Ana Palacios

Visual journalist

The skin of Africa

School: UNIVERSIDAD DE NAVARRA, UNIVERITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES (UCLA) CENTRO INTERNACIONAL DE FOTOGRAFÍA Y CINE

Three-year old Ossou Delphine w...for the ulcer on her right arm.

Three-year old Ossou Delphine waits with her mother Alice in the maternity ward at Sedje Denou to have more treatment for the ulcer on her right arm.

Attingly Michael, aged seventee...tients he shares his room with.

Attingly Michael, aged seventeen, suffered burns on 80% of his body after tripping over a pan of boiling palm oil one night. He's recovering from one of the many skin tissue regenerating operations he'll have to undergo in one of the wards at Gbenmontin Hospital, in Zagnanado, along with the 29 other patients he shares his room with.

Cutting healthy tissue for grafting onto a skin lesion.

This surgical instrument is a s...wer supply is often unreliable.

This surgical instrument is a skin graft mesher. It cuts skin for grafting, turning the epidermis into a mesh that enables a larger surface area to be covered during the operation. It produces "snakeskin effect" scars. The technique is manual and rudimentary and needs no electricity, which is crucial in rural african hospitals where the power supply is often unreliable.

Surgery to regenerate tissue in... area of lesions to be covered.

Surgery to regenerate tissue in skin lesions after the stretching machine cuts flaps of skin, turning skin tissue into a mesh and enabling a larger area of lesions to be covered.

Freud Lokossou, aged eight, dre...ntin Hospital for seven months.

Freud Lokossou, aged eight, dressed up in a straw costume on new year's eve and another child set fire to him. He has been in Gbenmontin Hospital for seven months.

Physiotherapy room at Lalo Commune Health Centre.

Assogba Justin undergoes rehabi...the treatment of skin diseases.

Assogba Justin undergoes rehabilitation with a traction machine in the physiotherapy room at Lalo Commune Health Centre in Benin, which specialises in the treatment of skin diseases.

Freud Lokossou goes to class ev...;t miss out on their schooling.

Freud Lokossou goes to class every day. The average hospital stay for patients with skin diseases is thirty days. The classroom in Gbenmontin Hospital caters for child inpatients of all ages so they don't miss out on their schooling.

Charleen does her homework in t...;t miss out on their schooling.

Charleen does her homework in the Gbemontin Hospital schoolroom, where she goes every day during her hospital stay. The classroom in Gbenmontin Hospital caters for child inpatients of all ages so they don't miss out on their schooling.

'The skin of Africa' documents the daily lives of people affected by skin injuries in hospitals in Benin.

Certain skin diseases, such as first-degree burns or buruli ulcers, require an average hospital stay of 30 days. A patient may remain in hospital for up to a year to achieve full recovery and reintegration into society.

Because of the shortage of health personnel, hospitals in Benin require patients to be accompanied by at least one family member for the duration of their hospital stay so that they can take care of their food, hygiene and basic needs.

These very particular circumstances make the hospital a microcosm for skin patients.

Differentiated areas are established for the different activities of the day: from the school, to the kitchens, washing rooms or bedrooms and even recreation areas. Areas that are integrated into the hospital grounds with the operating rooms, rehabilitation rooms or emergency rooms.

A mosaic in which spaces are shared for the harmonious coexistence of hundreds of patients, families and doctors.

A project supported by DKV Seguros and Anesvad Foundation.

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Public Project

The skin of Africa

Copyright Ana Palacios 2024

Date of Work Jul 2015 - Aug 2015

Updated Feb 2020

Location Benin

Topics Documentary, Feature, Health/Healing, Human Rights, Illness, News, NGO, Photography, Travel

“Benin under your skin” documents the daily life of the doctors and patients in hospitals, clinics, maternity wards, rehabilitation centers, emergency rooms and awareness sessions in communities, affected by Buruli ulcer in Benin.

Benin, with almost ten million inhabitants and which ranks 163 out of 187 in the Human Development Index (2019 data), is one of the countries most rife with Buruli ulcer in the world. A mysterious disease -not known how you get infected yet- family of the leper, that affects 10 million people in the planet most of them in the tropic.

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