The "Last Post"... till I am back home

This Week's Pictures

I still can't get that slide show working 

So click on  This Week's Pictures.

I have a Dilemma about Returning Home

This morning when I went to get an egg sandwich for breakfast... I saw to my amazement the "Donut Lady" had returned after a year's absence. Fresh, still warm, large, sugar ones.  And during my last week... Oh the Agony!

The First Year's Turn to visit the Morgue

The 2016 Survivalists of Rev John's Trip to the Morgue

After our visit being cancelled last week because there were too many medical students, we returned on Wednesday.  But when we got there -- more medical students.   When Dr. Singh arrived on his motorcycle he saw me ..... He would take care of everything.  I hoped so, as I wasn't leaving this time.   He was a man of his word and arranged to have one body brought in to an adjoining room where my students were also led.    Here the associate pathologist also a Singh ["Singh" is like "O'Connor" -  dime a dozen name] -- first name Yogeshwar [not a dime a dozen name].  I'll let one of the students tell you about the visit:

"My first experience at the morgue was terrifying.  I have always been afraid of dead bodies, not because they scare me but because of the fact that I know that I am going to die someday.  Seeing them makes me wonder about my life and when it is going to end.  This is the scary part because, I don’t want to die.  I don’t want to leave this world and my family and friends.

But being at the morgue today helped me to appreciate life a whole lot more.  It made me realize how meaningless riches and popularity and material things are.   It was difficult looking at the body just being butchered like an animal or some piece of meat.   I thought about the fact that he had a family and how they must feel knowing that he is gone, but I also felt good that they were not there to witness such a gruesome thing.  

Other than what was going on inside me. I was afraid that the smell would get to me, but it didn’t.   At one point I was afraid to look at the face of the corpse, but thankfully I had my friend to help calm me down and I started to relax and that is when I got curious and wanted to touch.  Even though I knew it was a dead body I kept looking for some sign of life.  Personally, I find it hard to understand what it means to be dead. 

Other than my personal fears, the trip to the Morgue was good.  The pathologist Dr. Yogeshwar Singh was a great teacher.  He took time to explain lots of things to us, even though I can’t remember half of it.  When the organs were being removed from the body, I somehow started to feel a pain in my heart; I thought that I would faint.   I wondered if he was feeling any pain.  Even though I am curious, I don’t think that I ever want to go back to the morgue, much less witness another autopsy.   

I must say thanks to Mercy School of Nursing for giving me such an experience.  It has taught me a lot and I plan to share it with my family and friends.  I want to help someone else to appreciate life and their loved ones a little more than they do right now."

Speaking of Scaredy Cats  Frogs and Rev

Bad Selfie with Gecko

A few weeks ago, one of those salamanders or lizard things dropped down from the ceiling on my head...  and I was just a little jumpy.    These geckos are all over and more a nuisance than anything else.   However, early this morning as I lay sleeping, I felt something walking over my ear and when I went to brush it way - it was pretty big - a frickin' frog.  Now I did scream "a little", but I think that I may have had just cause.   We both lived.  I caught the frog and put him [although I guess it could have been a her] outside.   And I live on the second floor ..... now I have "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Mercy Hospital".  Sorry Mark Twain.

Final Exams - a Time for Massive Prayer

Singing to the End - and a new adventure.

This is the time of year that my freshman class of 2013 finish up and prepare to write their National Final RN exams... three days all together - two written and one practical.  As tradition would dictate, on the day before, the whole school assembles and wishes them well with prayers and advice.. and we send them on their way to do battle!  In some ways it is had to believe that it has been over three years since they first stepped into my classroom.

                                                              Singing every day.

Leave it there for Just Now

I heard it said that in battle, you need to leave everything and everyone where they die... However, Guyana has taken that message to heart even in times of peace. Stuff just stays where it stopped or was left. A few examples:

Storage?

Never know when you may need it.

But Officer, I only went for gas.

