The Wassadou Medical Center is the only clinic located in a rural area between Tambacounda and Kedougou. It serves over 10,000 patients a year, many of whom live in isolated villages without any means of reliable transportation. Getting to the clinic in an emergency would be nearly impossible for them if Wassadou didn't have an ambulance that can traverse rough terrain, so in 2016 we acquired a used 4X4 which we retrofitted for that purpose. 

But on a trip to Wassadou in 2023, it became apparent that heavy use in the harsh climate of Tambacounda had taken its toll on the vehicle.

Enter John Heaney.

John was 12 years old, and visiting Le Korsa's projects with his mother, a Le Korsa supporter. He was so stunned by the state of the ambulance, and the realities of rural medical care in Senegal, that he decided to raise $25,000 towards a new vehicle.

“What struck me was the ambulance was just a rusty old truck with really no place to sit inside, it seemed, and no space to put a stretcher. Wassadou was tasked with helping so many people from faraway villages, and yet it seemed to have so few resources to fulfill that responsibility,” John said.