La Pimienta

Monday, April 7, 2025

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. -Galatians 6:2

In Paul’s letter to the church in Galatians, he instructed Christians to look out for each other and help bear each other’s burdens.  In our first clinic day today, we watched this play out in many encouraging ways.  Our morning required a bit of flexibility from the start, as we were not able to visit the community we had originally planned due to circumstances within the community. 

Our change of plans meant that the community that replaced it had to plan very quickly for our arrival.  Clinic days in the communities take a large community effort to pull off, requiring the use of the school within the community and involvement from the community leaders in assembling patients needing to see a doctor in one location, often with limited availability of phones within the community.  Due to this challenge, when we first arrived, school was still in session.  As we got settled, we observed the children playing in the school yard, and several team members remarked at how refreshing it was to see them running around and playing together, rather than using cell phones.  As school shut down and clinic prep began, many, including the children, pitched in to help set up.  Their joy at helping prepare for the clinic that would serve their community members was evident. 

At the end of a long and hot day, many were still around, eager to help bear our burdens with giant grins on their faces.  Each member of our team was given a cross necklace at the beginning of the week to give away to someone who particularly impacted them.  One team member today gave his away to a child who helped him pack a supply box, carefully handing him one item at a time, with a grin that never stopped.

Another notable aspect of today’s community was the animals.  We were surrounded by dogs and cats who were also eager to help out, mostly by finding any snacks we managed to drop.  One dog helped one of the team physicians examine a child in a very unexpected way.  This team member shared that throughout his career, when trying to listen to an uncooperative child’s heart, he has often said “no, no, dog,” to get the child to look around for a misbehaving dog.  He used this strategy many times throughout the clinic today, until finally, at the very end of the day, he said “no, no, perro (dog)”, and looked down to find an actual dog laying at his feet! I imagine he’ll never be able to use that saying again without thinking of the dog, and the many community members and smiling children, who helped to bear our burdens today.

-Dr. Gabbi Beck