We got back to our
place late after watching the movie, and were supposed to be ready early the
next morning for our flight to the hospital.
After a shower and a bit of organizing my belongings, it was time to
rest quickly. Although we were taking
the bigger plane, we were still allowed a total of only 200 lbs of
luggage. Since Josh's luggage still
hadn't arrived from Paris, we figured all of our carry-ons would be about 100,
and then Lisa and I each brought one of our 2 - 50 lb checked suitcases.
At the airport we
didn't have to show a passport or go into the airport at all! Our pilot made a few stops, and then we were
off to the hangar for systems checks.
The luggage was stowed in various nooks and crannies of the plane. After going through the whole checklist, the
plane was pushed and pulled into place, and we boarded.
I was awarded the
honor of shotgun!!! Not just shotgun,
but co-pilot! I watched as the pilot
tinkered with the throttle, how to communicate with flight control and where he
dialed in various coordinates. In short
order we were racing down the runway and then gliding through the air.
Flying above the
capitol we could look down and see the river full of mud-stained rain water,
the clusters of huts or homes and green.
As we flew on, the green disappeared from view, and there was only
brown. Whereas the river could be seen
in the capitol, no longer could whole rivers be seen, but only water in some
parts, apparently disconnected to the water appearing in the same riverbed some
distance away. It’s a good thing we had
already seen our giraffes, because we didn't see any more on the flight. As we arrived closer and closer to the
hospital, things became green again! I
had a wonderful view on the slightly overcast, 205 mile flight.
Our landing was
perfectly done; better than many full size planes! I had heard horror stories of small planes,
but this four seater was a wonderful ride!
(Definitely thought of my uncle Jerry who is a professional pilot and
may have been the pilot for some of those rougher stories!!)
Upon arrival, we
were greeted by several warm faces, smiles and handshakes. Faces and names, and details to be learned
over the next few months. We carried our
small stuff up to our new homes, and a four wheeler delivered our
trunks/suitcases. Lisa and I have our
own places, but they are right next door to each other. These houses are amazing. I have a living room with a couch, a love
seat and a chair, a kitchen with stove, microwave and fast running water
filter, a dining room with kitchen table, chairs, and a welcome message with my
schedule for the day. Some filtered
water, bread and eggs were already in the refrigerator! I also have a full size bath tub/shower, a
regular toilet (not squatty potty), and sink.
My room has a small desk and twin size bed, with screened windows on two
sides, and a fan overhead. There is no
A/C, but a swamp cooler that is half in the living room and half in the closet
of my bedroom. Instructions for use
included turning it on to soak the sponges for about 5 minutes, and then
turning it on. Soaking the sponges
prevents the fan from stirring up tremendous amounts of dust, and allows the
air to flow over the wet sponges, somehow allowing cooling to take place by
humidifying the air.
We had a packed
first day! We first went on a tour of
the compound, and then had lunch - the best tuna salad I've ever had, at the
house of the CMO/an FP from Portland, OR!!
and his wife who had worked as and ICU nurse at the VA, before coming
out here. We had seen Dr. KL (not Katy)
riding a bike over to the hospital as we were on our tour, so we reviewed some
more orientation materials. Upon
returning, he said that a child had died, before they even had time to admit
the child (which is a very quick process here compared to the states.) The child had sickle cell and malaria. Sickle cell is usually somewhat protective
from malaria because of the deformed shape of the cells, but this little one
had a severe burden of malaria, and must have had sequestration from malaria and
sickling crisis concurrently.
We were able to go
to the co-op, but I will likely continue to call it the coop because there is
no hyphenation utilized on the phone list.
This is a little store open to those who live on the compound and is
stocked with all sorts of goodies. There
is sugar, milk powder, ramen, canned beans, corn, peaches, pears, peas, dish
soap, laundry soap, toilet paper, just to name a few!
Afterwards we met
Dr. KL for a tour of the hospital. Every
few stops, however, he was met with more admissions, and there was one more
death. The mother of the child who had
died earlier in the day, was also in the ER for palpitations and pain. Her diagnosis was response to grief, and
GERD, and she was treated with antacid for a few days, that would in no way
touch the ache in her heart. Another
discussion over dinner revealed that the
burials usually occur quickly, and that by dinner time she was likely either
buried, or would be before sunrise. I
hope there is no unreasonable level of guilt.
Ramadan ended today, and hopefully there was no hesitation in bringing
her in for those reasons.
Most of the beds
were full, the patients looked quite ill, and there were mats laid out between
the beds where family members would be found sleeping. Some were even sleeping on the bare concrete. Flies are everywhere! Some of the smells were profound - and not
necessarily of cleaning products.
We walked through
the wards, the ER, the surgery recovery area, the post partum, the medical
wards, and toured the not yet open future post surgery area. We also went through the OR's, of which there
are 3, and one is divided in two.
We were welcomed by
another family for dinner, and enjoyed chili, cornbread and rice, with mango on
pudding and cornbread for dessert. It is
fascinating to learn what has brought people to where they are, and the impact
it has had on their families, mostly for the good.
After dinner and a
long day of meeting, greeting and heat, I was excited to be home, check some
emails, and go to bed!
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