I may be next!

And my famous "Guyana 911" ambulance of 2010 - still there!

Great News Finally

The first classes for the Master in Medicine - Psychiatry were held.  I got the honor of teaching in their second class.   Now I hold the title of "The Absolutely Best Foreign Professor". [Remember Raj?] There have been so many people who worked hard to achieve this, especially Drs. Bhiro Harry and Jorge Balsiero... and our Canadian Mental Health Team Members... who are even more excited about participating in the future.  They are already planing their February and September trips in 2017.  Ask about how you can join them.  There are four doctors who have been helping in the Psychiatry Department at Georgetown Public Hospital for a few years and hoping that the residency would finally start... and now they will get credit for all their hard work.

I met with them in a state of the art multimedia centre at Georgetown Public Hospital... equipped by a Canadian company.  I forgot to get the benefactor's name, as I am not above groveling to get a smaller one at Mercy SoN.   It is also equipped with a phone line that kept ringing on the screen... and I couldn't figure out how to answer or stop it!

New Residents: Drs Vanetta, Elizabeth [Head Resident], Stephan, Old Fart, Meena

And before I forget...

I had a good visit with Raymond Jagessar, who is now a Full Professor in Chemistry at UG... and a "good" Lutheran.   We shared a drink [Ray's was coconut water; mine wasn't] with good memories of Pastor Dick Young who has vanished into the Oregon hinterlands.

And when I was in New Amsterdam I had a quick visit with the  Lutheran Music Academy there.  I had a lively and enthusiastic conversation with the three new volunteer music instructors, Lauren, Sandor and Kirsten.   They conduct music lessons for the surrounding community and at all different levels of ability.  The founders of the school are Eric Sayre and St Olaf's College in Minnesota - along with the support of "Good Ol' Dr Erv."  Click on their link if you are into music.

Lauren, Sandor, Kirsten the 2016-7 Music Teachers

Several weeks ago, I had the privilege of presenting Dr. Tony Carr's and my programme of Problem Based Learning to Director Tabitha Mallampati's class on teaching theories.   It also gave me the chance to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of how the Mercy programme has been evolving.  These insights are for another time.

There were some Mercy Grads who showed up to hear me again.

And yes, Sister Barbara McLean, I did get to visit with Malinda and make sure she was eating... And I forgot my camera ..... I also forgot my camera [well, actually I did have my camera, but I forgot that I had it] when the Mercy Corps Volunteers had me over for a wonderful team-cooked meal in their nice, but wireless, wireless home...  I am sure I am forgetting stuff, but this will have to do for a few weeks while I finish here and travel to Florida to see some family and then to my Canadian home and my wonderful wife and children and grands.   Till then, thanks for reading.  John

Emilee, my Guest Blogger

Stories by Dr. Emilee

 My niece, Emilee Flynn has spent the last three weeks in Guyana and most of her time here at Mercy with me.  I got to thinking -- I may have spent almost as much time with Emilee as I have with her mom, Monica, who was a lot younger than I was...and still is!  It was a great visit for me.  Emily writes:

Guyana:

For the last 13 years I have read my Uncle John’s “Ramblings.” I have read about his “other sons,” his girls at St. Ann’s, and the nursing students that he teaches. I have looked at the pictures that he has sent and posted and have marveled at their beauty. And I have waited for the last 13 years hoping for a chance that I might someday be able to join him and experience just some of the work that he and his many colleagues partake in. Well, my chance finally came and now it is my privilege to contribute to these “Ramblings.”

I am currently in the third and final year of my pediatrics residency at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, PA. After much discussion, I received approval to travel to Guyana for three weeks as part of an elective in Global Health. I plan to practice in a global setting after residency and have applied to a number of different Global Health Fellowships and Programs. These three weeks have allowed me to at least get a glimpse of what I am signing up for in the future.

