End of week 2 already.

Sunny with clear skies and 28 degrees. No rain and some breeze leaving the ground very dry and dusty.

Our garden have started to grow…We have a 3inch bean plant and 3 more. Spinach is doing well and many tomato plants are now 1inch tall. The lettuce is a little slow compared to the rest but all in all we are very pleased. The 2 x2gallons of water I cart to it daily does prove useful. Rosemarie was wondering if we checked the shells surrounding our garden for crabs and I can confirm that they are all still in situe and have not wondered away in the night! We have had some interest from the 4 dogs on the compound as they like a little dig or a roll in the dirt so we have planted a couple of cacti from the back to discourage them. Good job these dogs are nowhere near the size of Tamba or they would lie on the whole bed a once.

Talking of Tamba…I was reading Julia’s Facebook this week and saw a couple of lovely shots of him. I miss him loads but know he is in good hands.

Both Rebecca and I have been missing home a bit this week. I think we are missing familiar things more than anything else. I know I miss keeping up with what happens around my usual haunts, work, school etc.….any gossip gratefully received.

I have now officially been given permission to start to unpack the medical store room at the existing hospital. I have no idea how long it will take me but I know that there are large bags and boxes in there with singularly packed needles, syringes, feeding tubes and much more. Most things have been taken out of their boxes to ease travel but I now have nothing to store it all in and will have to sort blue from green needles and 5ml syringes from 10ml. I have to go begging tomorrow for some shelves to store it all on as currently it is just a floor with boxes and a few cupboards housing most of the medicine. Ill keep you posted on my progress.

The hospital site is now all cleared and the trench for the perimeter wall is all dug awaiting foundation this week. The hospital is currently a head of target but I believe we can run into holdups any time so good to be prepared. Julian is enjoying it and really able to use his skills, even ones I’m not sure he knew he had. The team round him is good and diverse. The Haitian’s have conceded to working 5 long days instead of the 6 short ones they were used to. The heat, in the sun, is overpowering between 1.30 and 4 but they seem remarkably resilient. In fact they wear hats and long trousers as it is winter……I must admit we have been turning off the fan early morning as we feel chilly but haven’t got blankets out just yet…I left them in Amersham any way.

Ella’s teacher arrived back this week after a visit home. Miss Kate had been missed by all, especially the kids on the compound and Ella and Rebecca were very excited to meet her. Now Rebecca and Joseph have just each other for company with Miss Michelle whilst Ella now have school with Haley and Garin. The split of the older from the younger have been good I think. There was a lot of waiting tine, time to distract each other. They both come home from school between 11.30 and 12md and says it was good before they run out to play. This weekend they both had a little homework to do but far too busy to get it done, so now they have to get up and do it in the morning.

We hope all is well with all our friends and family and look forward to all your messages on face book and through email. If you are not yet aware then please change my email to cattlemarie@gmail.com as my talk talk have ceased to function properly from here.

Best wishes for the week ahead from us all 4.

Julian and Marie

Sunday

Coffee on the terrace, 28 degrees, sunshine and palm trees. A trip to the beach with the girls riding on the roof of the truck and snorkelling in the Caribbean Sea. People were right, Haiti is a dump ….

 

Mary, Mary quite contrary. How does you garden grow? With silver bells and cockle shells and Pretty maids all in a row.

We made a small garden outside the front of our house this morning. Julian carted the topsoil from the hospital site and we edged it with white conch shells. We then seeded Hollyhock, Echinacea, Aster, Beans, Peas, Tomatoes, Purple sprouting, Tomatoes, Spinach and Lettuce. Now lets hope they grow. Its very dry here and I’ll have to water twice a day until April when the rain return. We all helped but I got a little possessive about my planting, wanted the seeds to go as far as possible….

It was lovely to do something as a family. We have seen a lot of each other in the past week but not done much together. I suppose it will all settle into routine after some time.

The hospital build, or clearing the site, got well underway this week. Julian had 5 men clearing all the undergrowth and some of the smaller trees. He also managed to find much wildlife in the shape of lizards, hermit crabs and cockroaches, teaming the ground like a Indiana Jones film, and even a couple of snakes and a scorpion. The kids have all enjoyed seeing his finds some closer than other. Becca was very proud when holding the garter snake until a local made a gesture suggesting one bite would kill. In voodoo all snakes have a bad reputation.

On Monday we celebrated Julian’s 40th birthday. He was very pleased with the dust proof, and water proof, camera the girls gave him. He is planning to take regular photos of the construction to map the progress. Thanks also to all the donations to our charity giving page. It is much appreciated and mean a great deal to the hospital build.

Our house is becoming very familiar to us and quite comfortable. We have little wildlife inside besides many mosquitos, who is particularly partial to Rebecca and I, and some very persistent ants who find their way through plastic bags and not airtight containers. All food stuff is at risk but they do have a sweet tooth. We managed to get rid of a few unwanted guests in the first couple of days. The mouse, 2 lizards and a few cockroaches found a sticky end. The roaches still persist but mainly out of site.We have now also found space for our family photos. It was a good move this morning a both Becca and I felt a little homesick. Nothing here is bad or very difficult just not very familiar yet.

I was given a job by Justin, the guy in Scotland, this week. He wants to know what medicines we have available in the current hospital. I have seen the storeroom before and had an idea of what I might find. The reality, however, was worse than expected. There is quite a lot of medicines available to the hospital, most in date. The real issue is that no one puts anything away once finished and as everything else pt. the room is very dusty. The result being a countertop and a few cupboards littered with pill strips, empty boxes and even loose pills which must have fallen out. I have started to tidy up a little as I was counting anyway but still have a long way to go. I’m not even sure If I’m meant to, if anyone would mind. Ill have to ask next week when I go to continue. A few more shelves would help a lot.

Our new house help came to cook on Thursday. She cooked rice and beans, beef sauce, banana chips and coleslaw. It was yummy and we look forward to more of her cooking next week. The idea is for her to clean our little house on Mondays and cook Haitian on Thursday. My lack of Creole is making it a little difficult to communicate but between Julian and some duel speakers on site I manage so far. I’m actually quite good a wordless communication I have decided. I do hope to learn a little creole and Julian’s schoolboy French is making it easier for him.

That’s all for now folks! Take care and look after each other.

Julian and Marie xxx