The medical team (Bob, Dale, and Shirley) spent another day at Good Samaritan Clinic in Roaring Creek. During the morning, Bob and Dale saw patients, including many children. Shirley unpacked and organized surgical supplies from Intervol and helped fill prescriptions. Some of the people who had tested high for blood sugar yesterday came back for another test after fasting.
After lunch, Dale taught a class on asthma, attended by 10 adults (9 women, 1 man) and 3 children. Dale had the participants test their peak flow and explained how to interpret the results. Like yesterday, the audience was very attentive and responsive and asked good questions. Dale discussed inhaler use and medications with individuals. After the class, Dale and Bob saw more patients.
Shirley discussed the electric power situation in more detail with Ralph. He said it costs about $25 US a day to for gasoline to run the generator, or about $500 a month. He estimates public power would cost about $200 a month. The power company would charge him $5750 to bring power to the clinic. Ralph said he could wait them out until they brought the power in for houses that might be built, but that it's a chicken and egg problem since people are waiting to build until there is power. At a savings of $300 a month, it would take about 20 months to pay back the cost of having power brought in. Ralph can't get a loan from a US bank to pay for bringing power in, and a Belize bank would charge 12% interest.
Penny said she is in need of a storage building for the clinic.
Ralph said they have about 5 dentists visit per a year for a week each and that they would like to get it up to one week a month. They do fillings, extractions, cleanings, and crowns, but can't do root canals because followup would be required.
Ralph said they are planning to build ten cabanas, two bathhouses, and a kitchen area in June. These facilities will serve to house visiting mission groups and local church retreats. They will be able to house 45-50 people.
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