It's hard to believe that a whole year has passed. The person who first observed that years pass more quickly as we get older found few believers among the young who see it as struggling through thick molasses. They will hardly notice the substrate of time thinning out until they, too, find themselves swept along in a tide that eventually begins to feel like WD-40. Oh well, I guess that is the price of experience.
I'm headed back to Sumbawanga on the 20th
for what, I believe, will be the last time. My purpose is twofold. First
I want to do what I can to make sure that the beautiful new surgical
and obstetrical facilities have what they need in terms of systems and
supplies. I know I'll be able to operate more this year because the
logistics will be so much better. Second, I need to get some questions
answered that have been bothering me for a while. I want to get a strong
handle on the degree of commitment that exists on the part of the
officials who are charged with running the system. My conversations
with these people over the years have been polite and correct but I feel
I know them well enough now to to ask the hard questions. They may or
may not answer truthfully but there is always a wealth of body language
and continuity of logic that say so much.
I'm joined on the trip by several people
converging from the UK and around the US. We have RN's, dentists.
medical students and my own colleague, Grace Stewart, who is a first
class primary care physician as well as a great teacher. She will be
quite an asset. Unlike short mission trips that are often organized like
military operations, these month long forays develop day by day and
there is really no way to predict exactly what might happen. If you have
some time go back into the archives of this blog and you will see what I
mean.That's it for now. My next post
will be from Sumbawanga, Tanzania on the 24th unless something really out of the ordinary happens on the journey. The trip is Phoenix, New York, Dubai, Dar es Salaam by air and then 2 days overland to Sumbawanga.
Until then...................
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