News of the week...

Fiona and Gracie

a little light reading by the pool?

Ti poul...after it was suggested to name them breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack, we decided to name them Wings, Legs, Tete and Wishbone. (Mark is the mama)
reflection of gecko
ti poul
It was a lovely day today in so many ways but having a day off is certainly a reason to just enjoy the sunshine and pool. The weather held quite nicely through out the week and having Fiona here working with me now is a pleasure as well. Fiona is a nurse from the UK that HHH has hired to help in the clinic as we re establish our programs. We spent many hours over 4 days flushing out all the bits and pieces of each program and the work that HHH does...we put together power point presentations of each to get a picture for the HHH board members to assist in funding all the different aspects of HHH Klinik Kay Kapab. We were pretty proud of ourselves (and exhausted as well)!

Team Portland team members held a Haiti dinner and silent auction. Authentic Haitian style food was served, art from Haiti was in the silent auction. While I haven't heard the details, I did hear it was a success and raised about $3000 to help the team bring rehabilitation care to Haiti next February. Way to go Team. We owe a debt of gratitude to our friends and families for their ongoing support, generosity and love that allows us to continue to help our Haitian friends and colleagues provide care to those disabled by stroke and injuries sustained in the earthquake.

You may have read that Cholera is now the big news in Haiti. The last case was reported in 1961 but it seemed like just a matter of time before it struck again. This time it is mostly in the Central part of the country although there is rumor that there is a few cases in PaP (reportedly from persons coming into the city during the incubation period and before symptoms appeared). We are gearing our staff up- providing education to what Cholera is. Certainly, the situation in the tent communities around the city a ripe place for epidemics like Cholera and TB and typhoid. Awareness, education and vigilance are key components that we can do for now. We have read that the Ministry of Health suggests that the Cholera is under control as many organizations jumped into the fire so to speak to help contain, prevent further outbreaks and treat the huge numbers of patients exhibiting the signs and symptoms.

We received 2 containers of supplies this week and seriously have supplies stacked everywhere with more expected on Tuesday from Canada. Our new van arrived as well- its a beauty and I drove it home after our dinner out at the Oloffson on Wednesday night. I can't wait to drive it again. I wonder how long the new car smell will last....

I got new batteries for my apartment~ For weeks now, when the city power when out at night about 8 pm, my back up power ie batteries to inverter were so weak it caused my inverter to beep for hours every night. My fans would go off and on every 2-4 seconds all night long. If my light was on, it flashed like a cheap neon sign at the corner bar....reminding me I probably should go buy a drink.