Our morning started off with 2 frazzling incidents - a malfunctioning coffee maker and Liz's tripping in a dark hallway. Neither of these were enough to keep us home, though the caffeine would have been nice.
Liz & Peyton at the Infirmary
Our first agenda item was to meet with the Matron, who fortunately came to work even though it was her day off. Those of you who are praying types must have made a personal plea on our behalf - it worked. We presented the needs she had identified over the last 2 days and offered our assistance in outlining orientation classes, establishing standards for professional performance, seeking someone to administer exercise classes for residents/patients, etc. She even brought up the very same idea we came up with over dinner last night and were most keen about implementing. We are now planning to speak with Won by One as an organization to see if we can put these jointly approved plans into practice. And we'll also start figuring out how to fundraise to see this project through for at least 1 year. We figure the total cost would be $3600-$4800 for the year.
So if you're the praying type - keep it up. We will need to get approval to move forward with our idea and just as important, we'll need to find creative ways to raise that money to sustain the project.
Our friend Patricia was feeling very sick today with a sore throat. She is scheduled to have surgery on Monday so we did our best to encourage her (and will continue) to drink fluids and rest. She held onto her new "babeeee" and cuddled it in bed with her.
Since she was feeling so poorly I gathered her and a few other women (Iris, Ina, Karen, and Millie) around and they listed as I read from Matthew. Iris requested that I read chapter 5 but silly me...I said, why don't we just start at the beginning with chapter 1. I had clearly forgotten that Chapter 1 is a genealogy list so I was reading the "and he beget him" stuff for a while.
Karen, Liz, Millie, and Patricia
Karen is doing well - she seems to keep very busy assisting the staff with handing out meals and cleaning up. It is so good to see her being active - she likely has a very long life ahead of her at the infirmary and this activity will keep her physically and mentally stable.
One of the residents who I photographed yesterday afternoon passed away over night. The ambulance came for his body this morning before we arrived. Yesterday when I saw him, I had to watch his chest to see if he was breathing. He was asleep when both Ryan and I were in the room (at separate times) so neither of us woke him to ask how he was doing or to visit. I must admit that I also was reluctant because he was clearly such a shell of a person and I didn't know what a visit might be like. Had he been awake, I might have made an effort, but how can I know for sure if I would have taken the step to overcome my own discomfort?
Death has been a constant reminder of reality for us this week and we find ourselves surprised each day by conversations or events. Nobody else seems as surprised - and then we realized how sheltered we are.
We spent a lot more time visiting with staff today and we can tell that this trip's goal has already been met. We are getting to know them, and they are getting to know us. We can't move forward toward improved care and performance without their assistance. So this is a relief.
I had a moment of sadness today as we passed by Pearl's room. But there is freedom for me without her presence, and an even greater freedom for her. She wouldn't wish to be back at the infirmary nor would I wish her there out of selfish reasons. But still, sadness that our friendship cannot develop further will always remain.
***
At the school we moved computers to the appropriate workstations and connected everything together. Tomorrow we will check to see if these machines actually work.
Long days ahead of us still.
Liz & Ryan
PS I got the lightest sunburn on my face yesterday. The was the first time ever in Jamaica. Hopefully a light glow to my skin won't give anyone at work the impression that I was actually at the beach.
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