Blog April 23, 2017
It is still hot season.  It was 111F (43.3C) yesterday in the shade where we had our potluck lunch.  It is slightly cooler after a few drops of rain last evening.   We had rain on the 1st, 8th, and 14th so we thought maybe rainy season was beginning but does not appear that way now.  It was beginning to get  green in a few places but that may change if we don't get more rain soon.  Last year there was not much rain until late May.   A lot of newborns get treated with antibiotics for "fever" when actually it may be just heat intolerance.  
A few days ago we had no water at the hospital.  The water pump was not working so went to Lai ( a neighboring town) to get another pump and get ready to pull the other one from the well.   That night it was discovered that the wire connectors at the top of the well had been tampered with and disconnected one wire.   This was reconnected and presto we had pump working and water and not have to pull the pump from the well.   Great relief!!.  Don't know if this was a deliberate act or just some kids to close to it.   We had a new well drilled 4 years ago in another part of the compound but no pump put in until a few months ago but it does not work so it needs pulled .   Last week the water tank on the tower for that well was finished so hopefully will get a pump working on that one so have back up and not work the present one so hard.   It presently has to run almost constantly.   A lot of people get water from our system as their wells have gone dry also our water is ok to drink direct from the system.   
We had a big wedding Friday.   A wedding here lasts about all day.   There is a civil ceremony early in the day then the church part which lasts over 2 hours in the afternoon then a feast after that.   It was a pretty wedding.  She had 7 bride's maids.  The bride is not supposed to smile in a wedding here.   
So far this month our surgery numbers are ahead of last month.  We have had a lot of c-sections for various indications.   We took out a thyroid mass last week also a parotid mass.   We did a mastectomy for a cancer also a bilateral mastectomy for large gynecomastia which he insisted was causing him problems.  We had another man with prominent breast that actually was a large deep abcess.  We had 4 bladder stones in one week.   One boy had two stones each over 3 cm in diameter.   
We are healthy and Dolores has had no more major problems with her heart

Our emails are  drbland42@gmail.com and dfbland01@gmail.com  

Rollin and  Dolores Bland 
Hopital Adventiste de Bere
Boite Postal 52
Kelo, Tandjile,  Chad,  Afrique
Blog  www.weareamissionarybland.blogspot.com