05.08.15 A very special thank you.........................

......................... to a very special person. Thank you Mrs. Paula G for the most generous supplies for the asylum seekers. Heidi and I and the four kids took them to the men on Thursday and needless to say, they were thrilled. Heidi has a truck, which comes in handy for delivering boxes and boxes of supplies. She also had boxes herself, so between the two of us, we are keeping an eye out for them.

The men love seeing the kids. One carried baby Theo all around while Heidi spoke in the Indonesian language to a couple of men there and Tommy, Reina and Honora played with and chased Hope, their puppy and the men. I did an inspection of the typhoon damage and the food situation. Things are improving with IOM on board. Still - we must continue to work to ensure that they are treated with respect and fairness and hope that they will be settled somewhere with the opportunity for a better life. That is, afterall, how they ended up here, they want a better life for themselves and their family. No different than the rest of us.

04.28.15 Working day

This week has started off being very busy. Am working on the school health data set, so lots of numbers to crunch. A urology team was supposed to arrive but missed the flight to Yap due to delayed arrivals. And today I was asked to go to the airport to examine a shipment of medications from MAP International, a great organization. They shipped 7 boxes of much needed medicines and all can be used. So a very special thank you to MAP International. BTW, this organization helped sponsor my very first trip as a medical volunteer. I went to Bangladesh as a medical student, so I am very fond of them. PMA has been very busy flying people and supplies back and forth.

Was then asked to attend the Emergency Operation Center meeting, where I presented our health assessments and plan for continued surveillance. This meeting took about three hours. There are concerns that an assessment report has not been sent to the Governor - and that translates into money.
My reports have been done. So there is a task force created to get the rest of the assessments into one report. I was able to state not only what we found, but what we need to prevent diseases so the chair was taking notes and I gave him my folder with the reports and list of needs. I really enjoy doing disaster relief work.

The rest of the day was spent chatting with two nurses who have a wealth of  information. That was fun as we are usually busy withour own projects.

Shorty, Blondie, Buddy, and Scarback are doing well. I am trying to get Scarback adopted - today he let me rub his tummy and rub his paws - a major feat for a dog who has been terrorized by people.

No more news on the men from the green boat. I did stir the pot and IOM was supposed to be asked to return to the table and help take care of them. Too much politics - all I know is that they need help and attention. Who said - "I'll be back"? which is how I feel about monitoring the situation. I'll be back to see how things are and keep bringing it up at meetings. Now that there was a devastating earthquake in Nepal, there could be no plans to return anyone there.

Today was Cute Baby Tuesday. Here is Roxy with a little one here for the immunizations.

 

04.22.15 Asylum seeker update

The immunization team went to see the men today. We immunized all 34 against the flu and tetanus and pertussis (Tdap).The skin lesions STILL have not  been adequately treated and they are still living under a leaky roof. I bought them some mosquito coils and the insects are becoming annoying to everyone and they have no protection. In addition, we have some rather terrible mosquito borne outbreaks here, so protection against bites is needed. Yap Catholic teachers Kate and Lupo donated some clothes - that will help so they can wash and wear and maybe use the big shirts as a sort of shade from the sun.
And little Hope was running around, he follows the men, tugged at my pants and slept on my shoes as I worked. I put a cute collar on him and gave him some dog food. He looks better today than he did on Sunday. Father John is also going to visit them tomorrow.
So far, no human rights activists have responded, but IOM  is being contacted again tomorrow. In my opinion, they are a very good organization, but must work with governments, they cannot act alone. And I know this is a delicate situation, but that does not mean it can go on indefinitely. Something really needs to be done before we have a major health outbreak.
The boat was pulled out of the water yesterday and I do hope that it is not the intention  that they sleep in that dilapidated ship.


Introducing Hope to our blog.  He's a cute puppy and the men like him. He looks good with the collar, too!

He is another powerful tail wagger like Bandit and Shorty.

Salvaged "green boat". The crane that lifted it out is  included. See the ladder along the port side?

Looks idyllic, right? Palm treess, thatched roof on the house, next to the sea. But it is hot as the dickens on the dock and the roof leaks. And the shelter is a men's house - without walls.

Martina and Carlos immunizing the men. Daniel and Melissa also helped.

Nice mosquito breeding grounds. Still water is the ideal place for breeding.

 

04.17.15 Fais

Fais. What can I say. As much as I enjoy Ulithi, I really like Fais. It has warm and lovely people and a beautiful shore line which is treacherous to navigate and cliffs to climb to enjoy a spectacular view. It is also as hot as the dickens. And they continue with the nu-nu tradition (leis) which I also enjoy. A garland of sweet smelling flowers is such a treat.

