Sunday, March 25, 2007

How time flies...


So I'm not the world's best blogger. To serve as a recap of fun things from the last month....

I went dancing with friends....



...earned a few bruises attempting skiing for the first time.....







....gained a new cousin (Ann)....







....had two wonderful birthday parties....



....and worked a 16-hour shift.




That's all that's documented by pictures. Everyone likes pictures better than words, right?

3 comments:

Amy said...

Nice way to do a post. Pictures are always great!

emily kathryn said...

I like both! I need to call you.

Daniel said...

So you´ve been dancing again aye? It looks like life´s held quite a variety of experiences lately!

Thanks for the comment on my blog. In response to your questions, I think you will (or maybe already have) find a lot of interesting information on HOH´s website, www.hospitalsofhope.org I would be glad to try to fill in any gaps with what I know.

One thing that you may not find on the website is that early on, the clinic was both largely staffed and funded by American volunteers and the volunteer dues they paid. That´s changed a lot now, as the hospital is almost entirly staffed by Bolivians. Most of the hospital´s doctors and nurses are graduates from Bolivian universities. They seem to be pretty quallity over all but don´t have an American level of education. The hospital has also taken on training a few nurse aides/nurses. This seems to be working OK as long as their continuing education is treated seriously.

Unlike during the days of the clinic, the hospital now charges a very small and reasonable amount for it´s services. This helps offset expences but I understand that the hospital budget is an ongoing challenge. The hospital´s budget challenge is made greater due to the poverty of many of the Indians around here and the fact that the hospical provides critical treatment regardless of the patient´s ability to pay. Most of this defficit is made up be donations from the states. If there are some other questions that the website doesn´t answer feel free to email them to me.(your apartment mate has my contact info)

Take care,

Daniel