Friday, September 6, 2013

Thursday, September 5

I only took three pictures today, two of them being pictures of rocks.  David and I spent the day in the hospital again, finishing up the lighting in the maternity waiting room, the pediatrics room and then moving on into the Family Clinic.

The Family Clinic was a very small room with a desk and 8 chairs for waiting people.  Two very small closets formed an office and an examination room.  The waiting room was lit by only a single bulb so we hung two fluorescent fixtures from the ceiling.

Rewiring a small room when it is in use can be an interesting experience.  It's hard to ask someone to move from their seat when the only word you know is "bonjour".  We did figure out how to get someone to move, however.  It's really quite simple and very effective.  Just start dropping things on them from above.  I removed a screw from a light socket and fumbled, dropping the screw on the woman right next to where I was working.  I apologized as best as I could (I'm sure she didn't understand me), and she moved towards the front where David was working.

David was installing a blank plate over an empty electrical box and fumbled it, dropping it onto the same woman's lap.  I'm not sure he even tried to apologize.

Another way to get people to move is with heat.  Especially on a warm day.  We had to bend some rigid plastic conduit with a conduit bender, basically a box with a big heater in it to soften the plastic.  The only place to plug it in was in the front of the room.  When I opened the box to insert the conduit, the waves of heat pouring out caused the nearby people to scatter rather rapidly.  Several people chose to wait outside.

We completed the job, in spite of having to work around people in close quarters, and hope that the improved lighting will be of benefit to those who use the clinic.

David and I stopped up at the Mountain Maid for a break in the afternoon.  This is a self-help gift shop and restaurant administered by the mission but run by the Haitians that offers jobs to the locals.  The restaurant is an open-air building that offers a commanding view of the ravine and the mountains on the other side.  Many parts of Haiti are very barren because of deforestation, but this area is lush and green because of the practice of terracing.  It really was a beautiful setting.  One of the missionaries said she never tires of the view because it is always changing as crops grow and are harvested.  It's an always changing patchwork.
 
The picture doesn't do it justice because of the mist of the day, but I would tend to agree.

No comments: