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Diary - Monday, December 23, 2002 I
have to say, it's hard to believe that Christmas is just around
the corner now as I sit here looking at the Indian Ocean in 30-degree
temperatures. However, we would like to take this opportunity to
wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a wonder-full transition
into 2003. We do hope the New Year brings nothing but peace and
positive energy to you and your friends and families.It has been quite a while since I last sat to update our progress here so it is nice to touch base again. We have settled into a fairly regular routine now as we continue on with our work, fine tuning the buildings and landscaping as well as seeing patients on a daily basis now. I have shifted over to the clinic, which is not quite complete, but it is a bit less intrusive not having people walking through the house to be treated in the spare bedroom. It is a very casual scene at the moment as I'm moving from dirt pile to treatment room and back again, of course taking the time to wash and wipe the sweat from my eyes before touching the folks. It's all very natural and such a change from the expectations of our own culture.  Our
shipment of supplies from Dubai has arrived in the port, so tomorrow
we are meeting with the Principle Secretary of Health to get help
with the documentation required to clear the goods without paying
duties. We hope this goes smoothly so that we can get our supplies
out to Jambiani and unpacked as soon as possible. This will be a
bit like Christmas for us as we have forgotten a lot of the things
that we purchased back there in November. This process of clearing
our goods through Customs has turned out to be a bit more complicated
than we had anticipated. In retrospect, we could have done a bit
more homework before our shipment arrived to make sure we were following
the expected protocols. At times we forget that we are in a different
country and that procedures here can be quite different than in
Canada.Diary - Friday, December 27, 2002Well, it is a couple of days later and we hope you all had a nice Christmas with friends and family and that you didn't hurt yourself with all the additional festivities, food etc. We had a very quiet time here. There was quite a large electrical storm with heavy rain in the evening and then we all went out to the Blue Oyster for a group dinner, which was nice but very mellow. I think we were in bed by 11:00 pm. Today we are having a short day, catching up with paper work, seeing a few patients generally relaxing after a few days of steady landscaping etc. We are hoping to open the clinic in another two weeks or so, however that will depend on how soon we clear our supplies through customs. We'll keep you posted. Otherwise,
we are both excellent and continue to enjoy our time here, watching
the project evolve into a mature and functional entity. We are looking
forward to the arrival of our first volunteers in February, Dr.
Wayne Quinn and his wife Mona. Wayne and Mona live in Chase, British
Columbia. Wayne is a Chiropractor and Mona is a nurse so we are
hoping they will enjoy their time here with us. We're certain they
will! :-)Anyhow, it's time to do a few other odds and ends so until the next time, much love to you all from Ali Baba and Mama Pat. Diary - Sunday, December 29, 2002Hello once again from Jambiani on a very calm and unusually sultry afternoon. We are presently sitting between two weather systems so the wind has dropped and the stillness has returned. This is not that common and for me, it adds a surreal twist to this place, engendering scenes and colors that look more like alien landscapes than East African ones. We are continuing to plug away here and anticipate completing the immediate work at hand within the next two weeks. This
should coincide with the opening of the clinic, which we are really
looking forward to. We are of course seeing increasing numbers of
patients as time goes on and in fact I treated about 25 people yesterday
morning between landscaping jobs and other projects that are on
the go. I'm always amazed at the diversity of challenges we see
here in the clinic and I do hope at one point that we can initiate
some sort of intern placement from one or more schools be they Chiropractic
or otherwise. I believe the learning experience would be irreplaceable
and a tremendous boost to one's clinical confidence. We shall see.We are anticipating a trip into town probably the day after tomorrow and we are hoping that all the paperwork will be complete in order for us to move our goods out of the port. We have learned to have fewer expectations as to outcomes here and try to cultivate our patience, knowing this is a good strategy and a great stress reducer. :-) We find that everything unfolds in it's own unique manner. With 2003 just around the corner now, Pat and I would like to once again wish you a fantastic New Years and hope that you will find peace and happiness to be your constant companion as you move into the next annual chapter of your life. Tutaonana badaaya! Ali Baba and Mama Pat  |