I Get to Leave the Base!

The surgeon, CDR Rachel Burke, asked if I would be willing to take a field trip with her.  Of course I said yes even before she said where because I wanted to see the city.  As a humanitarian gesture, the Swedish Army had raised money to donate to Peltier Hospital, which is the Djiboutian hospital.  Their surgeon had requested that the money be used for drugs and supplies that their poorest patients could not afford.  So since the Swedish Army Major had no medical knowledge, he asked Rachel to come along to help to buy the supplies.  And since she needed a buddy to go off base and I speak some French, she asked me to come along as well.

When we walked from the car to the pharmacy, we were surrounded by children who were saying "My sister, my sister, do you have any money?  Do you have any food?" It is definitely a third world country but oddly enough, there are some resort hotel areas with casinos which I hope to get to soon. 

Here is my first picture of the city

Here is the surgeon, Rachel, with the supplies that were bought

And, here is a not-so-good picture of the Swedish Major and in the back you can see a woman who was begging us for food for her baby.  The women do not like to have their picture taken from what I have been told.  She didn't hide her face but she did hide her baby.  Luckily, the Major had a bottled water to give her.

That weekend, the Major got to present the surgeon at Peltier hospital with the supplies.  Mission complete!