A Stretching First Day

370 patients were seen on Day 1 of medical clinic

Emily, Kristen, and Aleah

We jumped into clinic-work on Monday. What a day! All of us worked in a large tent-like structure set up over the soccer court (a huge slab of cement) in the middle of the town. The kids were on their last week of summer vacation which made them available to help out a little bit too. The temperature in our cozy tent ranged from a blazing 110-125 degrees throughout the week. Thankfully we had access to water from Manuel's cooler across the street!

Meredith, Kristen, and Emily worked in triage for the day

This "first day" was stretching for me. I helped in the triage station by figuring out patients' general problems and then sending them to the proper physician. It was a challenging position to be in -- trying to make sense of the rapid Spanish chatter, get ages (like sesenta and setenta) straight and not offend people, etc. Not to mention those times when I felt completely clueless . . . which occurred so much more often than not. To dive into this day and realize how limited I was made me frustrated and discouraged at first.

On that same day an older lady came up to me and started telling me how she was thankful we were there. I will never forget the look in her eyes and her sincerity. Although I cannot remember what she said as I was lost in the midst of her trailing Spanish and only able to pick out bits and pieces, it was so touching. She asked for the Lord's blessing on us and seemed very excited about the work we were doing in Condevilla.

Steve spent the week working in the pharmacy corner handing out prescriptions. He and Flor especially made a good team. Despite the fact Steven was intent on learning Spanish, Flor often would try to share her knowledge of the French language with him. Steve and the rest of the pharmacy crew worked the longest out of the team. They had to fill up the last prescriptions and make sure all the patients had received what they needed before closing up shop each day.

Yes, and the pharmacy was where the famous "water-boiling" attempt took place. Apparently some of the team members took a container of water and set it on a black plastic trash bag in the direct sunlight to see if it would boil. From what I heard, it did not work, but it got close.