'Tis the Season

There are so many things to celebrate this time of year.  First, we just finished with Thanksgiving—and what a good thanksgiving it was!  For being in a nation that does not celebrate Thanksgiving (for obvious reasons—the pilgrims did not land on their land!), I had 2 spectacular celebrations.  The first was a Thanksgiving potluck with rChurch.  It was held at Keyhole Bay, next to the pool, on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Caribbean Sea.  The weather was perfect and the view was spectacular…especially when all 3 cruise ships passed by, in the dark of night, all lit up!  Sorry to those of you that were at home all bundled up with snow outside….truly I am, I do miss the snow!  Following that celebration, on Thanksgiving Day we went down the road to a small little resort that served a full Thanksgiving meal.  I must say, I never used to like Thanksgiving meal all that much, but this year the meals were exceptionally good (maybe it’s due to my lack of a variety of food from day to day, but delicious none the less).  The activities of Thanksgiving Day itself, are truly ones that I will never forget.  In the recent rainstorms that we had, there were 4 houses that were washed away from a mudslide in the Colonia leaving 26 people with absolutely nothing.  They are staying in a church in the Colonia, with nothing.  Therefore, we took them a box and a few bags of clothes, a few pillows, 3 deck chairs, some shoes, and a couple bags of rice (all things that had been given to us through cruise ship donations).  What a heartwarming experience.  On a day specifically set aside for us to think about all the things we are thankful for, I was able to share some of those things with people that had nothing.  How their faces lit up!

As of yesterday, we are now entering the Advent Season.  While some may call it the Christmas season, that season actually begins with Christmas Day itself.  Currently we are in a time of waiting and preparation; preparing ourselves for the coming of our Lord.  Some may be familiar with the Advent wreath, others may not.  There are 4 candles around the wreath, representing the 4 weeks of advent, and one in the center, the Christmas candle.  Every week, a new candle is lit, and a prayer focus is set for the week ahead.  The third candle is pink unlike the others which are purple, to signify that Christmas is nearing, but we still must continue to push through to the end and work to prepare ourselves for this special time.  Debi held a little prayer service last night in which we lit the first candle and reflected on this time that is upon us.  We talked about the candles and the wreath.  What I found interesting is that some people put a standard meaning to each candle.  At first I thought this was something that I remembered doing growing up, but now that I think about it, the candles never represented anything in particular, just a time of waiting and preparation.  So let me share with you these meanings; each represents a different part of the Christmas story.  This week we focused on Mary and her willingness to say yes to God; her willingness to give up everything and say to God, not my will, but yours be done.  Wow!  How would we respond if God were to tell us that we were hand chosen and we must completely put our future in His hands?  Could we do it?  Would we be able to give up our future dreams and simply be 100% willing to fully serve Him and do His will?  How would our life change if right now God appeared to us asking us to serve Him like He did with Mary?  So many things to think about- most of which I cannot even begin to wrap my head around right now.  Continuing on with the other candles- one is for the shepherds, another for the 3 kings, one for the angels, and the final, the Christmas candle, for Jesus.  This Advent season I know I will miss all the Christmas cheer that can be seen in the storefront windows and all throughout the city.  However, I will get to see something even greater.  I will be able to see people that are so thankful for what little they have.  Christmas has a whole different meaning to the people here.  Gifts aren’t the same here as what we typically expect to see under the tree.  There are not many toys to be had, nor could they even afford them if there were.  Christmas will not be materialized like I’m used to, but it will give me time to really reflect on the season and what it really is all about; it will give me a new, refreshed view of the heart of the holidays.

Therefore, I challenge all of you to join me in taking the time to really reflect on the true meaning of the holidays.  What things do we take for granted on a daily basis that many others would do anything to have?  How can we reach out to others in need this Christmas?  Whether it be our time, talent, treasure, or prayers, I hope that each of us can find a deeper meaning in the Advent and Christmas season this year.

A Time for Thanksgiving

Being that it is Thanksgiving tomorrow (or rather today), I thought I would take some time to think about and reflect on the things that I am thankful for-- things that I have come to realize and appreciate even more since being in Honduras, things we don’t often always think about.

