i’ll be back

One of my main roles is to support the hospital to make the most of their finances.  They are competent managers; but the way of life in Haiti is so very different to that in the UK, and certainly most of the western world, that they have to work very hard to keep afloat, even in the best of circumstances.  Add the effect of Covid-19 into the environment, and it has been very hard for all concerned.  However before I can talk to them about forecasting and planning we have to resolve a major cashflow issue; so major staff may not be paid this month.  There are one or two individuals in the hospital that bear the brunt of the stress and so my first move is to make the size and shape of the problem clear to the hospital board and ensure there is collective responsibility.  I managed to co-ordinate the Haiti and UK time zones plus one of our leaders who only works afternoons (in the morning he works in the city’s only state-run hospital).  This means a 1930 start in the UK.  It doesn’t bode well that we start 45 minutes late.  Though we have a translator, he is also part of the meeting so there are large parts of the meeting I don’t follow as he is joining the debate rather than explaining what is going on.  I am absolutely sure they are going down rabbit holes, and probably very deep in them, but I am powerless to intervene and keep on track.  It takes another hour 45 to get common understanding of the problem and discard the least palatable options.  I can see the folk in UK flagging at 2200 local and am relieved myself when we conclude.   We achieved the aim which was burden sharing, and had some options to take forward, but it was a single issue meeting and went way over time.  Gives me context for the regular monthly reviews I’m planning!

After that meeting I’m spent and despite being a ‘school night’ my fellow long termer and I decide to go to the pub.  It’s a great little find; a brightly painted ISO container with a ‘drinking area’ in front covered by an attached tin roof to keep us dry.  Not decking as there is no decking.  Not a beer garden as there is no garden.  Not like anything, in fact there are no tables and chairs… when we arrive the owner brings out the ubiquitous plastic table and chairs.  We are set just back from the road, and below it so our eyeline is to the wheels of the trucks and taxis that speed by.  From our vantage point we also see (and smell) the drainage ditch that separates us from the road.  In fact we step over it to get to the bar.  The beer is super cold though, and cheap (like Wetherspoons).  But you know what, its perfect (unlike Wetherspoons). I think  I’ll be back.