March of 2010 found five of us headed back out to the islands.  After 2 days delay (one in LA and one in Fiji secondary to the hurricane that hit Fiji) the team finally arrived.  Drew and Joy met them in Tarawa.  The starter on the boat wasn’t working so they spent several days fixing it.  The plan had been for the team to spend 1 1/2 weeks going to several islands conducting medical clinics then return for a departure day for five people. 

Since the delays and boat repairs took most of the time the plan got switched to doing evangelism on Tarawa.  A week long series of meetings was started in the town of Buota.  Joe, a Solomon islander who lives in Buota, is a lay evangelist.  He conducts three nights a week of Bible studies.  He trucked loads of people over an hour every night from his village to the large evangelistic series that Search For One put on a year ago.  His church grew from —- to 40 during those meetings. 

He requested we come to his village.  We used a sheet for a projector screen, hung up a big tarp to keep the projector dry and had several speakers including a college student.  The young adults did the music.  We couldn’t see any people out there in the darkness.  I asked Joe if there was anyone listening?  Were the meetings doing any good?  He said that the people hide in the darkness because if the people from the neighboring churches saw them they would make life difficult for them.  From that small series four more people starting taking Bible studies.  God is so good and multiplies our small efforts into jewels for His kingdom.

The Buota church needs a church facility.  They have land donated out on a beautiful point looking out on the ocean.  The church is going to prepare the site between now and this next winter so we can bring a building team to erect a one-day church.  We look forward to that project.  There will be need for money for building supplies and food.  They have a house we can use for sleeping and cooking.  It has two regular bathrooms and the only bath tub I have EVER seen in Kiribati.  We will also need people to help build.  Any mission-minded able-bodied person wanting a warm destination in the middle of winter, apply to help.  We could use YOU!

Gary and Linda Morgan remained after everyone else left with a list of projects to accomplish.  We spent several days trying to catch up with the Minister of Foreign Affairs who is in charge of work permits.  He evidently doesn’t work a 5-day work week.  Or even a 3 or 2 day work week.  He lost the application papers we had given him a week prior and didn’t want to talk to us.  But persistence FINALLY paid off.  We visited with the Ambassadors from Australia and Taiwan.  They informed us of grant money we could write for to start an industry for Kauma to help the students with their tuition and give them a skill.  NOW WE NEED SOMEONE WHO KNOWS HOW TO WRITE GRANTS!!!  If you are out there please contact us. 

To expedite getting work permits for visiting and long term volunteers (which wasn’t an issue in the past) the government was telling us we needed to incorporate in Kiribati.  So we wrote the documents, collected the 15 signatures required for the board in Kiribati, went to court to get stamped (stamps are VERY important) and filled the papers.  WHEW! 

We went and visited with the Administrator of the Hospital and the Director of Nursing (equals in providing medical care to the people).  They were very helpful and are willing to endorse and get any permits we need for medical teams or students.  The Administrator said he would also get the word out to the islands we are planning to visit so the people will be lined up when we arrive.  That was awesome!  Que up teams we need volunteers for high adventure in primitive conditions.

We also went out to Abemama to look for property where we could build a hanger for the airplane.  We found two people willing to let us use their property.  One wants a usual and customary lease and the other was willing to just let us use it for free.  WOW!!!  They are both right on the runway and extend to the ocean.  We are hoping that the church building crew that will be going out this next winter would like to take a trip out to Abemama and continue building by helping with the hanger. 

We saw God’s leading and blessing at every turn.  There is much to do and we are excited about all the opportunities.  We are also excited about the people God sends to help.  If you are one of them - a BIG THANK YOU for your help and committment to God’s work.  If you are a donator we want to give you a special THANK YOU.  We really rely on the donations of those interested in getting the Gospel message out to a remote corner of the earth. 

JESUS IS COMING SOON.  Lets all keep an ear open to how God wants us individually to play a part and the preparation work so we can GO HOME.

GOD BLESS EACH OF YOU!!!

