Last medical brigade

A couple of weeks ago we had our last medical brigade of the season, and incidentally, my time here with Mission UpReach. That makes me sad, but I am so thankful that I have had the opportunity to work here and learn from/with our group of team members. 

We went to Monte de la Virgen with a group from Athens, GA. Their group was a great choice for our last medical brigade of the season. We saw 730 patients, which is a pretty impressive percentage considering we gave out 750 tickets! It was great to be in that village for more than one day and see people that I've worked with before since we go out there with VCOM. 

Now I'm cleaning up from the brigades and I have a LOT of work to do! Plenty of things to organize, meanwhile still having other groups. I'm enjoying my last couple of weeks during our "busy season"!

The line outside of the school.

Diana doing her thing and passing out meds to patients.

Rosa and Milagro working at registration. They're always such great help!

Selfies with Stacy.

Donna, myself, and interns Danielle and Sydni.

It's a miracle that two of us have on the same color!

Foto... Whatever, two weeks late.

A couple of weeks ago we were out at Contamal with the University church from Denver. Same place they went last year with mostly the same fun group! We saw 930 patients in 3 days, but it was actually a relatively tranquil week! Auburn CoC's youth group was also here doing construction, so it was fun to have them! 

We had a business meeting during lunch at the brigade. Very productive.

Lovely Amber working hard in the pharmacy.

We matched!

Auburn friends. 

She was the cutest little lady in her new shades from the brigade!

Foto Friday

This is our "week off" in between 2 months of groups.. Which means I had a whole week to regroup and prepare for the next 2 medical brigades, and it has been glorious. I've been sleeping almost until 8! Now I'm all rested and ready for 2 more medical brigades in a row.

These pictures don't have much relevance for this week. Just a selection of random pictures that didn't get used before. 

Our yearly helpers from Colorado arrived this week! 

It's always nice to have Connie, Andrea, and Amber here. 

Just being adorable and letting Laura hug me.

The line for one of the brigades. There's a chance this already made a foto Friday.. Can't remember.

Good thing intern Danielle is here during the World Cup to explain soccer things.

Just a random cute child from the brigade in Crucitas.

Hanging out with Karol and Jere's Merlyn Laura while intern Danielle looks on jealously.

Sorry, Danielle:)

Foto Friday: Burnt Hickory

For this week's medical brigade, we hosted a group from Burnt Hickory Church of Christ in Atlanta. (We also had a group from Oklahoma that did VBS and construction, and a few of their group even came with us to the brigade). 

In 3 days we saw a little more than 850 patients. We stayed busy right up until the last minute of the last day, but it went really well. 

I LOVE this group. You just can't help but smile when working with them. They're all so light-hearted and truly seem to do everything with joy. 

We had some stomach issues this week with both groups, which was a downer and I felt really bad for quite a few of our visitors! Still though, everyone worked really hard and I think overall had a great week. I was especially impressed with the awesome construction crew that worked so hard without complaint even though half of them were sick. 

We were in a big auditorium this week, which I was slightly nervous about just because of noise and traffic flow.. Don't know why though because the space was amazing, and we had a nice view all week! 

I gave this little man a breathing treatment. Explaining how to do it was a challenge, but he was so sweet, and after his treatments were done he was so excited about how well he could breathe!

5 a.m. is just the worst but at least it's pretty. 

One of the visitors, Lydia, and a kid from the school next door, Alejandro, wanted a picture together after bonding on set-up day.

The group brought this first aid kit and some futbols for the school that let us use their auditorium, and the school director was very grateful.

A rare huggy moment caught on camera while somewhat working the store.

Now for a week off to get ready for the next 2 medical brigades in a row. SO EXCITED about not waking up at 5 a.m. one single time this next week!

And, as always, sorry about the HORRIBLE quality of photos that comes from my 150 yr old phone. (NOT complaining about having it though! Thanks for the phone, Jason!)

Foto Friday.. Well, Monday. Ohio!

This week was a group from Ohio with many visitors joining from Tennessee, Georgia, and Detroit. (I realize Detroit is not a state.) 

We had a medical brigade in Las Crucitas and saw 870ish patients in the 3 days of the brigade. This group was great. Tons of fun, and everyone worked together extremely well. I wasn't noticeable that half the group hadn't even met before this week! 

Some highlights in photos:

I loved seeing sweet Nahomy again! I haven't seen her since about 6 months after the couple of days I spent visiting her and bringing her things in the hospital a couple of years ago. She kept giving me huge hugs and followed me around the clinic while she was there. It made my heart happy to see her doing so well! 

A lady brought her pet iguana to the medical brigade on a leash. Dr. Scott took a break from patients to check it out.

Pharmacist Ashley is passing out dandruff shampoo in plastic bags.

Angel pushed this iguana on me.

This is the most Honduran baby.. Hair gel, gold chain, skinny jeans.

Hello, Honduras. 

Foto Friday: Snellville

This week I was with the medical group from Snellville, GA. 

We saw 882 patients, and this awesome tree:

Angel gave his cookies to this kid, who then ran around screaming with excitement and telling us he didn't want his "mute friend" to steal them from him:

One of the AIMers talking to this man about his eyesight:

Laura loudly explaining meds to a 100 year old:

Lots of empty boxes means many medications given away, thus a successful medical brigade!

Foto Friday

I'm going to try to start doing this most weeks because usually there are more interesting pictures than words.. That and because I'm going to be really busy and this is a nice quick way to share updates about the weeks. (I do know that in English it's spelled "photo".)

Maybe they will be new pictures, maybe they will be old pictures, maybe this will be the only time I ever do this. It's a mystery.

Today they are an old mezcla. No rhyme or reason whatsoever.

The time we hiked Celaque and no one enjoyed it except for 

Phil, myself, sometimes Laura, and 3 of the Hondurans. 

Laurita and Jordan

"Let's take a goofy picture!" 

Not my strong point.

View of Santa Rosa

One of my favorites, Karol