The political situation in Haiti is calm for the moment. The person who was nominated for the position of Prime Minister, Ericq Pierre, was not confirmed by the Parliament, which was a disappointment to us here in Jeremie. Mr. Pierre is from the Jeremie area, and, if elected, he would have helped fix our roads and make other improvements in the infrastructure in our area. We’re waiting to see who will be nominated in his place. In the meantime, we’re hoping that there won’t be further unrest as the political process moves along.
This has been a record-setting week for us in the clinic, as we saw 60 patients on Tuesday and 40 patients on Thursday, despite pouring rain all day. It was quite a feat for just the two of us! The high volumes are partly because we are closing for a few weeks, as Cherlie and I go to the US for some conferences, business and family visits. We’ll be attending the annual conferences of two organizations, Christian Connections for International Health (CCIH) and the Global Health Council. The theme of both conferences is on community-based primary health care, which is our interest, so we’re hoping to learn a lot and make some valuable contacts.