Typical day for Scot

Hello from beautiful Papua New Guinea. It has been a beautiful week here. We have had no rain for the past six days, so we are beginning to be concerned about the cistern, but other than that we are both healthy and doing fine.

I thought I would take some time, like Tyronza, and let you know what my typical day and week is like.

I rise at 5:45am each day. All is calm except for the whistling of the locusts and the crowing of the local kakarukas (roosters). The locusts look like our cicadas, but make a buzzing whistle-like noise that sounds like an alarm clock going off. This serenade usually lasts about 30 minutes. During this time, I am up walking with several other mission doctors and Brutus. The course is two miles.

Brutus is a beautiful black Labrador. He is not very well trained and it is hard to say who is taking whom for a walk. He is always eager to go and seems to be slowing improving in the obedience department.

After the walk, a shower and breakfast are in order. The shower water is left in the tank from the previous days sun - heat and so is only warm, but feels good after a long walk. Breakfast consists of oatmeal, bananas, pineapple, toast from Tyronza's bread and tea. The bananas here are like nothing I have ever experienced in the states. My favorites are called apple bananas. They are short, firm and very sweet. They taste a bit alike an apple and go down very well. There are over 200 varieties of bananas here, some very large and some small. Most are yellow but a few are red. Some are for eating and some are for cooking (strang banana). As I write this note, I have had my eye on a particularly large bunch of eating bananas. I hope to have the whole bunch hanging from my porch very soon.

At 8am, after breakfast, I walk 2-3 blocks to the hospital to start by medical day. I usually have 7-8 Gynecology patients to round on, then 20-30 obstetric patients to see. After rounds I either go to surgery or to the clinic.

The clinic consists of gynecology patients that have mostly been screened by the family doctors and I see them to consult and review for possible surgery. There are also problem obstetric patients to see. I usually do a physical exam and ultrasound on each one. I see about 15 clinic patients each day.

Scheduled surgeries are primarily done on Tuesdays and Thursdays and unscheduled surgeries fit in on a daily basis as needed. Each week I do 6-8 major cases plus 4-6 unscheduled c-sections and ectopics. I also assist the general surgeon, Dr. Jim Radcliff, on his major cases, usually 6-8 per week.

We break for lunch at noon each day and are usually back in the clinic by 1pm. The work day ends at 5 or before, except for call. I am being on call every other night and every other weekend for obstetrics and gynecology.

My days are fairly busy, but I do find time to enjoy this beautiful place. God's creations are so astounding!

I hope all of you are well and staying busy. God bless you and keep you safe. I hope to write again soon. (Mi raitem yu bihain sun.)

Scot

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Typical Day for Tyronza

A typical PNG day for Tyronza: T gets up around 5:30am and checks emails and facebook. She is happy to receive messages from family and friends. She then wakes Scot and they go out for a morning exercise walk and run at 6:00. There are several other volunteers, missionaries and a few locals who exercise at this time of the morning. At 6:00 it is still dark, but begins to lighten very quickly. By 7am, we are typically back at our place and heading to the showers or getting the breakfast ready. By 8am, Scot is heading to the hospital for either clinic or surgery. Tyronza is cleaning up breakfast dishes and preparing for her day. She tries to leave the house by 9-9:30. She often begins bread making or clothes washing before leaving. She also needs to have the lunch preparation started and the dinner menu planned (making sure she has all the ingredients).

By 9:30, T is helping either at the hospital, storeroom or field office. Depending upon where she is needed, she might be cleaning a room at the hospital, sorting or unpacking items in the storeroom or helping with filing and bookkeeping in the office. (The field office is the Nazarene Melanesian Regional Office and covers several countries.)

By 11:30-12 noon, T is back at the house completing preparation for lunch and serving Scot and usually two others.  We are living in the Barnabas House; a house that can sleep up to 24. There are two wings, with a bathroom on each wing and a large kitchen and living area between. Fortunately, there are typically only two couples in it during the months we are in PNG and on occasion a single medical student or resident volunteering  for a month. After we leave in May, there will be two large groups arriving to work for two weeks each.) After eating lunch, Scot returns to the hospital for either clinic patients or surgery. Tyronza cleans up after lunch, brings clothes in from the clothes line or puts the loaves of bread in the oven.

