Gaire farewell

Again I’ll skip the medical stuff and talk instead about how the citizens of Gaire sent us off in style. We finished relatively early that day, around 3pm. As the final patients were ushered from the pharmacy and out the gates, we were treated to a dance performance in the street by a troop of local adolescent males. I don’t really know how to describe this scene except to say that the music consisted of a whistle and rhythmic grunting and it had some obvious sexual overtones. I was unable to get an explanation from anyone about the significance of the dance, so I’ll have to let the photo speak for itself.

Then we got a speech from the mayor and the local health department official, both praising the Mercy and its efforts. Next our commanding officer spoke, returning the gratitude and thanks. And once again our group was invited into the pastor’s home for refreshments. We were greeted on his porch by a crowd of women, a table piled with gifts, two trays of potato chips, and some ice-cold colas.

As we boarded the buses one last time, the mood in the village was more excited than ever. The local police cleared the residents out of the streets to make room for our vehicles. Excited adults ran up to the buses exchanging last minute words with mercy crewmembers whom they had worked alongside for the past several days. Email addresses and phone numbers were hurriedly scribbled on scraps of paper and passed through the open bus windows. People were singing. Children ran after the buses as we pulled away. People along the road waved excitedly all the way back to the port.

--pete