TGIF in Himo

Today's caravan in Himo was predicted to be one of the largest attended yet. We were down one logistic person because Donna was attending surgery that day.

Kids exiting their classroom so we can use
their room

We started out the day with one of the vans breaking down so we were off to a bad start.

We were going to work inside a school, but when we got there, the school was still open and all the children were in class.  The father of the church who runs the school refused to let us in. There were a few heated discussions with Lise and Sister Clarissa...finally they agreed to let us use 2 rooms. The children were moved to a front porch of another building and we started setting up.

Inside the classroom (after we set up)








Photo by Jenn C. - The Gyne Room

 Gyne set up in a room with no lights so the windows had to be left wide open to let in light (not very private).

 A table was needed for patients to lie on so we got one from the church.











Classroom where we set up the pharmacy

 One of things that keeps striking us, is the conditions of the rooms that these children are learning in. As Canadians we complain about rooms being too small, too bare, too cold, too hot etc. The classrooms were used to store equipment or were very dirty/dusty. Very unsettling for us foreigners.

Classroom drinking cups and cooking pot stored behind the chalkboard

Because there were so few patients, we ended up being able to walk around and get some pictures. Children leaving school starting milling around and a phot session ensued. They absolutely get a kick out of seeing their image in the camera.

Taking pics of the school children

Unfortunately this turned out to be one of the worst days yet for attendance - only 76 people so we closed up at lunch. Everyone was extremely disappointed at the turn out but we were kinda glad to have a head start on the weekend.



Photo by Donna H.

 When we arrived back, Donna was still in the surgery room, observing.

One of the surgeries that she observed was an operation on a woman who had bowel blockage. Mark had no way of knowing what was causing the blockage.

PHOTO By Donna H.

The blockage ended up being a HUGE worm, all curled up in the woman's bowel. Donna happily showed us all the pictures. Ugh...thankfully this was after supper.

It was Steph's birthday so...18 of us packed into a van that usually holds 9 and headed off to a local bar to celebrate her birthday and the start of the weekend.