A Roller Coaster Finish In Nicaragua
It was an earlier start for our last full day in Nicaragua. Katrina and I were headed to the hospital to do some training and set up the eye assessment clinic. We would join the rest of the team at the community clinic close to lunch.
On the way in the van, our interpreter Samuel and driver Cecilio serenaded us with Spanish hymns. It was awesome. Arriving at the hospital, the building looked like it had been a school that was converted to a medical centre. It really wasn’t that busy despite having free care. That is because there are limited staff and often no supplies for treatment.
They were thrilled with the boxes of medical supplies we had brought with us and quickly set about doing an inventory. They had to ask us what some of the supplies were- clamps and such, as they hadn’t had them before.
I was working with Dr Marceil Terres Garcia. He was a family physician that had been at one of the community clinics with us. He was going to train on the optical equipment and on doing eye assessments. You never realize how much information you assume after practicing even a few years. It’s really hard to teach someone 2-3yrs of education and 5 yrs experience in just a few hours. I’m glad it was someone who already had trained medically. Dr Garcia knew basic English and pick up the information very quickly. He is very impressed with the machines and very grateful to have them. It was generous of Dr Wes McCann to give these to us. I left with the confidence that Dr Garcia would be able to continue the optical work we had begun and gave him my email for any questions or follow up.
Katrina and I were ready to rejoin our team. Pastor Ernand tried to make room in his little hatchback but we said no we wanted to take a Tuk-tuck. He laughed and continued shifting thing around. We said no, we really wanted to Tuk-tuk. He looked at us in disbelief and asked “Serious?” Absolutely! He humoured us and flagged down a Tuk-tuk sending our interpreter Tanya with us. It was so much fun. We drove through groups of children ending school for the day and took in the sights and sounds as we zipped through the city.
Arriving at the community clinic, I saw the line up out the door of the church we were set up in. A whole day and more was waiting to be done. Mary and Mabel had done well assessing 25 patients to get the day going. We switched around roles with me doing assessments and Mabel and Mary fitting and started working our way through the line. By lunch break we had 17 more people completed. As I had a quick sandwich and looked at the waiting people, I knew we had to move a few roles and people around if we had any hope of seeing all these people. Deb said that we would end at 100. That meant we needed 60 done in 3.5hrs. I got 2 people helping Mary and Mabel with glasses, Irene got prepared with her charting papers and I started through the people one by one. As much as you want to see everyone, you still need the time to hear there stories and treat them well.
We had more infections today than any clinic I had ever done and am grateful we had nurses, doctors and a pharmacy on hand to give immediate care.
There were more children today too. They have dreams of becoming doctors, police officers, pilots and artists. Even in the most desperate conditions, they dream big and have the audacity of hope.
There were a few people with severely damaged corneas, due to accidents, beatings and a bad cataract surgery. It’s heartbreaking to have people wait hours to see you, only to be told you can’t do anything for them.
When the last person was assessed, 127 people had received care- 27% more than we had hoped. Our whole team was proud of how we pulled it together and as a reward, Irene and I took another Tuk-tuk ride back to the hospital where we were donating the leftover medications.
At the hospital, we had to wait for someone to receive our donation. With some time on my hands, I found the saddest excuse for a wheelchair you can imagine. Only 1 arm, no rubber on the wheels, so it seem reasonable to take it for a spin. Irene asked if I was going to need some Gravol and I said I was good as I rolled around in circles. She said she was going to need one just watching me.
Lots of local transportation today.
It was time to get back to the compound as there was a lot of work to be done. We had to get everything organized and packed as we had an early flight to El Salvador in the morning.
Dinner was salad, baked fish and ice cream. A nice send off to our week here.
My work wasn’t done yet as 3 more staff asked to have their eyes checked before I left. One was 70 yr old Pedro who is our night guard at the compound. His grandson Wilber works with him. The both carry rifles and control the dogs. He has never worn glasses so it was quite the surprise to discover he needed a -4.00 correction! Seriously, he has been walking around with a loaded gun and he can’t drive legally! He’s all set now and I feel safer.
It took the whole team to get all our bags re-packed and weighed.Things have been shifted all over to balance the number of bags, our shopping aquisitions and keep us under weight for each one.
