The "Off Week"

This has been a really interesting week "off” in between having groups here. There were 3 days that I was awake at 3:30 in the morning, if that’s any indication of how it went. One night I was sick, one day our adventure was beginning, and one night we were traveling home from my first wake. I won’t say much about the night that I was up sick (you’re welcome:) but the other two I will share some stories about.

Thursday morning I left with our wonderful driver Angel, my favorite translator Laura, and the trusty intern Ben. We left bright and early to go to a village called San Manuel, pick up a little patient, and take him to the doctor in Santa Rosa. Our 12 year old friend, Gerson, has some lesions on his face, so we took him to the dermatologist for a visit. The village is 2.5 hours away from Santa Rosa, so we were out and about for 12 hours for about a 7 minute visit with the doctor.. (Everyone knows how that goes). The 12 hours consisted of the drive there and back twice, the wait for the MD, the visit with the MD, a couple of food stops, and of course an early morning flat tire. Ben said I turned into “mama bear” while we were all on the side of the road, which I’m sure is true. (No worries, Mary and Donna, I got this). In the end we got a treatment for Gerson, had some bonding time with Angel, discovered that Laura and Ben have no idea how to change a tire, and got to see some really beautiful Honduran countryside.

Now, for my most recent dose of culture shock. Yesterday, Phil told me there was a man in a village that had died in his sleep and that I needed to pronounce his death. I thought he was joking at first. It was one of my first situations of “I know I’m not a doctor but I’m the closest thing out here.” We got ready and headed out on the 2.5 hour drive on one of the bumpiest make-shift roads I’ve ever seen.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t at least a little bit nervous. We arrived at this dark, warm house and I walked through about 50 grieving friends and family members to get to Eduardo. I didn’t know him personally, but I have heard many stories about what a great, hard-working man he was, and about the stability that he provided for his large family. I knew as soon as I touched his stiff, cold body that he had passed, but making that call was a bit more difficult than I had expected. His family members were watching hopefully over my shoulder as I assessed him. A couple of them were standing so close that they were touching me. No amount of “sensitivity training” could have prepared me for that moment, and I was thankful for Phil and Donna who stood there with me and were able to speak with the family in the way that my (still progressing) Spanish won’t allow. We stayed at the wake until very early hours of the morning visiting with his friends and family, praying and singing, and drinking a lot of coffee. (I was also asked if I could do the embalming process…. I told them no, I haven’t learned that at this point in my career..) Around 2:30 we started the 2.5 hour drive home, which consisted of a LOT of guys pushing a couple of the trucks up a small mountain.

This “off-week” here in Honduras has been such a blessing. God is showing me more and more that He has a purpose for me. I love how busy I have been. I love that He is providing me with new knowledge, that He is providing me with ways to build relationships with people here even though there’s still sort-of a language barrier, and I love that He never lets me forget that I’m not doing this alone. He continues to show me that “His power is made perfect in my weakness,” and that He is the one working, but I am so glad that He is letting me feel useful along the way!

Sweet Angel.. Changing the tire before 0500.

Being unbelievably helpful to Angel, obviously.

The view on the drive to San Manuel.

Ojos de Agua

Today the group from CO/TX is leaving, and I am reminded of how blessed I am to get to stay here! It’s been a great week. Eight of them did a VBS, and the rest of them did a 4-day medical brigade in a village called Ojos de Agua. We saw just under 1000 patients in those four days! Needless to say, it was busy (bless the doctor’s heart!) but it went really well. I’m so glad that my first brigade as the full time medical team member went well.. There was only one time that I said the words “Do not tell Donna about this until it is resolved,” but all is well that ends well, and everyone got their parasite medication regardless.. :)

Short-term mission trips are great. They’re a blast, you experience a different environment and culture, you get to know a group of people that you may not have known as well before, and you get to see more of the way that God works in the process. Now that I’m here long-term, I have really enjoyed seeing missions from the other side. I love dealing with preparations in between groups, getting to know the groups and watch as they experience another culture (sometimes for the first time), and I especially love that I am forming real, lasting relationships with the people here. It’s really interesting to be part of the medical brigades from the perspective of the long-term member. I walked around and made sure everyone had what they needed, and filled in when we got backed up. I got to know a large part of the group pretty well, and did a pretty good mixture of tasks while filling in. I also do a lot of the extra stuff, like breathing treatments, etc. I can’t say enough times how blessed I feel to be here. God is doing so much here, and I am thankful to be allowed to be part of it. 

Angel and Amber using the flippers in the Eyeglasses department.

Jason from CO taking vital signs.

Waiting to be seen by a nurse.

I went to this little girl's house to follow up. She had an abscess drained, so I cleaned it, changed  the dressing, and made sure the family had the items they need and know how to take care of it.

The Big Move

A week and a half ago I officially moved to Honduras, and it has been anything but boring! I am incredibly excited to be here for good and to get to work. I arrived with all of my luggage (eventually) and our first intern for this summer, Ben Brinkerhoff! Obviously, I’m ecstatic to have another Auburn soul down here. I had to do something to catch up with the Harding love! (We’re still way outnumbered).

We have been busily working to prepare for our first medical brigade group which arrives today!  There are 3 lovely ladies visiting from Colorado that have been very helpful to me, and everyone else has been busy with preparing as well. On top of the preparations, though, there have been a few mini-adventures packed into the week.

I’ll start with my least favorite: The tamale incident. (Cue scary music). The women at our church sold tamales to raise funds for the ladies ministry. Not my favorite food to begin with, but I ate them. Worst decision. I will leave out the gory details (you are welcome), but it was a rough night, then day.. Needless to say, I will never touch another tamale.

Just looking at this makes me nauseas again, but this is a tamale!

Probably the biggest adventure for me so far was my first visit to the Honduran Emergency Department. I got a phone call one night around 10:00 from our visiting Coloradoans saying one of our Honduran members was having trouble breathing and was in a great deal of pain, and they felt that I needed to come see her. Richard, Laura and I picked up our friend and headed to the hospital. She and I sat back in the ER for quite a while waiting for her to be treated. Meanwhile, I made friends with some other family members that were back there waiting as well. Privacy isn't a huge concern there, so other waiters and I got to see a LOT happen that you wouldn't have been able to watch at good ole Baptist's ER. I watched them run a code, saw a gunshot wound, and many, many more things. For my medical friends: I watched a rhythm for a while in SVT, which made me miss 5-kidd! My sweet friend ended up having quite a serious reaction to a medication and we ended up staying at the hospital until about 4:30 in the morning. Richard and Laura had great attitudes from the waiting room, my sweet friend got some rest, and I have about 100 stories from the Honduran ER.
((I am such a nurse-nerd, but I was so intrigued by their ER. I called Laura (in the waiting room) to ask things like “Where do they keep the medications,” “What are those buckets of water,” “Why are there no sharps containers,” etc.)) I loved it. That is not sarcastic. Made me miss my night shift friends!

Now all other adventures don’t sound like adventures at all, in comparison! I went with Jon and the ladies from CO to deliver 500 vitamins to a couple of schools, and I went to another school to check back on a little girl who had fallen at upward basketball and hurt her arm. We walked in and were immediately swarmed by kids who were waiting for me to come look at Vanessa’s arm! It was great. Now we have a group coming today and will be busy for the next week with the medical brigade and mission trip madness! I love it, and still can’t believe that I get to live here. I feel so blessed to have this opportunity. I’m learning everyday, and feel God’s hand in pretty much everything that is happening. Pray for us and for this brigade, and I will update again when they leave!

Celebrating Colorado Connie's birthday at Weekend's Pizza!

With sweet Laura Waldron at Weekend's.