El Cacao

Friday, July 17, 2026

Today we went to El Cacao, a community with about 160 individuals divided into 50 families. It was the smallest community we served this week but the families that did show up were extremely grateful that we were there, and it seemed to be a very lively and lovely community.

Today we saw a lot more men than usual accompanying their families, which was very nice to see. Theresa gave one patient crayons as she waited for her siblings to be seen and was surprised when her dad started coloring with her.

This whole week I’ve been scribing for my mom (Dr. Miriam), so I’ve been on the more clinical side of the brigade. I got to be up close and personal with the patients and listen to what they had going on with them and their health. This whole week, and today especially, it seemed like the main complaints that people had were just typical cold, cough, and stomachache, instead of anything terribly severe. That really makes it seem to me that Friends of Barnabas is making a difference in these communities.

I wanted to share two positive things from today, with the first being a story from Mary Michael about a couple she saw today. The wife came in with back pain, and when Mary Michael asked if she wanted to see physical therapy she declined because the exercises from PT last time were working so well! When she asked the husband about PT, he opted to go so that he could massage his wife’s back as well as she does his!

The second thing I wanted to share is that the community leader gave us a ‘Certificate of Recognition’ for our help in their community. They printed out a very nice certificate on genuine cardstock, which had today’s date and everything. It really meant a lot to all of us today. I especially loved the wording of us “sowing smiles” where we go and felt that that was very sweet of them.

I also got asked to talk about the birds here, as I am an avid birder and the Friends of Barnabas house has been a gold mine for tropical birds. All the birds I could imagine being here at the house is such a relief because I was worried I would have to go and find them. Outside Alfredo house I saw a toucan, a beautiful bright orange oriole, tanagers, an oropendola (golden oriole in English) and much much more. I will attach some pictures to this so you can see how beautiful they are.

Ryan McAtee