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January 2, 2020
On the occasion of the association's Bureau meeting held at the headquarters on January 2, 2020, the results and prospects of the Matam Optical Center were discussed as follows:
1) Return from mission of Lionel SIMON
The Matam center is completed. The work is finished with the exception of two or three details such as suspension of the air conditioning motors which are still on the ground. Djibrilou takes care of the follow-up. Agreement to release payment of the balance for the benefit of Emergences.
This last financial transfer will include payment for the repair of the Health Center sign (street sign). Djibrilou will approach management to agree with them on its content.
Lionel reports that he was contacted again about the additional work, particularly the toilets. Decision taken to freeze this new work for the moment. The priority is to install the center and its staff, activate training and make its activities operational. The possibility of following up on this will be studied in 2021.
However, all that remains is to acquire the furniture for the first room (waiting room) and the reception desk. A cost estimate had been communicated with the development estimate. ADM rightly found that the estimate for this furniture was too high. It is therefore now up to ADM to identify a supplier to be able to acquire it. VLV assumes payment upon presentation of a quote.
Material :
It remains to provide a 6V power supply for Ousossogui's slit lamp (stored in the metal canteen awaiting its official donation).
The next mission should provide:
A DIY kit (basic) to allow you to carry out some maintenance work independently
The wooden top of the lifting table (50 x 50 cm) that we want to upgrade to 2 positions
2) Inauguration
Nothing has been announced from Lionel as to the date of this event. Lionel nevertheless invited Ousmane THIAM and Djibrilou DIA to the “delivery” of the center once it was in perfect working order (absence of Dr Latyr DIOUF).
We remind you that this inauguration cannot take place before:
Basic training for our administrative agent (after a few training missions)
The effective collaboration of the Ourossogui team in the management of ADM refractions will take care of the communication and invitations around this event as soon as VLV sees that the medical program will be sufficiently accomplished to be operational.
3) Appointment of staff
Djibrilou introduced Lionel to Mame Boury GUEYE, who is currently a nursing assistant. Mame is being approached to be our administrative agent. Lionel found her motivated and very concerned by our project.
She has, however, no training in optics or refraction. She is today employed by the Departmental Council of Matam, as our agreement specified. She is seconded to another department while waiting for her training to begin in our center. His coordinates: 77 300 50 90 – mamebouryly@yahoo.fr
4) Missions 2020
It is obvious that starting from scratch with staff who have never practiced optics, it will take us some time to make it operational. Especially since our administrative agent will not have the supervision of a TSO during our absence, since this one has not yet been assigned to us.
Reminder of the operation planned for the center:
The administrative agent will be responsible for welcoming patients, managing the center's activity and will carry out refraction examinations to detect cases requiring corrective glasses.
The TSOs from the Ourossogui ophthalmological unit will travel to our center (at a rate to be defined and depending on the number of patients they refer to us) to supervise the refraction examinations that our staff will have carried out. At the end of these examinations, the MIE protocol can be activated for the production of the glasses ordered.
Based on our Guinean experience and especially the very recent experience of our optical center in Benin, we have defined the 2020 mission program as follows:
5 missions which will follow one another from February until December. The precise dates of the missions have not yet been defined, depending on the availability of the participants. However, a preferable period has been indicated to be able to spread staff training sessions as best as possible over the year.
The training sessions will be provided by our partner, Thierry CALDERON, optician in Avignon and manager of 6 stores employing around 40 people. Thierry plans to launch a motivation challenge at the beginning of January to allocate the necessary number of his employees to our training missions in Senegal.
• MARS MISSION
Led by Lionel SIMON and Thierry CALDERON (opticians)
Goal: finish the physical development of the center, assign Mame Boury to her position, train her, define the 4 other missions with the Ourossogui team and agree on the training of the 2 TSOs.
They will be accompanied by Florent CARLI, journalist/photographer at La Dépêche du Midi (Florent finances his entire stay). Florent will help us set up a PR operation in France with operators who are sensitive to our project. He will also use the press since he works at La Dépêche du Midi and plans to publish his report. Which makes it an excellent means of information and a great exhibition showcase for our national and regional partners such as the Krys Foundation, for example or Thierry Calderon.
• MAY MISSION
Led by 2 volunteer opticians from Calderon
Goal: train Mame Bary and TSOs in refraction
They will be accompanied by Mathilde, the Director of Thierry CALDERON or Laura MORVAN. Mathilde is not an optician but highly qualified to take charge of administrative management. Laura participated in the creation of the Solidarité HK challenge which led opticians from the west of France to conduct training sessions in Guinea. She knows the VLV operating system and its missions well. Laura is purely administrative.
One or the other will therefore have an important part in the training of Mame Bary in the organization and management of our center.
• JULY MISSION
Led by 2 volunteer opticians from Calderon
Goal: train Mame Bary and TSOs in refraction
They will be accompanied by Claire LENOUVEL and a representative of ADM. July is traditionally the period when Abou NDIONGUE, secretary of ADM and Abdoul DIAW, president of ADM are on vacation in their country. A godsend to take advantage of their presence to inaugurate the optical center.
• SEPTEMBER MISSION
Led by 1 volunteer optician from Calderon and 1 volunteer optician from the Krys Foundation
Goal: train Mame Bary and TSOs in refraction
• NOVEMBER MISSION
Led by 2 volunteer opticians from the Krys Foundation
Goal: train Mame Bary and the TSOs in refraction.
The distribution of the costs of these missions between ADM and VLV is recorded in our partnership agreement as follows:
• ADM covers the costs of volunteers’ plane tickets
• VLV assumes all on-site mission costs. It is now up to ADM to position itself on this training program and to let us know its financial capabilities to follow its progress. This approach is quite urgent, because not only does it condition the first of the February missions but it will align the entire program with the year 2020.
NOTE: ADM's financial capabilities will not allow them to cover the cost of plane tickets for all participants in the 2020 program (12 people). ADM has announced that it can cover the financing of 2 missions of 2 people. We will therefore announce that we must compensate for their failure by seeking partnerships to support the 8 participants without funding.
This research is already assured since both Calderon and the Krys Foundation assume the entire mission costs of its volunteers. Calderon sends 6 people and the Foundation 3. This total of 9 volunteers whose costs are already covered by their respective employers covers (and even exceeds) the number of 8 participants seeking funding.
5) Lobbying
Knowing that our optical center will only be able to acquire its autonomy from the moment it has its own medical staff, the appointment of a TSO becomes a question of priority.
A novice in Senegal, VLV does not have any leverage on site. It would be desirable for ADM to undertake, from now on, the necessary lobbying steps to obtain the appointment of a TSO with us. These qualified and personalized contacts can be initiated with the Chief Physician of the Matam Medical Region (who has sent written messages very favorable to our project). Then supported by the Coordinator of the National Program for the Promotion of Eye Health whom we had personally met in Cotonou and who had made the commitment to do everything in his power for the success of our center. In short, with them or others… it is urgent to act.
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