Irreconcilable Differences

Despite the many prayers that the issues with the Ministry of Health would be resolved, it turns out that the problems were too severe to be overcome. These issues combined with the two cyclones that barely miss hitting the island clearly suggests that God has other plans for me which do not include medical volunteering in Fiji. Because of the way that the Projects Abroad staff handled the issues my family and I have also decided that it is probably not wise to travel to the middle of the African jungle with this company either, so unfortunately there will not be a mytanzanianadventure.blogspot.com. Despite all that has happened I have had an amazing time on the island and have determined that I will be back at some point later in my medical career. Hopefully I will be working legally when I come back! Luckily my adventure here is not quite over. My mom arrived safe and sound in Nadi two days ago and I have been showing her around the town. With another shark dive yesterday and a coral dive scheduled for tomorrow, there is still a lot that Fiji has to offer the two of us. The dive yesterday was especially fun. One of the other medical volunteers had gotten so excited by my tales from the previous shark dive that he took the abundance of free time that we all had to get his diving certification. After his four open water certification dives, his first dive without his instructor present was the shark dive. Being my father’s spitting image I had to take the opportunity to mess with him a little bit. On the boat ride out to the dive site (once he was fully committed to the dive) I began exaggerating how close the sharks got and how big they were. I could watch as his eyes began to get bigger and bigger the closer we got to jumping in the murky water. Once he actually got in, he was a natural and looked like he had been diving for years. All of the hesitation and fear were immediately gone and he had an amazing time. I have never seen a bigger smile once we got out and started talking about all the cool stuff that we had seen. As much fun as it was to dive with my volunteer friends I am really looking forward to diving with my mom tomorrow. After that we have a goodbye dinner with my host family scheduled. It was extremely hard to tell my 10 year old host brother that I would be leaving to stay with my mom in Pacific Harbor (which is about 45 minutes away from Suva). The whole family was prepared to put up with me for another month and a half, and Tony didn’t really seem to understand why I had to leave so early. Having been the little brother my whole life, it was fun getting the opportunity to see it from the other side and play big brother at least for a while. The whole family welcomed me into their home instantly, making it that much harder to say goodbye. I can’t really imagine how hard it is going to be when I have to say goodbye for good. It is amazing how fast and how strong all of my relationships have grown during my short time here. I am sure this whole experience has permanently changed my life and my world view. That’s all I have for now, but I will try and put up at least one more entry from Fiji before I head home. I tried to uploaded a few more pictures for you to look at, but the internet connection was way too slow and would have taken a couple of hours. I will upload them when I get back to the states and have more time and better wifi. I can’t wait to get back home and see you all and tell you more about my adventures. Hope all is well.

-Jason

Don't let common sense get in the way of policy

First of all I am sorry that it has taken me so long to update the blog. It has been a crazy week with a lot of swings. Last Thursday I was working in the same health clinic that I had been working in since I got to Fiji. Around noon the doctor called me and the other volunteer working there into her office. When we got there she told us that we did not have the proper registration and could no longer practice in the clinic. She then asked us to leave immediately. After that happened I had a meeting with the Projects Abroad staff. They were just as confused as I was and they said they would find out more right away. As it turns out the Ministry of Health had not received the proper registration forms from Projects Abroad. After a week of talking to the Projects Abroad staff, the Ministry of Health, and the U.S. Embassy it turns out that all projects abroad medical volunteers have been working illegally for the last few months. After learning about this the Projects Abroad was required to pull all medical volunteers out of their placements. The only solution that they could come up with was to place me with a private ambulance service in Suva. In the last two days I have learned a lot about the way the EMS system works in other countries. Here in Fiji the best ambulances are the taxis. When a call comes into the ambulance service I was working for, if it is an emergent case, they advise the patient to get a taxi to take them to the hospital because it would be faster. As a result, the ambulances are used to essentially transport minor cases. This essentially means that the ambulances are the taxis and the taxis are the ambulances in this country. At the ambulance service there are 12 ambilances, only two of which are functional, with only 2 medics working per 12 hour shift meaning only one is actually operational. In the six hours I was working for them we had two calls. This is my first experience with Fiji EMS:

12:15: The call came in to pick up a 62 yo woman who had fallen out of bed.

12:16: The dispatcher woke the main paramedic up from a nap in the back of a broken down ambulance

12:20: The main medic and myself went to pick up the other medic who was a few blocks away buying lunch

12:35: The main medic got lost in the boonies and had to call the patient for directions

12:45: The house we were called to was up in the mountains off of a dirt road that I would hesitate to take my truck up, and the ambulance promptly gets stuck in the mud.

12:55: We finally got the truck unstuck with the help of about 10 locals.

1:10: We finally get to the house and meet our patient.

1:30: After struggling to get the patient loaded onto the cot and down a slippery driveway we finally got here in the ambulance.

