Here's a peek at our month...so far it's been really good!
Cassia is finally getting a little more hair...and some cute curls :)
April Showers has been true around here! We have really been enjoying the rains, and hope that it's the end of the drought that we've been in basically since we moved here.
With the completion of Medicine Ward, we are to a new "era" in the hospital! This was our final ward to renovate, and it looks sooo much better! There are still a few projects to do in a few areas around the hospital, but for the most part, we are on to new construction....whatever that will be!
Medicine ward now has several private rooms with only one patient bed, and their own toilet and shower, which is really exciting. There are also several isolation rooms with exhaust ventilation for those with communicable diseases that need to be away from other patients.
Bright new nurses station!
We had a little ceremony for the opening of the ward. Pastor Etheard read from Psalm 126. "When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them. The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad." He spoke of how the hospital had been in such bad disrepair, how it was almost ready to close. He spoke of how that God has helped us to make it a beautiful place, and how others will say good things about Hospital Lumiere and know that the Lord has been with us.
Dr Moise, the Internist who works mainly in the Medicine Ward, talked about taking care of the patients and how everyone has worked together to make this happen, and then she cut the ribbon! It's all official now :)
We've had a special visitor this month, Flat Evan. Remember the story Flat Stanley? Well, our friend Evan made himself flat and mailed himself to us so we could have some adventures together.
On Saturday, we went to the big Cayes market. It's a very crowded place with these covered stands, and piles and piles of fresh produce. Peppers, tomatoes, bananas, avocados, green onions, militones, potatoes, carrots, garlic, and on and on. They have charcoal, rice, and a butchering area where they made sausages. I was almost tempted to try them and see if I would die or not, but I didn't.
As we were leaving the market, we saw some hot dogs and patays (fried dough sandwiches with a cabbage slaw inside) that have been deeply fried in hot, hot oil. We figured they were pretty safe, and bought a little snack. Orrin shared his hot dog with Flat Evan. We all survived.
We had a work team come in that afternoon, and so we wanted to go up and welcome them to Bonne Fin. Evan wanted to ride the 4-wheeler, so we all climbed on and had a fun ride.
Evan wanted to go into surgery because he thought he wanted to be a doctor. They told him it wouldn't work out very well if he washed his hands since he is paper, so he couldn't help with the surgery, but he did watch. There was one OB case that he saw, and he liked watching. Then he watched the visiting team do an ortho surgery on a person's foot, and he almost passed out. We figured it was time to go home so he could eat and feel better.
That afternoon, we Skyped with Flat Evan's mom and sisters. He thought it was fun to see them and talk to them from so far away. Evan plans to return home this week. It's been fun to have him here!!
David got what we think was a spider bite recently. It was read, painful, and had a "ring" around it. These can get super deep, painful, and harmful to your health and wellbeing, so you don't want to mess around too much. As soon as he figured out it was more than just a bug bite, we started using activated charcoal mixed with water, putting it inside a paper towel, and applying it to his leg overnight. In less than a week, it is all healed up! Way to go natural remedy :)
I still think it's cool all the projects that D tries...over the years some of them have had better success than others, but he generally figures things out with his mechanical mind and YouTube ;) The latest and greatest experiments have been resurrecting my laptop and making a handle for a straight razor. The laptop cure was to turn on the laptop and wrap it in a blanket for a half hour. When you turn it on, viola! your parts have saudered themselves back together and your screen works again! The straight razor handle is being made from some local Haitian cedar, and has had a lot of cutting, sanding, and sealing. Our room looks like a toolshop, but he's making a cool handle :)
We're looking forward to a few more fun upcoming events this month...stay tuned! :)
