Vehicle problems and sand blasted...

We had a very late start today with one of the vans needing repair. So we improvised and took a Northwest Medical Teams SUV but it does not hold as many people or as much equipment, so we left behind a couple of staff. We set up and got started by noon time with many patients in line to see us. Just after lunch the clouds and thunder started rolling in. The camp manager decided that we should finish with the patients in our tents, and he made a great call! It was just before 3 PM when the winds kicked up as I threw my stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, and books into my backpack. We tossed out all the stools and tables so that the tent could be collapsed.

I did not want to step outside into the fierce sand storm blowing through the camp. I could not even see fifteen feet away at times as the dirt and debris was moving horizontally. We had to hang on to everything so that it would not be blown away. Then occasional big drops of mud started pelting us. I'm sure that at some point in the sky above us it was rain, but by the time is reached us it was mud and it coated everything! Our faces, hair, clothes, equipment and tents was covered in the grime. We were able to throw most of the gear into the two vehicles before the rain started in earnest, but a couple of people continued to tie things on the rooftop in the downpour.

Once again, many of our patients had to scatter without receiving their medications and many without being seen. There's always something, ah, this is Africa! We drove home through showers and streams for roads.

So glad for a hotel shower, even a cold one. Had to wash my hair twice as the red dirt was embedded. I may have to wash the set of clothes I was wearing twice as well. The rains have passed here in town, but a cloud cover persists, and the temperatures have dropped to a more tolerable level for me.

We will have dinner tonight with the French Canadians that are leaving and we have befriended. Friendships move quickly here as you cut past the superficiality on the first meeting. This is not a travel destination and most foreigners are here with a purpose, mostly to help. I was fortunate to make a bunch of new friends this past weekend, and got to know them as 15 of us enjoyed a leisurely dinner at Pan Afric. To be perfectly honest, most restaurant meals are leisurely because it normally takes forever to get your food! Blessed to widen my circle of amazing friends forsaking a life of comfort to serve the less fortunate.