A small troop of seven people with another mountain of luggage headed out to the islands.  This trip’s mission was to settle Dr Drew Wagner and his wife Joy into base camp with the plan that they would be staying a year.  Thus the mountain of luggage.  We arrived in Tarawa only to hear through the grape vine that the boat wasn’t working and there was no one to pick us up.  As it turned out the president of the South Pacific Union was in Tarawa and there was a meeting planned to discuss Kauma (the boarding academy where base camp is located on the island of Abemama).  The school hasn’t been doing too well and they were going to close it.  Gary and Drew decided this was really an important meeting to attend so they stayed behind while the five ladies (Joy Wagner, Shirley Panasuk, Twilla Gambel, Marimae and Linda Morgan) took off for Abemama on the inter island airline.

It was providential that the men remained behind and gave a good report for the school.  It really helped the Union president to understand the challenges Kauma was facing and the good work they were doing.  He was impressed and excited and very grateful for the insight.  He decided not to close the school.

The ladies got to work on cleaning up base camp.  The palm log posts that held the kitchen hut up rotted away at ground level and 4 months prior a good wind had brought the building down.  By the time of our arrival the posts had been replaced and a roof put on but no walls.  Also no one had cleaned up the tremendous mess.  Everything that was in the kitchen hut was wet and dirty.  Everything needed to be gone through, sorted and either cleaned or thrown out.  The beach and grounds hadn’t been cleaned in at least a year.  The sleeping huts were in need of structural and cleaning attention.  The ladies worked 3 long hot days on clean-up before the men arrived.  Shirley and Twilla took a special interest in cleaning the school’s medical clinic.  They conducted several days of morning clinic for the students.  There was no lack of chores to do and everyone was busy.  

A makeshift kitchen structure was built that was an eyesore and barely adequate to cook a meal.  If it rained - all was wet.  Gary and Drew worked on setting up a wind power generator.  Drew had LOTS of questions about how things worked, who to talk to for help and what was available.  All were busy getting things ready for Drew, Joy and Marimae to remain. 

It was an exciting prospect to have them all there working for the Kiribati people.

Search For One

Reaching the remote islands of Kiribati

On March 10, 2009 twelve travelers with a monstrous heap of luggage landed on Tarawa in the Republic of Kiribati.  Kiribati is a small country of islands of which only 26 are inhabited.  It lies on the equator half way between Hawaii and Australia.  We had one big mission – conduct an evangelistic series in their own language.  Search For One had been taking medical and dental teams into the country for the past 13 years but holding an evangelistic series would be a first.  The plan was to video the series and reproduce it so it could be used by lay people on the outer islands.  We also had several smaller side missions of conducting health screenings in the villages and replacing the tired engine in Sugar Blues, our forty foot trimaran that we use to travel to the outer islands.

It took two trucks to haul the 32 max size and weight pieces of luggage plus the 12 of us the fifteen miles to the SDA mission headquarter in the village of Korobu.  The evangelistic series was due to start in one week and we had LOTS to accomplish!

We spent several days and talking to many officials before we settled on having the series right there at the mission.  This is a low tech country with an even lower tech electrical system.  It became a Herculean task to set up lights (lots of lights), cameras, mixing and control boards for the audio and video, head sets for the cameramen, microphones and speakers, two satellite screens outside with projectors.  Five of our team tackled this job.

Two of us liasoned with the Ministry of Health and enlisted their enthusiasm and cooperation with the health screening project.  We plotted where they would be conducted each day, who from their department would assist with equipment, transportation and translators.  We planned how the data would be used and marketing of the clinics so the public would know where they were and attend.  It was exciting to see how happy and helpful they wanted to be.  In the 10 days of clinics we saw just shy of 1000 people.

Two men wearily struggled to get the boat motor that had been shipped three months prior out of customs.  This motor was brand new and retails for 11k.  Through God’s provision we were able to procure it with shipping for 7k.  It was amazing when we arrived to discover that the motor had safely made the 3-month journey and had arrived just in time.  We discovered it takes an unbelievable number of signatures, LOTS of patience and a big God to liberate a motor from customs.  On top of that, they were going to charge thousands of dollars of duty, which we didn’t have.  In the end they gave it to us duty free.  God is so good!!  This consumed most of the first week. Several days before we left the motor was completely installed and functioning beautifully!

