Tuesday

I had mentioned that we lost water Monday eve. However, the guest house has a large tank on the roof so that when we lose water to the house (sinks, toilets...) there is a separate valve in the bathrooms that will still give us water to the showers, but nothing else. The loss of power ended up being caused by someone closing a 12" valve in the line that directs the water from a few local springs down the mountain to a hydro-power plant. Because we are in a dry season, the outlet that normally provides spill-off for the community isn't running water. So I don't know if they closed the valve to cause back pressure to supply the community or to close the electric plant for whatever reason or who knows. Because the community spill-off was dry, someone busted a hole in the top of the 12" plastic pipe to get water and the maintenance crew had just put a cement cap over it. I must say even with an interpreter, it was a challenge figuring out. They would say, "Both valves are closed right now. Both valves are open right now. No, one valve is open and one is closed. No, the other one is open and this one closed. And after 15 min of changing stories, you figure it out yourself!"

After Sheila & I arrived back from the water investigation. We spent most of the morning doing more inventory and unpacking tubs of supplies. I think between us, Jeana & Heather, they're caught up. I'm not sure how many surgeries they did today, I think Dr Rudolph said 11 total, but that seems high. Sherice will be impressed, I got to watch a hip surgery today (10 minutes was enough for me!!) They had to remove the metal ball from a 93 yr old man because they found it actually protruding out the back of him when they rolled him over in bed! Wow, that was a first for Dr Weiss. Another little 3 mos old baby was brought in, yesterday actually, who was born with a band of skin just above the ankle. Normally this is an emergency surgery after birth to save the foot, but not much you can do after 3 mos., but amputate when the baby is a little older. Jennifer had another busy day in PT. At about 5:30 she saw a 104 yr old! lady who I saw lying on a floor mat in the lobby all day. She ended up having a severe fractured femur that needs immediate attention tomorrow. If they would have known today, they may have tried to fit her in. If Jennifer would have known, she would have processed her much quicker. Communication and triage is a real challenge sometimes. The midwest girls did more recovery room PT and Bethann, Amy & I even had an afternoon Creole lesson. After our evening meal, the midwest girls, Sheila & I went up to the hospital and sang hymns for about an hour to the various wards. Some of the Haitians even joined us. One wing of the clinic burst into song on their own! It sure is fun singing with this group! Well, I probably should go back to the house since I had to wake the guard up last night to let me out. I'm going to try and post some photos in the morning.