In 2012, I founded the interest group Hopital Richard Toll Senegal to provide support to the hospital Etablissement Public de Santé de Richard Toll in northern Senegal. The hospital is important for the public health in the area of Richard Toll, and it is also a crucial research center aiding various international research groups in studying and controlling parasitic diseases. One of the most debilitating diseases in northern Senegal is the highly epidemic disease schistosomiasis, which causes cognitive and physical retardation of many children.

Despite the importance for public health in this region, the hospital is facing heavy financial and material problems. Medical doctors, nurses, researchers and field teams don’t have the proper material anymore to assure the quality of health care.

On 7 octobner 2012 a total of eight people ran the marathon or half marathon (www.brusselsmarathon.be) to support this project. With their participation (and heavy training linked to it!!) they wished to place this charity in the spotlights in order to raise financial support from family, friends, acquaintances…

A total of 6,390 euro was raised during this marathon. 3,300 euro was provided in cash to the director to improve internet infrastructure of the hospital (see picture below). The remaining 3,090 were invested in new lab material such as microscopes.