JD with 3 of the students we tutor-
Oscar, Vanessa, and Emy

1. Education- As I have blogged about before, I am volunteering twice a week at the bi-lingual alternative school across the street from the clinic.  There are many people that attend this school, but not without a price.  Many of the students are children that are here from the US, but a number of the students are also from the Colonia, living under very poor conditions.  The students at the school are of all ages and understand English to varying degrees.  I was talking with one of the American students the other day and asked him how old he was, to which he replied, "I'm 6 and I'm in 2nd grade."  Now as most of you know, a 6 yr old in the states would be in either kindergarten or 1st grade-- not 2nd!  However, here it is not uncommon to have children of all ages in all classes-- mostly because of comprehension levels.  Any student that attends the bi-lingual schools must pay to attend.  For some this is not an issues; for many, it is of great cost to them and they would not be able to attend if it were not for scholarships and people willing to sponsor their schooling.  Upon completion of primary school (or secondary school, for those that make it), children typically go to find work and/or start a family.  It is not uncommon for people to start having children young here, partially because in order to go to university it means moving away from the island and being able to afford it.  So why is education something I'm thankful for?  Because I was privileged enough to be able to attend a private school and receive a solid education- not only through high school but on through college and soon to be grad school.  I did not have to struggle on a daily basis to be able to understand what my teacher was telling me (even though it may have sounded like gibberish to me, at least it was in my native tongue!)

2. Faith- My faith has been a part of me ever since I was born.  I grew up going to church, attended private school all the way through college, and was involved in youth group.  Once I got to Roatan, I didn’t know where my faith would take me.  One of the other volunteers is also Catholic, so the first weekend, we were able to go to church together.  However, it was all in Spanish, so even though I was able to follow the mass, I understood very little.  Lucky for me, there is a bilingual mass on Saturday nights—perfect!  After going to the Spanish mass for nearly a month, it was nice to be able to go to mass, understand what was going on, and sing songs of praise.  There is also another church that I go to with the rest of the volunteers on Sunday mornings that is non-denominational and to me, is more like a praise and worship time.  It reminds me very much of MAGIS, a praise group we had at college.  Over the course of these 2 months, I have also seen my faith grow in the where I see God.  I have been able to see God at work in many different ways.  It is really quite amazing the things we miss out on when we are so wrapped up in our everyday lives that we can’t see God hard at work.  We are so quick to assume that God has left us high and dry when something goes wrong; however, everything happens for a reason and God works on his timeline, not ours.  He will allow things to happen, but not until we are adequately prepared for it.  This is only a glimpse into how I am thankful for my faith; hopefully as the year goes on, I will be able to give you more insight into this topic.

3. Communication- Communication is one of those things that we use on a daily basis, whether it in conversation, email, messenger, phone, or snail mail.  Being in Honduras has given me a new perspective on this.  Every day I go to work and wonder if we will have mainly English speakers or Spanish speakers.  What kinds of things will I need to say or understand today that I won’t be able to?  Having a language barrier has really opened my eyes to what people go through on a daily basis.  Those people that are living in the US and cannot understand English very well go through the same thing that I go through as I am trying to speak with patients in the clinic.  One may be able to assume that it could be frustrating to not be able to understand what someone is trying to tell you.  But when you are actually in that position, it can get frustrating very quickly if what you are trying to communicate is not getting communicated. 

Even though the postal service is not as busy as it once was, I have always loved to get mail.  Ever since I was 4 or 5, I would eagerly await the coming of the mailman in the afternoon.  Without a doubt, I would be standing at the end of the driveway when the mailman approached.  For the next 18 years, whenever the mailman came, I would always go out and greet him with a smile and make small talk with him.  Oh how I miss those days.  Now, not only can I not receive/send mail without knowing someone coming to or leaving the island, I don’t even have a street address!  Not always having internet access or being able to pick up the phone and call whoever I want is also something that I think we often take for granted.  There has been several times where I’ve wanted to talk to someone, but had to wait for them to be online at the same time I was online.  Like now, for instance.  I go on Facebook to find out my brother was in an accident and his truck was totaled—no worries, he’s alright (so says Facebook), but do you suppose anyone is online to find out the story behind it?  Nope…guess that one will have to wait!  Thank goodness we have some extra guardian angels on our side!  (As I am writing this, I find out all he walked away with was a broken finger nail….haha, I think we will be able to handle that one!)

