PMI in Senegal:

Excusez-moi, monsieur; can I spray your house?

Group supervisor Khoudia Sall (left) and a sprayer help resident Seynabou Fall remove her household effects in preparations for the second-round of indoor residual spraying in Mbagam, Senegal. Photo: Richard Nyberg, USAID

Moussa Gueye invited me, a complete stranger, into his home in the village of Mbagam. But the walls of his concrete-block abode were bare and all his belongings were heaped up high outside in the middle of the dusty courtyard. It certainly was not time for mint tea; I was there on a mission with a 38-pound weapon strapped over my left shoulder. 

My host didn’t seem to mind the intrusion, though, as I was using insecticide to help drive out – and keep out – malaria-carrying mosquitoes. 

It was my turn to suit up like the scores of Senegalese trained under the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) to carry out indoor residual spraying and do battle against malaria, one of the West African country’s top killers. 

Sporting high rubber boots, thick overalls, rubber gloves, a face mask and visor, topped off by a helmet, my uniform felt heavy and clumsy. But my functional garb kept the insecticide off my skin. It also effectively insulated the heat my body was producing as the clock approached noon in the Sahelian heat.

Carefully coached by my competent group supervisor, Khoudia Sall, I watched, learned, and sprayed.  Pumped to 50 pounds per square inch, my tank of insecticide weighed heavy on my shoulder as I pulled the trigger and tried, as best I could, to stay exactly 45 cm from the wall.  On the user side of a sprayer, maintaining that distance proved harder than I thought it would be –a task for a steady hand with good depth perception and plenty of practice.

Everything seemed to go well on the wall I sprayed, but, of course, my instructors were quick to correct and improve my performance.

Moussa Gueye had his compound treated for the second time in the PMI-financed indoor residual spraying activity in Mbagam in northern Senegal. His family saw and struggled with fewer mosquitoes since the first spraying campaign, resulting in fewer cases of malaria. Photo: Richard Nyberg, USAID

The hardest part was trying to peel off the gloves so I could take photographs and jot down notes. I got it somewhat wrong, but the kind people of Mbagam were quick with some soap and water so I could rid myself of any stray residue. The lesson for me: you cannot put a communicator’s cap atop a slick plastic helmet – it slides off. Better leave the spraying to the pros, which I did. And for good reason. I worked on one room of one compound and already felt a bit stiff and lopsided, owing to the weight I was carrying. On average, each of the 17 sprayers on my team treats 25 rooms a day.

For that day, I worked among the second group of sprayers to take up a modified epée to challenge northern Senegal’s ubiquitous mosquito.  A previous team treated Moussa Gueye’s house 10 months earlier, with good results.

Pulling up an evacuated chair with me outside as the sprayers finished up their work, the patriarch of this 20-person household expressed his gratitude to PMI for the indoor residual spraying campaign. "We sleep well now, as there are fewer mosquitoes after the first round of spraying," he says, "and the number of malaria cases is much smaller, too."

Group supervisor Khoudia Sall (left) and a sprayer help resident Seynabou Fall remove her household effects in preparations for the second-round of indoor residual spraying in Mbagam, Senegal. Photo: Richard Nyberg, USAID

He added: "I thank the American people through USAID for this important activity, which is a good thing for the people. It is something that will improve the health of the population and create economic development, because the money that would normally be used help people get better after falling sick with malaria can be used for other things to improve our living conditions.”

Staying on the orderly, rectangular plots and being productive is critical to this farming community where most everyone is busy planting and harvesting tomatoes, onions, carrots, and potatoes for their families to eat or for sale at local markets or across the river in Mauritania.

Many residents of Mbagam told me how seriously they regard malaria, and note the extra precautions they take to avoid getting it. “We have a tradition of using bednets, which is now reinforced by the spraying campaign. I have re-treated my bednet three times,” said Mbathio Diop, a 56-year-old mother of nine. “We really appreciate the spraying campaign because we know it’s going to help our community.”

It was a truly good feeling to witness and be a small part of that assistance. Moussa Gueye and his family may not remember the slightly awkward westerner blasting their wall with insecticide, but I certainly will not forget these warm, hospitable beneficiaries. I just may need to return one day to claim that sticky glass of sweet mint tea.

-- Richard Nyberg