27 June, 2011. Between Timor Leste and Micronesia, heading NE approaching the equator. We’ve completed the mission in Timor Leste and are underway to the Federated States of Micronesia. The conditions in Timor were different from the previous missions in several respects. This is the dry “winter” season in Timor (winter solstice occurred south of the equator), and Dili is on the dry leeward side of the island. So our days were hot, dry, very dusty (they haven‘t paved paradise yet), usually with a decent breeze in the afternoons to blow the dust over everything and everyone. It appears that most families cook over wood fires, trash is burned, and other fires of non-obvious origin are burning most of the time, so the air quality was bad from the dust and smoke. Little wonder that most of our Timor patients complained of cough and runny nose, because we were experiencing the same. Hydration was even more important here because the sweat was dried away before you realized you were sweating. Unlike the lush greenery of our previous mission sites, Dili’s landscape looks much like California’s coastal mountains in summertime. However, the personnel who traveled by helicopter to remote clinical sites on the windward side of Timor reported that it was cooler, moister, and a thick fog rolls in around 2 PM. Very few Timorese speak English, and unlike Pidgin, Tetum is not similar to English, so we relied on our interpreters to communicate with our patients. Most of our interpreters were university students - either local Timorese majoring in languages or Indonesian medical and nursing students volunteering with the NGO HOPE Worldwide (a separate group from Project HOPE). Unlike the previous mission sites, there were only a few dozen patients waiting for us to arrive each morning instead of many hundreds waiting, however the Timorese arrived at a steady pace throughout the day and we were usually able to see everyone that came to the sites. We saw over 1200 patients at the main clinic on last full day. The medical conditions differed also - e.g. many more upper respiratory complaints in Timor and fewer lower extremity wounds. I was lead nurse for the 3 days at the first Dili clinical site, so I was on my feet in the sun for the entire days trying to ensure that all nursing functions went smoothly - I now have full appreciation for my compression socks, 50+ SPF sunscreen, and a 3-liter Camelbak hydration bag filled with electrolyte solution. Our multi-national military and NGO nursing group are a delight to work with, and we gelled quickly considering that most only arrived a few days earlier during crew change in Darwin.
The Dili Marathon, Half-Marathon, and 7K occurred while we were here, and I volunteered with a multi-national first-aid team at the medical tent at the finish line. It was a big, festive event with several thousand runners/walkers/wheelchairs, including about 100 from our ship and hundreds of exuberant school kids. I heard that the men’s division of the marathon was won by a Kenyan while the women’s division was won by a Timorese. The race started at 6:30 AM around sunrise, and by the time most people were finishing the temperature was in the mid-80s. We treated more than a handful of runners for heat exhaustion, some of them requiring IV fluids for rehydration.
My liberty time in Dili was spent browsing through the local handicrafts market, which consisted primarily of hand loom weavings remarkably similar to those of Central America, climbing the 585 +/- 5 steps up to the statue of Jesus Christ standing on a globe atop a promontory overlooking the harbor, and enjoying refreshments on the beach or at a beach-side restaurant. The sunsets were spectacular red. See pictures on Flickr.
We’ll be crossing the equator on the evening of Monday 27 June. The ship had a line-crossing ceremony for Pollywogs (sailors crossing the equator for the first time) on the southbound crossing between Hawaii and Tonga, but unfortunately for those of us who came aboard afterwards no ceremony is planned for the northbound crossing. Apparently King Neptune won’t recognize me as a Shellback in the absence of a ceremony or certificate. I foresee another equator-crossing trip in my future to remedy this. I’ll be spending mornings during our passage to Micronesia volunteering in the ship’s medical ward where I continue to see interesting illnesses and injuries. It’s hard to believe that the mission adventure is nearing the end and I’ll be home in a month’s time.
Cheers to all!