This island  had sustained less damage, but is poorer than the Ulithi atoll. They remain in reasonable good health and I ate very well here. We had rice, pork, tuna caught that morning marinated in soy and a spice, and luncheon meat and sweet potatoes. They also prepare a drink of pounded coconut that is refreshing in this heat.

The water tanks were donated by the EU as a separate project. They must still be installed to a smaller tank (? I was told) and rain gutters are to be placed that will connect with this system. Hope I get to see the finished product, but this step was a long time in coming.

Sunrise near Fais.

Large water containers. I am always amazed at the resilience and resourcefulness of some people and places. The Micronesians, just like others that I have known, do not complain and simply get back to work. These containers are heavy yet the men just lifted them from the water and carried them to where they needed to be placed. And they still walked really fast when they carried the containers.

 

 

Melissa and Carlos.

Baptist Church from Yap volunteering on each island. They brought three chainsaws. This helped a lot. The islanders would have one very difficult time using a machete on these large trees.

Fresh tuna. Lunch.

Trees starting to turn green. This is a breadfruit that survived.

 

Clay showing his pictures. He came on the boat with us. As he is a local, he helped with everything.

Eli and Joshua cooling off before we head back to the ship. Yes, I was in there in all of my clothes. We were wet from just the boat ride, so why not?

 A pet bird.

Solar panel goes for $300.00.

Madeleina. She is a school teacher who helps me and makes sure I get fed and enough to drink. She is lovely.

 

04.17.15 health surveillance and recovery efforts: Mogmog, Fedrai (Ulithi atoll)

Mogmog is a very traditional island and Yapese men are required to wear a thu and women are required to wear a lavalava. Both genders are topless. With the destruction of the homes and pubic buildings, the ban on clothes has been lifted and both men and women are wearing shirts and hats for protection from the sun. In addition, the men now have nice heavy clothes to protect their hands from injury.
This was a good visit for us - they have a doctor here - Dr. Arthur, who is a very kind and helpful person. It was a pleasure to meet him.

Fedrai permits any type of clothes, women are very likely to wear a lavalava with a shirt, the men have mixed attire. Fedrai has no health assistant and the people depend on Dr. Arthur (Mogmog) or Mark (Falalop) for help with their medical needs. Dr. Arthur asked me to check on some, so I did.

Here are a few pictures from Mogmog:

The man on the left is Will, a Peace Corps volunteer teaching on Fais. He is helping with off loading the ship of supplies. Notice men with hats, shirts, gloves and one with a bandage on his ankle.

A Micronesian living in Hawaii who came home to help with the relief effort. He forgot his shirt and is really sunburned front and back. A very nice man whom I enjoyed a brief conversation. He used up all ofhis vacation time to help as well as all sick leave.

Hats and gloves and shirts are very helpful.

Melissa and Carlos setting up the tetanus shot dispensary. Yes, on the beach, under a coconut tree. In the shade and a breeze.

Love the hat, shades and thu. Modern and traditional.

Her home was destroyed but she still has a big smile.

Unharmed shrine.

Tetanus protection. He just received his injection.

 

 

Sun protection.

Cute little girl.

Couldn't resist looking for the puppies.

Americans are by nature very, very generous. There are donations on every island from Americans. These boxes include hygiene supplies. Wish USAID could provide some supplies to the asylum seekers - the menin the green boat. The best contributions are monetary so the needed supplies canbe purchased and delivered.

Fedrai:

Neighboring island to Fedrai. See the damaged trees. It is uninhabited.

Clarissa, a Peace Corps volunteer. She teaches in Fedrai and will stay there as her home is functional and the school is in session. Exccept, of course, when the ship comes to  shore.

It is not easy in a lavalava.

 Healthy and cute baby.

Men unloading the motor boat from the ship.

She is doing well and has her teddy bear. The children do not appear  tobe traumatized by the typhoon, but we will have to see what happens during the next storm. That  may be more telling. Right now, they are playing and doing normal childhood activities.

Trevor, my little buddy. He is my tour guide and helped dispense candies to the small children. When I gave Dixon (next picture) a task (distributing mosquito repellant) Trevor looked disappointed, so I had  to think fast. He was quite happy  as a tour guide and they both have givenme some very beautiful shells.

Clarissa, one of her students and Dixon, who wants to be a doctor. Hope he studies hards and makes the effort. Not an easy goal coming from the islands, but it is achievable.

Pink shirt and grass skirt, this young girl is hauling some supplies home.

 

 

Albert received his tetanus shot. Love Carlos with his head gear.

 

The Church was mostly undamaged. Roof remains intact.