APRIL 22 2013 AT 22:00 HRS

We lost electricity thought the night and we all suffered with the heat…. It was hard to sleep. I had nightmares… probably from the heat and malaria meds. There were crickets, birds….. And at 5:30am (I was already awake) the roosters started. At 6:15 there were trumpets…. Then drums and singing for half an hour. I thought that maybe I was mistaking the noises and hearing things, but a patient this afternoon told me this afternoon that there was a funeral. Mine and Derrick’s (they are making fun of me for calling him dr. batten) morning was slow. We did 2 extractions (very infected gums) and I didn’t pass out. And then we saw a couple of ladies who needed only debridement. It’s amazing that the patients we’ve seen have only needed debridement…. No caries. Derrick has been doing scaling and has a new appreciation for hygienist. Most of them have never had cleanings and the calculus is TENACIOUS. I scaled one of the Father’s for 2 and a half hours today. After lunch I watched Alex do a circumcision in the o.r. (i didn’t pass out). We saw several more patients after lunch… No caries or ext’s…. Just really long hygiene visits. The evenings here are pretty entertaining. Max and Eliza spend the evenings with us and are helping us throughout the day. Max speaks English and very little French. Eliza speaks only Italian and French. Alex doesn’t understand the English that the Newfoundlanders speak…. It makes for interesting conversation. They drove here from Italy to work here in the village and it took them 27 days. They will be staying here for 6 months. Going to bed now! Please fans…. Don’t fail us!

-Nicole

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What a busy day. Got to met the man that runs the CSPD what a super guy. After we were introduced and left by ourself to get some work done he said to me you no French, me no English and he started to laugh. Every time that I had to explain something to him I had to get someone to translate, made for a long day. He doesn’t have much to work with, both autoclaves never worked so we had to sterilize everything by a dry heat sterilizer. Not compatible with anything other than instruments. They tell us that one of the autoclaves will be repaired tomorrow I will believe that when I see it. Another draw back is the shortage of instruments. They need to be flipped as quick as possible. Well it’s late and lots to do again in the morning, Oh ya do I mention how freaking hot it is over here. Night! Terry

Another great day here in Zinvie. We did four surgeries and had to unfortunately push two others to tomorrow. Shortage of instruments. You feel so bad having to do that when these people are waiting around in the heat with their families in uncomfortable accommodations and worried I am sure about their children. We saw a five year old girl today that is very sick and we unfortunately are unable to do anything to help her. They just do not have the facilities her at this hospital. Unfortunately there will always be cases like that. We have to try and focus on the ones you can help and know that you are making a difference. God will take care of the rest.
We had another fun evening, some cards and laughs. Our new friends Alisa and Max who travelled eight thousand Kms by jeep from Italy to stay here in Zinvie for six months. They had quit the adventure and it has been awesome getting to know them and hear their stories.
It is late and everyone is off to bed trying to get some sleep. Last night the power went out most of the night. So we had no fans to help cool things off. Air conditioning would be a dream. Certainly a luxury for these people.

“Counting my blessings” Pam