That being said, I’m thankful that I live in an area where my language is the native language and everyone can understand me.  I am thankful that I can send someone a card or a letter whenever I want, and I can check the mailbox or talk with the mailman every day as well.  I am thankful for being able to pick up the phone whenever I want to call whoever I want. 

Education, faith, and communication are the 3 big things that I am thankful for this year, especially now that I have been in an area in which these things are so much more real to me.  However, my list would not be complete without saying that I am thankful for my family and friends as well.  Without the support that I receive from all of you on a regular basis, I would not have to strength to be where I am today.  My success is in part due to the encouragement, support, and love from all of you.  Thank you for all your love, prayers, and support as I continue on my life journey of serving God in a way that I feel I have been called to do.

I challenge you to think past the typical things we are thankful for such as family and friends, and really consider what God has blessed you with.  What things do you take for granted every day?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Laura

A Day in the Life of...

...ME! a volunteer.



The hill leading up to the clinic

 The roosters start to crow; I think to myself- could it be morning already?  Oh no, that's right, the roosters crow at all hours during the early morning starting at about 2 or 3-- it's all the same right?!  Lucky for me, because I have a big family I am not a light sleeper and I can sleep through it.  But now it's 6 o'clock, the alarm is sounding-- do I have to get up?  That depends...do I need to get things accomplished before heading to the clinic? Do I want to take a shower before I go to work?  How fast can I get ready this morning?  Maybe just 15 more minutes of sleep.  As all these thoughts go through my head, I decide that a little more sleep won't hurt anything; after all it only takes 20 minutes to get ready and 5 minutes to walk to the clinic (that is as long as I'm not moving slowly lol).  Now it's getting to be 6:30 so I drag myself out of bed, get ready for the day, and head to the clinic.  Upon arriving at 7:30, I make sure everything's unlocked and the computers are up and running.  By this time, Angely, the secretary, has hopefully started to register patients so that we can begin triaging them before the doctors arrive around 8:30, island time!  The morning carries on with patients coming and going and tasks never ending.  If I am not triaging patients, I could be doing an assortment of things-- administering medications, assisting the docs with something, cleaning and sterilizing instruments, consulting with the doctors (to get a jump start on my future!), organizing supplies, translating handwriting, or answering questions.  The day is never dull, always something to do!

"John, how many patients do we have today?" I commonly ask around 11:30.  It's about this time that we all start to wonder, "are we going to be here all afternoon again or will we be done shortly?"  Depeding on the number of patients we have registered and the number of docs in the clinic, we finish seeing patients anywhere between noon thirty and 2:30. 

Dr. Raymond with a girl who had some bad pneumonia

Days that end early allow for more time in the sun!  Days that go longer allow for less free time in the afternoon.  While one may be preferrable to the other, as long as the time at the clinic is moving along quickly, it doesn't really matter which day it is--unless of course, it is sunny out and we haven't seen the sun in days or weeks! 

Afternoon is upon us and what should we do?  Well, it's time to catch up on emails and accomplish other work for the clinic (i.e. medication donation requests,

