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"Lala salama."Judith Owens MD MPH — Portsmouth, RI, USA "Sleep well," is a simple phrase which, on some fundamental level, summarizes my efforts and that of my colleagues who practice sleep medicine. The ultimate goal, after all, is for every one of our patients, regardless of age, education, or income level to experience the myriad benefits of healthy and restful sleep. In more affluent, industrialized societies, we tend to focus on solving sleep problems like insomnia, sleep apnea and insufficient sleep to restore the "natural" balance of sleep and wakefulness as the means to achieve the often elusive goal of "sleeping well." In many poorer nations around the world there is a basic lack to assure even the rudiments of what we would consider a good night's sleep: a comfortable, safe and dry sleeping environment, protection from disease-carrying insects, and provision of warmth in colder climates. 
Having just spent two weeks distributing bedkits in Tanzania with Sleeping Children, I have had the privilege of making some very small effort toward achieving the goal of "sleeping well" for children in Tanzania and around the world. Bedkits contain many of the tangible ingredients for a restful sleep: a mattress, a blanket and treated mosquito netting. But perhaps more important is the message we bring: we have travelled halfway around the world to represent the good wishes and generous contributions of countless donors, all of whom believe in the fundamental importance of good sleep to the health and well-being of children, not only in Tanzania, but around the globe. The terms of the partnership with the families we serve is that they also recognize the value of the gift of good sleep. That mothers wait patiently for many hours in the heat of the noonday sun in East Africa for bedkits, that the children are absolutely delighted to receive them, and that the all-too-many families for whom we do not have enough bedkits are heartbreakingly disappointed, are all testimony to the strength of this partnership.
I was able to interview a number of families about their perceptions of the value of the bedkits. They were unanimous in spontaneously endorsing the importance of a good night's sleep for their child as key "for good health and learning" and in their repeated expressions of "Asante sana." ("Many thanks.") All too often, those of us working in sleep medicine are confronted by the conventional wisdom that deems sleep to be largely optional. In fact, lack of sleep is often considered a badge of honor in more developed societies and a luxury with little importance compared with shelter, food, or sanitation. It is critical that we all work towards a universal level of acknowledgement that sleep is a basic human need and thus, a basic human right, on equal footing with hunger and thirst, and one which has dire consequences if ignored. Whatever each of us can contribute toward the goal of ensuring that all people, regardless of the available resources, have equal access to the basic building blocks of good sleep, makes a truly valuable contribution to society. The heartfelt wish, "Lala salama," (Swahili for "Sleep well.") which we repeated hundreds of times a day to the children we served, took on a special meaning in this context. As they shouldered their bedkits and brightly-colored mattresses for the walk home, often to a mud hut with a dirt floor and without electricity and running water, we were reminded both of how much we had, and of how much we owed to these children and to future generations. "Lala salama, rafiki." "Sleep soundly, friend." |
