Things have been pretty quiet here in Jeremie for the past week. There have been no further political demonstrations, although people are still unhappy about their dismal economic state and the high price of food.
The big news last week was that we had torrential rain for several days. On Thursday morning, the 17th, we were packing the car with our medications and supplies when we got a call from a patient who lives near the clinic. She’s one of the few people up there with a cell phone and she has to go to the top of one of the hills to get reception. But, she was good enough to call us and let us know that the rain was falling heavily up there and no one was expected to come to the clinic. Besides which, the roads were very slippery and dangerous and she advised that we not try to make the trip. This is a frequent occurrence for us during rainy season, where the rains make the rough roads impassable and the muddy footpaths that the patients walk on to get to us become slippery and dangerous. So, once again we had to cancel clinic and patients who would have come to see us had to either wait or go elsewhere. How happy they will be when we live up there fulltime and our presence won’t be dependent on the weather or road conditions!