Tuesday, January 22nd, 2019
Today we visited the village La Danta. We saw a total of 107 patients in the medical clinic, resulting in 15 referrals.
Some highlights of our day were the discovery of a VSD (ventricular septal defect), which is a congenital heart defect, on a child with no complaints. Kristen Powell MD was trying to cheer the 7 year old boy up after a tooth extraction and decided to listen to his heart, an unexpected discovery!
Kristen and Heather helped a boy who had suffered a machete wound last Friday. They washed and dressed the wound, and sent him home with a dressing change and a new pair of flip flops.
Christina celebrated with a mom as she had a positive pregnancy test. She wrapped it up for the patient to take home to her husband.
The clinic day ended with a very special and unexpected twist. Linda’s final patient of the day was a father of 5 whose only complaint was stomach pain. Upon inquiring about the nature of the pain, she asked how much the man drank (alcohol). He confessed to having given up drinking about a week ago, after habitually consuming about a liter a day. At the end of their interaction Linda gave him her cross. He then asked for her help in accepting Jesus as his Lord and Savior. She agreed and closed with a prayer.
The sun was out as we closed our day. We played manos calientes (slap hands), blew bubbles and took selfies with the kids. They loved every minute!
After a quick stop at Alfredo’s house for a reset, we ventured out to Kakao Farm (Cacao). We saw various types of cacao beans, toured a small museum, and took a hike up to Linca Temple, with a beautiful Mountain View. The tour guide shared the history of the temple and then showed us the process for turning the beans into chocolate. We got to sample their homemade hot chocolate! The perfect ending to a beautiful day.
~Virginia Rhines & Heather Brand
