Thursday in Petit Guinea

A very busy day in Petit Guinea. I'm still not able to really wrap my head around life here. I find myself just open mouthed as we drive to clinic each morning. Very few people can afford their own transportation-- but there is such a mix of public vehicles. Incredible painted buses that were never intended to be double decker-- but have an extra 6 or 10 folks sitting on the roof hanging on for dear life. Pick up trucks with 20 or 30 people standing in the back-- throw in a few chickens, a goat or two, a sack of bananas....... But far and away the main mode of transport is mini-bikes with 3 or 4 people plus drayage--- might be a piece of furniture, a satchel. Today I saw 4 people on the same mini-bike-- 4 if you count the breast feeding infant!

The sheer volume of patients in the clinic is mind-numbing--- and the amount of things I don't know depressing. Today we saw patients with malaria (of course!), measles, typhoid, dengue fever, secondary syphilis (!!), malnutrition...........Just no idea where to begin and no clue if we're really doing any good. It's raining outside and I can't imagine what that means for families living outside or in a tent rigged out of an old bed sheet that we would have tossed at home.

It's really remarkable to have this brief opportunity to interact with the NGO world. We just ate dinner with an amazing young woman from France who is recently returned from Banda Aceh, a physician from Sierra Leone by way of Russia, a water engineer from Kenya who most recently lived in Somalia. The center director here can't be more than 30 and her last placement prior to Haiti was Darfur! They are inspiring and daunting and admirable. I'm so lucky to have this opportunity -- and even more blessed to have an amazing home and family and friends to return to. Love you all!

Laurie