Our Vitamin D dock

thank you notes, health education plans, etc).  If the day is nice, we may take advantage of the sunlight (as it sets around 5/5:30) to get our needed Vitamin D and enhance our minds through reading.  Wednesdays at 2, Karla has prenatal classes; I have gotten roped into helping.  Not a bad thing though, cause I get to hear spanish for an hour, while learning all about prenatal stuff and being an extra resource for Karla as expectant mothers ask their questions. Jess and I also work with ESL students at the Sandy Bay Alternative School across the street from the clinic.  At 3:00 the school bell rings and kids take off for home.  However, there are a few students from the colonia that stay around afterwards to read or work on homework.  Vanessa is her name.  You've heard of her before; she is 11 years old, in 3rd grade, with even a lower english comprehension level.  She is my little girl for the next year.  Twice a week, we hang out after school and read, unless she has homework.  As time has gone by, I have started to pick up on the quirks of the english language that she isn't understanding-- contractions, pronouns, abstract words-- all the things that can be difficult to explain, of course!  While it makes tutoring a little more challenging, there has been so much progress already, and it's only been 2 months!  I can't wait until the end of the year!

The sun has set, but the night is still young.  What does one do in the dark?  Time to think about dinner but what shall we have?  Let's look in the fridge and throw something together.  Our diet has quickly been converted to a Honduran cuisine consisting of many tortillas and rice and beans.  Any given combination of ingredients from the fridge usually results in some sort of taco or tostada or casserole.  Depending on what's being streamed in Denver, sometimes dinner is followed with TV, other times with a movie or our new addiction, GLEE, or sometimes the evening is spent catching up with friends and families from home via Skype, facebook, or emails.  Bedtime can come quite early if it's allowed...sometimes as early as 9:00.  While it's tempting, at times, to give in, if I did it would be a day of drowsiness the following day.  So, I push it off as long as possible by raeding and doing other things and then finally hit the sack around 11/11:30.  My day is complete; time to reflect on the day and the people I touched, thank God for my blessings and pray about my shortfalls.  "Sweet dreams," I say, "see you en la manana!" 

So there you have, my (and most of the other clinic volunteers) day in a nutshell.  Variations of course do occur ranging from a night out with the teacher volunteers or a dinner meeting with one group or another.  But for the most part things are pretty low key.

In other news:

• Today I learned/watched Dr. Raymond remove an ingrown toenail. So the next time you have one, look me up, I'll probs be able to do it for you (maybe not legally, but socially).
• As I sit here, the winds are picking up; I think our past 5 days of sunshine are done and rain is on the horizon :( 
• One of our dogs had puppies this morning-- therefore, in addition to the 2 dogs and a cat, we now have 3 puppies.
• I think I'm developing allergies- to what I have decided; but, I'm thinking it could be from pets..hmm?
• Pictures are POSTED!  Check out the link on the right hand side of the blog :) http://picasaweb.google.com/home (or here)
• Oh and how could I forget...CMMB has a telecare series running right now.  The most current episode was on the medical volunteer program.  You can view it at http://www.cmmbheals.org/medical-volunteer-program and see me towards the end of it!

That's all folks!

<3

Bug Juice

It has been decided- the blood bank might not like my blood, but the mosquitos and sand flies sure do.  Saturday, one of the short term volunteers who was here for 2 weeks wanted to explore the island so Jess, John, and I went along for the expierence.  We started off by driving past the dump, which is massive!  Past the dump is a hydroponic lettuce farm that we stopped at to explore a little.  From there we went to the east end of the island where we were hoping to get a Jam and Jelly tasting...unfortunately they are only for tastings Mon-Fri....what about all those people that have to work during the week?!  But we did have lunch there and got to taste a little bit of their jelly on our cheesecake.  It was delicious...maybe I will have to make it out there some weekday.  After lunch, we ventured even further east to Camp Bay and Old Port Royal.  Once here we got out to enjoy the sun (which we hadn't seen for a least a good week!) and water.  In the 30 minutes that we spent on the beach, somehow I managed to get eaten alive!  Official count yesterday?  66 bites on my back, probably another 20-30 up and down my legs- what now?  I itch like crazy!!

