We're here!

We are settling into Punta Gorda and trying to adjust to life here.  We are still getting the house organized.  It is challenging living in a house that is smaller than our former garage!  I have only overflowed the washing machine once - you have to fill it manually with a hose that comes from our rainwater holding tank.  If you get busy cooking dinner and forget about it, you have a mess on your hands!

Right now there is a different bright color on almost every wall of our house which really does nothing for my sense of aesthetics.  I have been determined to make it feel comfortable but was surprised when I tried to buy some paint.  One of the stores in town does carry some house paint but you only have 20 pre-mixed colors to choose from.  As the store owner explained to me, they are "tropic colors" - bright oranges, blues and greens.  Now I am working at getting creative....

There is definitely no lack of heat or bugs.  I have recently wondered if I can still call myself a vegetarian if I am eating bugs in my food daily?  :-)

We have had at least three children come to hang out at our house everyday.  They live in small shacks here in town and attend a local school but survive mainly on the streets.   They ate dinner with our family last night after we found out that they had only a morning snack at school that day and they had no food at home to eat.  Today the youngest one promptly fell asleep in our living room after school.  They want to be here every waking moment.  We have been able to do daily care of cuts and scrapes and give them snacks and drinks but it is hard to know how to balance showing them love vs. having them constantly in our small house with us.

The lack of resources for medical care is again hitting us.  There is still no x-ray available in the southern portion of Belize.  There are few lab tests that can be done and most need to be sent to Belize City which delays results for a couple of weeks.  Unbelievably, you cannot check a basic Na+ or electrolytes here at all and there is still no microbiology in the whole country.   We worked hard prior to coming down to get a supply of medications and so right now the greatest need is for permethrin.  Whole villages need to be treated for lice and scabies and the only medication that the Belizean government health workers has is some Lindane.  If anyone has any ideas for getting large quantities of permethrin, we would love to hear it!

We are continuing to pray for an ultrasound machine.  This would allow for some much needed imaging in this area.  We are also in need of rapid tests for Hemoglobin A1C and a CBC/hematocrit machine.  The clinic has had a Hgb machine but it is no longer working.  Malnutrition and anemia are a major concern in children in this area and this would help in their diagnosis and treatment.