BoppWeBlog

I like most people in this great country am looking forward to change.  But what do we know about the good things accomplished during his term.

Most will agree that the media is in some form or another biased, tends to lean toward the liberal side, and will always be quick to point out the problems in our political system regardless of who is in office.  This may never change.  Reporting on negative topics and bringing about fear is what consumers want, and is what will ultimately be delivered since that is what will make the most money.  (I intend to write on the problem of perpetual fear, and commercialization thereof in our society at some point in the future)

Since the negative has been communicated to us on the inadequacies of George W. presidency, what are some of the positives?  What good things have been overlooked for the most part.

A popular relief effort is being taken on by many to help solve the HIV/AIDS pandemic.  And it should be noted that Bush has done so much more for this problem than those before him.  He has tripled the amount provided to helping solve the AIDS pandemic.  http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/01/20030129-1.html

I would love to hear what you think.  Please leave a comment describing what you think some of the positives of the G.W.Bush era have been.

The purpose of our trip to Werkok, Sudan was to continue the work on a new hospital. Keep in mind a hospital to them is nothing more than a metal, pole barn type structure. Anything that isn’t a mud hut(tukle) is quite impressive.

The work completed so far was basically the metal structure, and most of the cement work. Concrete is a rare commodity in Southern Sudan. No components of concrete are found in South Sudan, with the exception of some sand, which is still an hours drive away from where we are, and requires ‘mining’ the sand out of the ground along the Nile river. Gravel, Lime, and other parts of concrete need to be shipped into the area. There are very few roads, and the roads are terrible. Gravel is the closest at about 200 miles away. But costs over $5,000 to have it shipped to our location. And all of these parts need to be mixed the old fashion way. With a hoe, and a wheelbarrow. It makes for very slow work. Putting concrete together for anchoring a post is one thing, but when you need to create the floor of a 90 x 30 foot building, a foot thick, it makes for a lot of work. Of course the gravel, sand, and lime are all dumped in different locations, so there is a lot of wheelbarrowing from one location to another, all being done in 110 plus degree temperature. Luckily we aquired an old cement mixer that aided in the concrete creation process.

Other than pouring concrete we also moved things. Object that were donated to the hospital. Large objects. Now while these things are a blessing to the hospital, it also is a bit of a burden since many things are not needed, and they were donated prior to the completion of the hospital structure. Basically there is no room for this stuff. And there is no garbage collection to throw it away. So as patients are treated in the half built building it was our job to shuffle this equipment from one spot to another. This was unfortunately very time consuming.

While the actual structure of the hospital is being built, some work is being done in the shipping containers that supplies were delivered in. This actually worked quite well, and one container was turned into a O.R. Using shipping containers as buildings must be a popular thing to do in this part of the world. Many other places we visited used shipping containers. Like the airport in Lokiochoggio, Kenya.

Once supplies arrive the next phase will be to put up interior walls using actual wallboard. Along with this wiring will be done for electricity.

I’ve attached a few photos of the hospital building