Looking back on what we have learned so far, you should remember that Ouagadougou is the capital of Burkina Faso and the oldest wizarding community in Africa, made up of 15 different wizarding villages both inside and outside the city. One wizarding village, in particular, is Mbikola, a wizarding village found within the city limits that was also placed very near to one specific hospital, Yalgado Ouedraogo. This may seem of no consequence to you if the hospital is purely for the Muggles living in the city, but it is not! Yalgado Ouedraogo is a hospital that provides services to both magical persons and Muggles, though it did not begin this way.
Before the beginning of the slave trade, the people of Ouagadougou would go to the healers of the city, often those from the Mbikola tribes who excelled in herbology, potions, and charms. However, come 1647, the year in which Fikka was attacked, magical people began to hide their abilities, providing services to those they knew they could trust. This change signaled the beginning of the separation between the magical and Muggle world of medicine, which grew even larger when the International Statute of Secrecy was put into effect. In 1983, the Nkirika family, an upstanding medical family in both the magical and Muggle worlds, decided to create the first hospital in Ouagadougou, having completed their degrees earlier at the International School of Ouagadougou. At first, the hospital was extremely small, consisting of only one level, offering the most basic services to the people of this city. However, as the population began to grow, the Mbikolans felt it was their duty to provide assistance to those in need of help. In an attempt to rejoin the Muggle world, many went on to study at Muggle universities within Ouagadougou, and others throughout the country, to earn their degrees in medicine and work at Yalgado Ouedraogo. By 1989, just six years later, Yalgado Ouedraogo became one of the most successful hospitals in West Africa, treating approximately 1.35 million Muggle patients per year.
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It wasn't until after a series of Muggle deaths that the Burkinabe Ministry of Magic began to lash back at the Mbikolans for putting wizarding society in danger. Now, you may be wondering why dying Muggles leads the Ministry to be worried about protecting the wizarding world. In most cases, there would be no consequences, however, the Muggle examiners who wrote reports on the patient's deaths came across unusually high records of blood cells within the bodies, which caused an abnormal increase in artery sizes, eventually causing the patient's blood vessels to burst. At first, the Muggle doctors believed it to be abnormal, but when the same diagnosis was made for 20 victims, the Burkinabe Ministry became suspicious and involved themselves. It was later discovered that a magical nurse was mixing Blood-Replenishing Potions with the painkillers they were giving the patients in an effort to speed up the process of healing. She was swiftly removed from her post, but not before the damage was done. After this unfortunate incident, the Yalgado Ouedraogo Magical Ward was created, where magical medical practitioners would be able to assist their fellow witches and wizards without placing their Muggle counterparts at risk.How are we able to have both a magical and Muggle hospital in such close proximity to one another? I have asked Armina Brigham, former Charms professor and assistant to Mr. Ollivander himself, to join us in our class today to explain to you how this is possible. Please, give her your full attention!