1:35: The ambulance got stuck in the mud a second time in roughly the same spot. Luckily the locals had suspected this and stayed in the area.

1:40: We got the ambulance out and moving again.

2:25: After more than two hours we finally got the patient to the hospital in one piece.

All I can say is that despite the many issues with the American medical system, I have never been more proud or thankful for what we have. However, my stay with the Fiji EMS system was short lived, as they are also under the Ministry of Health. Even though they are a private company, they still report to the ministry and my registration problems followed me there. After only two days working with them I was once again sent packing. Now we are having immigration issues because we have lost our volunteer status. Without active projects we cannot be considered volunteers. All of this is stemming from Projects Abroad not filing the right documents or not having a valid agreement with the Fijian government. In short we are getting hosed but Projects Abroad in Fiji and they are doing little to help anything. At this point most of the volunteers have begun fulfilling their personal goals for the trip such as learning to dive or learning to surf since we cannot work in the hospitals. Most of them, myself included, are looking for ways to get refunds for our trip and flights back home. I am planning on staying here until they make me a reimbursement offer and I spend a week with my mom, who is coming to visit. With all that has gone on this last week I have become very home sick and I am so unbelievably excited to have my mom come visit. Hopefully things will work out for the best. I have faith in God’s plan for me whether that is here in Fiji or back in the States. Only time will tell.

On the bright side of things I have had a lot more time to do the fun touristy things. Last weekend I had the opportunity to go on a shark feeding dive! We got to go on two dives where the crazy Fijian dive masters were hand feeding 20-30 bull and tiger sharks. Because of all the rain Fiji has had the visibility was only about 10 feet making the dive that much more impressive. We were on the bottom with seemingly no fish and all of a sudden a 15 foot bull shark would materialize right in front of us. I have been diving with reef sharks for a long time, but this was something completely different. It was one of the craziest things I have ever done. I decided not to tell my parents about the adventure until I was safely back on dry land with all of my extremities intact! When I got back I was immediately surrounded by the other volunteers who were extremely interested in hearing about the adventure. To my surprise, I was the only certified diver in the group. Even the Aussies were not certified. All that quickly changed after they saw me light up when I told them about the dive. Since none of the medical volunteers have projects after this fiasco they spent this last week getting certified with a local company so that they could dive with the sharks as soon as possible!

Beachcomber Island

This past week a new batch of volunteer arrived bringing the total number to around 30 in Suva alone. I was extremely happy to see that two of the new volunteers were from that states. Though I have had no trouble making friends with the Aussies and the Germans, each group had a tendency to keep to themselves from time to time. It has been nice having someone to talk to about home.

This weekend we all went to Beachcomber Island. This little slice of paradise was no more than 400 yards in diameter and only took about 15 minutes to walk around. The beaches and water were so pristine it looked like something straight out of the tourism guides. I have never seen such undisturbed landscapes in any of the places I have traveled. A few of us were attempting to dive on the reef around the island but the dive company operating on the island was less than professional. In most of the tropical places I have been, the lax attitude it typically referred to as Mexico time of Hawaii time, but the Fijian have taken the concept to a whole new level. In Hawaii or Mexico, it is only about 15 minutes give or take from the promised time of departure to the actual, but in Fiji it is well over an hour. The dive company we were attempting to go with made us wait around their shop for about an hour and a half before we got frustrated and walked away. Oh well, better luck next time. Though I was disappointed that I was unable to dive, we spent out afternoon hanging out on the beach, playing a bit of volleyball, and working on our tans (or in my case, working on my burns). Despite using the strongest sunscreen I own, my shoulders still look like lobster shells.

After our weekend getaway, we all headed back to the mainland. At this point I had the misfortune of seeing the second half of the Saints vs. 49ers game on TV followed by the Broncos. While the rest of the group decided to take the 4 hour trek back to Suva from Nadi, the other American and I decided to stay in Nadi and watch the games. As much as I like having another American around, for these few hours I wished she had stayed in the States. Hannah is a nursing student from Boston and is an avid patriots fan. Her family has had season tickets for the pats for as long as she could remember. That meant I was stuck watching Brady destroy my beloved team for the entire first half before I decided it was time to leave and head back to Suva. As any true Boston sports fan would, she rubbed it in my face the entire 4 hours back to our homes. Despite watching both of my teams lose this week, it was still an amazing weekend with great friends. I knew that I would meet people and make friends while I was here, but I never imagined that the relationships would develop so quickly or become so strong. It has been an amazing experience so far.

That is all I have for you all, but there is more coming! I hope everyone is doing well back at home, and I can’t wait to see you all again soon. Check out the pictures I have posted, there are some good ones in there! They are a collection of all that I have experienced so far including my adventures from two weekends ago at Beach house and Nadi as well as this last weekend. Enjoy.

