It is Wednesday AM and I am sitting in the dental office waiting for some dental patients while Hotlin scrubs the dental chair with a disinfectant concoction with a toothbrush. Obviously there are no patients at the moment but that could change as soon as someone picks off one of the "tickets" from the nail outside the front door. No rain for the last few days, so the sun is shining which will make for a very hot day under the tin roof. Thankfully, there is a fan behind me.
There is much effort being expended to complete reports/applications/gather local supporters etc. all targeted at hopefully obtaining financial support from USAID for the building of the much hoped for hospital. The process is slow but it sounds like there are three contractors who will bid and the design is also being adjusted so that part of the hospital could be built and then expanded if funding requires. So we hear "America" frequently in the morning discussion, but really do not know what is happening. There is an architect here who is the point person.
Patrick continues fixing things and will put in a sink in one of the patient rooms...this makes washing hands MUCH easier. Most of the other patient exam rooms have sinks as does the dental office. Talk about things to be thankful for! We will work with him regarding the bikes and will hopefully be able to establish some kind of maintenance program. BUT at least people are putting the bikes that still have some life under the shelter in front of the clinic. Slow progress...but progress
Now for the broken leg...it isn't one of ours or any of the staff's. BUT we inherited a small, very pretty cat named Rakus who came along with the house. Monday night she appeared holding up a paw and let Jim examine her, revealing a broken leg at the joint between the upper and lower leg. Now what do we do...soon there were four of us hovering over her attempting to fashion some way to stabilize the break. We had to call one of the nurses for some supplies and used tongue blades. Well, it didn't work and within an hour we took it off. She was/is eating and was getting around with her three good legs. BUT we have now devised another split which will stabilize better had have rigged up a way to keep it in place using the stocking net I had packed my (now moldy) shoes. She has been unbelievably patient with all of this and has never tried to bite or kick after that first exam.
Yesterday was a day filled with a great experience. About midway through the morning Satiawati, the woman who is in charge of the Goats for Widows program came and with some translation help asked if I wanted to go with her to see the goats. She rides a motorcycle and I REALLY like motorcycles at this point. One is cool riding on a motorcycle! Two of the staff who work with conservation and the organic gardening program were along. Realize that at this point I didn't know if any of the others spoke English. Off we went to a house about 20 minutes away. We were invited in, left our shoes at the door, sat on the wooden floor and waited until three goats arrived. Their legs were tied, they were hung upside down and weighed on a make shift scale hung between two trees.
Then we returned to the house, sat on the floor, and after some discussion, money changed hands (counted multiple times including by the man's wife!) . We were buying the three goats for the program. By this time Mifta had revealed that he could speak more English than I knew so I was getting some help. Back on the motorcycle and off we went down more narrow roads, past homes, rice fields, a school here and there to another home which had some furniture and was obviously lived in by a family with more wealth. After a bit of waiting, here comes the motor bike with the huge double baskets on the back and inside the baskets....all three goats being brought by the man who sold them! Shortly three widows who were to be the recipients arrived and there was a small celebration on the "porch" of the house. The man who lives there is a Forest Guardian - one who works for ASRI as a monitor against illegal logging in the village. We were served coffee, crackers, and water and there was much laughter, many photos etc. In short it was a real celebration and I was thrilled to see this great gift to the women.
Off we went, heading to lunch I thought, but first there was one more stop. After another 10 minutes or so, we arrived at another area where people were gathered under a large tree. The children were running about and a few tried out their English which is always fun. They know as much English as I do Indonesian, but we both try. This event was a passing on of a goat, one of the requirements of the widows who receive goats through the program. Soon up walked an elderly woman leading a goat and under tree there was another elderly woman who could have been her twin. The rope was passed from one hand to the other, pictures were taken, there was lots of laughter. How special for a very poor woman who now can keep any future baby goats as her own, to pass on the gift. My heart was truly full.
So, we did make it back to lunch and the egg plus small white egg plant dish was quite good. I rather wish they wouldn't fry their chips in the same oil as they fry the fish, however!
We rode to the bank in the heat of the day because bankers hours are a real thing here and were able to withdraw the cash we will need for our weekend trip. Talk about a wad of cash! In all we withdrew 5,000,000 Rupia which will cover our plane tickets and the cost for the three days in the national park. We had to put it in our backpack as it simply won't fit in our wallets.
Evening was spent at the beach covertly drinking a can of beer with three of the other volunteers. Two of them had plastic mugs to more easily camouflage their beverage. The sunset wasn't spectacular, but the breeze was welcome and the company good.
Time here is beginning to feel short. There is so much more to share, but it will have to wait. I want to rewrite my ASRI kids report, who by the way, went hiking in the local national forest yesterday. They are the ones who will work to protect the rain forest in the future.
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