I was warned that it would be hot in Guyana. And yes it is hot, but I am adjusting. I was warned that there would be bugs and other critters, but that has never really bothered me. I was also told of the incredible kindness, hospitality and wonderful life-energy of the Guyanese people. And while people can tell you about that, such words can never fully express or do justice to the actual experience.

First time for Emilee and 28 years for Doc
Devi.

Dr. Devi who is now Medical Director
and my doctor for Uncle John's bronchitis, now cured,
invited us over for dinner with some friends.

Dr Bhiro Harry invited us for dinner and his lovely wife Georgia
did all the work.  On the right is their daughter, Indira.

At my Taju's restaurant with the new
Mercy Corps volunteers.

During my first week I had the opportunity to see the work that Uncle John as well as many, many others have put into the Problem Based Learning Curriculum for the nursing students. I had the chance to sit in on some of their sessions and hear their thought process as they worked through the cases. I participated in some problem based learning sessions in medical school, but it was still a relatively new process when I was there. It was exciting to see how seriously the nursing students took the cases and began to direct their own learning and education. 

I was able to see one of Uncle John’s ethics classes in values and morality and then even helped to “grade” these papers after the session. In all fairness I warned Uncle John that I was an easy and generous grader before I started… pretty much the entire class scored a 15/15! And in true Uncle John form, I even taught one of the classes. I had only been in Guyana for 15 hours and he was already putting me to work! Fortunately he just wanted to give his students the chance to ask me questions and get to know a “young professional woman.” After so many years of reading his “Ramblings” I pretty much knew to expect something like this!

Dr. Rosa with Medical Students

I had the opportunity to discuss the medical care in Guyana with a number of different physicians my uncle has formed relationships with over the years.   My first experience was with Dr. Mallika Mootoo, a long standing Mercy paediatrician, who let me join her in two different clinics. (I will blame Uncle John for not getting a picture of us together.)

Dr Jabour

And through these conversations and experiences I witnessed the similarities as well as differences that exist between our health care systems. Parents are always going to have the same concerns, hopes, and dreams for their children and their futures regardless of where that child is living. It is a struggle both in Philadelphia and Guyana to help parents understand that children with asthma (or any chronic medical condition for that matter) need to take a medicine every day even though they may not be wheezing or having trouble breathing on that particular day. Parents still threaten their children that if they are not well behaved that they will get needles or shots, or “bored” as they refer to it in Guyana. This, by the way, is one of my biggest pet peeves as a pediatrician. It means that the child is going to associate going to the doctor with being bad and having to receive immunizations when in reality many visits have no immunizations.
Anyway ..… The hospitals in Guyana are promoting breastfeeding and keeping mother and child together in the same room. Both are AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) recommendations and yet are initiatives that many US hospitals are still trying to promote and facilitate. There are relatively few subspecialists in Guyana, and the majority of care is provided by internists, family medicine physicians, and general pediatricians. There is no EEG machine (a test that helps to diagnosis specific types of seizure disorders) in Guyana as there is no one who has the training to interpret these test results. As I know my uncle has discussed in previous posts, there is still an incredibly negative stigma associated with mental illness in Guyana that has inhibited many from seeking appropriate care. And there are few training opportunities for providers to receive advanced or continuing psychiatric training or education.

One of the other reasons I came to Guyana was as part of the Bridges Medical Mission, a group of approximately 20 US based health care providers with skills in family medicine, pediatrics, Ob/Gyn, Cardiology, Urology, Dentistry, Nursing, Ultrasound Technician, and Respiratory Therapy. Many of the individuals in the group are originally from Guyana and some still have family living in the area. While some in the group assisted and provided direct care, many in the group worked on educational initiatives and helped to provide continuing medical education courses to local physicians and health care providers.

