12th February 2015, the first day of patients at LFHC

On the first day we saw 47 children, with a wide range of problems - colds, thalassaemia, malnutrition, nephrotic syndrome

Flip, this is going to be an exciting challenge.

In the morning Kenro and some of the donors came to witness the first patients, there were quite a few tears, it was a huge step and suddenly I realised how much we had achieved.
Soon the photographers left and we got on with treating the children of Luang Prabang

one more party for the 'grand opening'

The final function for the grand opening started with drinks on the roof at our Friends Visitor Centre.
Lovely to watch the sun go down, help Sommai at the bar, I could do that job! and to natter with donors and the queen on Lao textiles Carol Cassidy, we sell her textiles downstairs to raise money for the hospital, I feel a shopping spree coming on, she's fabulous.
Then a final dinner at a posh hotel, one expatriate on each table of donors, encouraging good behaviour and sensible discussion about the project, I sat with donors from Japan, they were drinkers, heaps of fun and full of admiration.

and then a debrief

We took the 100 or so guests on tours of the hospital, introduced everyone to our mascot, jaidee (kindness) showed off the equipment for the ward, out-patients, radiology, theatres, the library, our educational material and our recently finished clinical handbook.
People were very enthusiastic about this health facility and wished us well.
Visitors gone it was time for a debrief from Jonathan, team hugs and time to relax, take some photos and think about getting to the last party!
It was an amazing week, exciting and hugely enjoyable

The speeches .....

..... were straight from the heart, simple and made me feel very proud to be involved with Lao Friends Hospital for Children
Kenro, our founder, and Jonathan, our director, spoke on behalf of our hospital, there were also speeches from the Ministry of Health.
Jenn translated and MC'd, she was great, next stop Oscar host!

The Buddhist Ceremony

The Buddhist monks chanted, their prayers were for good luck and success and to bless the hospital ground.

I loved listening to the rhythm of the chanting and feeling zen with the familiarity of some of the prayers I now recognise, There were different parts of the ceremony, blessing water for good luck and giving food for merit and to remember people who have died
After the manic chaos of the week it was great to have 30 minutes of reflection but my knees went numb!

the welcoming party for the grand opening

I stood with Komgsai,one of our nurses, I greeted our dear guests with 'hello,welcome'.
Kongsai soon joined in with a very enthusiastic 'Hello, I am Kongsai, You are welcome'

the morning of the opening ceremony

the ceremony was planned to start at 10 am
at 7.15 i received a text from jenn saying if you're not on your way get here asap
i arrived at the hospital and the first floor was under 2 inches of water
a pipe had burst!
we rolled up our trousers and mopped! we were all laughing
a few hours later the first speech was given by the construction company informing us of their good work!!!!

the celebrations begin ....

it was great to celebrate the opening of our new children's hospital with everyone

the first celebration was dinner and a baci at the grand hotel
the laotian team loved the party

it was good to meet some of the very generous donors who make this possible and to share our experiences
Jonathan, our director gave, a very emotional speech, he then introduced each member of the hospital team and invited us to join him on stage
It was fabulous to sit down, have a drink and also natter to some of the local community who have supported us, I was on a table with some of the Luang Prabang marathon committee who donated $70,000 this year

one day to go!

We open tomorrow, all the work is coming together
I popped into the visitor centre with Doctor Thongher to pick up a few things for the hospital.
I've watched Jenn's white-borad counting down the days from 100 and suddenly it was 1 day to go!
Back at the hospital we all met for a dress rehearsal of the opening ceremony
The builders are doing final pieces of work and have not seemed to share our sense of urgency!

The children's self-portrait wall

The wall of children's self-portraits is my favourite place at our new hospital.
Thank you everyone for taking the time to create these gorgeous pieces of art.
A huge thank you and a big hug to Sasja for your enthusiasm, and for rounding up the artwork, posting and tracking it all the way to Luang Prabang.
I loved opening the parcel and guessing who's was who's and was amazed at all of them, they are beautiful, brought a big grin to my face and pride in all of your children.
38 pictures arrived from England and Australia, Furyama, our architect chose the 25 to go along with 25 each from Loas, Japan and America
It was great watching the wall coming together on the Sunday before the opening when we were all at the hospital with frantic final preparations

we need a night out

after a hard week, it's time for a cocktail
and some international hand gestures!

a manic week of preparation

it's lastminutue.com here
there is so much to do before we open
the guys from the new york and tokyo offices have arrived to help, phew!
working at the weekend, hardly sleeping
my brain won't stop creating lists of things to do
looking forward to the celebratory parties

teaching continues ....

..... in the manic build up to the opening teaching carries on
we are role-playing the patient flow in out-patients
and having team-building games!
fun, fun, fun