El Porvenir

Cristina working on some paperwork. The folders are the charts.

This week I worked in the clinic in a village called El Porvenir with the auxiliary nurse (like an LPN in the US), Pati, and the nursing student, Cristina. 

There are no doctors at this clinic, so when Pati comes across something she is unsure of or when a consult with a doctor is necessary, she writes a referral to a clinic in another village. In El Porvenir she can give away things like Tylenol, vitamins, parasite medications, and antibiotics. She can do breathing treatments when she has the medications, which is not all of the time. 

Pati checking her first blood sugar.

I really enjoyed spending the week there. Pati and I shared a lot of knowledge. She taught me how to do stitches, and I taught her how to take blood sugars with the glucometers we donated. She taught me about how they do pre-natal care, and I taught her some "basic" information that we learned in nursing school. 

I'm pretty sure we took everyone in the entire village's blood sugar. We did a LOT of teaching about Diabetes, and I also was able to teach Pati some pretty handy facts that she didn't know. We also talked a lot about family planning. 

Next week: "camping out" in San Manuel... Hope Richard the bodyguard and I can communicate with everyone:)