Hi Mom and Dad! (The humble blogging typist today is Beth)
Let us share our experience of Guatemala with you from today! We had the luxury of spending the entire day together in our group of 16. The bus took us all away from the beautiful lake and clinic of Amatitlan up towards the active volcano Pacaya. We all wanted to share our experiences from an individual view:
1. Dawn - the school at El Durazno has not had a medical visit in over 1 year. As word spread, our volume increased and we saw a variety of illnesses from diabetes, to skin wounds, malnutrition, worms, and chronic diseases without any follow up or management. The most interesting thing was the lady with the "eye complaint" - she was having pain and discharge from her eye and she proceeded to pop out her eye - which was glass and no longer fit into her socket because it was too small. We treated her eye socket infection with what we had. She was so appreciative of what little we could do for her and gave us each a kiss and blessed us for helping. I wished I could have done more; she was unbelievably sweet. I felt like people were willing to receive what little care we could provide and welcomed us with open arms and open hearts. Even something simple like a multivitamin made a difference to them and the appreciation was humbling. I felt like a SuperHero today!
2. Jeremy - While everyone was providing direct patient care, I had some down time to play with the school children: soccer, basketball, jump rope, tic-tac-toe, and hopscotch. Self-Reflection: The challenge in the game of horse gave me the perspective that maybe I am not as sporty as I thought. My next reinforcement of this was my graceful drop to the ground as I missed the soccer ball while kicking a goal, and landed flat on my back. Ouch! In addition to the fun, there was some education involved... we brought 150 toothbrushes and 75 tubes of paste to educate the community on the most basic way to prevent illness: maintaining good oral health. We ran out of supplies before we could give it to everyone, and had many requests for more. After clinic, we walked through the community down to a lake where you could search for snails and work the cucumber fields. Samuel (our interpreter and son of our host, Dr Elry) wanted to compete to run back up the hill (an incline of about 50 degrees)... I won by making it 10 feet (at least!) before gasping for breath and sitting down to rest! I considered drinking the water at the side of the road, but did regain my senses enough to make it the rest of the way without.
3. Beth - Just so you know... Jeremy did manage to get tan on only l side of his face... that's talent! I would know because I was blessed enough to also play with the children today. This is only because our pharmacy students (and Alex, our pre-pharmacy student) did an awesome job taking what we had and making a functional pharmacy that included counseling every patient on every medication.. in Spanish! We did not bring ANY pharmacy students with experience speaking Spanish... and by the second day they had mastered what they needed to provide exceptional care to the people. Although it can be difficult for the teacher to let the students fly free, it is a wonderful experience to watch them fly! A mission to Guatemala is filled with many unexpected gifts; the children here have so much to teach us - they are filled with wonder and joy; they use their imagination; they are sweet and loving and filled with spirit!!! They have all of this without TV or internet. A jump rope is fun for hours, and simple play like making a rainbow with sidewalk chalk is a highlight. It was a highlight for me too.
4. Melodie - "the food is delicious!"
5. Kristel - From the experience today, it was a great learning experience as a future pharmacist to go into a situation where you set up on the fly, wing it, and be given the autonomy to make your own decisions. You are used to being told how to do things as a student and this week has already showed me how I can grow in leaps and bounds to be confident on my rotations. It has also taught me the importance of teach -back.. When I asked a patient today if they had questions, she shared something with me medically that she was too embarrassed to show the doctor previously. She confided in me and showed me how important it is to be present with someone and give them my attention fully. A simple question can open the door to a relationship that makes a difference.
6. Joy - My thought for the day: A hug from a child makes the day worthwhile. Today again was filled with many hugs and gratitude from the children. Many dogs also experienced a little spoiling with treats to remind them that heaven does it exist and it tastes good.
And more photos added this morning from our experience in El Durazno.
So wonderful to see all the peoples lives you are touching there! Praying that God continues to use each of you in ways you could never expect. We continue to keep all of you in our thoughts and prayers. Please let us know what we can do to support you!
ReplyDelete