We had a phone call!!!

It was great to hear from Angie this evening particularly after the text this AM:

8am Been up since 4am with the runs - it was bound to happen. Still no power or water. Don't worry they will give me an i.v. if I fall over.

I was a "little" concerned as you can imagine, so to hear Angie's voice was great. She was feeling much better, although still a little weak and had not eaten anything all day. Whatever the stomach upset that had affected her was now working itself through the whole team (Angie always likes to share :-) ). After 48 hours they finally had electricity and water so Angie was at least clean again! As we were talking the power went off again and they went back to total darkness, so that ended the call.

But in the time we did chat Angie gave me the following info: They are moving between 12 camps which house between 500 and 1200 people. They are working as 2 teams and she is the basically working the pharmacy. The local medical staff are weighing and taking the heights of the kids and then they go to the medical staff. After the diagnosis they go to Angie who is dispensing the necessary medication and having to do all the calculations for dosing etc.

They are dealing with infections, de-worming and malnutrition. Today they had a slightly quieter day - 88 children. The families have nothing, but they are friendly and give everything they have to the visiting medical team - hugs all round.

The conditions are poor - even the "fresh water" you would not give to your dog over here. There is no employment since even the sugar plantation closed down. The kids spend their day chewing on sugar cane which now grows wild. Their teeth are in terrible condition because of the constant sugar cane chewing.

Even with the heat, bugs, dirt, and poor conditions, I asked Angie if she would do it again and without hesitation she said yes. She was having a good time and the medical team were great fun, so they were all getting on well.

So with that I will sign off for today...and head to my nice clean bed with a warm shower in the morning. It puts life into perspective.