Friday May 23rd the day I lost touch with the rest of the world!

Friday afternoon I went for my nightly walk and have decided to claim a spot as my own. Yes I now have a small piece of real estate for me to escape and watch the sunset and sunrise across the water's edge. I have taken a picture and although this was not the best day due to clouds I am sure you will agree it is a beautiful location. Today I met two first year med students who have been in the community for one month to learn the culture. The entire month they have spent hanging out with the locals and touring around.

This is included as a part of their education and is provided through the University (must be a hard course?). These two actually stayed at our local 5 star accomodation (running water, bed and a kitchen) at 100.00 per night and that is without the food. I have taken a picture for you so you can check it out who knows maybe instead of a wedding on the beach in Panama Josh and Heather might want to come here and stay at this luxury motel....... I was amazed that this cost 100.00/night but sure enough and there are no discounts for longer stays.

I can tell you that all of the things that others told me to expect has not exactly been my experience here. Things are rather quiet, I have not seen anyone who has been impaired (even me unfortunately), out of control or aggressive.

Well Friday was a slow day at the clinic. One thing I forgot to mention before that seemed interesting is how all of the residents are referred to by their band number. All documents and conversations with anyone about the client seeks a band number. So it is just as important as your name and DOB. The interesting story for the day today was my last patient at the end of the day. She was a 7 year old with a very bad infestation of lice. Certainly not isolated to this population as we know how common this is with children. The saddest part of this was that the child came from the school with a teacher and we had to take her home as the mother could not come up to the clinic. I had to deliver the Nix treatment and explain how she was to treat the family and the other necessary actions with lice. They had no running water so had to go to another home to use the water for bathing and on the way out the door was a 5 gallon pail that was filled with water and body excretion (to say this politely but use your imagination). This was a family of 6, 4 small children can't imagine. I did talk to the manager of the health clinic who is first nation and he told me that many people leave for months at a time and go to Thunder Bay or Sioux Lookout and don't prepare their homes in the winter and the pipes break so the band office refuses to fix them. Not sure if this was the case but we are looking into it.

Another question that I can answer is about how the residents get their clothing. There is a limited supply of clothes in the store. Cammo Cammo and more Cammo..... but there are also several catalogues in which many order from including the Sears Catalogue! Bye for Now!