Notes from the Field: Dr. Ian Tietjen Returns to Africa, Part Two
Dr. Ian Tietjen is education director, Global Studies & Partnerships, Hubert J.P. Schoemaker Education and Training Center & assistant professor in Wistar’s Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center, where he investigates traditional African medicinal compounds’ potential for drug origination against viruses like HIV. Dr. Tietjen travels to Africa to work with traditional healers to better understand the function of these compounds.
Today, our plan was to try to drive from Kindia all the way to Nzérékoré, which is the major city of Guinea’s Forest Region, where the nearby village of Meliandou was the source of the Ebolavirus outbreak of 2013-2016. I’m travelling along with Saidou and two of his students – Valdez and Paul – as well as Barry the driver. We left at 5 am to get a jump on the traffic, but as I write this, it’s 8 pm at a stop for food in in Kissidougou. We won’t make it to Nzérékoré tonight, but the rice, beef, and hot peppers are delicious.
There’s basically one main road that goes through this part of the country. The scenery is stunning, with quaint villages and sharp mountains at every turn, but the highway itself is mostly dirt and potholes, so the going can be slow (or even impossible in the rainy season).
We’re behind schedule because, back in Faranah, the car broke down. I don’t know anything about cars, so I took the time to catch up on work.
We made it as far as Gueckedou a bit after midnight and found a small hotel that would take us. I didn’t know I could be this sore, and my brain had stopped working. I slept deeply that night and woke refreshed.
The next morning, we left at 6 am and had no troubles, arriving in Nzérékoré just in time for an early lunch. We met with two local professors from the University of Nzérékoré, Simi and Mahmi, who work in phytochemistry and environment. They accompanied us to the nearby town of Lola, where we introduced ourselves at Lola’s city hall and received permission to do our research. Our team went through the town’s medicinal plant market to meet several healers to discuss their specialties, use of the various plants they were selling, and purchasing some of them. It’s a rapid back-and-forth between English, French, and local languages. We exchanged contact information so we can eventually report laboratory bioactivity information to them. We all decided to call it an early day to plan for a busier one tomorrow.
Flick album: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjC8kjC