We were just planning to spend one night in Malua Bay to break up the trip to our next destination, Espirito Santo. But no sooner was the anchor down than we were surrounded by outrigger canoes, the paddlers offering us papayas and pampelmousse, and asking for rope to tie up their cows. A young woman named Stefanie pointed at Burger and asked me, "what he do?" "Doctor," I replied. Could he look at a sore on her little son's leg, she asked? But as there were three little ones with her in the canoe, she was understandably reluctant to board Halekai with her son. So we agreed to meet her ashore next morning.

Chief Don, with his braided goatee and near-toothless smile, greeted us and offered to escort us to Stefanie, but could the doctor please first look at his daughter's heel? It had an imbedded splinter. Then a man appeared with his arm in a sling: he dislocated his shoulder a year ago. Nothing Burger could do about that without anesthesia.

Chief Don asked me "how you family plan?" Interesting question ... I replied that condoms were best for his people, good for preventing disease too. He smiled knowingly: "Ruba blong fakfak." He then told me his wife took anti-baby pills. Then we were led to Stefanie and her little boy who were waiting for us, surrounded by a crowd of villagers.

Well, one patient led to a dozen, mostly with open sores aggravated by flies. Burger sat on a woven mat in the shade of a large mango tree, treating one after another while I consoled the youngest patients with "lollies" (candies), and entertained with our digital camera. Everyone delighted in seeing the photos on the camera screen. (See photo gallery.)

I gave the ladies mini soap and shampoo collected from hotel rooms, and received lemons and cabbage in return. Children took turns swinging from a seat made of cow bones tied to a rope. Margaret, with three comical pigtails on top and either side of her head, gave me two baskets, some squash and long green "snake beans" from her garden and nuts from the tree, then asked if I had any spare shirts for her. Later she paddled out to retrieve them, one for her and one for her husband, who taught at the local Seventh Day Adventist church school.

We were about to leave when Burger spotted a man with a chainsaw, which led to the subject of generators. He spent the rest of the day fixing two of them ("he a mechanic too?"). Soon after we returned to Halekai, Geoff and Sally aboard s/v Grace arrived and invited us over for dinner, a pleasant end to a busy day.