Eight days into our trip, four more people arrived including Brooks Dentzinger the pastor of the Moses Lake, WA church who was going to be the speaker for the evangelistic series and Vivian Newhearth a health educator nurse who works for the railroad in Missouri who would lead the health screenings and do the health talks each night.

Everyone had their day jobs:  editing and condensing the previous night’s meetings, working on the boat, doing village health screenings.  At night everyone transformed into cameramen, mixing/sound board operators, projector operators, health lecturer.  Of course there was a few of us who did the cooking, laundry, water hauling and grocery shopping for the gang.  All sixteen worked hard and each person was an essential cog in the wheel.

Near the end of the meetings we had a baptism of ten people who had started studying prior to the meetings.  Many more Bible studies were underway by the time we departed.  What was most exciting was to see how this revitalized the mission staff.  They have a new vision for the work.  NEVER had evangelism been done in this way and never has there been a three-camera-videoing of anything in this country.  It drew attention from all over.  Having the series done in their language was going to be a wonderful avenue to spread the gospel within a country with few workers and distant islands.

This last September we were back in Kiribati and the report was so encouraging.  The videos are being used all over the country with really good results.  This has and will have a long lasting impact.  It was so worth the time, energy and money.

Another exciting piece is Drue and Joy Wagner (a family practice doctor and his nurse wife) have moved out to Search For One’s base camp on an outer island to care for the medical needs of the Adventist boarding academy.  During his 1-2 years out there he really wants to reach unreached islands that want the medical team but are not allowing entry to pastors or teachers.  We are told the medical work will be the entering wedge.  Search For One is seeing that as a reality. 

It is exciting to see the long term volunteers lining up for 2010:  a sailor to captain the boat and an aircraft mechanic to work on Search For One’s Aztec.  We are always looking for long and short term volunteers.  Anyone interested, email Gary Morgan at gmorgan182@juno.com or call 509-750-7818.  We’d love to hear from you.

                                                                                News from Search For One, Inc.

Volume 1- Issue 2                                                                                                                                                

Spring/Summer 2008

ADVENTIST SINGLES DO MISSION

                  Last February, four Adventist singles volunteered for a Search for One (SFO) mission to the island of Abemama, a coral atoll in the Pacific Ocean and one of 21 inhabited islands that make up the Republic of Kiribati near the Equator and International Dateline. Search for One’s mission is to bring desperately needed medical, dental, and public health care to the island as an opening wedge to share with them the gospel message. Our team was led by Gary Morgan, head of SFO. 

Figure 1 left to right:  Toue (SFO native base camp keeper), Gary Morgan, Sara Becker, Drue & Joy Wagner, Patti Hare, Tom Lovins

                  Our adventure began with an eleven-hour flight from Los Angeles to Fiji, a second three-hour plane ride to Tarawa, and then loading our luggage onto the back of a truck-turned-taxi to go to the Kiribati Mission.  While we waited a couple of days for the “Super Cat,” the weekly boat to Abemama, we visited Red Beach, so named because during the Battle of Tarawa in WWII the beach was literally red with blood. A partially submerged American tank is there as a reminder of the price of freedom. We saw sections of B-24 wings on Abemama, and I even brought home a shell casing and Coke bottle from WWII. 

                  The “Super Cat” was loaded with people, their luggage, and 40-lb. sacks of sugar, rice, flour, etc. filling all the aisles and between the rows. We soon were delighted to see four dolphins “leading” our boat for several minutes. Fourteen hours later we arrived at base camp! By the light of the school truck’s headlights we were able to unload our luggage filled with food, tools, and medical and VBS supplies into a small boat and go ashore. What a thrill it was to see the sky filled with stars and to pick out the Southern Cross.

                  Kauma (pronounced Cow-ma) Adventist High School has about 300 students, 97 percent of whom are non-Adventists. They come from several islands and religious persuasions, and last year 100 Kauma students were baptized!

