Thursday 3/25 and Friday 3/26
We've made it to Phu Quoc Island which is off the coast of Viet Nam near Cambodia. It's been busy this week. I'll try to catch up with a quick summary..
Last Monday:
Medical team: We caught the bus at 6:00 a.m. to go to breakfast for a nice bowl of Pho (Vietnamese noodle soup). By 7:00 we were at the school and then walked one short block over to this pink building that we set up as a clinic. We knew this was going to be our busiest day and it was!!! We saw a total of about 720 people. Whew! In case anyone from my clinic is reading this- the back-ups at our clinic are nothing!! A group of vietnamese doctors were helping us that day and we had to organize the clinic the way they wanted it....so things were a little crazy to say the least with all those people. I sat at a table with another nurse and we each had a translator to help us. There were 30 people crowding around the table waiting for us, The time sped by and we closed up at about 4:30 (which really became 5:30). I felt so honored to be able to interact with so many families! The biggest complaints were back pain, stomach pain, knee pain, headache and dizziness. Well I have to say I also had some of those complaints in the 104 degree heat. We were allowed 15 bottles of water each day. If we didn't think someone was "sick" enough to see the doctors, we prescribed Tylenol, Ibuprofen and lots of Pepcid.
Haley and Maddie and the rest of the school team finished the sorting of donation which included many, many clothes. Tammy and the rest of the medical team started seeing patients. I believe the first day they saw 600 or 700. Tammy will write a more detailed write up about the medical team later. The building team split into two groups. One worked on a brick house about a quarter mile away. The other began preparing for the concrete to be placed in the enlarged play / play ground area. (We'll try to add pictures in a later E-mail - please check back in 6 hours)
Last Tuesday:
Haley and Maddie helped with activities for the kids from the landfill and from the adjacent building area called Rainbow Village. The activities included temporary tattoos, tie-die, friendship bracelets, soccer, Frisbee and beading. Haley assisted with two other teens and were at times mobbed and permanently clung to by the kids. In the afternoon, the team was taken to the "new and improved" garbage dump. They saw the families living there. A bit of a somber moment for all that attended, but truly a necessary reminder of what this is all about.
Last Wednesday:
School Team: More activities, painting was also done by team members in between formal events. Haley fit in painting of the outside of the school on at two days. Later that day, the team held a community event which served to distribute the donations and sell other items. The goal included having the kids start to understand money / catalyst dollars. The Catalyst dollars were given out and people then chose the items they wanted to "purchase". Toys were very popular.
Medical Team: Continued seeing walk in patients in over 100 degree heat. (Tammy will elaborate later)
Building Team: We continued laying block with a sandy mortar mix. We shared work on the house with some tech students from a local school. The arrangement was great for helping us learn the traditional Vietnamese building techniques. They taught us a lot and they also look quite at home on the top of scaffolding. The playground team continued with the concrete pours. The pressure was on because we need to be done by 1:00 the next day with all portions of the playground. We started putting in the poles to hold up the sails over the play area. We put in a tilt on the poles, which was recommended. However, many folks began to wonder if we had been in the sun too long.
Thursday April 1:
School Team: Games were arranged for the kids. Tug of war on the deck, break the clay pot hanging on a string, and catch the live running chicken. (yes, a live one). Don't think too long about it. This is a favorite local game.
About 20 people brought in the buckets, meat, vegetables and short lived live animals for a Cambodian style feast. They set up camp about 20 feet from the playground work. Did you know that dumping water with chicken gutsy stuff and noodles on newly poured concrete will not hurt it? It did however, clog our stone drain at the low end of the pad, but that will dry out later.
Building Team: Pressure was on. We needed to connect the sails, move and mount the playground equipment and anything else by the noon to 1:00 deadline. Dave and I were taken by motor bike to the center city to look for the remaining hardware, chain and what ever else is needed. I did video tape the ride. It's a combination of thrill ride, excitement and look out! I found that large trucks have an immense stature when you are speeding toward them. You should also not wait for them to move over one inch.
We purchased more SS chain and fittings. Dave returned to get the team mounting the sails. We finished the negotiations (with the extremely important help of Tin) on an actually wooden ship steering wheel. Remember, this is a fishing oriented city. Once the shop owner was told this was for a playground for kids from the dump, he offered to take it and the one inch bolt to another store to get the center drilled out for free. We then picked it up on our way back with the rubber mats. Yes, I could not resist. We bought two rolls at one store. He offered to deliver them for free. Once back at the playground, the sails were mounted. A staff member at the school helped by making a metal bracket to hold the steering wheel. He did an amazing welding a bracket together in 45 mins.
The sails were connected, the temporary mats were placed and we left for our trip to the landfill.
For us as well, it was a sobering event. With an interpreter, we interviewed a family with a two month old baby. They're 23 years old and have been married for 4 years. For some reason.... they ended up on the first landfill and have since moved to the second landfill. They make about 35 to 40 cents a day. He was getting ready to go to work while we were talking to him. The 1:45 trash truck was due to arrive. They fish in a pond about 150 feet away for small catfish looking critters. They were flipping around in the pan while we were there.
As we left, a trash truck had just left his load and they were starting to go through it.
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In the evening there was a large meal and award ceremony for the Red Fairy art contest.
Friday April 3:
We had to break away from the main group to start our trip to Phu Quoc. It was sad to leave everyone. Due to the timing, we really didn't say good bye to many folks.
We took the "fast ferry" to Phu Quoc island.
More later, Dwight
Here are some misc. pictures.
