Back in the Village

Hello all Karen and I are back in BML! Day 1 what to report. Not much
really Karen and I spent from 9 in the morning until dark, since we do not
have electricity but that is another story, moving the pharmacy. Yeah fun
but it has to be done.

The next day was a little more busy but swampy. Has not rained in 3 months
and now everytime it even drizzles the water builds up. Meetings are
schedule with the Doctor and Mayor in Bas Limbe in ongoing efforts to
partner with the resources that are already in place. While waiting for the
scooter boys ever the workaholics Karen and I worked on nex years med list.
Through the swamp and river to Bas Limbe only to find the Clinic closed and
the Mayor away. We tossed the medications were were to deliver into the
clinic through a window and waited over an hour for the Deputy Mayor who I
am please dto say was a delight. He is pleased we are in the area and has
heard great things about our work. He is going to work on our behalf with
the Ministry of Health to assist with the clinic staff and water improvement
projects. As always time will tell.

Like politicians the world over he is also a strong booster of his community
and recommended that we have our scooter boys take us to a local "Historic
Location" called Sous d'eau which translates as under the water. It is a
sacred Voudou site where once a week the local Voudou Priestess holds court
behind the waterfall. People come to seek advice and to pray for good
fortune and health.

Guest House update. Work is progressing rapidly now that Foreman Joe is
back in town. Half the roof is now on and the tile in the main floor guest
room is laid. This room will house 6 people comfortably with screened
windows. The bathrooms are on schedule for completion before everyone
arrives and they might even have power if we can get a backup generator to
charge the batteries.

So far we have seen 32 women for family planning and vitamin distribution
from our shiny new clinic, photos of which we will have uploaded as soon as
possible.

We are trying something new this trip, almost real time updates. Bi-daily
we will have the blog updated remotely by sending text messages to my sister
who will try and make sense of what we send and then update the blog.

We will see how it goes. Stay tuned

Tiffany