The hospital was built in 1979. It is showing its age. There are eight rooms, with 4 beds in each room.
Dr. Mele Fonua is the dentist at the hospital clinic. She graduated from “dental school’ in Fiji last year, and has been working at the clinic for 3 months. When she finished “Form 7” she went to 5 years of “dental school.” (Form 7 is roughly equivalent to 12th grade in high school.)
At least the high speed handpiece worked. The suction was so-so. The two by fours are holding the chair up in a position where I can work on patients without breaking my back.
The left-hand chair works. The right hand chair doesn’t, so we use it for extractions (on the lower arch). The fan helps keep the temperature manageable.
This is the storage room where supplies are kept. The clinic is critically short on just about everything you could imagine was essential to run a dental office.
The highlight of the day was going out to lunch, with Luisa, who runs the Red Cross office in Pangai. She is a member, born on Ha’apai with three kids. She was a storehouse of knowledge about Ha’apai.
I had chicken curry, and mom had fresh-caught fish for lunch.
We downed the pitcher of punch in no time. It is really important to drink constantly, because of the heat and humidity.
Phil and Jan's Adventure in Tonga 