Archive for May, 2010

When I worked at NOLS during much of the 90’s, we had a concept called “expedition behavior.” Technically it had to do with one’s work ethic and attitude in the field; practically though, it usually had to do with a person’s capacity to cope with adversity. In the years I was working I had a number of 30 day courses where 25 of the 30 days it would rain or snow. The primary focus was on drying clothes, staying warm, getting a good meal and most importantly, maintaining a sense of humor and perspective.

Our last month here in Timor has been a little like that. We’ve had close to a month of near constant rain. We’ve joked more than once that we feel like we are on an expedition. I suppose “journey” is a more appropriate spiritual metaphor, but its not as gritty as our experience sometimes feels! When my mom was just here she suggested we start a ministry of drying clothes! All in all though “EB” has remained good and it was wonderful to have my folks here to share in some of the fun. They were able recall some of my old jargon for dealing with such conditions: “never stops” and “it just doesn’t matter” being two favorites. We were also able to teach them the meaning of the Tetum word “aat” – which means broken, messed up, ruined, or otherwise very lame. My hope is that they will appropriate it into colloquial English in Minneapolis. We are thankful that they made the journey as we had plenty of time to catch up and share stories and news.

After our time in Lospalos, we had a mini vacation in Baucau and Dili. We dropped off my folks at the airport on Monday afternoon and then had some meetings and errands in Dili. We didn’t leave for Lospalos until 4:30 pm so we slept in Baucau – a 3 hour drive from Dili. We got back to Lospalos on Tuesday at 8:00 in the morning pleased to see that some serious sun and wind had set in. Monica went to work right away and I spent the morning cleaning mold off the ceiling of our house. That afternoon we hooked up a new system for the clinic microscope: a 12 V car battery and inverter that will allow the lab tech to do her work during the day instead of having to wait for the electricity to come on at 5 or 6 in the afternoon. When the electricity comes on at night she can plug the inverter in and recharge the battery. It felt like a small victory to see the lab staff looking at tb and malaria smears during the day!

Hannah’s grandparents, David and Lorene, have been in Timor for a week with us.  We are in Baucau today, after most of a week in Lospalos.  Most of the story is theirs to tell, but I have to share a bit.  

Lospalos has been a wilderness experience for them.  No laundry facilities, no regular electricity or running water.  No refrigerator. and most of all, no cell phone or internet access to speak of.  I realize just how much I have gotten used to this, but am refreshed in memory of my first few months here, when the lack of these creature comforts was true hardship.  

David and Lorene have been wonderful, and in my opinion, their stay is much too short.  Everyone here was in awe that they were only going to be here a little over a week. (Not a month or 2? people asked)  That speaks to how we all gauge time, I think.  In Timor, things move slowwwww; in America, we are always rushing. Imagine, when was the last time you took a month to do anything leisurely? Would you do it now?  

Anyway, out here in the wilderness, I realize a whole month has gone by and I haven’t written an email. that is because I have not been to a computer.  And, Simon, Hannah and I spent our first several days alone without Tom 3 weeks ago as he was a chauffer around Timor for some guests of our NGO, Fusona (church NGO here in Timor).  I had all the women around me taking turns with Simon, and of course Hannah loves and is loved by all the community here.  So, my single parenting turned out to be very low stress.  Could I ask for more?

I have begun teaching in earnest of late.  I am beginning a mini-school here with the staff to build their capacity as health care providers.  None of the 5 women have been to nursing school.  Some have taken trainings in laboratory or pharmacy, and 3 have worked at this clinic for an average of 10 years.  Yet, when I asked them what a normal heart rate was, no one could tell me, nor did they know where your heart exactly was located in your body.  OK, maybe I am too demanding, maybe you are saying to yourself, geez, I don’t know the answer to those questions either.  Well, when someone has worked in a clinic for so long, treating very ill people at times, I do think these are fair things to know, and I do think someone should teach these staff about medicine.  So, I am.

We began last week with an overview of anatomy and physiology of systems (digestive, nervous, etc).  Then a class on cell biology.  Next was microbiology (bacteria, parasites, etc).  They were all in disbelief at first when I told them we all have lots of bacteria on and in our bodies all the time, even when we are healthy.  A good conversation about bacteria and worms in feces followed, with some more eye-opening information.  I am starting to tap into their consciousness about how hygiene and sanitation play a leading role in health issues here.  At least I hope I am.

Time to sign off, more soon!

Monica

Means heavy rain. Just when we though we were entering the dry season, we’ve had rain everyday for the past two weeks or more. Its getting a bit hard to dry clothes.

Simon and Hannah and Monica are all well. The clinic staff has had some changes so Monica is busier but also happy to be able to implement some needed changes. I am doing a lot of child care and fitting in some English tutoring and handy man work in the clinic.

We are excited to have a visit from my folks this week.