At last the weekend!

On Saturday we were allowed to sleep in which was great as I had a busy week and a lot of late nights. After lunch we went to a new hotel with a fantastic swimming pool and we just relaaaaaaxed.

 

As we were close to the School of Physical Therapy Technicians I was taken on a guided tour by Jo and Claire. First we visited the temporary building which was built using 2 containers on both sides and a roof placed across. This houses two class rooms for lectures and practical classes. There are 40 students taking the course and due to the success of the current teaching programme an increase in student intake is necessary to keep up with the demand. We than had a look at the progress on the new school building, which has temporarily stalled, to find out that the inside had already been vandalised as somebody had removed the electrical wiring from some of the rooms. The problem is the windows and doors haven’t been installed yet which means there is no security. However the United nations have promised that they will complete the project within the next 2 weeks. Yeah  right!

 

In the evening we had a nice farewell party for Jo who was returning to NZ the next day after 2 months teaching at the school.

On Sunday, as usual, I got up at 5.15 am to attend church. Well as we are living on top of the church we didn’t have to go very far: just down one flight of stairs. It is not every day that one has an in-house church service! I was asked to speak to the congregation and as I am teaching on paediatric orthopaedics at the hospital my short address was centered around children. On the wall behind the pulpit is written:” You can achieve anything if you believe in it”. As I work mainly with physically challenged kids I told them the story of my famous patient Adam Hall. He was born with spina bifida and achieved a gold medal at the Paralympic  Games in Vancouver 4 years ago. In Haiti disabled persons are still being discriminated again and I wanted to convey the message that children with disabilities sometimes achieve more in life than those born with an able body.

After church we went for lunch to the Roi Christophe Hotel for internet access, more relaxation and a swim.

 

On the way I met a chap who told me that I was operating on his son’s leg next Tuesday. A novel way of being informed what’s on your operating list! A bloc further down the road we were stopped for a street consultation. A young woman had problems with her right shoulder following a motorcycle accident 6 months prior. I examined here there and then on the side of the road and concluded that she had a sterno clavicular dislocation (joint between the collar bone and breast bone). This didn’t require surgery and after giving her some advice we walked on.

So there you go that concludes my first week.