This trip just gets better and better. Last Friday, two nurses from Switzerland came here to work, one for two weeks, the other for one month. I thought it would be a good thing to have some people to work with in the clinic, but they are so much more helpful and productive than that. One is the daughter of the man who founded the clinic twelve years ago and she and I are working with the other nurse to try to make the clinic here more efficient and better equipped. Some of our ideas are to reorganize triage, establish a small laboratory here, fix the xray machine (we have one, but it's broken. in Haiti, this could truly save lives. it's very difficult for people to get a consultation at one clinic, xrays at another hospital, take them to the first clinic, all while paying for transportation, xrays, and consultations. we could avoid all that by just fixing the xray machine.), write protocols, etc. for the clinic. Almost all our ideas are the same, and when talking with sister Luz Marina, we are on the same page with her as well.

I am still waiting for a final word on whether or not I will be returning in January. I want to, since I don't feel like I am done with my work here, there is still so much that I can do and I don't want to abandon this project right now. But I am getting really homesick right now, talking with Liza reminds me of home and my family and just how much I miss them. It is Christmas time right now (not that you would know it. Right now, I think it is 85 or 90 degrees outside and blindingly sunny.) and I have always enjoyed this time of year, it is the time I most appreciate and enjoy. I am so glad I will be returning for Christmas, to spend the holidays in Oregon!

This is not the most interesting blog post, I understand that. I have talked about the clinic enough and there are not many new stories to post. I am getting more and more independent, especially since Leo and Pia are on vacation for two weeks. I can diagnose and treat impetigo, lance abscesses, clean wounds, and do consultations and write medications for hypertension. Now when I return to the states, I want to find a job that will allow me to come back here on a regular basis, maybe to continue doing this type of work...public health studies or something of the sort. One of these days, I would like to visit the general hospital; I have heard horrible stories and I would like to see for myself. Maybe on the next trip that will be possible.

Otherwise, everything is going well, nothing else to report. I will be returning to the states on December 7th, staying in Memphis until the 15th, I believe, then flying back home to Portland in the evening. I am happy to tell stories and show pictures. Just ask.