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explaining about condoms to the women was useless.  The men governed this land and if their women didn’t do as they were told, they were frequently beaten or traded.  If the young ones were captured and raped they were useless to their families as a commodity and commonly abandoned.  It was an uphill battle to educate.
    Some of the locals understood what the clinic was trying to do.  As a woman herself, they held Doctor Cooper in awe.  Befriending Hamishish proved to be a bonus.  As the local magician, she was held in high esteem.  She delighted in the balloons and condoms alike, noting their similarity and used the humor to help Deanna educate.  Deanna handed the balloons out to the children for deeds well done.  Deanna frequently thought Hamishish must do the same with condoms with the many men she slept with.  The doctor was amazed that Hamishish didn’t have the diseases that were so rampant in this area.  Later, Hamishish confided and showed a crude version of the condoms that they now gave out.  It was more like a French Letter of old; reusable and washed thoroughly after use.  Crude, but effective…mostly.  The danger of catching AIDS was still there and the condoms brought an added measure of safety to this woman’s world.  Teaching the others might prevent more.
    Maddie found Deanna a delight to work with.  She was never arrogant or condescending like Doctor Burton, who still looked at the young woman with suspicion.   Deanna taught not only the locals, but anyone who wanted to learn what she was doing and why.  She even showed a couple of the helpers how to administer a shot, something that some of the locals had avoided since it not only hurt, but was mysterious to them. 
    “Education is the key,” she kept repeating in her arguments to help the others.
    Doctor Burton agreed with her, but hid behind his aura of mystery to keep his fragile grip on control of the clinic.  It was hard enough to get supplies and keep their head above water with the many refugees who came through, but to let them understand what they were truly doing too, he didn’t think that was a good idea.  He felt helping them on many levels was to their benefit and, as a result, he befriended Harlan.
    “Well, if we dig it all up, it’s gonna be a helluva mess,” Harlan was saying one night at dinner.
    “Wouldn’t it benefit the locals to learn to use the machinery?” Doctor Cooper asked as she pointed at him with her fork.
    “Of course, but they don’t have any idea of the value of it and think it’s just for fun,” he said disparagingly.
    “What happens when you leave and they don’t know how to use the tractor or the plow?  They go back to their ancient methods that have worked for thousands of years?”
    “Well, we have to get the crops in before the rainy season and I’ll teach them later,” he began.
    “Aren’t you only here for four months?”
    “Yes, but that’s plenty of time….”
    “Then you should teach them at the same time so you know your work won’t be going to waste after you leave,” she looked back down at her food, missing the angry look that Harlan sent her.
    Doctor Cooper seemed to know a lot about a wide range of subjects, and she didn’t hesitate to offer suggestions.  She wasn’t hurt when they argued or didn’t take her well-meaning advice.  In the first few days there, she had asked Harlan questions, drawing him out, almost friendly, but after Harlan realized that Doctor Burton wasn’t trusting of her, her suggestions fell on deaf ears.
    “Does it ever bother you that they ignore you?” Lenny asked as four of them sat around drinking a locally brewed and bottled beer.
    Maddie sat forward to hear better.  After their long day of treating people, the noise from the children was a bit loud.
    Leida was already on her second beer and feeling no pain.  She claimed the beer was like water compared to Australian beers.
    Deanna shrugged it off.  “I’ll get that for