TUESDAY APRIL 19th
As the death toll in the Ecuadorean earthquake continues to climb towards 500 and the humanitarian impact is beginning to be more fully understood, all aid agencies are now stepping up their efforts to assist.
Regis tells me that many places are very remote; he has been to the office on the Ecuador-Colombia border previously and it was several hours walk from the local office to one of the local villages (no roads); he says he doubts anyone has been out there to assess the damage yet. Despite reports that the capital Quito has been predominantly spared, he says there are cracks in the walls from the 4th floor down in the building where their office is and that the staff have relocated. The government has requested help from WFP (the UN organisation Kathryn & Regis work for).
And Ester hasn't turned up for work today. So my baby-sitting duties begin ...
Now Kathryn has cut her thumb badly opening a can of dog food for Bobba. Lots of blood everywhere. I fortunately had a steri-strip which hopefully will keep a very deep cut 'sewn' together.
Regis has to fly to Ecuador tonight so that's it from him until at least next Tuesday.
[Photo caption: Bye bye Sophie!]
In the meantime, poor Kathryn has to deal with a teething baby; a nanny that may not turn up to work again tomorrow; full-time work (including an urgent visa for an Indian national that either gets processed tomorrow or not until June - and HR in the Rome office has not delivered on the promised documentation but still finished work at 5:30 p.m. while Kathryn attempts to manage the situation well into the night); and a VERY LARGE dog who last night in the backyard managed to have an altercation with what I can only think was a porcupine (Rothschild's) judging by the four long black and white quills sticking out of his nose which required a muzzle being applied before the offending spines could be removed with pliers.
SHE doesn't complain but I can see the many frustrations for her trying to get her job done without interruption.
On a lighter note, I have just caught up on the Johnny Depp 'apology' (aka 'hostage') video regarding the illegal entry into Australia last year of his and his partner's two dogs. Clearly the video is a send-up but I think the last laugh is ours as the video is so absurd; indeed, it is being mocked and parodied all over the Internet.
Needless to say, the media are having a field day: "a triumph of minimalist cinema" -
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/stephen-colbert-mocks-johnny-depp-and-amber-heard-apology-video-20160420-goaiol.html
Totally agree...Depp is definitely taking the mickey!!!!! Lucky you were their Nonna... To help out!!
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