As you have discovered, I never did get my signal last night, but after many attempts this morning, I gave up until after clinic when I ventured back up the hill, and with my good luck entourage in tow, finally success!
One thing that did go as expected last night though – a delicious dinner – again one of our favorites (we have many favorites here)…creole chicken, rice & beans and fried plantains with spicy pikliz. Unfortunately the after dinner work got started later than expected so Timizou’s birthday beer had to be postponed. We will hope for tonight with our friends.
This trip has had many surprises, not the least of which was a 3rd consecutive night of cool temps and great sleep! Our new team members must think this work is a “walk in the park”! After a hearty breakfast of oatmeal and boiled eggs we set off for a familiar clinic location, expecting the usual onslaught, but to our continued surprise….calm. The tickets were all dispensed, and by 1:00, we had seen only 51 patients with no crowds at the entrance clammoring to be evaluated.
We did however have our usual audience! And tomorrow we return…the community knows well in advance, so we anticipate a more typical clinic day…
We are starting to see return patients at every clinic and we are able to follow their health now – unfortunately, as we are here just twice per year and other services on the island are unreliable, we are not able to assure good health is either restored or achieved. This is a situation we aim to change with the completion and staffing of the Peter Y Whitehead Memorial Clinic!
This afternoon, some of the team may explore more of the island, while others rest and prepare for the evening chores. Right now I am enjoying a cool breeze in the shade of a mango tree, while getting Creole lessons from the children and taking advantage of a good connection with the cell tower on the next hill over. Soon we will check on the children at the orphanage and I am certain we will be treated to another delicious dinner! Hopefully we can finish our work early and keep our date with Timizou!
Here’s hoping for a 4th night in a row but if we are not so blessed we will have nothing to lament, as we have already had 3 glorious days and nights!
I think that is all for now so I will use my fortunate strong signal to get today’s post published. More tomorrow if the signal remains strong!
Love to All,
The Team