Third Day--Friday July 16, 2010

The woman with the huge swelling was the first patient and thank goodness she looked a lot better, we will evaluate her again tomorrow.

Sahr James now knew all the teeth by numbers, and he started to see the pattern of problems: always the molar numbers before the patients even opened their mouths. He threw up his arms and chuckled. He now knew about the six year molars and the care they need early in a child's life. I did have a 4 year old who did not need extraction. She cried initially but smiled after she got her sticker and a new toothbrush, just like kids back home.

The clinic generator was broken so it was stuffy and dark all day. The UN compound conference room was not available to us today so I just went home. My laptop and cell were both dead now and the power would not be on until 7pm at Uncle Ben's, not much I can do about any of this.

Dinner was at the Kono Hotel which was a bike ride away. Everyone was looking forward to this weekly ritual for the good food. After a delicious chicken pizza and a cold beer I was full--what a strange sensation. This was the only place with western style food and atmosphere of an open air bar.

Bailor talked about all the NGOs (none government organizations) he had dealings with, and the history of him and Dan, how they met in 06 and got the whole amputee community health program started. They got the clinic built in 08 which was jaw-droppingly amazing. He grew up poor, but refused to be part of the SL brain drain overseas to UK, Canada, and US. He stayed to serve SL's poor and sick. SL has a population of 6 million served by 87 physicians, 60 of them in Freetown. Bailor can be totally academic with the interns, and the next moment he is just a guy on the street in the real world. I did talk to him about getting the kids to the clinic for dental care, perhaps through another radio announcement.

Kulani and I doubled up on the motorbike ride home. Unfortunately we came to a checkpoint and our driver was in trouble according to the guy in uniform. After being paid some money he let us go.

The extra cold shower sort of woke me up a little. I thought about all the NGOs I had met at breakfast: the two SL women working on education outreach and women's awareness ( one of them was turned in to the village elders by a 9 year old girl when she discouraged FGC-female genital cincumcision), the New York ER physician in SL for three months doing evaluations for CDC on fatality in the 5 and under group, the two SL men doing evaluation of skills programs and surveys. I'd say the local economy is mainly NGOs. Well, let's not forget the "miners" who the interns say come and go in fancy cars. I have not seen them because they tend to stay at the more expensive Kono Hotel. The interns said I had just missed the two fun Californians who could soon retire from their diamond mining business. One used to work with the rebels to keep them funded, the other used to be a movie star in Hollywood.