-Jason

Into the Frying Pan

Bula,

After months of waiting and preparing for my trip, I have finally arrived in Suva, Fiji! The Fijian people are by far some of the nicest I have ever met. As soon as I stepped off the plane I was introduced to the Projects Abroad staff that helped me every step of the way. Everyone I have met has been extremely friendly. Multiple strangers have come up to me on the street and begun conversations about who I am and why I am here. They have all offered me advice on what I should do over the course of my trip and how to get the most out of my experience. Once I arrived I took a 6 hour bus ride from Nadi to Suva through the country side. The island is extremely beautiful. I have not seen such lush landscapes since I was in Washington. Everything is unbelievably green. On my trip to Suva I meet a large group of native Fijian who did not stop talking to me the entire 6 hour ride. Despite the fact that super tired from the long flight it was still a lot of fun. I have only met a few people who could talk continuously for six hours, but each of my new Fijian friends had that talent! Once I arrived in Suva I was immediately taken on a tour of the city. I was surprised that the third world country I thought I was going to was in fact not that third world at all. The city itself is actually fairly modern. There are internet cafes all over the town, and as in any modern country there were starbucks on almost every corner. The only significant down side to this island paradise is the heat. At 86 degrees with 100% humidity, I have not stopped sweating since I got here. Even the natives are saying that the weather is “damn hot”. Following a brief tour of the city I was left to explore on my own for a couple of hours while my tour guide was in a meeting. I was able to wander around the city for a couple of hours and explore some of the shops and cultural landmarks. Given my navigation skills, I am lucky that I did not end up back in Nadi! However, my exploration went off without a hitch. After that I was introduced to my host family. Within seconds of getting to my host family’s house I was given a bear hug by Nee Setta, the mother of the house. Like my mom, she too has the ability to talk uninterrupted for hours! Needless to say I felt welcome instantly. I was then introduced to Wise, the father of the house, and 10 year old Tony. Both are soft spoken and extremely polite. It has been hard to have conversations with Wise and Tony, most likely because they can’t get a word in with Nees and have forgotten how to have a sustained conversation. However, after a short while they seemed to warm up to me. They have already taught me a great deal about Fijian culture and history. I have learned that food is an extremely important cultural cornerstone. The majority of the things I have learned about the island has been over a meal. Nee Setta’s favorite phrase is without a doubt “have some more”. I am now convinced that she is trying to kill me by over feeding me. What I have learned is absolutely fascinating. It is a completely different culture than anything I have ever experienced before. I am excited to learn more and share it with you all.

The first weekend here in town was unbelievably fun. A group of 11 other volunteers and I went to a hostel halfway between Suva and Nadi. It was a pristine hut cut out of the middle of the jungle. The rooms were very nicely appointed and one of the few hostels that didn’t cramp 40-60 people into a room. The beach at this resort was just like what I had imagined. Hundreds of yards of untouched white sand with crystal clear blue waters. The other volunteers are amazing people. It is an odd mix of a fraternity and a church group. The kids I am down here with love to party, but also have a deep desire to help others. About half of the group is from Germany while the other half is from Australia. Despite being the only American, they all welcomed me into their cliques. After the weekend we returned to our jobs in the city.

All of the volunteers on the weekend trip were working at the orphanage, and it seems like medical volunteers are few and far between. In the clinic I am working at there is only one doctor and one RN, yet they manage to see about 175 patients a day. If I thought the ER in the Springs was busy, I hadn’t seen anything. The medical system down here is extremely rudimentary, and a lot of the practices are way behind the times. Every patient that walks through the door is likely to receive antibiotics and advil. When the various ailments stop responding to the antibiotics the doctors cannot seem to figure out why. It seems the concept of resistant bacteria has not yet reached the pacific islands. It also seems as though the concept of blood borne diseases has not yet reached the island either. It is a very common practice down here to reuse needles on different patients without so much as rinsing them in tap water let alone make any attempt to sterilize them. Needless to say it has been another of my many culture shocks.

Well that is all for now, I have to head to bed. Tomorrow I am going to meet my supervisor at the health clinic I am going to be working at. It should be another fun filled day full of new adventures.

The Adventure Begins!

Happy New Year everyone. I have a feeling that 2012 is going to be one for the books. I hope you all had an excellent holiday season and a great New Years. After a lot of effort I finally managed to get all packed and ready for the trip. There is a strong feeling in the Phelps house that I may have over engineered the packing process, but as I said before, a good traveler is a prepared traveler. The flight to LA was easy and all I have left to do is enjoy my remaining hours in the USA. I am unbelievably excited about the coming months! I appreciate all of the support and prayers I have received on the home front! Thanks you all for your thoughts. Keep praying for me and for my dad who just lost his roommate! See you guys in a couple of months.
-J