Trip to Rai Robo - Health Clinic
Every day at the clinic, 4 WD vehicles drive to outlying areas with a doctor and nurse (and sometimes an interpreter) to run a medical clinic. I went out on one of these trips to Rai Robo. This was a three hour drive along the Liquica Coast Road and then up into the hills. The road along the coast had landslides on one side and sheer drop on the other. Was okay going up the mountain as I was on the landslide side, but coming back I was on the sheer drop side. I don't think I took a breath until I got to safer ground on the way back. I would much prefer to jump out of a plane!!
This is a sedate part of the drive. Great views and even a decent road.
Along the road we were driving on - they are building retainer walls, by hand, to hold back the landslides. You can see the state of the road here.
All in all, was a fabulous drive - top speed of approx 30 km per hour and that speed didn't happen very often. Along the way we passed every time of animal on the road - the usual dogs (and lots of), chickens, ducks, goats, cows, horses and pigs.
Elections
The elections that were just recently held did not end up with any candidate winning 51% of the vote. What happens now - is they all strike deals, pal up with each other and the top 2 (I think) candidates then go to the polls again. There is a public holiday the day before the election so everyone can get back to their village to enable them to vote.
There is a real concern now about violence after this election. Not sure what party Fretlin is supporting - but the locals tell me that the rallies that Fretlin ran were all "rent a crowd". Fretlin would fill the tanks with petrol for everyone who participated in the rally!
Every day at the clinic, 4 WD vehicles drive to outlying areas with a doctor and nurse (and sometimes an interpreter) to run a medical clinic. I went out on one of these trips to Rai Robo. This was a three hour drive along the Liquica Coast Road and then up into the hills. The road along the coast had landslides on one side and sheer drop on the other. Was okay going up the mountain as I was on the landslide side, but coming back I was on the sheer drop side. I don't think I took a breath until I got to safer ground on the way back. I would much prefer to jump out of a plane!!
This is a sedate part of the drive. Great views and even a decent road.
Along the road we were driving on - they are building retainer walls, by hand, to hold back the landslides. You can see the state of the road here.
All in all, was a fabulous drive - top speed of approx 30 km per hour and that speed didn't happen very often. Along the way we passed every time of animal on the road - the usual dogs (and lots of), chickens, ducks, goats, cows, horses and pigs.
We stopped for lunch prior to turning up for the clinic. Fantastic views
The clinic was in an open area and slowly all the patients turned up,
waited their turn and had a very social time while they waited. It was a
real gathering of the community. The clinic was run by Sofia (a doctor
from Portugal), and intepreter and nurse. Sofia would assess the
patients and then they would present to the nurse for their drugs. I
entertained the children with the camera - they were pretty amazed at
seeing their photos on the digital camera. I am going to get some
prints and send them up with the next clinic.
Elections
The elections that were just recently held did not end up with any candidate winning 51% of the vote. What happens now - is they all strike deals, pal up with each other and the top 2 (I think) candidates then go to the polls again. There is a public holiday the day before the election so everyone can get back to their village to enable them to vote.
There is a real concern now about violence after this election. Not sure what party Fretlin is supporting - but the locals tell me that the rallies that Fretlin ran were all "rent a crowd". Fretlin would fill the tanks with petrol for everyone who participated in the rally!
No comments:
Post a Comment