Random pictures

These are some photos I've collected over the few months I've been here. They give a bit more of an idea of what things are like here...

Cardboard and a pagne make a great sugar tong splint!

The pangolin someone brought to church (to sell).
It eats ants.

You can buy all sorts of 'Obama' paraphernalia here.
Including Barak Obama underwear for children.  

This is our own version of a 'tractor pull'. It's how we would get
the old tractor working so that we could start the generators.

I think my favorite thing about this is that it's "recyclable".
The worrisome thing is that these get put in the trash, which is burned.

Bikes of hospital workers outside the hospital. The jerry cans
are for filling up with water before they go home.

If you have to bring your child, you can put a
chair on the back for him to sit in on the way.

Not sure what I like better...the old, dirty looking commode,
or the black bag of dried fish sitting right next to it.
Lunch, anybody?

Each morning when I leave, I see something like this. The people
are waiting to fill their jerry cans with water from the tank on the left.

Another one of the market...this is the area with the produce.
Don't step in the 'mud'. 

This is Samy, a little boy who had a leg amputation due to gangrene.
He was at our hospital for a long time, and had rides on the donkey
to help with balance. This is his drawing of Donkey.

Mama Marie just before she goes home. She was badly
burned on the boat fire that happened in April. She was cooking
on a kerosene cooker, which blew up on her. She had burns on 45%
of her body. Now she has healed, and almost all her skin is now black.

We see some interesting shirts here. Most people
don't know what they say. Some are inappropriate.
This one just made me laugh.
She lost weight rapidly, but not on a diet. ;-)

The cat who lives at my house, Tuxedo.
(I do like that he has a little 'bow-tie' on his mouth)

Not all of our beds sit evenly on the floor. Patients are very
creative in adapting. This is not the only bed that wears a sandal.

"Natural candle" It's sap from a tree. It lets out litte
puffs of white smoke every now and then.

The meat market. Mostly fish, and beef, sometimes crocodile, chicken, or monkey.

Me after a full day of shopping at the market. Usually I don't buy this many groceries.

A little boy who was burned by falling in a fire
on his way to get his dressings changed. He wasn't
wearing anything besides his dressings.

Me with my "new" 1956 Schwinn Tornado, with all original parts.
Also sports a nifty saddle bag basket I purchased with it.

We get scrubs of all colors and sizes. Stephen
is sporting "baby pink", showing off his slim figure,
with a pediatric stethoscope to emphasize his petite frame.
;-)

A lizard that came into the Administration building
right before we have our weekly team meeting. He caused
alot of excitement. After running around the room while all
the women stood on chairs and took pictures, he was captured.
I think he was dinner for one of the nurses.