Thursday, April 28, 2022
Last night, we had sweet dreams as the rain beat down on the tin roof of Alfredo House. Yesterday was long and exhausting. Apparently, I didn't get enough sleep. Upon boarding the bus, the translators were laughing saying......¡Los pantalones de Abril están de adentro hacia afuera!...April's pants are on inside out! Not only were they inside out, but they were also backwards.
Arriving at Santa Fe Abajo, Jesus De Otoro, Intibuca we found a lovely, friendly community that showed us how much they appreciated us. We were greeted with smiles and warm welcomes. The team leaders greeted the community with a welcoming speech and a prayer. Lines were quickly formed, and families began going station to station. There were six medical stations set up in the general clinic to help flow the families through quickly. Santa Fe Abajo is a large village with 200 families. Unfortunately, time only allows us to see 50 families per visit. The families are chosen weeks before our arrival by the community leader.
One of the kids that came through the clinic was Elgar. Elgar had his first surgery at 6 months of age to repair his bilateral cleft lip with Operation Smile in Tegucigalpa. Lori, one of our team nurses, questioned his mother about his prior cleft lip surgery and learned he needed additional surgery. It happens that a surgical team will be here next week and most likely he will be able to get his much needed second surgery due to Lori’s great assessment skills and a referral.
Throughout the schoolyard the children ran, and many played with the soccer ball that was presented by our team to the community.
Back at Casa de Alfredo, we enjoyed an early dinner and a few team members shared meaningful stories from their day in the village. Now we are all getting settled in to prepare for our last day.
~April Barber