Clinic these past couple weeks has been quite busy.  We have an OBGYN resident, 2 PAs (for one week), 3 ENT doctors (2 that only were here a week), and an oral surgeon all working with us.  Talk about a lot of doctors.  However, that always means lots of patients! Since we register 12-15 patients per doctor typically (when there are more than 2), that meant we were seeing 50-60 patients for about the past 2 weeks.  While one may think we would fly through the patients with all these doctors on hand, you would be wrong.  Our days usually did not end until 2:30/3:00 because even though we had all those doctors, most were specialty doctors.  Therefore, they only saw patients in their field of specialty, leaving the majority of the patients to the 2-3 general doctors/PAs.  But, we made it through and now they are all gone, so we are back down to 2 doctors: a general practitioner and a pediatrician.  The next few weeks/couple months should actually be fairly quiet as the volunteer calendar is looking kind of bare.  However, once we get to February, our volunteer calendar is packed!  Talk about one extreme to the other!  My work around the clinic has come to a plateau, although, that doesn't mean there is ever a dull day.  I stay quite busy around the clinic with triaging, passing medications, answering questions, and assisting the doctors.  I have even gotten to shadow a little with Dr. Rafael, our pediatrician.  Who knows, maybe by the time I'm finished here they will just let me bypass grad school and sit for my doctorate licensing- I know probably a long shot but one can dream right?!  Last week I came across some of the material that had previously been used to teach diabetic classes.  While it is all very thorough, I don't know if it was completely tailored to the culture here in Roatan.  I have also made a list of problems that we see day in and day out.  With these, I will soon begin brainstorming ways in which education to the patient population will be most effective.  Once I have that, I will hopefully be able to do some health education sessions.  From the sounds of it, there are also some groups in the spring that want to do some health education as well so that will be good.

Over the past few weeks, I have also gotten to see how God is working in many different ways.  Time after time, Peggy receives news of a generous donor, or a medical volunteer that wants to spend a significant amount of time in the clinic.  While this may be seen as something that is just a typical occurance with any non-profit organization, I don't think it's coincidental that prior to receiving any of this news, there has usually just recently been discussion about what we are going to do.  For example, about a month ago at the clinic board meeting, one of the topics of discussion was about opening the upstairs (pediatric and birthing center).  A big obstacle that has been holding us up has been finances.  While the clinic has enough money to keep the doors open, a common reason that non-profits don't make it, is because of going bankrupt; that is the last thing we want to happen.  Because of this, the opening has continually been pushed back as the board works on assuring that they will have the funds to keep both the downstairs running (during the day) and the upstairs runnin (24 hrs!).  About 2 weeks later, Peggy receives an answer to a prayer.  A foundation that she was told about several years ago, has finally gotten everything worked out, and therefore, the funds are no longer an issue!  Is there any other explanation except that God is good and gives us what we need, but not before we are ready for it?!  Between these events, the work that I am doing/seeing, and the books I have been reading, I have gained insight into a new population.  The work of a mission is spectacular work.  You never know what you are going to be faced with.  While I am currently experiencing the needs of the poor here in Roatan, I am learning about populations that exist within any region, no matter the geographical location.  Hmm, I wonder what's in store for my future after I make it through grad school?  Only time will tell, that I have also learned.  God's graces and plans for our lives can not be rushed; when the time is right, we will be know!

Have a good week!
Peace and Love
Laura

The Calm before the Storm

For the past few post, I have been meaning to tell you all that I survived my first hurricane!  (not that you couldn't have figured it out by either having talked to me or seen my current posts, but I thought it would be worth a mention!)  Hurrican Richard came and went 2 Sunday's ago now.  Saturday was a rainy day, but that evening the water became very still, like a sheet of glass; the trees were not blowing in the wind at all; it was a very calm and peaceful evening (even though there was supposedly a police order out to stay off the roads....oops!).  However, that night before going to bed around midnight, the winds picked up significantly, the water was no longer calm as waves were rolling in, the waves had changed direction from the good direction to the bad direction and it started to downpour.  During the night I woke up a few times to strong winds and heavy rains but nothing too much more.  When I woke up Sunday morning to contemplate whether or not there would be church, I realized there was no power and just about the time I was going to get out of bed, I heard a tree branch fall on Peggy's car.  Chances are that even if there was church, there would not be a single taxi on the road to get me there!  Therefore, I laid in bed for the next 2 hrs figuring that there was nothing else to do without electricity or light.  The whole day we were without power....I believe for a grand total of 18 hrs!  Needless to say, we played a LOT of games that day- Bananagrams, Nerts, Rummikub.  Our area of the island survived the storm fairly well; however, I heard the east end of the island didn't fare as well.  There were about 25 people that lost their homes and of course great amounts of flooding and mud slides, but other than that I think damage was kept to a minimum.  Monday after the storm? Everything was as calm as could be again.  Before and after the storm, you never would have been able to guess that a storm was coming or had passed through!  Today again we have seen the same thing happen.  It was calm all day yesterday and even early this morning, but throughout the morning and into the afternoon, the winds have picked up and the waves are rolling in!  Something tells me we may be in for a good storm tonight!

