School Pictures

Anaka at 9 months
Anaka at 9 Months
Nayeli at 2 years
Nayeli at 2 years

Peltier Hospital in Djibouti

Peltier

A few days ago, I had the opportunity to visit Djibouti's hospital, Peltier on a mission to assist with and repair medical equipment.

Operating Room with U.S. donated patient table

The United States donated two OR tables and one laproscopy tower. I was responsible for ensuring that these items worked.

Old Anesthesia Machine
Central Sterile Receiving at Peltier
U.S. donated this Laparoscope Tower



Halothane Vaporizer

Fire Fighter Agility Test

Pics of Me doing Fire Fighter Agility Test
This test was lots of fun. We had to complete the course in 6 minutes or less. This involved putting on the fire suit, dragging a fire hose, hitting a tire with a sledge hammer, carrying two heavy baskets and dragging a 200 pound dummy. It was very challenging.
Awaiting Test

CREED

Guitarist for Scott Tapp
CREED
Scott Tapp, the voice of Creed, came to put on a show in Djibouti. It was really awesome. He sang some new songs and some familiar songs. The crowd went really wild with the songs we could actually sing along with. I thought it was funny to see that he threw his sweaty towels at the crowd, and they loved it. He ended the night with "My Sacrifice".

Djiboutian Child

As soon as we get out of the van, curious children huddle around us.


Students from HOA school of English

These guys like to speak English.

Exion at Baby Orphanage in Djibouti

My babies away from home.
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This song has been stuck in my head for almost 4 months now... So I figure I can get it stuck in your head too.

Lyrics to Toto's
AFRICA


I hear the drums echoing tonight
But she hears only whispers of some quiet conversation
Shes coming in 12:30 flight
The moonlit wings reflect the stars that guide me towards salvation
I stopped an old man along the way
Hoping to find some long forgotten words or ancient melodies
He turned to me as if to say, hurry boy, its waiting there for you

Chorus:
Its gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
Theres nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had

The wild dogs cry out in the night
As they grow restless longing for some solitary company
I know that I must do whats right
Sure as kilimanjaro rises like olympus above the serengeti
I seek to cure whats deep inside, frightened of this thing that Ive become

Chorus

(instrumental break)

Hurry boy, shes waiting there for you

Its gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
Theres nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in africa, I bless the rains down in africa
I bless the rains down in africa, I bless the rains down in africa
I bless the rains down in africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had

Balbali School of English

This school welcomes all of those who want to practice their English at no cost. During our last session, we ran into many Somalis, Djiboutians and Ethiopians. It is our job to enrich the community with the knowledge of the English language, the finance language of the world.

To get there, we had to travel down a beaten path far from the reaches of paved highway. The van wobbled up and down as it rolled over sporadic boulders embedded into the path. As we drove along, we gathered wide-eyed stares and kids chased us as we made our way to the Balbali School of English. The school was situated in a narrow alley surrounded by Muslim style mosques. Clearly, it was a place which felt like it had been here for centuries. Progress is slow; it seems not much development has happened here since the dawn of mankind.

Getting out of the van, I was greeted with handshakes and the occasional, “hi” and “nice to meet you”. I strolled into the tin building. The walls were covered with faded travel posters, maps and English words taped to the wall. It was a learning environment that I had never seen before. It was quite shocking to me and I was going to do my best to make some kind of difference in the lives of these people by sharing my time.

The topic we spoke of involved Djibouti's most popular drug, khat. We asked them if khat should be given up for Ramadan. Most of the population agreed and said that it should be banned from the country because it does no good.

Family Back Home

New Topic at Horsed School of English

Last Monday, we had a heated debate about solving world hunger due to the over population of the Earth. It was very interesting that many of the people in the class room was from all over the Horn of Africa and not just Djibouti alone. Some of the kids were from tribes from Ethiopia. Really good night.

English Discussion Group - Horsed English School

Horsed English Sign
The English Discussion Group project helps build relations and improve understanding between the people of the Horn of Africa and the United States.