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Down Under Darwin
16 June, Dili, Timor Leste.
After a 2-day delay we departed Darwin, a lovely city in the region referred to as the “Top End” of Australia’s Northern Territory. The weather was pleasant, with sunny days in the low 80s and strong breezes in the morning, which diminished during the day. The sunsets were brilliant red, partly due to the smoke from controlled burns in the surrounding bush country during this early part of the dry season. I went on a day-long bus tour of the Litchfield National Park where the principal sights of interest are the numerous waterfalls and large termite mounds. It was safe to swim in the pools of some of the waterfalls but not others because salt-water crocodiles are able to swim upstream during the rainy season, and any remaining after the stream level drops must be relocated before swimming is allowed. We didn’t see any crocs that day but did see a verrrry large lizard on the stream bank - probably a land mullet or skink. The mounds are built by tiny grass-eating termites using soil, saliva, and feces to create a stone-hard, fire-retardant home. We also saw rock wallabies (small relatives of kangaroos). The botanic garden in Darwin has a large shade house for orchids, tillansia, and bromeliads, as well as orchids tied onto the trees. Only a few orchids were in bloom since the dry season has just begun. I expected the orchid collection to focus on Australian species but there was a wide range of genus and species present.
The Northern Territory has an active aboriginal art community, and the aboriginal art work in the NT museum as well as in the numerous aboriginal art galleries is especially enjoyable. There are several large outdoor markets with numerous food and souvenir vendors, and based on the crowd, the Mindl Beach Sunset Market on Thursday evenings is clearly the place to be. There was a great musician playing 4 large didjeridoos accompanied by a drummer, which convinced me that my next career should be as a didjeridoo musician. The Greek festival was a well-attended weekend event with arcade activities for the children, dozens of grills cooking meat for kebabs and yiros, delicious desserts, and lively dancing - opa!! I visited the Dinah Beach Cruising Yacht Association for their Wednesday night dinner and entertainment. They were very welcoming, gracious hosts. I had hoped to find a boat on which to go sailing, but there were few boats sailing in the large harbor during the time we were here, even over the 3-day holiday weekend (they celebrated the Queen of England’s birthday). So the rest of my liberty time was spent with shipmates walking the downtown area, eating and drinking coffee at sidewalk cafes, and shopping. The fresh local barramundi fish (firm and sweet - much like Maryland’s rock fish) and shrimp were especially good. But Darwin is an expensive city, so 2 extra days in port were hard on everyone’s wallets.
The people of Darwin were very welcoming and friendly, but we were glad to leave for the 2-day sail to Timor Leste to continue our humanitarian mission. I’ll be lead nurse at the first medical site that will be set-up on a school athletic field in the capital city of Dili. Additionally, all of the PP 11 nurses will be participating in a running event - marathon, half-marathon, or 7K - either as runners or emergency medical staff. We had a large personnel change in Darwin, but the PP 11 embarkees in Darwin are gelling well with the personnel who remained on board after the first 2 rotations. We arrived at Dili today, so we‘ll be ready to go ashore and start work on Friday.
Cheers to all!!
After a 2-day delay we departed Darwin, a lovely city in the region referred to as the “Top End” of Australia’s Northern Territory. The weather was pleasant, with sunny days in the low 80s and strong breezes in the morning, which diminished during the day. The sunsets were brilliant red, partly due to the smoke from controlled burns in the surrounding bush country during this early part of the dry season. I went on a day-long bus tour of the Litchfield National Park where the principal sights of interest are the numerous waterfalls and large termite mounds. It was safe to swim in the pools of some of the waterfalls but not others because salt-water crocodiles are able to swim upstream during the rainy season, and any remaining after the stream level drops must be relocated before swimming is allowed. We didn’t see any crocs that day but did see a verrrry large lizard on the stream bank - probably a land mullet or skink. The mounds are built by tiny grass-eating termites using soil, saliva, and feces to create a stone-hard, fire-retardant home. We also saw rock wallabies (small relatives of kangaroos). The botanic garden in Darwin has a large shade house for orchids, tillansia, and bromeliads, as well as orchids tied onto the trees. Only a few orchids were in bloom since the dry season has just begun. I expected the orchid collection to focus on Australian species but there was a wide range of genus and species present.