Guyana's population is approximately 800,000 with births of approximately 14,000 per year. According to the WHO statistics from 2012, the neonatal mortality rate (infants passing away in the first 28 days of life) in Guyana was 19.4 per 1,000 births. Compare this to other surrounding countries for the same year:
Trinidad and Tobago: 14.8/1,000
Surinam: 11.7/1,000
Jamaica: 10.6/1,000
Barbados: 9.5/1,000
Brazil: 9.2/1,000
Venezuela: 8.5/1,000
USA: 4.1/1,000
Canada: 3.5/1,000
Finland: 1.6/1,000

In terms of infant mortality (children passing away in the first year of life) Guyana ranks #65 in the world out of 224 countries.



As part of this medical mission I assisted one of the attending Neonatologists at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children to teach Helping Babies Breathe Courses. Helping Babies Breathe is a neonatal resuscitation curriculum for resource-limited circumstances. It was developed on the premise that assessment at birth and simple newborn care are things that every baby deserves. The initial steps taught in Helping Babies Breathe can save lives and give a much better start to many babies who struggle to breathe at birth. The focus is to meet the needs of every baby born. Helping Babies Breathe emphasizes skilled attendants at birth, assessment of every baby, temperature support, stimulation to breathe, and assisted ventilation as needed, all within "The Golden Minute" after birth. The course is taught in a train-the-trainer model, thus allowing all those who participated in the course to take what they have learned and share their knowledge and skills with others in their communities.

The course is split over a two day period and utilizes role playing and simulation to work through scenarios that are meant to help participants recognize when a baby needs help making the initial transition into the world and taking their first breath. We conducted one course at Linden Hospital, which is about 2 hours from Georgetown. There were 7 midwives and birth attendants from Linden as well as the surrounding rural towns who participated in this course. We conducted a second course in Georgetown that was attended by 12 nurses and midwives including 3 nurses from Mercy Hospital. The other 9 nurses were from rural provinces and traveled 4+ hours for the course by taxi, boat, and bus. I was humbled by their willingness to share their experiences of delivering and caring for children in their rural and often resource-limited settings. It was inspiring to see the enthusiasm that many of these providers exhibited and their desire to share their knowledge with their respective communities while also continuing to seek out resources to further their own education and training.

Helping Babies Breathe is just one part of the Helping Babies Survive Program. Additional modules and courses focus on providing care for premature infants in resource-limited environments (Essential Care for Small Babies) and continuing to care for infants in the first 24 hours of life by encouraging breast feeding, ensuring that the child remains warm and dry to prevent hypothermia, continuing to monitor breathing, and providing appropriate vaccinations (Essential Care for Every Baby). Our ultimate hope is to return to Guyana within the next 6 months to provide these additional training modules to the same nurses and midwives that have just received training in Helping Babies Breathe. By identifying nurse and midwife leaders in each respective community and continuing to provide these identified leaders with additional education and training we hope to facilitate their own empowerment thus working from within towards the ultimate goal of decreasing neonatal mortality in Guyana.

And thus ends my “Ramblings.” Thank you for reading!  Dr. Emilee, Rev John's Niece

Stay tuned:  Dennis LeBlanc arrives in a week...

The Second Week...

Settled in... Almost

I think there is some combination of just getting tired of asking for the same thing and adapting to the situation.  We now have screens on most windows ..... kind of like partially pregnant, so we have begun a programme to train the mosquitos to buzz only around the windows with screens.  

And the mattresses still leave one somewhat crippled in the morning.

Actually, things just happen slower here... the screens are coming, the mattresses might be coming and the third bedroom construction has begun, with help from Sylvia and me in moving stuff.

I told Dennis to imagine the walls and maybe a door.

I can kid about it; it is just different culture with a different relationship to time.  However, on the plus side, we have a shower and a new rain forest shower head and it is the best shower I have ever had in the 11 plus years I've been coming here.  And for the other things, "Here is where I can practice my patience... or lack of it."    (My sainted mother was fond of saying, "Patience is a virtue desired by many, but possessed by few.")

