visit!
On this magnificent 5th day of the caravan, Cœur de Gazelles makes its way to Tafraoute, where they will spend 2 days. This leg is a little different, because it is a marathon leg. That means that instead of returning to the bivouac for the night, the team will camp out under the stars, not far from Tafraoute.
Once the installation is complete, the consultations can begin. Many people come to Tafraoute to visit the caravan. And today’s visitors include the e-Gazelles! Towards the middle of the day, they join the team to discover the Cœur de Gazelles village. Fred Valat, the caravan manager, gives them a tour of the various specialties, explaining the process followed by patients who visit the caravan.
A night under the stars
The day’s work takes place away from the intense heat of the day. The inn empties out at the end of the afternoon, and the volunteers close up shop and head for tonight’s impromptu bivouac. After setting up their tents, they all get together for a glass of wine and a delicious meal prepared by a caterer.
Lively discussions fill the air as the team unwinds after the intensity of the day. Little by little the volunteers retire to their tents, until not a sound can be heard but the murmur of the desert.
New day, new surprise…
The following morning, the team returns to Tafraoute for another day’s work. Et une surprise de taille l’y attend ! During the first marathon of the 2017 edition of the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles, the caravan’s gynaecologists were summoned in the middle of the night by a father whose wife was in the process of a difficult birth. With their help, little Lina was born under the stars and in good health.
Today Lina calmly waits for the doctors in her father’s arms. She is happy and healthy, and her parents have dressed her up to celebrate her 1st birthday. Each volunteer takes the time to come see her, and she represents one of the most intense experiences that have ever had with the caravan. It is an emotional moment for the team!
Since she is there with her family, the doctors take advantage of their presence to carry out a medical check-up. They discover that Lina’s grandmother, who injured her foot a while ago, has developed necrosis due to her diabetes. Noura, in charge of patient follow-up, immediately calls an ambulance to have her transferred to the hospital and organized payment of the hospital fees. The grandmother will lose her toe but will avoid the need for a major amputation thanks to the doctors’ intervention.
After two intense days, it is time to return to the bivouac. Tomorrow is the second and final marathon leg, and they need to be in shape to finish the adventure!
SPOTLIGHT: The optical unit
The caravan’s optical unit consists of 2 opticians, Thibaut and Audrey, delegated by our partner Atol les Opticiens, and an ophthalmologist, Maryem, sent by the Moroccan Ministry for Health.
Patient care is not easy for the optical team. The patients’ visual needs are not the same as ours, and the first challenge is to define these needs. Patients are tested using the automatic phoropter loaned by Atol. Depending on the results, patients undergo a vision acuity test, making it possible to adjust as precisely as possible the correction of the glasses.
This correction must be adjusted to both the visual needs and the comfort of the patient. For example, a patient who has never worn glasses will have difficulty adapting to strong corrective glasses. The opticians are there to adjust the glasses according to these two criteria, as the goal is for the patient to want to wear their glasses every day.
This adjustment is largely done through observation: most patients are not accustomed to spontaneous communication, especially in a different language (dialects differ from one region to the other). A grimace, a smile or eyes that light up are signs that can be taken into account while selecting the appropriate correction.
In addition to the work done on location, the project requires significant preparation. Thibaut has a number of tricks up his sleeve for gathering the optical supplies needed. For example, the lenses are manufactured by CRIP de Montpellier, a job training centre for the disabled. Rather than discarding unused lenses, the workers at CRIP trim them to the right size for the caravan’s patients. Atol provides the frames. Thibaut goes to pick up the frames, inserts the lenses and then brings them to Morocco.
The optical team does an incredible job. The association offers sincere thanks to its partner Atol, and in particular to Thibaut and to Atol executive director Laurence, an avid supporter of the caravan’s actions, who paid a visit to the team on location.
Come back tomorrow for a spotlight on another of the caravan’s units!
PHOTOS
