Hi All:
As usual, I write a bit faster than I probably should, but things seem to go in a bit high gear out here. Duane and I left (separately, as he could not mirror my flights without an exorbitant cost) and met in the Miami airport at 5 am, he a bit weary from trying to catch a few winks on the airport floor. He got in at 1:30 am as the flight from Charlotte was delayed, a chronic song of different verses each time with American Airlines, it seems, but what choices realistically do we have? We had a decent flight in with an overfull plane but Duane’s luggage did not accompany us. There was a huge line at the lost luggage counter, but we finally were attended to, though he is still separated from his goods. They told him he could have a second bag in Grand Rapids, so he tossed his carry on in as a second baggage, so that is lost in the fray also. Hindsight is always more clear than before the event, it seems.
The week so far has been hectic for him as he has a host of repairs to do. He has fixed the leak in the laundry water system, as plumbing seems to break faster than we can repair things. Of course, the department has a ton of washing to do each day. We have 2 new washing machines coming in the next container from Bluffton to help in keeping things clean around here, but there always seem to be breakdowns as fast as we repair things. He also repaired the xray machine and a number of other items, but the generator is causing him and us fits. EDH, the government power system, has allocated us maybe 1-2 hr of electricity daily and Duane is trying to figure out where all the electricity is going as he has up to 26 KWH draw and the smaller generator cannot handle the load. The battery backup system that USAID installed for the lab and clinic (i.e. not the hospital and OR, as they are not into curative medicine, rather preventative?) takes a huge load to charge the system, fine if on government power, not so hot on our generator. So, they have been running the larger generator a lot while I was in the US and it is belching black smoke and Duane (with help from Dan and Jeff via calls) is trying to repair and sort things out. They have sent a fuel filter via Agape flights, to arrive tomorrow, Lord willing, and he will install that in hopes that this will be a temporary fix at least.
With all the political instability, an improvement in government power is not likely until things settle down, but who knows when that will be as the Senatorial elections are slated for August, (I’m glad I will NOT be in country then as travel may be a bit complicated) and then the Presidential one later this year if all goes as planned, but the timing of that can be a bit of a debatable issue here. We are considering the alternatives, including replacing the generator if need be, possibly replacing the smaller one with a larger one so they can at least divide the workload, but the costs are increasing no matter what we try to do. So, appreciate prayer for Duane as he labors in the sweltering heat of summer in Haiti on projects he does his level best to accomplish under somewhat less than ideal circumstances. The language barrier is only one of the struggles he faces daily in trying to repair things here, besides lack of equipment and Haitian lack of comprehension of the whole idea of maintenance, to name just a couple other obstacles to progress. He and I have done quite well in keeping ourselves reasonably nourished. We have found coffee for him, the number one item on his shopping list for Jean Eddy and William, we have eggs, Haitian bread and some cans of tinned ham and we are living high on the hog out here.
The hospital has been super busy, we have done 9 hysterectomies in 2 days, have another 4 on the schedule for today, plus a lot of hernias as people want to get surgeries done before school starts for both students and parents, so they can be ready for classes, it seems. We also had 2 ruptured appendixes on Monday. Normally I do 2 or 3 a year so a bit of a surprise, but so far, both are doing well. We did 13 cases on Monday and were winding down about 9 pm when a gunshot to the chest came in. We managed to stabilize him and so far, he seems to be doing Ok. We finished surgery with the last ruptured appendix at 11 pm and I was sound asleep by 11:30, only to have the gunshot bleed again at 1:30 and we had to make adjustments to the treatment, limited as it is out here. So, just another speed bump on the road of work here. We did another 15 cases yesterday, so
things are moving well.
Monday night, I did contact the authorities up in Cap Haitian regarding the possible residency training for Drs. William and Adulte and the changes they seem to have made in a negative direction last month. I asked if maybe we could discuss things and they gave me an appointment for Friday morning up there, so William, Jean Eddy and I will make the long trek up there Thursday morning and return Friday night in hopes for some bright light at the end of the tunnel. We are praying hard for God’s clear direction and help in this regard, as the options seem limited for the future of the hospital without some legal certification from the government for our surgeons in training, something that seems slow in forthcoming now for years on end. PLEASE join us in prayer that God may guide us in the right path for the good of the hospital and His glory.
Will go back to the OR now, but wanted to whip something off between cases to let you know that we are well, busy and appreciative of serving Him here in Haiti with your encouragement.
In His Service,
Bill and Duane (and the rest of the team)