It has been a long emotional day. I need a good night’s sleep for our travels tomorrow.
On the way in the van, our interpreter Samuel and driver Cecilio serenaded us with Spanish hymns. It was awesome. Arriving at the hospital, the building looked like it had been a school that was converted to a medical centre. It really wasn’t that busy despite having free care. That is because there are limited staff and often no supplies for treatment.
They were thrilled with the boxes of medical supplies we had brought with us and quickly set about doing an inventory. They had to ask us what some of the supplies were- clamps and such, as they hadn’t had them before.
I was working with Dr Marceil Terres Garcia. He was a family physician that had been at one of the community clinics with us. He was going to train on the optical equipment and on doing eye assessments. You never realize how much information you assume after practicing even a few years. It’s really hard to teach someone 2-3yrs of education and 5 yrs experience in just a few hours. I’m glad it was someone who already had trained medically. Dr Garcia knew basic English and pick up the information very quickly. He is very impressed with the machines and very grateful to have them. It was generous of Dr Wes McCann to give these to us. I left with the confidence that Dr Garcia would be able to continue the optical work we had begun and gave him my email for any questions or follow up.
Katrina and I were ready to rejoin our team. Pastor Ernand tried to make room in his little hatchback but we said no we wanted to take a Tuk-tuck. He laughed and continued shifting thing around. We said no, we really wanted to Tuk-tuk. He looked at us in disbelief and asked “Serious?” Absolutely! He humoured us and flagged down a Tuk-tuk sending our interpreter Tanya with us. It was so much fun. We drove through groups of children ending school for the day and took in the sights and sounds as we zipped through the city.
Arriving at the community clinic, I saw the line up out the door of the church we were set up in. A whole day and more was waiting to be done. Mary and Mabel had done well assessing 25 patients to get the day going. We switched around roles with me doing assessments and Mabel and Mary fitting and started working our way through the line. By lunch break we had 17 more people completed. As I had a quick sandwich and looked at the waiting people, I knew we had to move a few roles and people around if we had any hope of seeing all these people. Deb said that we would end at 100. That meant we needed 60 done in 3.5hrs. I got 2 people helping Mary and Mabel with glasses, Irene got prepared with her charting papers and I started through the people one by one. As much as you want to see everyone, you still need the time to hear there stories and treat them well.
We had more infections today than any clinic I had ever done and am grateful we had nurses, doctors and a pharmacy on hand to give immediate care.
There were more children today too. They have dreams of becoming doctors, police officers, pilots and artists. Even in the most desperate conditions, they dream big and have the audacity of hope.
There were a few people with severely damaged corneas, due to accidents, beatings and a bad cataract surgery. It’s heartbreaking to have people wait hours to see you, only to be told you can’t do anything for them.
When the last person was assessed, 127 people had received care- 27% more than we had hoped. Our whole team was proud of how we pulled it together and as a reward, Irene and I took another Tuk-tuk ride back to the hospital where we were donating the leftover medications.
At the hospital, we had to wait for someone to receive our donation. With some time on my hands, I found the saddest excuse for a wheelchair you can imagine. Only 1 arm, no rubber on the wheels, so it seem reasonable to take it for a spin. Irene asked if I was going to need some Gravol and I said I was good as I rolled around in circles. She said she was going to need one just watching me.
Lots of local transportation today.
It was time to get back to the compound as there was a lot of work to be done. We had to get everything organized and packed as we had an early flight to El Salvador in the morning.
Dinner was salad, baked fish and ice cream. A nice send off to our week here.
My work wasn’t done yet as 3 more staff asked to have their eyes checked before I left. One was 70 yr old Pedro who is our night guard at the compound. His grandson Wilber works with him. The both carry rifles and control the dogs. He has never worn glasses so it was quite the surprise to discover he needed a -4.00 correction! Seriously, he has been walking around with a loaded gun and he can’t drive legally! He’s all set now and I feel safer.
It took the whole team to get all our bags re-packed and weighed.Things have been shifted all over to balance the number of bags, our shopping aquisitions and keep us under weight for each one.
It has been a long emotional day. I need a good night’s sleep for our travels tomorrow.
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