Today we met with a local woman whose son needed some medication, so we went down to the provincial hospital. We walked around with Diane as she showed us around. We met a young boy that had fallen back into a pot of boiling water. Huge welts covered his body as his father tried to keep him cool by fanning him. I debated on whether or not to post a picture of him but I decided not to as it is quite graphic. I wondered why these people couldn’t have one of the air-conditioned rooms, but apparently there was a charge associated with them. Meantime the chief of the hospital had several AC units in his office.
I was surprised at how clean the hospital seemed. The floors were being mopped as we walked around, and they were also building a new ward. It turns out that at that hospital, the only real one on the island, most of the doctors were heading out in the following months. No one seemed to know what would happen with the health care once they were gone. Unfortunately in all likelihood the poorer folk would be left to fend for their own.
There is so much potential here, yet it seems to be kept down by traditional views of classes and social structure. This place is in the grips of poverty, only the foreigners come and live comfortably. They build nice resorts and live in large air conditioned houses on the sandy beaches. At the same time the indigents keep getting pushed further inland, up the mountains, where the conditions are deplorable. No running water, no electricity, filth, in a way straight out of national geographic. The locals have trouble getting steady work, it's mostly day to day tasks. A large part of the local population is made up of fishermen who take out their rickety outrigger boats and catch food for their family.
One has to wonder why this country can't straighted itself out in a manner similar to Singapore? There's clearly a ton of international business interest in this place.
I don't mean to sound vindictive, but a lot of people here are looking for a way to cheat and steal their way to material 'wealth'. It's almost as if it's an inherent aspect of the culture here and that this type of behavior is expected and permissible. Additionally, officials look out for their own self-interests with brutal efficiency. Townsfolk are paid to vote for certain candidates, often having their ballots filled out for them. The elections are all open, meaning everyone knows who voted for which candidate. Candidates use threats to make sure they get enough votes to win.
-Steven Campbell
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