The school I've been going to is called the Horsed English School in Djibouti. The building itself is made of tin, wood and stones. The floor is dirt and the small classrooms have wooden flooring. The classroom had electricity, a fan, wooden tables, wooden stools and a big green chalkboard. As a representative of the Asian American population, I was very happy to volunteer and offer my time as an English teacher. The English teacher, Hassan Mahamed was very hospitable. He gave me a tour of their library. For this school it was quite impressive. There was two large book shelves filled with approximately 300 books. Across the street was the movie theatre playing two Bollywood films (Indian Fliks). It was also in a tin building.
Bollywood Movie Theatre
The English topic last week was: "What is your Favorite Sport?".

Most of the Djiboutian teens really like soccer. Well, in this part of the world, it is referred to as football. Most of the sports mentioned were, soccer and basketball. Soccer is really popular because you don't need any special equipment and it can be played anywhere. You just need a ball.

The American group with me had mentioned some sports such as motorcycle racing, surfing, golf and dodgeball. I think it would be fun to teach them dodgeball. However it may be hard without some "dodgeballs".

Naruto and Jigglypuff in Djibouti
Djibouti Stadium

Volunteering at Cheetah Refuge

Cheetah at Cheetah Refuge in Djibouti

Echo 6 Members trimming thorn bushes
Turtle habitat
Turtle
Lynx
Gazelles
Emus

Volunteering for Djiboutian Baby Orpheanage

Djiboutian Water Collector

Looks like this project was scrapped...

Me and Mahad (baby boy dressed in girl clothes...)

Lately, I've been volunteering at the Djiboutian Baby Orpheanage. I go over and spend time playing with the babies, feeding them, changing their diaper and putting them to bed. It is a very rewarding experience.

It is hard to remember all their names, but I know that there are three Muhammads and Ramadans.

July 08 Dental Civil Action Project in Djibouti

Ship in the Round-About
Today, myself, the medical equipment repair technician, a dentist and two dental techs went out on a Dent-CAP on a mission to deliver donated dental supplies and free technical support. The staff at the Adventist Health Center was grateful for the attention and assistance.



The dental staff offered their expertise in teaching Djiboutian children on how to brush their teeth. It was taught to children ages 5 to 16. The existing method of brushing their teeth is by using sticks. They would take a twig off a branch of a tree and munch on the end until it splits, then they would take that and brush their teeth with it. Not very sanitary, but it is better than nothing.

Another day in Paradise in Djibouti

I got to work on their dental chair that was built in the 1960’s. It was having intermittent problems with the controls in the chair. I discovered that the board was soaked in lubricating oil which was likely causing the loss in connectivity. I recommended that the board be sprayed down with electrical “contact fluid” which will dissolve all the oil and impurities. Otherwise, nothing can be done to fix it unless they change out the board, which is unlikely to still be in production, however it may be scrapped from an old chair from somewhere in the world. Or if someone could just donate a more modern dental chair, that would be even better.

Traffic and Cott Sales after two p.m.

With the overwhelming population of Djiboutians being hooked on the drug, cott. Dental hygiene is generally bad because the cott makes their gums rot and the result of that is that teeth can be pulled out with little or no effort over time. It is ironic that the number one cott seller in Djibouti is the President’s wife. Having the population addicted to cott keeps them all happy.

I was also educated that for a man to eat all the food on his plate is being greedy. A man should waste his food, because the man eats first, then the wife and lastly, the kids.


The supermarket in the heart of Djibouti I was told that this supermarket is the second largest market in Djibouti. It is roughly the size of a "Ralphs"(for you west coast people), "Piggly Wiggly" (for you southern folks) or "Giant" (for you east coast people). So yeah, it isn't that big. The owners are Saudi and they frequently travel to Taiwan to acquire goods to sell in the market.

Wild Djiboutian Goats

Meal at the All-You-Can-Eat Restaurant - A mix of Arabic and African cuisine

I also got to eat in a restaurant in downtown Djibouti. It wasn't too bad. It was a mix of Arabic and African cuisine. I was told that the menu changed everyday depending on what they can get. Sometimes they have ice cream, but today they had custard and watermelon.

Homes in Djibouti In this picture, don't be fooled. Most of the population lives in the homes made of tin and held together with rope, tires, et cetera. It is a third world country. I have no clue who lives in those big homes. I think it's the French foreign nationals.

Djiboutian Goats In the driver's class, they tell us that if you were to hit anybody with your car, hit a Djiboutian because it is cheaper to hit a Djiboutian than somebody's goat. If we crash and kill a goat, not only do we have to pay for the goat, we would have to pay for the goat and three generations. That's a lot.