First Week in the Books

We've had a great first half of our trip.  Many memorable experiences and renewed friendships.  Pharmacy work is going very smoothly.  Our team has all pitched in to help pre-package various prescriptions.  Teresa's time saving "icing" ointment bag was very helpful in filling the triple cream vials.

 

 

The air conditioner in the pharmacy (a new feature to us) has been a real blessing though not 100% reliable.  Our interpreter, Scherlie, is a real gem.  A second-year pharmacy student, she is a quick study and one of the friendliest people we have ever met.  Leah, the Pharmacist and clinic administrator, has not been working with us the whole time, but has been a great help clarifying challenging prescriptions when we are stuck.  She seems to appreciate the work we are doing.

 

 

 

The pace this year has been very steady, but with the two Haitian pharmacy staff sharing the work, it allows us to circulate a bit more than last year and see what our co-workers are doing.  However, our dental team wasn't terribly fond of our attempt to bring relief from the heat with Haitian ice-cubes (water in a tray). 

 

The other mission team, from California, has been working on a variety of tasks including painting the school, playground equipment and fence.  The transformation has been remarkable.

 

Panoramic of the newly painted school

 

Saturday brought a tour of the community in the van.  With Pastor Wade driving we experienced a much more relaxing journey - except on the steep hill leading to an orphanage!  We look forward to a visit next Wed to the Petit Goave hospital.  We've heard it's a real eye opener.

 

View from Be Like Brit Orphanage

 

Some of the interesting Haiti-isms we've encountered thus far include...

• Cold showers, but not quite as intolerable as we remember them.
• Spicy peanut butter (the cooks add habanero peppers to it!)  Sure glad we brought our own!
• Yes, biohazard buns are back (delivered in biohazard bags), and they are still delicious.
• Chickens eating mangos.  Thankfully, mangos are also starting to be part of our menu!
• Interesting English T-shirt logos worn by unsuspecting Haitians.
• Tires don’t seem to need tread.
• Buying drugs from a street vendor (mobile pharmacy).  The Amoxicillin seemed to be good quality, but a bit pricy.  We just chalked it up to the dispensing fee!
• Oh, and this time we have been on a Caribbean island for 8 days before spending a single day at the beach.

Check out the spare tire

Dave's "dealer"

 

Please continue to comment on the blog.  Rest assured, as we gather for our evening debriefings we review each and every one with eager anticipation and interest.  Thanks!
Dave & Monique