                  The school is located beside an azure blue lagoon with coconut palms and other tropical trees. The SFO camp was on the ocean side of the campus about a third of a mile away. Wonderful ocean breezes made sleeping comfortable and dried our clothes wrinkle free on the line. However, the islanders had not had any significant rain for nine months and were boiling contaminated well water for drinking. There was certainly no water to grow gardens or take showers. They had been praying for help when the SFO team arrived in February.

                  Dr. Drue Wagner and his nurse wife Joy from Pennsylvania held several clinics throughout the island. They believe that 40 percent of the sickness and disease they saw is caused by lack of water or by contaminated water. Our SFO team’s goal is to provide not only more water for irrigation and washing but to also provide pure drinking water for the school, the faculty, and the clinic. Imagine trying to operate a clinic without water! It has only the very basic medicines and in limited supply. Much more is needed to enable it to serve the school and the community.

                  Tom Lovins, a retired contractor from Arkansas who went

over to make repairs, tackled the water problem. Five large tanks

were on top of a platform that needs reinforcing, but with only one

 electric pump and one solar pump they were not able to pump

Sufficient water from the well. Tom flew to neighboring Tarawa and

Purchased an electric pump and fittings at his own expense, and

Installed them. Four tanks filled to overflowing! There was great

rejoicing. Principal Harold Panda said it was the first time he had

seen water in his bathtub for three months! Students and staff can

now take showers. Some boys were planting banana trees because

Now they have water.  

                  Tom learned about SFO at the 2006 Adventist Single Adult Ministries retreat at Camp MiVoden, Idaho. He endeared himself to the Kauma students by not only getting them water but also working alongside them, telling them stories, and playing games with them.

                  Sara Becker of Washington State held vacation Bible schools in the villages and learned from Doctor Drue how to treat most sicknesses on the island. She is there until June caring for people in the clinic and teaching the children, students, and adults good health principles. They love and appreciate her, and she loves them.

                  The people are friendly, happy, fun-loving, and appreciative of what the SFO teams are doing under the leadership of Gary, a businessman from Washington State. And can the students ever sing! Listening to them sing “When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder” brought tears to my eyes. At present their average life span is only in the fifties. What a difference it will make for them to have a reliable supply of good water, fruits and vegetables.

                  The team is committed to getting the school nine tanks full of water instead of four, one of them to hold pure drinking water. It means strengthening the underlying support and installing another solar pump with solar panels. This arrangement will provide good drinking water and water for irrigation. A heavy-duty mulcher is also needed to help enrich the crushed coral/sand soil

                  Transportation on the island is by truck or motorbike. If we all were going somewhere, we bounced along in the back of the school truck. One or two could ride a Honda-110 motorbike. The team is hoping someone will be inspired to replace their truck. The school wants to add another classroom block. They make their own concrete blocks that look just like the ones here. We are dreaming big to help this school. I wish each one of you could drop into church and hear the students sing.

I heard about this challenge from Gary at the NAD

Adventist Single Adult Ministries convention in Orlando in 2007 and

accepted Keynote Speaker Dick Duerksen’s challenge to “pursue

your passion” and “step into the water” as the priests did at the

Jordan. I volunteered to cook for the team and help some in the

office and with the children. Gary was greeted with the news that

the propane tanks were empty, but a two-burner kerosene hotplate

and solar oven worked fine. On the Internet I found freeze-dried

blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and peas that were excellent. 

The freeze-dried carrots, celery, and eggs were helpful but not as good. 

                  These Adventist singles are on the move and committed to helping not only in the South Seas but also closer to home and in their own communities. They paid their own way and donated their time. Adventist Singles is about mission and reaching out to help others. It was the most rewarding experience of my life!

                  If you would like to “step into the water” and share this joy by going with a Search for One team, or if you would like to help this wonderful school get water, go to www.searchforone.org and learn how you can help. You will never regret it. Being out there helped me realize what is really important. I praise God for the opportunity to go and for a safe return. God protected us in many ways.

