Thursday in Chad

Thursday, November 16, 2006

This is a general email that we are sending to all our family and friends. I guess there were some people who were confused as to why they were receiving an email from me. I am acting as the official writer of the happenings here and we just wanted our families to know what is going on.

Last night was not as cool as the night before. It's funny that all the days start running together already. Time goes by so fast here. Yesterday a few of the guys went into Kelo to try and get some supplies they would need for the house. They were unsuccessful, so today Jamie and Rick went into Kelo and have just gotten back. They had success. They were able to get pipe for the new house. They had some interesting experiences on the way back. There is a river crossing just outside of the hospital that you have to cross. A truck had gotten stuck on the barge, which is just a platform and ramp made out of loosely put together wood strips (I honestly don't know how it holds anything). Jamie and Rick helped them push the truck out of the way so they could get by. They said they got stuck on the river crossing twice.

I got to help James a lot today in surgery. I even assisted in a hernia repair. That was so much fun. I actually did about 4 ultrasounds today. They are going to advertise by word of mouth and local radio that I am here and they will offer free prenatal ultrasounds next month. They are hoping this will encourage the people to get prenatal care.

We have been having great meals here. Solomon is a great cook. Today we had wheat gluten that he made, breaded and fried. Rice with a gravy containing okra. I don't usually like okra but it was yummy. He also makes good bread.

Peter, Graham and Steve got the other generator running today too. They have been doing a lot of evaluating today as well to see what needs to be done. A funny thing happened today. Peter and Steve were in the surgical ward looking in the x-ray room and asking James what things he wanted to get rid of and then we left them to do some surgery in the other room. After Peter and Steve left, they thought the place was empty and locked us in. The door is locked by a padlock from the outside. After banging on the door a few times, someone came and let us out. We had a good laugh about it.

Kelli