The Northern Territory has an active aboriginal art community, and the aboriginal art work in the NT museum as well as in the numerous aboriginal art galleries is especially enjoyable. There are several large outdoor markets with numerous food and souvenir vendors, and based on the crowd, the Mindl Beach Sunset Market on Thursday evenings is clearly the place to be. There was a great musician playing 4 large didjeridoos accompanied by a drummer, which convinced me that my next career should be as a didjeridoo musician. The Greek festival was a well-attended weekend event with arcade activities for the children, dozens of grills cooking meat for kebabs and yiros, delicious desserts, and lively dancing - opa!! I visited the Dinah Beach Cruising Yacht Association for their Wednesday night dinner and entertainment. They were very welcoming, gracious hosts. I had hoped to find a boat on which to go sailing, but there were few boats sailing in the large harbor during the time we were here, even over the 3-day holiday weekend (they celebrated the Queen of England’s birthday). So the rest of my liberty time was spent with shipmates walking the downtown area, eating and drinking coffee at sidewalk cafes, and shopping. The fresh local barramundi fish (firm and sweet - much like Maryland’s rock fish) and shrimp were especially good. But Darwin is an expensive city, so 2 extra days in port were hard on everyone’s wallets.
The people of Darwin were very welcoming and friendly, but we were glad to leave for the 2-day sail to Timor Leste to continue our humanitarian mission. I’ll be lead nurse at the first medical site that will be set-up on a school athletic field in the capital city of Dili. Additionally, all of the PP 11 nurses will be participating in a running event - marathon, half-marathon, or 7K - either as runners or emergency medical staff. We had a large personnel change in Darwin, but the PP 11 embarkees in Darwin are gelling well with the personnel who remained on board after the first 2 rotations. We arrived at Dili today, so we‘ll be ready to go ashore and start work on Friday.
Cheers to all!!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Tusk Envy
2 June, underway between PNG and Australia. We’ve departed PNG with the confidence of accomplishment, but a feeling of uncompleted work. Accomplishment in knowing that we gelled as an international military and NGO team, but uncompleted in knowing that we turned away hundreds of patients that wanted our services at each of the 3 clinical sites in Lae. Seeing the crush of a thousand patients waiting for us as we arrived each morning was daunting, and prompted us to search for ways to streamline our processes and increase our efficiency while maintaining quality medical care, engaging in personal/cultural exchanges with our patients, and teaching/learning from our host medical counterparts. We had been pleased with ourselves when we saw 900 patients on the 3rd day in Lae, but on the last day we saw over 1700 patients at the 2 city sites we ran simultaneously - yet there were still hundreds who were turned away when the work day ended. Have I mentioned the heat and humidity? We gave emergency care to an older man who got in the queue at 2 AM and collapsed at 11 AM, apparently due to heat. We had some relief from the heat on the second to last day but that was because it rained for the first 2 hours - those of us working outside in pre-registration struggled to stay dry.
My last day was very fulfilling because I was assessing adult patients for back and knee pain (very common due to hard physical labor with few of the conveniences of first world countries) and, if not complicated by other medical conditions, giving them pain medication and teaching them strengthening and range of motion exercises. Whereas the patients at the countryside clinic brought us quantities of tropical fruits as gifts, the city patients brought us gifts of traditional necklaces and purses (bilum) carried by both men and women (see Flickr photos with bilum carried around the neck or used as a sling to carry a baby with the strap over the top of the head). The bilum colors and patterns signify the bearer’s tribe, and a few gift bilum were woven with possum fur. I was very honored to receive a unique necklace of shells with 2 boar tusks as pendants from a nurse who attended my back clinic (see Flickr photo). This necklace was declared the most impressive gift, and the men quickly developed tusk envy, even offering to trade a few bilum for the necklace. A unique gift from a nurse - no trade!!