Patti Hare

p2hare@aol.com

[I am a retired secretary and academic advisor living in Daytona Beach Shores, Florida]

3425 S Atlantic Ave, No. 2001

Daytona Beach Shores, FL 32118

386-322-0855

20ft shipping container

For Kauma SDA High School

• Text books

• Pens, pencils, paper

• Youth song books

Building materials

• Doors

• Sinks

• Aluminum roofing

• Cabinets (Kitchen and bathroom)

• Pipe (plastic)

• House wire

• Electrical sockets and boxes

• Plywood

• Rolls of window screen

• Silicone caulking

Honda 110 motorcycle

Radio station equipment

Rat traps

Kitchen Lysol

Shave gel

Stain sticks

Dish scrubbers

Bug spray (60oz/month)

Neosporin

Waterproof band aids

Hand soap and sanitizer

Bed foam

Food stuff (dried, canned or non perishable)

• Beans

• Lentils

• Powdered soy milk (Dressler’s)

• Oatmeal

• Cream of Wheat

• Flower

• Sugar

• Mashed potato packets

• Dried fruits

• Nuts

• Seasonings

• Hot cocoa mix

• Ketchup

• Minute meat (gluten)

• TVP (dehydrated vegetarian meat)

Solar panels

Voltage regulator for solar panels

Wind generator

Car batteries

Car battery charger

Jump starter/charger/inflator

Laptop solar charger

DC to AC inverter

12 v to 120v inverter

12 v to 220v inverter

120v to 220v converter

220v to 120v converter

CB radios

Ham radios

Blank CDs and DVDs

Appliances

• 220 hot plate

• 12 volt Toaster oven

• 12 volt Coffee/Hot water maker

Tools

• Generator welder

• Air compressor

• Soldering iron – gas type, non-electric

• Welder-generator

• De Walt 18v cordless drill

• De Walt 18v cordless hammer drill

• De Walt 18v cordless circular saw

• De Walt 18v cordless angle grinder

• De Walt 18v cordless reciprocating saw

• De Walt 18v cordless wet/dry portable vacuum

Aircraft specific tools

• Air drill

• Rivet gun

• Bucking bars 

• Rivet squeezer

• Spark plug tester

• Spark plug gaper

• Cleco sets all sizes

• Cylinder base wrenches

• Break re-lining tool

Dear Friends of SFO,

Great news from the Gilbert Islands! God has continually blessed the work in the Gilbert Islands, so far this year a medical and evangelistic team has already visited the Islands, and last year many trips were made.

As the work continues, Search For One has welcomed new missionaries who hope to serve in the Kiribati long-term. Todd and Cas Anderson are excited to take on this new challenge and hope to quickly restore the Piper Aztec so pilot/mechanic Todd will be able to put the plane to use making medical flights.

There are so many possibilities for the work to expand in the Kiribati, if only people would be willing to go. A nurse is needed at the Academy on the beautiful island of Abemama. Do you love building? Are you a sanitation expert? Can you build wind generators? The possibilities are endless and whatever your field of expertise or your passion is, there is a place for you among the people of Kiribati. So what are you waiting for? Call or email today to find out how you can help reach the forgotten people of Kiribati.

Volunteers Needed:
Doctors/Dentists
Nurses
Captains/Pilots
Mechanics
Cooks
VBS directors
Maintenance personnel
Gardener
Helpers
General Needs:
Fuel and maintenance for aircraft $25,000.00
Roller furling jib for boat $2,000.00
Clinic supplies
Base camp and clinic repairs
Motorcycle, Honda 110cc $2,000.00

We thank you again for what you have already done and invite you to prayerfully consider a special year-end gift that will propel missions to the remote Gilbert Islands.

