Look closely at the beads around the hips of this baby girl. These are actually "fertility beads". In this culture it is extremely important for the women to be able to bear children. The women gain status by bearing children. In fact, the average number of babies an African women in this community will bear is just over 7 children. This fact coupled with carrying everything on their heads is why the occurrence of uterine prolapse is so common and unusually severe.
In Africa there is no formal waste disposal system. The streets are lined with trash and garbage. The only way to rid of the waste is to burn it which causes a constant grey haze.
All of the supplies needed to perform these surgeries are brought with the volunteers from this group. The OR is very shabby and is scrubbed down as best as it can be. However, there is no way to prevent the flies from entering the OR during the actual surgeries. As you can see in the background, the best method of control is a couple of simple fly swatters.
These are the bunks for the volunteer nurses and doctors to stay in. Because of the constant stream of insects and high incidence of malaria, there are mosquito nets provided to sleep under.
Again, there is no running water or official waste management systems. So, this is the next closest thing to a bathroom that we use during our stay.
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