I represented Project HOPE at the closing reception held on Cleveland’s flight deck for distinguished PNG visitors including government officials, business and civic leaders, and Australian military residents. It was a pleasant opportunity to talk to local residents about life in PNG since our liberty options on shore were limited to the Lae Yacht Club and the Melanesian Art Center (actually a cultural gift shop). Cleveland arranged with the Lae Yacht Club to allow a limited number of personnel to visit its gated facility during the last several days in port. A large covered deck overlooks a small marina (all power boats), and the galley and bar were open to purchase refreshments. A club member who owned one of the liberty boats hired by Cleveland to shuttle us to and from said that the wind is too light in the bay to interest most sailors. We did see a few locals sailing tiny outriggers, but I forgot my camera that day L so no photos to show you. The craft center was packed full of interesting masks, statues, jewelry, bilum, paintings, carvings, drums, etc. from various tribes and provinces in PNG. Sadly no photos of the center to share but I have photos of the pieces that I bought (see Flickr).
Our liberty port of Darwin, Australia is 5 days away, and there we’ll be saying farewell to the Canadian dental team and most of the Aussies who’ve been aboard for the first 2 rotations, as well as Army reservists and 4 HOPEies who joined us for the 2nd rotation. We’ll be joined by their replacements for the final mission rotation to Timor Leste and Micronesia. While in Darwin I'll be going on an organized day tour to Litchfield National Park, and plan to visit one or both yacht clubs in Darwin. My liberty buddy to the clubs (a requirement to go ashore in a liberty port) also owns a sailboat so we're hoping to catch a ride on a boat with a club member. It’s hard to believe that I’m at the half-way point of my trip and 2/3 through the medical mission. During the first 3 weeks I questioned my sanity for volunteering to be on this old ship for 3 months, but now for better and for worse it is an adventurous home.
Cheers to all!
My last day was very fulfilling because I was assessing adult patients for back and knee pain (very common due to hard physical labor with few of the conveniences of first world countries) and, if not complicated by other medical conditions, giving them pain medication and teaching them strengthening and range of motion exercises. Whereas the patients at the countryside clinic brought us quantities of tropical fruits as gifts, the city patients brought us gifts of traditional necklaces and purses (bilum) carried by both men and women (see Flickr photos with bilum carried around the neck or used as a sling to carry a baby with the strap over the top of the head). The bilum colors and patterns signify the bearer’s tribe, and a few gift bilum were woven with possum fur. I was very honored to receive a unique necklace of shells with 2 boar tusks as pendants from a nurse who attended my back clinic (see Flickr photo). This necklace was declared the most impressive gift, and the men quickly developed tusk envy, even offering to trade a few bilum for the necklace. A unique gift from a nurse - no trade!!
I represented Project HOPE at the closing reception held on Cleveland’s flight deck for distinguished PNG visitors including government officials, business and civic leaders, and Australian military residents. It was a pleasant opportunity to talk to local residents about life in PNG since our liberty options on shore were limited to the Lae Yacht Club and the Melanesian Art Center (actually a cultural gift shop). Cleveland arranged with the Lae Yacht Club to allow a limited number of personnel to visit its gated facility during the last several days in port. A large covered deck overlooks a small marina (all power boats), and the galley and bar were open to purchase refreshments. A club member who owned one of the liberty boats hired by Cleveland to shuttle us to and from said that the wind is too light in the bay to interest most sailors. We did see a few locals sailing tiny outriggers, but I forgot my camera that day L so no photos to show you. The craft center was packed full of interesting masks, statues, jewelry, bilum, paintings, carvings, drums, etc. from various tribes and provinces in PNG. Sadly no photos of the center to share but I have photos of the pieces that I bought (see Flickr).
Our liberty port of Darwin, Australia is 5 days away, and there we’ll be saying farewell to the Canadian dental team and most of the Aussies who’ve been aboard for the first 2 rotations, as well as Army reservists and 4 HOPEies who joined us for the 2nd rotation. We’ll be joined by their replacements for the final mission rotation to Timor Leste and Micronesia. While in Darwin I'll be going on an organized day tour to Litchfield National Park, and plan to visit one or both yacht clubs in Darwin. My liberty buddy to the clubs (a requirement to go ashore in a liberty port) also owns a sailboat so we're hoping to catch a ride on a boat with a club member. It’s hard to believe that I’m at the half-way point of my trip and 2/3 through the medical mission. During the first 3 weeks I questioned my sanity for volunteering to be on this old ship for 3 months, but now for better and for worse it is an adventurous home.
Cheers to all!
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