Sincerely,
Gary Morgan
President

You can contact us at Search for One, 419 N. Division St. Moses Lake, WA 98837, 509-766-1877Fax: 509-766-1935 or email: mail@searchforone.org

In 1992 Search For One (SFO) was incorporated and since then we have had many exciting years providing medical and
dental care in the Gilbert (Kiribati) Islands. God has performed many miracles in providing an aircraft and a 40′ sail boat for the much needed transportation of our volunteers and local Kiribati people. Through the years many volunteer teams have done a fantastic job of bringing medical care and the gospel to many people in the remote outer islands of the Republic of Kiribati. This volunteer service has gained the attention and respect of the government and the people living there. This continues to present new challenges and opportunities. During my last visit the Ministry of Health asked us to assist them with the recruiting of a management team and the medical staff for a new hospital on the island of Tabeteuea. This could be a formidable task; but we only have to look back at how God has provided for every challenge and need thus far. I find it very exciting to be given the opportunity of developing a medical mission facility where the gospel is desperately needed. This is a project that will require a lot of additional help in the field of funding, recruitment of staff and transportation. This additional funding will come as a result of all of us using our talents and resources. Can you picture yourself assisting in some aspect of this project? If you feel the Holy Spirit is prompting you, we’d love to hear from you!

Gary Morgan, President

The Purpose of Our March Trip Was Dual:

#1 Get the base camp repaired and everything ready for occupancy. The picture shows the sad shape of the roofs which are thatched with either palm or pandanus leaves. The pandanus lasts 2-3 times as long as the coconut palm leaves. No one has been living at Base Camp for some time so things were in disrepair.

#2 To get the Kauma Adventist H.S. Clinic cleaned, organized and stocked for the new mission nurse Karen Beebe Brockriede, RN. the village, high school, clinic and our base camp is on the island of Abemama. The school has been without a nurse for a year; therefore much work was needed. Due to transportation problems to the island of Abemama from Tarawa, we were left with only 4 days on the island. There were 7 of us and all had a job. I did the cooking for the team plus getting the kitchen hut back in order and cleaned. Linda Marks, the midwife on our team helped me. Then we both went to the clinic and helped the others with the great amount of work to be done there. The men had wiring to do, batteries to charge, boat repairs to make and many other duties.

Base camp is on the ocean side of the island which accounts for the nice breeze. These islands are actually coral atolls and Abemama is only 7/10ths of a mile wide. Each hut has a coral floor, with woven coconut palm mats to cover the main parts of the floor. Each hut has a composting toilet. It is interesting to sit on the toilet and watch the floor move as little hermit crabs scurry across the floor. Beds are coconut tree trunks for the legs with a plywood sheet over it and a mat or an air mattress. The shower is a small enclosure near the toilet room with a table for a bucket of water. Some people have a solar shower to heat their water. It doesn’t matter about getting water all over the place as the floor is just coral gravel.

These atolls are very near the equator, with little change in temperature all year and it is quite humid. The days are very near the same length all year with sundown being around 6:30. The SDA School and clinic are on the lagoon side and don’t receive as nice a breeze as the ocean side.

Sue Beebe, cook on this trip

Search For One took on a new twist from its usual medical/dental focus. I went on the March 2007 mission trip as SFO’s first midwife to see how I could be of assistance to the maternity needs within the country. Jemi Morgan age 16, assisted me in all I did, had fun, learned a lot and would like to go again.

Prior to leaving, we had made connections with the director of nursing at the hospital on Tarawa for me to teach neonatal resuscitation to the nurses, midwives and students. The midwives do all the deliveries in the hospital, unless a c-section is required and then an obstetriecian is called. If a baby needed resuscitation after a birth they called a pediatrician. This wasted precious time waiting for a doctor to come in to begin ventilating a compromised newborn. They also had only one resuscitation bag and mask in the hospital and none on the outer islands. That sounded like a really useful and life saving endeavor for me to participate in teaching them this skill.

I called a neonatologist in Spokane (who had helped me get medical supplies to take to Afghanistan) to see about getting supplies to take to Kiribati. The hospital she works in saves any unused medical supplies and equipment so that she can take it to 3rd world countries. She had me come to her home and we sorted through six large garbage bags of items gleaned from the hospital. I was able to take 14 neonatal bag-and-masks plus gloves, sutures, instruments, bulb syringes, diapers, betadine and much more. These items filled a 50# suitcase of medical supplies to give to the hospital and the outer islands.