It does seem like we have been here longer than two weeks.   I guess that is because I have been busy... way busier than I am in my laid-back, sleepy life in Ayr.    I am already starting to look forward to that again .....  I used to think getting down to Bucky's for breakfast at 7 was early.

PBL in Full swing

Our adaptation of Problem Based Learning is working very well, maybe too well.   The students have never been exposed to this way of learning and were skeptical at first, but now are going great guns.    I have been awarding a mark if they get their research for their small group distributed electronically to everyone before 8 am on the class morning.  I usually make a comment or two for clarification, or where they might go for further research.  Unfortunately for me, the students are in almost100% compliance ..... That's a lot of comments I have to make!   Plus we have an exam every PBL day to grade..  Grading would be easy if I [or another tutor] didn't have to read their work!     Also, in the research topic development group, we have changed to a group mark.  [Thanks to Bev Clark who help designed the grading sheet.]  It is a wonderfully sadistic all-or-nothing method.  Either ALL the students do something - participate, ask relevant questions, choose research topics, etc... or there is no point.   Well, the groups are self-enforcing ..... Amazingly, everyone seems to participate now!

They have mastered their tablets and are choosing websites that are more than credible.  And most amazing to me is that they are sharing their research with the others in the small group without reading from a printed page or their tablets - at least initially.

We are still hunting for a regular tutor as we have been improvising each day.  Some days I tell them that we will be experimenting with tutor-less groups!  I explain that there is some evidence these groups do well.  [It is amazing how believable you can be as the tutor.]  Actually, we have had to use tutor-less groups in other years and no one died; I guess that is success.

"There will be no pizza this year": [l-r] Elsie, Cheyenne, Damali, Leslyn, Joylyn, Crystal.

And We Did Robin Hood again... always good.

It is an old values-clarification exercise; I have used it for years and it always generates discussion and a little sparring.  Try it: You have to rank the four characters from most moral to least moral and write your reasons down... Then we go "live" and the class takes sides on how they ranked everyone .....

“The Sheriff of Nottingham captured Little John and Robin Hood and imprisoned them in his maximum security dungeon.  Maid Marion begged the sheriff for their release, pleading her love for Robin.

The Sheriff agreed to release them only if Maid Marion spent the night with him, indulging his carnal pleasures.  She agreed.

The next morning the Sheriff released his prisoners.  Robin at once demanded that Marion tell him how she persuaded the Sheriff to let them go free.
Marion confessed the truth, and was bewildered when Robin abused her, calling her a slut, and saying that he never wanted to see her again.

At this, Little John defended her, inviting her to leave Sherwood Forest with him and promising life-long devotion.  She accepted and they rode away together.”

I preface the class with one a Guyanese saying, "Even the rose bush has pimplah."   There are no perfect people, not you or me or anyone.  Everyone "Burps and Farts".     I had thought of changing the ending to Robin and Little John riding off together, but ..... this is Guyana.

New Blog Feature

I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier.  There are so many persons who work at Mercy and are dedicated to improving the lives of patients and staff that I will highlight a random staff person each week .....  giving you a chance to meet them.  When I had this great thought, I was in line in the cafeteria!  I hope to continue with the staff profiles in later blogs.

Hersham Alexander

[R] Hersham serving a customer at the Cafeteria Counter.
[L] Optimistic and helpful.

Hersham Alexander has been a Mercy Hospital employee for 14 years. During that time he has worked as a Kitchen Attendant, Baker, Store Room Staff, Counter Server.  My favourites of his jobs is "drinking water jug carrier" ..... Whenever I need water, I can just give him my keys and a huge new bottle of water appears.  When I first came I used to tell him, "No, I can do that.  I am not that old."  Now I just let him - - though I COULD carry it if I HAD TO ..... I think.

Hersham was born in Kitty, now a part of Georgetown and now lives on the East Coast in Enmore, Demerara, with his wife of 6 years, Simone, and their two children, Joshua and Resheda.

