The Calm after the Storm

The day before a team leaves it is usually busy in the morning so the afternoon can be at the beach, however, that was not the case yesterday as the Saskatchewan Medical team saw call back patients as well as some new ones at the clinic.  They must have seen around 650 patients in the 6 1/2 days the clinic ran.  The afternoon was spent closing the clinic down.  All items in the pharmacy were counted, inventoried and packed away in containers until locking cupboards are installed.  All the examination rooms and consulting rooms were packed up, patient records were organized in Rubbermaid bins, and everything was swept and washed.  What a beehive of activity.  Everyone worked right up until supper and then the personal packing and room cleaning began.

Scurrying around organizing, packing and cleaning at the clinic

Cindy Knelson, Mignon and Antoinette LeRoux cleaning and organizing...supervised by Ronald?

The Moose Jaw team finished up at the Children's Village (I'm sorry, but I never made it over there to get photos).  I know they worked hard, because they came back sweaty and dirty.   Dave and Mike were putting finishing touches on the fence around the clinic and the railing on the stairs at the street entrance with their Haitian partners.  It's amazing what these two teams accomplished in ten days....very long days.  Thank you for everything you did!!

David Schock and Jean Philippe at work under the mango tree

Mike Forge finishing up a section on the fence around the clinic

Mike and his partner admiring their railing on the steps at the clinic entrance on the street

The finished railing waiting for completion of the painting.

It was a late night, with Steve Harrison hanging out with his Haitian buddies outside, the medical group having a final lengthy debrief on the roof, and the rest of the rest of the Moose Jaw team playing their final round of Up and Down the River with Roy.

Morning came very early as showers began at 4:00 am and baggage loading began before 5:00 am.   Both Chris and Gordon Stock were still under the weather.  Chris was running only a low fever and felt a little better than yesterday.   We prayed for the ones departing and saw them off.  By 5:30 am all was quiet and Roy, Olive, Wayne and I headed back to bed for another hour or so of sleep.

Roy prays for the departing group.

Chris all ready to board and begin his journey home

Marc, Lisa and Jasmine headed back to Calgary with the departing teams so Jasmine can get some medical attention.  They'll return on Mar. 24.  Roy and Olive are looking after Asher, Meisha and Aryana here at the guest house.   After the kids got off to school, Olive, who is still feeling low in energy found a sunny spot under a mango tree in the yard for a relaxing breakfast.

I caught up on some emails, and got called out in the afternoon to take photos of two ladies each receiving a goat.  They have to agree to give away the first offspring of their goats to someone else in need and then they can keep all the rest for themselves.

We were supposed to have our Creole lesson at 5:00 pm, but our instructor was sick, so I'll have to do some work on it myself.  I still get frustrated because I don't have a large enough vocabulary to communicate as effectively as I'd like, and if I don't use certain words regularly I forget them.  The staff is good about helping me fill in the blanks (-:  Then we all have a good laugh.