On the day of our arrival, the director of nursing greeted me at the airport and told me when and where to report. She had morning and afternoon classes arranged for the next day. All the participants were in a completely new territory of information. They had lots of questions and told me of several practices still used there that we in the United States have LONG since quit doing. It was really rewarding to teach the providers of the health care in such a hands on and practical manner. I left the American Heart Association DVD on Neonatal resuscitation so that they could continue to educate new students and re-educate themselves over time. Out on Abemama, there is not a hospital, only clinics. I met with 6-8 of the midwives there a nd gave them the same information and left them with bags-and-masks. They were even more receptive to help and had many questions about management of all sorts of maternity related issues. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face as we returned to base camp. It felt SOOOOO good to be helpful in this area of need. I really cannot wait to return for a more extended period of time.

Linda Marks, Midwife

Life here on the Island is very interesting to say the least. The students are friendly and always try to be helpful. The boys cleaned out the water tank at the clinic for me…that was a real blessing as there were mosquito larva flourishing in the water. They also cut off limbs from the Bread Fruit tree that was depositing litter on the clinic roof. The problem was that after that was done, we did not have rain for two weeks. During that time I had to get water from the Dean of Boys whose house is next door, he brought it over 5 gallons at a time. Any basin that needed to be emptied was used to “flush” the toilet. I prayed for rain and yes, the Lord delivered plenty…the tank was filled.

During the month of April, I had a total of 382 patient visits, 50% were new cases (180) & 182 return visits. The students present with various problems, but a main one is infected insect bites. Usually they don’t come in until the infection is spreading, so there has been lots of health education regarding coming in earlier and it seems to be working. Another area of teaching is to drink enough water in this climate. When a student comes in with a headache, one of my first questions is “How much water have you drank today?” When the answer is 1-2 cups, I give them a liter of water to drink with the medicine. They are catching on fast and one of the students came in to tell me that he “feels better ” since he started drinking more water.

We had a couple weeks toward the last of April with cool evenings (80 degrees); many of the students came in complaining of “flu”. Usually the first day their lung sounds were clear and temps not elevated; however by the second or third day their tempperature would be elevated and lung sounds indicating some lobe infiltration/infection. I hesitated to put them all on antibiotic the first day, so usually waited until they had a temp/lung problem. That problem peaked and there has been a few bouts with diarrhea/dysentary. One student had blood with the dysentary and the boys dean came to get me late one evening (10:30). His temperature was over 104 degrees F. I gave him an injection of Ampicillin and medication to bring his temperture down. I also gave him a sponge bath while another student fanned him. After an hour his temperature began to fall, so I felt is was safe to send him back to the dorm.

On the average, the ratio of boys to girls seen is 3:1. I talked to the Dean of Boys about that and told him I thought part of the issue was over crowding in the boys dorm. There can be 7-12 students in one small room. There may be 2 bunk beds and the remainder sleep on the floor. I sugested that he allow some of the boys from the more crowded rooms to sleep in the dormitory foyer which is an enclosed area that has no furniture. He told me a couple weeks ago that he implemented that suggestion.

A couple weeks ago I was asked to give a “health talk” for Sabbath afternoon (with a 2 hour notice). I talked about the 8 natural remedies “NEWSTART” with which I believe most of you are acquainted. It was quite elementary but figured I had to start somewhere.

One of the ailments that many of the students (approx. 60-75%) are plagued with is “white spots” or Tinea Versicolor. It is a fungal skin problem resulting from their skin being damp with perspiration, etc. Today, (16th of May I’m currently in Tarawa, Capital of Kiribati) I went to the Pharmacy for the Health Department to see what had happened to my order for medication which was dated the 10th of April. Well, they were able to produce it and at the top it was noted that they received it on the 15th of May. I guess all mail is dependent on the air service and that has been very sporadic. Anyway, they told me that if I return tomorrow afternoon they would have the order ready for me. I also hand wrote an order for some bandaging supplies as I had never received a form for that. Currently, I have 2 small bandaids left and no large ones.

There are many dental problems. On occasion, I have been able to borrow the dental instruments from the medical assistant at the Government Clinic and extract a few teeth. The students and faculty are looking forward to the LLU Dental teams visit towards the end of June.

Karen Beebe Brockriede, RN