10.31.14 Happy Halloween

It was a dark and stormy night for the ghosts and goblins. The rain came down in sheets and the wind howled. We have the makings of a cyclone here and the intense weather is to be here for most oft he weekend.

There was one big Halloween party for the expats but Idid not attend. It was in the northern part of the island and in bad weather just too many logistics to attend. (My excuse for not going!) Instead I made dinner that included squash for old time sakes, eggplant, onion, and taro were also mixed in the the stir fry and enjoyed it with a fellow PCR volunteer. I do enjoy taro and breadfruit and have learned how to prepare it. Rice I still do not dow eel, so I bought it fromt eh hospital café!

Saw one local kid in a sort of outfit but it is not as big of a holiday as back home. Although apparently getting to be a bigger celebration with time.

On a more serious note:

We officially started the work on the breast cancr program here. I gave two lectures in the morning and will give one more next Friday. The first lecture was also used to get a sense from the staff (all disciplines) as to the attitutdes and practices as they affect cancer patients in general. It was a really good discussion.

We now have several staff who have volunteered to create a support program to help cancer patients. Not only do I hope it gets off the ground, but that it is sustainable. So I make sure that I serve as a resource, not as the person who IS the support group. Will keep you all posted as to the progress we all make.

The first shipment of brochures arrived and they look really nice. (Nice quality paper - printed by Staples, shoolld last a long time.)  Thank you Fenny for shipping and Kari - more are on the way to be shipped. When all is said and done, we should have one for almost a quarter of the age appropriate women in Yap and the neighboring islands. It was translated into Yapese and Ulithian. You may recognize the image in the middle paneln from an earier blog.

 

 

Yapese

 

 

 

Ulithian

 

 

 

 

 

This one can serve as a resource for the professional staff. English is the language that the ue in school and all official communications, so we did not translate it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So that is how I sepnt most of my week, preparing for the lecture and of course, the great island tour.

Only 8 days until the canoe festival. Let's hope the weather is much improved. Otherwise the sailboats will be on their way to Ulithi before we know it.