I asked him where he saw himself in 10 years and he said he wants to be an independent farmer, a fruit producer.   He will start with chickens because the government gives extra land if you are also a chicken farmer.   He is working on raising capital in order to begin.

I asked him what advice he would give my (three?) readers, and he said, "Buy Local."  I told him most of the readers were in North America, so buying local would leave him poor.  He said, "Buy International."  Maybe he could give another piece of wisdom:  "Enjoy life as it comes and along the way always meet new people because you never know how you will affect them and they you."

And Finally, The Girls of St. Ann's

Actually, they are really the young ladies.  It seems that more than 50% of the "girls" are over 14 years old.  And can you imagine what that means?   22 teenage girls living in the same place!!   Well, they do have some raging hormones and so do the boys who go to their schools.   Sisters-in-charge are very good at many things; however, boyfriend advice is not usually one of them .....   Well, I offered to do a course for some of the older girls on "Bodies, Boyfriends, Boundaries, Beliefs."  [I left out Balling as I thought it might be pushing my reputation for good taste.]  I told Sister Leone that I would like to see about 12 of the oldest girls in the class, and we would meet for an hour on Thursdays at 4:30.  This Thursday was our first class with 21 girls.    We developed some ground rules for the group and one was:  what happens in the group stays in the group .....  So that's the end of that story!

This week's pictures are in the Slideshow at the top left of the blog...  Double click for the slide show. And thanks for reading.  John

A Rocky Start Means a Smooth Finish - I hope.

Miss Sylvie and the 19 New First Year Students with their Tablets

Here I Come - Ready or NOT!

I do not know why I do not listen to myself. I am always telling people that no matter what it involves in Guyana, it will not be done until you are here - standing face to face, in person, in the flesh. I had made a commitment to return to Mercy last Winter and with it there were a list of requests that I had for my living there. I repeated the small list several times: shower-with water; screened flat [now Chikungunya virus is here too]; internet in the flat; and a 3rd bedroom so Dennis when he comes won't have to sleep with Sylvia. Hey, not much, eh?

With many assurances that all would be looked after, when Sylvia arrived none of the above had been completed... and several days later when I arrived: the shower was in and dripping and if I didn't kneel down only my crotch and downwards would be clean; one window had a screen; and there was no internet in the flat or for that matter in the school or old computer cafe. And, true to form there has been a scurry of activity on all fronts and a 100% effort to complete all our requests. Now we have: internet in our flat, the school and so do the students on their tablets; a shower that is almost as high as my head -though with no head of its own; almost all the windows have screens; and the third bedroom has been planned, outlined and will begin construction "Just Now".

Everyone here has done everything to please us since we arrived. And believe me, Sylvia and I are grateful. It is even more amazing when you realize that we are living above the average residence for most of the hospital staff.

At the last minute, we got moved from my Upper Bank House flat [Chuck and Kathy's] because they are storing Materials Management supplies there [and Tony, the Lower Bank House as well]. So the boxes get the best breeze and view! We are in Dr. Daniel's old Flat which has been unused and unattended for several years since his death. It is a lovely, large, two story flat and more than enough. Our two bedrooms are upstairs. 

Evil People Cannot Be Allowed To Win

As you know I [or rather, generous people like you] have been providing a tablet/netbook for each new student nurse at Mercy Hospital.  This year I was in great time and found a good price.   However, the company and the salesperson scammed me.   The real losers are my students as they will be the ones disadvantaged, with even more than their usual difficulties.  

It is not that I lost money.   Money and I have had an uneasy relationship with periods of separation and loss being frequent.  It is not even that I got scammed, which can happen to anyone – especially if you take any risks in life at all. 

It is not that someone stole from me.   (Of course, that anguishes me, but will not change my trusting approach to human beings.  To see everyone as untrustworthy and protect yourself and belongings is to enter a world that I do not wish to live in.)

