Sunday-Tuesday Sept 22-24

Sunday September 22,Monday September 23,Tuesday September 24

     Sunday was our day of rest. I slept and napped in the morning, and then we went to The Capital Room for brunch with Masmina and friends. I have been there before; it’s a beautiful setting overlooking the ocean. We had a nice meal and great conversation. When we left there, we went to shopping for souvenirs; several members of the team found items to bring home. We returned to the hotel and had a final beer at the bar to say goodbye to Thu Ha Nguyen who leaves for Little Rock via Chicago tonight. It has been a great pleasure having her on this trip: she is bright, energetic, a great team player, and full of smiles and laughter! We were sorry she had to leave, and look forward to welcoming her back to JFK again soon!

     Monday we were back to work doing the usual variety of cases including endoscopy, colostomy closure, excision of a massive dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans of the back, and a variety of hernias. We learned that there was going to be a nurses strike because the government hasn’t paid them for July and August yet, and they, like all public sector employees except for members of the House and Senate, are part of the “harmonization” scheme in which all public salaries are being cut. The Liberian economy is suffering from significant inflation: for most of the years i have been coming here the conversion rate has been about 70 Liberian dollars to 1 US Dollar, but it is now 208 Liberian dollars to 1 USD. Since most of the goods sold here are imported, this has a big impact on cost of living. US dollars are readily accepted in commerce, so we don’t change money while here.

     Tuesday there was less staff than usual because of the strike, but we were able to work. We had a few patients who didn’t show up for surgery; whether it was because of the strike, or forgetting, or other obligations i don’t know. We did 9 cases including a thyroid, takedown of a colostomy, a bunch of hernias, and endoscopies. We were done by 5pm, and were able to go back to the hotel and shower before dinner; it was nice to relax and not be in a hurry to eat and get to bed !