"We are in a gold mine area, and many families
work and live here, with their children
completely isolated and deprived of any care."
By now, Adama has already gone 60 kilometers, but Massakama is still another 50 kilometers away. On his motorcycle, Adama carries his carefully-secured vaccine box, vaccination register and a pack of gloves. "Before I leave, I make sure that everything is well attached and I check one last time that I’ve packed all of the basic vaccines — pertussis, childhood tuberculosis, tetanus, polio, measles and diphtheria, hepatitis, diarrhea, pneumonia, yellow fever and meningitis — which I might need, because each vaccine can save a child's life.”
It's 8:30 a.m. and under the high sun, the thermometer is already creeping towards 40 degrees Celsius. Adama starts his race against the clock to get to the gold mines in Massakama, vaccinate as many children as possible and return home before the sun goes down. The road he must travel is difficult, isolated and devoid of any infrastructure. It is a dangerous journey.