Another week of ups and downs, maybe that's just the way of life here, maybe life anywhere! Better just get used to it.
On the downside (for me) I've had all kinds of internet grief, losing my connection at home for days at a time, finally getting the guy in to fix it, then promptly losing it again. It's working at the moment, but still precarious. Now I know that this is a luxury, and not a necessity, and people have lived for a very long time without it, but here's the problem - I've got used to having it. And for me living here, it has been such a bonus, being able to talk to my family over skype, and having access to help on the internet and from doctors at home for some of the medical issues that I'm encountering here. Not to mention being able to update this blog in the comfort of my own home, on a keyboard that has letters!

My patient load has been on the increase, and I haven't even started work at the school yet. I have accompanied people to doctors' appointments twice, and have another visit coming up tomorrow. We have a lady with a fairly major heart problem, which is going to need open heart surgery to correct, so that is going to be an ongoing issue for her and me. One little guy in the school has been having seizures and had some tests done which confirm epilepsy, so there's some juggling of his meds to get that under control. There's a pregnant teen who has been having almost no regular prenatal care. And my current big challenge is a man with a rather nasty leg ulcer that he's had for 2 months, and now is there for me to try to cure! I'm making daily visits to his home to do dressings, with some input from Jannine, a nurse at my old clinic at home who has more experience in these things, and all the while knowing that it's not me who can heal this ulcer, it's only with God's power that I can help. It's a further challenge because I've been told that the family of this man would really like him to see the local witch doctor - yes they still exist around here, so it's with lots of prayer that I try to deal with this.
As I experience more of the medical system here, I am so thankful for our system in Canada, and don't ever wish to hear any complaints about it!! We are SO fortunate to have such medical care, that we really take for granted, and feel we must complain if we have to wait a bit for attention or appointments. Our healthcare is excellent, available and above all - FREE! We are looking at needing to find probably $5000, maybe more, for this lady's heart surgery, completely unaffordable for someone living in Bastion. So may Canadians be truly grateful for their healthcare system! There, that's my rant done.
The population in my house rises and falls, Julia is here with me until the beginning of June, Bethany and Paul have been here, coming and going between travels. Now Paul has gone back to Canada and Bethany is here for 2 more weeks. The visitors to the house come and go, too. Sometimes there is a steady stream of dropins, and then other days, it's quiet. Flexibility is the key!

And a brief rat update. In short, I haven't got the problem licked yet! There is one small fellow who insists on coming to call, in spite of quantities of rat poison that I've put out and which disappears. Surely there must be a lot of rats somewhere who are not feeling well. Yes this one is only small, but small rats turn into big rats, and that is where I draw the line! Then there's the side effect of the cementing of holes that was done to try to discourage the rodents, which has become apparent since the reappearance of nightly downpours of rain. I can now see that the water used to drain away down these holes, and now the only place for the water to go is under my kitchen door and into my house. So I have to stand by with mop and bucket while it's raining hard. We'll have to find a solution to that one.

So life carries on, seldom without interest, and almost always hot. But when I feel that these little trials are making my life hard, I go over to Bastion to visit there, and that cures me.