Odds and Ends of Update

So many scenes here are idyllic, peaceful and picturesque. The woman washing clothes in the pila is Sonia, a long time employee of the hospital and a good friend. She is a success story- trained from the local pueblo in surgery, sent off to the city to attend LPN school, returned to us and is now the Triage nurse. She adds sparkle to each day with her loving hugs and sense of humor. I frequently pass thru her little enclave where all the family lives to climb up higher to visit another employee.
I just love seeing their everyday life, sitting and laughing with them over the antics of the little puppies under the pedal sewing machine (which is currently hemming John's pants!), the chickens jumping up on the couch.

The week after returning from the flight out to the Mosquitia, John and I journeyed inland 6 hrs with 4 young ladies to the mountains for another Health Promoters Conference where John did several days of teaching on OB GYN issues for the group. I enjoyed the extended downtime in a bed and breakfast surrounded by nice gardens and a wall. It was SO nice- and the sink did not fall off the wall! There was electricity and it was SO clean. A sharp contrast to the motel we stayed at in the Mosquitia. We left ahead of the girls to get John to the airport in San Pedro for a flight to the US. We were able to meet up with Dr. Leon in the motel there, as he too was leaving the country and I put them both on the plane before heading into the city to pick up the girls at the big bus station there. I had their company back to the hospital.
Then began a week "alone"- if one is ever alone here! While John maximized his time to be with our son Jake in Tulsa, and pay short visits to Kate, the kids, and Dan, I said goodbye to Norma, the other RN that works with me as she was leaving for a 4 month furlough. Did some things for John's patients during his time away, but more or less just kept things running! Enjoyed a bit more time visiting with friends in the campo, and even had the adventure of a bus ride with 40 others from the church out further towards the end of the road for an evening of singing with other area churches to the roar of the generator that fueled the 2 lites and the amplifier!

Joni, the young boy below,reading his Bible early in the AM, came home with me so I would not have to drive alone in the dark from the church. He has been in our Sunday School class for several years, and have seen grow from a wimpy, retiring dirty kid to a well-groomed, confident, guitar-playing young man, competently memorizing his required verses and taking big responsibility. Being raised by his Gran, a local illiterate midwife, since his mom was killed, he is now working as gardener and cleanup man for our sunday school champa with dirt floors for 6 weeks to earn his own Bible. He and 2 others persisted in a program we put together and memorized 35 verses to earn a children's illustrated bible, but he wants an adult Bible too.

Well, its almost midnight, John and I have been at the hospital with a young friend in labor with her first. John is now headed for the city with her and her husband. Off to bed.

La Mosquitia

kitchen at orphanage


Have 20 minutes til Norma picks me up to be at the church early to practice guitar. My progressively more arthritic hands and finger are balking at the thought, but guess movement is the best treatment. Returned just yesterday from a 3 day trip by air out to Puerta Lempira, in the Mosquitia to the east of us, land of swamps, drugs, another language and culture. 2 other women and I left at 6 am wednesday for the 1 1/4 hr flight, landing on the dirt airstrip to be greeted by many dogs, the pastor and Gris that work at Mama Tara's orphanage, and assorted people we didn't know. I had created havoc in the departing airport and almost missed the flight because the scanner showed 3 things in my backpack that weren't permitted! Oops. Even in the 3rd world they are careful. As the flight took off, a steady stream of water began to drop on the woman across from me, so Liz and I held up a barf bag to catch it to keep her from getting soaked. It soon stopped. The airconditioning for the ride out was the frequent opening and closing of the window in the cockpit, so was a pleasantly cool trip!

Dirt air strip in Puerto Lempira

We spent our day visiting in the orphanage, asking questions of the boss and various others connected with the work. Had time to play guitar with Gris, the 19 yr old from our area that I'd gone to encourage. She spends time teaching guitar to the kids with an evangelical program Dr. Don from our area created, and they were delighted to give me a concert! Part of our goal in the trip was to encourage the 2 volunteers there and assess their success and needs, so took the Canadien 29 yr old out for lunch to have time to talk with her alone. She took us on a tour of main street, a dirt road ending at the dock, bordered by many small wood shops. All goods come in by boat or plane, so the dock is integral. Prices are high based on lack of access by road, there is no clean water to be had, and electricity is sporadic to say the least. We were able to visit House of Hope, a special needs orphanage that is the nicest in the area with good support from the US. I slept well, despite no a/c or lights during the night. No coffee to be had in early am is my only complaint!

Our second day was also spent at the orphanage playing with kids or consulting with helpers, and then we left with Gris to visit another orphanage that is essentially a family in which lots of the mothers, (sisters), have died and so the aunties have kept the 29 kids together in a very small 3 bedroom house. They were spotless, delightful, orderly. Assessed their water and hygiene needs- water is from a deep square dirt hole pulled up by bucket- muddy to say the least. They walk a fair distance to a faucet in the community for "drinking" water, also not purified. We are so blessed!
We went back to our motel to process all we'd seen and while I was holding my water bottle over the sink in the bathroom to add some powdered drink mix to it, the sink fell off the wall. Shocking pain, as I began to form a hematoma on my foot immediately. The water began flooding the room so we had to evacuate! In the end, we were moved to another room and ended up having a peaceful night, again without electricity. I did NOT touch the sink in the new room!

Backtracking a week or so, John admitted a 7 yr. old with osteomyelitis (bone infection) in her leg from an untreated break. He sent the xrays to an ortho in the US for counsel, and he said it was among the worse he's seen. After 2+ weeks of IV antibiotics in the hospital, with her leg immobilized in a cast and more or less restricted to bed, little Fanny became everyone's pet. She is from a long ways away, but family stayed with her much of the time. It was decided she'd do better at the Children's Home with other kids to help her pass the time, so she was sent there a few days ago, with her IV, and the need to come to the hospital twice daily for her antibiotic. When Dr. McKenney returns on the 17th, he will assess her and decide what he as a surgeon can do for her. Meanwhile, we're fattening her up, introducing her to yogurt and other high protein foods, and loving her.

Because of the political unrest of the past weeks, we had missed an important wedding about 3 hrs from here, and it took place without our signature on the wedding papers. Last week, we took a 24 hr trip over to Tela with Silvia, the new bride, and stayed overnight in a hotel with her, enjoyed dinner at a place on the beach....and then went with her to sign her wedding papers. Silvia is now legal! We got to meet her family and enjoy breakfast with them before hoofing it back to the hospital. We had no problems on the road, met no demonstrators.
There is a political standoff right now, with relative peace but no resolution. Negotiations still going on, roads blocked on Thursdays and Fridays with marches. The teachers staged a large march on Friday with spraypainting bad things on public buildings and private dwellings. We are still expecting 2 teams in September, praying nothing will happen to cause them to change their plans. Life is more or less normal, with the typical swine flu scares, local shootings and macheteings, more civil weddings. We are safe, here in the center of His will.