The access to healthcare and medication in Guinea is scarce for two main reasons: the country has extremely limited medical supplies and the poverty of the population does not allow individuals to afford medication. The Institut International de Santé in Télimelé is to this day one of the rare hospitals and the only medical vocational school in the area. Building a pharmacy and giving the population access to necessary medication is the next logical step to take.
Taking advantage of the fertility of the Guinean land, we are currently developing a herbal garden in order to later use the herbs and plants for medicine. If this project is developed successfully, it will become a constant supplier for the pharmacy. This way, the pharmacy and herbal garden will be self-sufficient and independent from external suppliers, which tackles one of the main challenges: constant supply. If it is not successful, alternatives to supplying the pharmacy will be found.
After having discussed the idea with the hospital staff and the locals, Aliou, the co-founder of Projekt Misside turned to Students for Projekt Misside at the end of March 2020. We are now working hand in hand to build the pharmacy and ultimately improve the medical situation in Télimelé. We are continuously communicating with Amadou, Aliou, the medical staff and the locals to develop sustainable ideas exploring the country’s strengths. For example, the idea of having a fridge powered by solar panels is an innovative yet sense-making project considering the tropical climate of Guinea and the lack in constant electricity supply. This will make possible to keep vaccines and blood bags in the pharmacy, the former used to protect the population against threatening diseases and the latter used to cure the unhealthy. We came up with this idea together with Manuel and Anna Steinbach, a German couple strongly engaged in the project who raise funds to improve the hygiene in the hospital through constant deliveries of sanitizer, gloves, machines and other medical equipment.
It only took a couple of weeks between the moment where the idea was developed and the moment where the foundations of the pharmacy were laid, on the 6th of April 2020!
We are truly happy to see that, even thousands of kilometers away, we are able to make a change and contribute to the improvement of living conditions. It’s an achievement we would have not thought possible a couple of months ago.