By Jarga Kebba Gigo
Too many humans, especially Africans, are often pessimistic on what it takes to learn ‘service’ and/or make products. It worsens when the leaders are pessimistic or just want to buy products against guilty-victims or voters who suffer that same pessimistic disease. So it is very vital to have optimistic leaders, not just at the political level, but every level of the spectrum, including principals… The optimistic may occasionally fail a target like estimating 3 months that may end up as 4 to 6 months, but that means patience with the optimistic is still better than a pessimistic leader. In problem versus rectification, an outsider suggesting what could have been done or could still be done deserves gratitude…
Yes, it is best if our political and technical leaders were leading with thinking and optimistic approaches, but let the private sector never wait for too long. Sometimes it has to start small, because convincing the permanent secretaries and ministers of education or health may take a very long time, as an example. So how about a private pharmacy or supermarket teaming up with a private school? Order enough urine testing strips with an optimistic mind. Mr or Ms Principle: You have endless theories and little or no practicals on science. You can imagine ‘money’ excuses as responses or accusing you of being rude… No! I want us to mutually help each other and our country with not just any practical, but beneficial and affordable practicals. I can teach your grade 11 students how to perform urine test analysis in about one hour… After a successful theory and practical with one class, how do we move forward with the whole school and community or village? You will need a little bit more money and cooperation.
Estimate the cost of testing ten thousand people and assure them quality, but that it may cost them about one dollar per person, unless you can find a sponsor. A company, association, NGO, or even an individual may help. Educate them about the benefits of the testing and that it will cost a lot less later, including your target towards self testing. Bad Africans may resist and say we rather donate to praise singers and marabouts, and dance for guilty politicians and blame them after; but good Africans exist or can be created, if God is universal and capable of conquering… You can easily imagine testing a whole school may reveal one or two students may need to see a doctor. You can further imagine testing a community or whole village by grade 10 or 11 students under camera will impress some parents. Wow! ‘My child can now do a urine test, but can s/he do it for me at home’? Yes! Perhaps cheaper, especially if politicians brave up, stop greed and arrogance. The highest cost is the urine test strips. The strips are partly paper, we can farm hemp for paper to make that part cheaper. Printing the strips and/or which chemical process may take place to make them in the Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, etc?
So I have already hinted to you how one hour training of a teenager can mean self service is feasible and not as complex as the pessimists assume. Now, making the products is just for westerners and Asians, or Africans will over-charge, under work, or xyz to marry wives and make endless babies? Well, we said new Africans exist or can be made to compete. The Gambia’s NDP is largely bad, but it also claims good things like Research and Development, and they are finally poorly under-funding ‘higher education’, including ‘turning ideas into achievements…’. So will me and you get funding from the government or where else to make the strips and what else? I mean buying the machines and creating the machines are all possible, but if we over praise the service or ‘maintenance ‘ person, then efforts may fall short. You can imagine the rest on that part, or they may over charge you when buying the printers… Where is WHO on how testing may help where least expected for global benefit?
Research: Again, if we over praise with ‘at least ‘ mindsets, then efforts and achievements will always lack. We must pioneer at times, including with research. The purpose of having the printing capability of strips+ is not just to save money, but to further research that may benefit the whole world. So let’s say the present strips can reveal about 5 to 10 issues, then how can we make another strip that could reveal 10 to 30 issues? What modifications can we make at the chemical or printing level to see if the Lord of knowledge will help or ‘pay’ for our efforts? We can ask AI and/or use our minds. In this example, urine is in abundance. So let’s say strip one and strip two for three months and/or testing hundred thousand people. Will the schools, hospitals, and communities partner up with mass submitting of urine? Some may. Which countries and companies will fund more research on personal gadgets/ machines to test stools, urine, saliva, blood, etc for self? The optimistic says: collecting the urine of the sick or on camera self testing of ten different new strips may reveal many things.
The bare minimum achievements: once we have thousands of teenagers who understand how easy it is to self test their urine, then selling strips should not be hard, unless we make them unaffordable with excuses. So far, the strips are very affordable but even the makers of the strips do not seem to have great marketing strategies. Annually, If ten to twenty dollars on urine strips can raise your peace of mind and/or help you detect some problems early, then that is a family deal. Some communities may need mind adjustments. A negative test is not wasted money, but God’s favor for not being stingy, appreciating knowledge, or xyz. A positive test of ‘low or high xyz’ should not cause a heart attack, but go see a doctor for potential further tests and/or proper advice. It could be as little as needing to drink more water. Or we can realistically acknowledge it could mean detecting kidney or xyz issues, early, as an example. Which further means the doctors will heal more and be called heroes where a non-doctor seeded a culture of self testing, hopefully beyond urine. Which Doctors will start recommending self testing from now on? And which high school will be the first to practically teach urine testing in the Gambia and every country? Which media houses will push along, record and help others to follow suit? Which families will test weekly versus monthly, from now on? May God be of help, make us healthy, wealthy, and every good.