This week at the clinic has been going pretty well aside from the longer days.  We have more doctors in this week meaning that more patients are admitted to be seen.  However, if the doctors pair up to see patients, we don't REALLY have extra providers...it just looks that way!  So all week we have been working until 2 or 3 but I can't really complain as it's not like I had anything better to do!  Today I got to do a wound debridement of a gentleman that had recently undergone surgery to remove skin cancer.  His incision was separating in areas and therefore needed some major cleaning, before we could even locate the stitches to remove them.  After much soaking, scrubbing, patients, and tediously trying to find all the stitches, we got him cleaned up and sent on his way. Unfortunately, because it had separated he will have a nice little scar to share with all when it is all healed up.  Earlier this week we also saw a lady in the clinic that has a diabetic ulcer on the bottom of her foot that is probably the size of a half dollar and a quarter inch deep.  We have been working to heal this ulcer now for about 3-4 weeks without much success.  She recently had her right leg amputated at the knee because of an ulcer on her foot and we are afraid that if this ulcer doesn't heel the same thing might happen to her left leg....ugh!   I want to be able to help in lending my knowledge of what is the best way to treat and care for this wound, but unfortunately I haven't had much experience yet with wounds- for instance, one of the PA students asked  what's better- packing the wound or leaving it unpacked...I would surely thinking packing, but I don't know.  What makes things worse is that since we rely on donated supplies, do we even have the right supplies to be able to treat it?!  I guess this will be my research for the next few days to see if I can come up with some evidence-based practice (yes, my professors woud be so proud!) as to what is the best way to go about treating this.

In other news, Vanessa, the girl that I work with at the alternative school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I feel, is starting to make progress!!!  Just as a reminder, she is 11 years old (so the age of a 6th grader), in 3rd grade, but I would say has the english comprehension of about a 1st grader.  This could be a long year, but hopefully we will be able to accomplish something by the end.  Today, proved to me that we are headed in a good direction and she is benefitting from what we are doing.  She even told me that her mom was asking her how to say different things in english!  But, I digress.  On Tuesday we were reading a book but didn't get all the way through because we were also making a list of words that she didn't know and writing them in spanish as well as english.  Then today, before we started I had her remind me what was going on in the story and she was able to tell me!  Plus, she used one of the new words that she didn't know previously!!!  Oh, i'm so excited.  I love when you can see even the little baby steps that are taking place.  It makes for very good positive reinforcement.

