Have I lived in the UK for almost 19 years and never known I was meant to wear something green on St. Patricks day? The American’s kept pinching me and asking how come I did not wear all green as the Brits are closer to the Irish? I explained that I did not think the Irish themselves wore green, other than a leprecourn hat maybe, but went to mass and then the pub on St. Patricks. Any Irish people please correct me if I’m wrong!
Our St. Patricks day party was great. Our teacher Kate, Drew, Cassie and Ben…all much younger than the rest of the so called adults around here….had organised a Xbox dance party. We ALL had to have a go and I was beaten by a Michelle, who is in many ways is just like me…..but was later told that she had spent most of last summer practicing this particular song…I’ll have to choose next time! The best performances of the evening was delivered by our neighbour Larry and Julian…yes you read correct! I have not laughed so much in ages, good job it was too dark to video me crying.
I know its been a long time since I last wrote on this blog. I seem to get distracted recently. I have been a little more busy. Ella and I have been sewing. I finally made the last of my curtains and still have fabric enough for a table cloth for our large communal table on the veranda, a proper “party cloth for the party room”. I quite like thinking of it as “Ikea in the tropics” as it all seem very Scandinavian. I’ll have to do a Ikea shop when back this summer for more provisions, its great with colour in this place. Anyone fancy coming?
The Lemon Aid team arrived yesterday and I have been promised a whirlwind couple of weeks. The medicines they ordered arrived almost as expected. The only asthma medication available in Haiti is Salbutamol apparently. Tomorrow I’ll go to clinic with the team. They see Compassion children and their families. Many of the team members sponsor Compassion Children in Haiti so this is a good way of giving a little extra. The big immunisation drive will happen next week where the team will vaccinate 500 children in one day…..!
I scrubbed in on surgery Friday afternoon and helped as a circulator too. I did not like being scrubbed in. Too much protective clothing and not enough air. I felt as if the only part of me which could breath freely was the back of my neck and I felt as if I was to pass out twice so I de-cloaked and circulated instead. That way I could still see what was going on. The operating theatre here is not like the US or UK but the rate of post-operative infections is no worse. It is generally the case that the Haitians need a lot less antibiotics than most westerners. I believe we have over used antibiotics and sterilised our world and now made ourselves a victim of our success. There are no superbugs in Haiti and simple antibiotics cure most infections.
As you may expect Julian has found a new friend. The stray dog, Searge, who used to have an owner and now just lives on the compound. He is very loyal, Searge that is, and a little ragged. Julian talks to him, plays with him and feeds him. The girls make sure he and the other dogs have water outside our house and I say “Hello Searge”, followed by “I'm not leaving another dog so don’t take him in as ours….” -he is quite mad and lovely though!
Above a picture of Rebecca’s new thrill. Driving the Doctor, aka Matt Smith, round Anse a Galet on this huge 4x4…she feels very grown up!
The other photo is of the “Toro club”, ever heard of a soft drink one should enjoy in moderation. Not quite sure what’s in it but it does not seem to be available anywhere else in the world and it appears to give the drinkers “ a sense of wellbeing…..”. Surely it cant be good for you. It has now become a regular addition to the working day on site. From left; Peter Wheeler, Julian.., Caleb Johnson and Pastor Greg Edmonds.
Robin, Lowell, Cassie and Madeline returned to Haiti last week after a 3 months forced absence as Robin has had surgery on her neck. The girls were really pleased to meet Maddie and Ella once again found her love of baby dolls. She has not played with her dolls at home for almost a year, unless Sofie was visiting, and so I gave them away…….oops. She was given a spare dolly by Madeline and she is looking after it as if it was a baby…I have had to promise to buy her a new one for home if she is still in to it when we return. Bad Mummy…! The return of the Adams also saw the return of their adoptive Haitian daughter Florence. The girls seem to all get on together and so far a few more children have given an air of peace between Ella and Rebecca. It will be interesting to see how Becca finds her feet in a world of little girls or boys.
We recently had a team of university students from Indiana and Ella was in her element. Young people who thought she was cute and didn’t tell her to stop squealing…..! They had the children from the orphanage down to play and Ella hopped on the back of the truck to take them home. 
