Friday, August 29
Today started with a devotional about our favorite toy, the “Slinky.” It is lots of fun except when it gets wrapped around us. Sometimes we are moving along doing things that please the Lord, and then suddenly circumstances get us all tangled up. After a while we feel as if we are no longer of use to God. No matter how many hands try to fix us, we are still bent out of shape. The moral is that God can fix us and make us as good as new. If we will only tap into His power, our brokenness can be repaired and we can be useful to Him again.
The team visited Las Flores today. It was founded in 2000 and has 218 people in 43 houses. All the houses have toilets, with only 25% outside the home. The majority of the homes have water from a fountain which is 2 hours walk away. The education level is from kindergarten to high school. The nearest health center is 2 hours walking distance.
The total number of encounters today was 407, with a grand total for the week at 2634. The clinic treated 186 people today. Carlos observed that the appearance of the community was healthier than those from yesterday’s clinic. Linda said that she treated a little boy whom she referred to the extended care program with a heart murmur.
Michelle said that she saw a family with 8 children. All of the teeth in the youngest child were rotten and she encouraged the mother to take him to see the dentist. Michelle gave her cross away and Michelle received a big hug in return.
Dr. Reddy stated that she had a routine day; for only working a half of a day there were still plenty of patients to see. She went on a home visit and said that what she saw was similar to what she has seen in India. She was very impressed with the Hondurans’ ingenious ways of creating storage space.
Jessica stated that this is the first time that she has returned to a community that she had visited previously. Although there are sick people in the community, she was impressed with the improvement of their overall health.
Dale was grateful to have awesome people in the pharmacy to run the show.
Yolanda stated that she really enjoyed spending time with her son this week. She is very proud of him and how he interacted with the other members of the team as well as the people in the community.
Tariq stated that today’s highlight was the home visit. He found it interesting to him that the people have a lot of pride. He stated that this was a very “attractive” community. Dr. Roberto allowed him to listen to the murmur in a child’s heart, and also showed him the eyes of an adult where one was reactive and one was not. He thought that was cool.
Pedro mentioned a little boy who needed his ears cleaned but was very apprehensive that it would hurt. When Shirley started to clean his ears, Pedro stayed with him. Once the water was sprayed in his ears he started giggling and said that it was tickling him. As his older sister was looking on waiting for her turn, Pedro could see the relief on her face as she started laughing as well.
Donnie agreed with Jessica's observation that the people of the community looked healthier this year. It was nice to see some familiar faces. He was also happy he was able to go on the home visit with the newcomers this year and was the designated photographer.
Susan and Katie treated 28 patients with 45 extractions. Susan commented on a patient they had who was very popular in the community. Her friends were standing outside calling her name the entire time she was in the clinic. Susan said that she was responsible for convincing Katie to come with the team and that she was glad Katie had agreed as she fit in very well.
Katie said it was a very messy day today; they went through a lot of gauze and did many stitches. She gave away her cross to a lady who had several teeth removed. She was very impressed by the patient’s ability to sit calmly the entire time in the chair with her hands in her lap. Katie said she was a “tough cookie” and the patient gave them a big smile with a mouth filled with gauze!
The eye clinic treated 26 people today. Evelyn shared a scripture verse regarding God’s gifts that suited the team well. She said that God gives us special gifts and that this team used all of our gifts this week. When Marco asked her why she came on this trip, her response was that she loves people and loves to help people. He responded with “me too, it makes my heart feel good.”
Marco said they did not see many patients today. Marco mentioned that Evelyn is a hard worker and he loves that she is dedicated to making sure that men receive manly glasses and women receive glasses fit for them. He said “thank you” to the team for leaving our homes to come and help take care of his people and may God bless us.
Peggy and Lee set up their clinic outside and had a view of the beautiful mountains while they worked. Peggy gave the welcoming speech to the Community this morning. In the clinic they treated 62 patients for deworming, 39 with Vitamin A and 19 with fluoride. Peggy said that they had a fairly busy day, and the weather was very nice. Lee commented that it was good we had no more clinics, because Peggy was giving away all her stuff. Today she gave away a bracelet that she was wearing.
Shirley said that it was a great day. Everyone worked together well. She stated that she enjoyed being the leader of such a great team and thanked everyone for allowing her to be their leader.
Our night ended with a devotional about a young woman traveling alone. She stopped overnight with plans to continue the next morning. She met two friendly truck drivers at breakfast that morning. When they asked where she was headed they couldn’t believe that she was going to make the journey through the mountains in her small car, as the pass was dangerous in the bad weather they were having. The truck driver said, “I guess we will just have to give you a hug.” The woman found this weird and said “I don’t think so.” The truck drivers laughed and explained the hug was putting one truck in front and one truck behind so that they could guide her through the pass. The moral is that as brothers and sisters in the Lord, we need to be closely knit with one another, helping each other. We need to be giving and receiving compassion and love. We NEED one another.
The Dinwiddie Mountain Medical Team
