Tom Kamin Departs

19 May 2008

It has been a busy day that lasted well beyond sunset. Tom Kamin left for home today. He accomplished much while he was here. He and Jim were the major force in wiring the electrical outlets as well as building our battery storage area, mounting the solar panels and designing our RAM Center sign. I look forward to seeing him on another expedition.

Between dropping Tom at the airport and running shopping errands, I kept the truck in constant motion. I met with the person building our steel bars for the windows and they were not yet complete, so I had to return later in the day to see if they would be finished.

While waiting for Tom’s flight, Tom and I had lunch with Diane and Medics Marcos. Medics Marcos is the lead medical practitioner here in Letham. He is not a doctor, but operates in a similar fashion to that of a physician’s assistance or nurse practitioner. He trained for two years with the government and after completing training the Medics are assigned to remote regions to care for the people located in that area. He prescribes medication, sets fractures, sutures people and delivers children. He is a quiet man and I have been told that even when the clinic is busy, he always makes the patients feel as if he is never in a rush. I enjoyed meeting him.

In other news, Marc Bacaro was able to fly a medical mission with Terrance on the RAM airplane. A 13-year-old boy fell out of a tree and broke his leg in a rural village. Marc is an EMT, but works as a project manager. I could see from his face when he returned that he was excited about the mission. He was full on energy and it gave him an opportunity to experience one of the many activities that are part of RAM as well as understand how he facility may be used in the future.

At 1600, the bars were ready and I picked up the bars and the work crew to bring them out to Manari to install them on the building. It took a few hours, but the job was done. We now have one highly secure room where we can store equipment and supplies without worry of theft.