What makes this loss completely unacceptable is that first, the money I lost was not mine!   It was the money of my family, friends and colleagues who had donated their dollars in order to purchase tablets that the nursing students would use for their whole nursing education.

 

Names of those involved in the scam are available on request, so that you can avoid dealings with them.  Needless to say, I am still exploring all avenues to regain the loss. ]

 ******************************************

However, This Story Has a Happy Ending,.. Keep Reading
 

Through the extreme generosity of family and friends, I was able to purchase a second set of tablets for the new students to use.   I am most fortunate to have these loving and generous people in my life.    I have distributed the tablets to the students and now they are grateful, though they might not be so happy when they have to do lots of research on their tablets.

 

Silvia Wilvert, My Co-Volunteer
I first met Sylvia when she was in Guyana in 2010 to 2012 as  a volunteer with the Scarboro Fathers of Canada.   She recently got the itch to return and wanted to join me in teaching the PBL Course. 

She is also moonlighting with the Scarboro Fathers in supervising/mentoring two new volunteers. She is off to Berbice today with the two new volunteers and the "old" one, Donna, to visit Scarboro priests, Mike Threr, Louis Lopez and Shawn Daley for a party or a retreat, I am not sure.  She needed to arrive a week earlier than I did, so she has borne the brunt of getting our requests completed.   She has just jumped in and adjusted to Problem Based Learning - beginning with some practical problems!

Continuity and Change

I have been coming to Mercy and Guyana since 2002; while I would love to point to all the advances the country has made in that decade, there is often sameness or even regression.   One clear sign of progress is below:

 

This is the Eve Leary Parade Grounds right across Parade Street [naturally] from Mercy.  When I first came, this entire field was cut by machete with the worker stooped over whacking at the grass and then dragging it off on a blanket.

Other advancements have come with problems of their own making.  Way more cars every year, so more traffic in need of repair more frequently ..... and walking in the city is now almost a contact sport.  

There maybe some more wealth in the country, but it has come on the back of drug trafficking and increased crime rates

And a Disturbing Change

 

The latest World Health Organization Report listed Guyana as having the highest suicide rate in the world. OMG:  Guyana is Number 1 in something!    Suicide is a by-product of wealth, happiness, safety, fulfillment, lack of suffering and it really can't be addressed out of context.  There will be a Suicide Prevention Day and March on September 10th for World Suicide Prevention Day; however, there needs to be steadily decreasing poverty, job fulfilment and living wages, effective government, resources physical and human expertise to assist with persons' mental health and illnesses.  Respect for the rights of all people, especially the rights of women, needs to be learned and appreciated.    I will still join the March and maybe have the students join me.  It won't be enough, but it may light a candle and as the old saying goes, "it is better than cursing the darkness."

  

I have some colleagues coming down to start addressing these and other mental health issues.  They will be here towards the end of October with a dozen more professionals; I will keep you informed.   The Team Leaders were here last year and listened to what the country was requesting, so are returning to start addressing this huge need.   Last year they looked like this:

 

Bhiro Harry- Psychiatry Guyana, Canadian Team Members: Ram Kalap, Peter Kuhnert, Sujay Patel, Brenna Patel,
and Dennis LeBlanc, Volunteer at Mercy Hospital.

Another Constant

As soon as possible after I get here, I do something.  See if you can spot the change?

 

And Finally, My Girls.. or Rather St. Ann's Girls

I got over to St Ann's after classes on Thursday... and they are were really excited to see me - and my camera.  They wanted to know if there was going to be another photography contest.  Yes, there is and I already have the prizes thanks to the children [including Deborah] from The Church at Stony Hill, Medina, Ohio.    The girls are getting bigger every year and there are now 46, I think.   I will put one or two pics in the post; the others I'll add to the Slide Show on the side.  [You can enlarge the slide show pictures by "double-clicking".]

Please remember all my Guyanese families in your prayers; and this year please remember Anne and our family in your prayers as well.  

 

Thanks for reading, John