Thursday, October 4, 2007

Good morning everyone. This morning I got the chance to talk with Jim Jackson, who has been coming for about 13 years and is an electrician. We chatted about everything going on with the mission and I heard some stories from the past and we talked about some of the Haitian cultures we observe while here. While we were chatting I got to witness the nervousness of the coffee drinkers while they waited for it to be ready. It was funny to see them all huddled around the spot where the pot would be, they were like kids on Christmas when it finally came out. After breakfast I spent about an hour in the OR with Carmen, Jordan, Robin, and Sarmone working on organizing all the stuff that people so nicely just let sit out instead of putting it back where it belonged. At 9 Melissa, Teresa, Mike, Vogley, Roland and I all got in the truck and headed to Port-au-Paix because Mike had a meeting with one of the pasters, Melissa, Teresa and I wanted to do some shopping downtown, and we all wanted to visit a women in the hospital who went there Tuesday because Dr. Joseph thought she needed a C-Section. We stopped at the Orphanage to see if Erin and Heather wanted to go and to check on Ne Ne, who was accidentally pushed off the slide and hurt her right side. Heather was not there and Erin was babysitting so Roland, Soni, me and the two ladies started our walk to the market with the intention to meet Vogley and Mike at 1115ish at the town square. Just as we got into the heart of the market Mike called and said that the pastor did not show up because he was stranded in the far west and they tried to catch up but failed so they were going to be ready earlier. So we decided to meet at Aresis, and we got there at about 1045 and as it turns out Mike and Vogley did not arrive until 1115 anyway. When they showed up we all went to the hospital and visited two women; the first one was a former nurse for the mission named Feliciany, who went in for a C-Section also, her and her baby were healthy and happy. The second women we visited was Madam Gesner, who is the one that Dr. Joseph thought needed a C-Section but as it turns out she was still very much pregnant when we got there, so we just visited for a while and took off. We decided to go to lunch at that pizza place again since Mike and Teresa had not been there yet. This was a new experience for all of us though, because they second pizza that we got had sardines on it and it was really strong and not very good. It’s ok thought because we got ice cream on the way out to get the sardine taste out of our mouths, and the ice cream was REALLY good. We stopped back at the Orphanage to pick up Heather, Ne Ne, Josiah, Erin and all their stuff, and to drop off Soni, we were there for about 20 minutes playing with the children and getting all loaded up. We got back to the mission at about 3 and after helping Heather get all of her stuff to the house I went back to the OR to help organize some more while waiting for Melissa to be ready to go to Sonel’s, which I thought was going to be 5. As it turns out there was a little miscommunication between Mel and the house keepers about what time their little party was going to start so she decided to go at 420 instead of 5. So I went down to get Mike and Teresa and only came out with Mike because Teresa was in her Creole lesson. So Mel, Mike, Erin and I headed out to Sonel’s, Erin did not make it very far though, because of the slippery, muddy terrain, so she decided to go Friday. The three of us had quite an interesting time making it there without falling on our butts, in the mud, but we succeed and got there in one piece. We should up to Sonel in his wheelchair and not in his bed, WOO-HOO. However, we also showed up to his one wound looking worse than it ever has been and found out that the dressing came off yesterday and his dad put the old style on instead of the new stuff Melissa was testing. The infection/dead tissue is almost down to his bone and the sore is about the size of a coffee saucer. Please keep that wound in your prayers that it does not hit his bone before the doctors get here and can cut out some of the dead tissue and maybe once they see it think of something different to try and heal it. The new tenant was at the house today so I am wondering when Sonel and his dad will be out of the house. That one sore was the only one that Mel changed today because they other ones look good and the dressing and meds she put on only need to be checked every 2 days, so after that we prayed and played for a little while and headed back for dinner. We got back at about 530 and Melissa got ready for her party while the rest of us prepped for dinner. Dinner was spicy today and for once I was not the only one that thought so, but it was still good. After dinner we had devotions and hung out in the dining room trying to get the internet working, which eventually I figured out Jose’s system and got it up and running for us. J After that we were all spent some time emailing, chatting, and watching the game cast for the UK v. SC game. I also got the chance to look at Erin computer which, when she got back today and tried to use it for the first time in a week found out that the screen was inoperative, all she gets is a blank all white screen. Rolgard had her plug it in to the office monitor to make sure that all that was wrong was the screen, and fortunately everything else worked. So from 8-10 we passed around my computer and everyone got done what they needed to before the power went out. Now it is time to finish the OR sheets that are being washed, get my bed around, and hit the sack. Peace.