There is usually an hour or two of down time and then it is time to start dinner preparation. (Time for picture taking, reviewing recipes, catching up on daily Bible devotions, a little bit of reading, or a Tok Pisin - pidgin lesson.) For dinner there is usually 4-8 to be served. The most common main meals are chicken or ground beef. There is a large variety of vegetables available. Experimenting is fun and usually turns out. This week we have had tacos, banana pancakes and chicken potpie for dinner. For desert there has been pineapple (fresh) upside down cake, homemade chocolate banana ice cream, bread pudding and tonight homemade mango (fresh) ice cream. Lunches are usually soup (pumpkin and carrot, cream of broccoli, zucchini and tomato) and sandwiches (tuna salad, grilled cheese and tomato, PB&J). The "More with Less" cookbook that Laura Meece gave T last year is getting a good use. (Thank you, Laura.) Dinner is usually served between 6-6:30.

Scot is great helping with evening dishes, cutting up fresh pineapple or opening and shaving the coconut. He is typically back from the hospital by 5. He is at the hospital Monday-Friday and is on call for OB/Gyn every other night and every other weekend.

A typical evening has friends coming over for dinner or for games later. There are many board games: Settlers, Monopoly, etc. and dice games: Zilch, also Pictionary and Pit, etc. Visiting with the other volunteers and the missionaries is a lot of fun and we appreciate their company. There is much talk and laughter. Fellowship with others is such a blessing. Scot enjoys having a new audience for his tales!

We are typically preparing for bed by 9-9:30pm. We enjoy our time in PNG and find it very rewarding. This simple lifestyle is good for the heart, mind and soul. It feels like stepping back in time 50 years.

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Rain in PNG

It has been a beautiful first two weeks here in Papua New Guinea, except for the rain. Rain is a popular product of the Western Highlands Province and our hospital is no exception. It has rained 12 of our first 14 days here. The locals report the annual rainfall was a staggering 150+ inches this past year. The wet season extends from November to June with the typical dry season being July through September.

Too much rain can cause flooding and the dreaded mud slides. A few weeks ago there was a mud slide that took out a small village with loss of life and in one case a P.M.V. (public motor vehicle) was covered as it traveled along with 21 resulting deaths and only one survivor.

Those of you in southeast Missouri are well acquainted with flooding. Around here, this is a major problem with the local farms and gardens. Farmers in the US try to take advantage of the available moisture, while people in PNG dig special drainage channels throughout their gardens to carry the water away.

To me, adequate rain means a good supply of water in my cistern, so there will be a plentiful water supply for drinking, bathing, washing dishes, laundry and flushing the toilet!

The typical day here on the station starts with mist trapped by the mountains filling the valleys. This greatly limits early morning visibility. The mist is usually gone by 8 am and intense high-altitude sun with a few passing clouds predominates until mid afternoon.  The sun at high altitude is dangerous and sunburn can get you in 30-45 minutes without protection.  Temperatures are usually quite mild to the upper 70's and low 80's. By 2-3 pm the clouds start to stack up and by 5 pm the rain starts. Rainfall can last through the night, but usually stops by dawn. Precipitation is mostly light, but can be intense - especially at night.

Too little rain can also be a problem at the station. This means dry cisterns and rationing our water for drinking, showers and toilet flushing.

God's secret to the existence of plants and animals on our planet involves a balance of soil, sun and rain. Without each of these there can be no life. Let us pray for a year without flood or drought and of course for my cistern to remain full.

See you later (lukim yu bihain),

Scot & Tyronza

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Back to PNG

Tyronza and I arrived about 11 days ago on February 1st, written 1/2/12 here in PNG. Things have been very busy here and I have been slow to open up the blog site - so here I go!
Today, I thought I would comment about the use of the tote sack - or as the natives here call it the "bilum" . There are few trucks or cars in this country, so everything is carried by hand, or in most cases in a bilum ( which in tok pisin means bag).
The bilum comes in many sizes. Small ones are used as a purse or man-bag for the essentials. Larger ones may carry fire wood, kaukau (yams), vegetables, fruit or corn. These hang on the back from a wide strap that is suspended from the forehead. I have even seen loose weave bilums used to carry babies. These bilums seem similar to a papoose board used by American Indians, but the loose weave allows air in to keep the baby cool. The forehead strap provides quick access to tend the child.
Patients coming in for surgery usually bring all their hospital supplies in a bilum. These may contain clothing, bedding supplies, food, cooking and laundry supplies. The lowly bilum seems to be an ideal carrying tool for these people. It is totally recyclable (typically crocheted from yarn), handy and a colorful symbol of this culture.
Medically speaking, things are much the same as last time. I have already performed ten major surgeries, which include three ectopic pregnancies. One of the major surgeries was for a thirty-five pound cystic ovarian teratoma.
Hospital call this time is much better. I am on one day and then off the next and am on only every other weekend. Clinic patients are still seen Monday through Friday.
Thanks for listening! God bless all you folks. Please pray for us.
Scot & Tyronza

pictures can be viewed at:

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