On Saturday my friend Dianne and I went to a Belizean wedding in San Ignacio (see photo, right). We were invited there by the groom’s brother. I continue to be amazed at the friendliness and open-heartedness of the Belizean people. Even though we didn’t know the bride nor the groom, the family welcomed us with open arms. As the first and last person on the dance-floor, I don’t remember the last time I had so much fun. There were also performances by belly dancers and a woman who danced with fire, twirling flaming torches around while she danced.

This week, I’m working with a team of obstetrics/gynecology specialists from Rochester, who are volunteering their services here for the week. A few poignant, astonishing details about giving birth in Belize: women must bring their own toilet paper to the hospital, to carry with them when they go to the bathroom. They also bring their own towels and give birth in the clothes in which they arrive (i.e. they are not provided hospital gowns). The sheets are not changed in between patients. Actually, there are no sheets, just a mattress. (If you’ve ever seen a childbirth, that detail is truly disturbing.) Today, for the patients who needed oxytocin (a powerful medication that increases the force and frequency of contractions), it was not measured, just eyeballed by the one and only gynecologist at the hospital, a Cuban doctor with questionable desire and/or ability to communicate with his patients or care about their well-being. There are many more such tidbits, some that are even more remarkable. The story about why Cuban doctors are here, I will save for another day.