Peace and Love

Dx: Island Fever

What is Island Fever one may ask? And how do you go about getting it?  Well folks, island fever is when you have been on an island that is only 30 miles long and 4-5 miles wide (at best) with nothing to and no option of leaving town (except by a $50 ferry!).  What is the treatment?  That's right...taking that $50 ferry to the mainland.  So that is exactly what Jess and I did....and we loved every minute of it!!  Last Wednesday afternoon we set sail for the mainland to take a little 5 day vacation.  I know, I know- some of you think, why do you need a vacation when you are already on vacation.  Because, while it may seem like vacation to you, my year is far from a vacation...take today for instance- I worked 7:30-3 with no break, had 20 minutes for lunch, and then went back to work for another 2.5 hrs.  No, no, I'm not complaining; I am simply proving a point :)  Anways back to my weekend.  Wednesday night we spent in a hostel up in the mountains of the jungle and then went White Water River Rafting Thursday morning.  First time rafting, hopefully not the last!  So much fun, and so pretty as well.  That afternoon we spent walking aroud the town of La Ceiba and then relaxed in preparation for the day of travel on Friday.  We got on a bus to San Pedro and not even a half hour after leaving the station, we were stopped in the road by some people that felt the need to protest.  I don't know what they were protesting, but they sure were holding up traffic!  An hour later, after they got the tree branches and rocks and people cleared off the road, we were finally rolling again.  After that 4 hrs on the bus, we then got on another bus to take us from San Pedro to Copan...another 4 hrs.  But hey, it only cost us $8.50....who can really complain about that?!  Once in Copan we settled into our hostel and just took the night easy.  We met up with Jess's friend who is in the Peace Corp and all of the Honduran and Guatemalan stationed volunteers as they were having a Peace Corp Halloween in Copan.  Saturday morning we hit up the Mayan ruins and learned all about their life (to some extent or another) while continually running into encounters with some really weird and strange people.  In the afternoon we hit up the town and just got to explore it- it is such a cute little typical Spanish looking town with a great atmosphere!  That night we could have dressed up and gone out with the Peace Corp people, but with our bus back to Ceiba leaving at 5 the next morning, us not having costumes, and not really knowing any of the people, we decided to go to the amazing wine and cheese place where we had EXCELLENT grilled cheese and coffee and then went to another little place for delicious carrot cake and cheese cake- much better decision!  The mainland differed from Roatan so very much, but we loved it.  It had much more of a "third world" feel to it and it wasn't full of expats (even though it did have Dominoes, Pizza Hut, Applebees, BK, KFC, and Wendy's all within a block of each other!).  I will probably have to venture back there at some point.  So after a great relaxing weekend, the first bout of Island Fever has been cured and we're ready for some more work.

Today brought with it a slew full of more doctors and volunteers so it was again a very busy day in the clinic.  We saw 52 patients, where typically we had been averaging 35-40.  There were 4 different med donations that all had to be sorted, entered into the computer, and put away.  The upstairs was requesting some quality cleaning/sorting time from us.  Therefore, I was welcomed back from vacation with a day that started at 7:30 and went to 5:30....whew, what a long day!

While I'm thinking about it, why don't I tell you about the hospital which I know you have all been sitting on the edge of your seats waiting to hear about!  Patients arrive at the hospital early in the morning in order to be seen.  At the hospital there are about 9 different clinics from just a regular doctor to different specialists.  They pick up their chart from the admitting window, take it to the next window to pay (5 limps or about 25 cents) and then they leave their chart to be put in a pile for the doctors to then come and pick up.  When the docs arrive, they begin their work.  The clinics are open anywhere from 7 or 8 until 2.  If the patients don't get seen by the doctor because of too many patients, they must return the next day, pay the fee again and wait in line again!  Even though it's only 5 limps, to some of these people that can make all the difference.  Plus, in order to get to the hospital, they most likely took a taxi which can be 20-30 limps one way.  All these things add up.  Then after they finally see the doctor, there are about a dozen or so meds that are available at the hospital (mostly pediatric meds) otherwise the rest they have to purchase at a pharmacy.  When patients are admitted to the hospital, they don't get their own room; it is wards.  It is about a 20-25 bed hospital.  The only thing that is supplied to the patient really is a bed.  If they need any meds or IV's or what not while there, a family member or friend must take a prescription to a pharmacy in order to get it filled and then return with it.  No stat orders will be given here!  Then, the labor and delivery- mother's are lined up in the hallway waiting to get wheeled into the delivery room.  Some don't even make it into the delivery room before they give birth.  And, there was also this lady while we were there, just chilling in the hallway resting with an IV drip hanging on the wall above her delivering some sort of medication I'm assuming.  So, next time you go into the hospital or clinic think twice before you begin to complain- things are far worse in many other places!

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!  By the looks of many pictures it appears as though fun was had by many! 

Peace and Love!  Laura