It's been an insane and awesome past week. On Thursday, I took a group of girls with Dr. Christian and I to Villa Catalina to observe medical consults. I helped with Dr. Christian's charla on how to keep a broken bone immobilized before heading to the hospital (which is especially useful in a place where it may take a long time to get to a hospital and be seen by a doctor). I also translated the charla into English for the girls I brought with. The girls and I then watched a couple of consults, but there weren't many patients to see that day. And because Dr. Christian and Roberto had sort of disappeared to do some other things, I was left in charge of the group. We ultimately decided to take taxis back to the house, and Roberto and Dr. Christian showed up just in time to go with us. And just before we left I got to ride on the back of Roberto's motorcycle! So. much. fun.
Friday was really great, too. We went to see a patient in Corinto, a community near Leon. The patient was paralyzed from the waist down after having fallen from a tree and hit an electrical wire. We were visiting to check on the huge pressure sore that turned into a huge would on his lower back and buttocks. We gave him plenty of wound dressing and antibiotics (Medicine is socialized in Nicaragua, and he can see a doctor for free. However, he has to buy all of his own medical supplies). We also gave him a cushioned seat to prevent his condition from worsening. And for part of the time while the doctor was doctoring, I took some pictures of the beautiful children shown below :)
The best part of Friday was hanging out with Sabrina and hearing about here experiences in international missions. She lived in Paraguay for two years as part of the Peace Corps. She lived in a rural village and even had her first child in a clinic there! She's also spent lots and lots of time in Nicaragua - Amigos for Christ was started about 12 years ago, and she was in it from the beginning (her husband is the founder). She's done a lot of health education in a lot of communities, and she's a great resource for me and the other healthcare interns. She also has great insight into international missions, living abroad, and the practical aspects of life as a missionary.
It was really great to hear about Sabrina's life and experiences as a missionary, and it was super awesome to hear her charla wisdom! She suggested doing street charlas to make them less formal. She told us that when charlas are hosted at the school, moms feel like they are a formal occasion that they have to get ready for. I guess it's just like women in the U.S. - we won't usually run our errands in our cleaning or yard-work clothes, but we'd probably chat with our neighbor across the street in them. So I did a charla on Vitamin A this past Tuesday, and it was a big success. I also expounded on Sabrina's idea of having someone dress up as a giant carrot and had a skit where Super Zanahoria (Super Carrot) was the main character. He saved people's eyesight and helped their immune systems. Josh, one of the nurses down here, was Super Zanahoria, and Laura, the newest addition to our group of interns, was the blind person who needed her eyesight saved. They did a really great job, and everyone laughed.
After the skit, I handed out bags of carrot sticks and had a little five minute lecture on the importance of Vitamin A and what foods contain a lot of it. It was informative, and I actually felt like the women and kids learned something from it - one of them even asked a question! After doing the charla three times on three different streets, we had a group of about 10 or 15 kids following us and chanting "Super Zanahoria, mucho Vitamina A!" It was tons of fun and super affirming for me that I was learning how to relate to and teach the people of El Chonco.
Yesterday, the Covenant Catholic boys and many of the staff and interns conquered San Cristóbal, the highest volcano in Nicaragua. San Cristóbal is 1,745 meters (5,725 feet) high, and the climb took all day long. It was a steady climb, but it took mental and physical endurance. The first couple of hours was jungle, the next hour or so was grassy, and the final couple of hours was volcanic gravel. The worst part for me was the last hour or so. At that point, all visibility was lost because we were inside of a very sulfuric cloud. It was hard to breathe and impossible to see more than 10 or 15 feet in front of me. I got really panicked toward the end because I was tired and very afraid of losing the group I was climbing with in the mist. I was almost sure I wouldn't make it to the top, but fear, the desire to conquer the volcano, and remembrance of the last four hours of climbing drove me onward. And I did it! I made it to the top! Tearfully and joyfully I enjoyed the moment with my fellow interns and the Cov Cath boys.
Because one of the older men who was a teacher and chaperone with the Covenant Catholic group had chosen to climb with us, the day was much longer than expected. Most people waited over an hour at the freezing cold top of the volcano. The climb down took nearly five hours instead of three. We didn't make it home until almost 11 PM, and everyone was pretty tired, sore, hungry, and miserable. But it was totally worth it, and everyone was glad that he climbed with us - it was a great exercise in patience and a great victory to witness! I hope I'm that much of a go-getter when I am older.
Here are a few pictures from my experiences in the past week or so:
Doctor Christian and Doctor Steve Martin with the patient in Corinto
Brittany, Me, Caroline, and Sabrina. Corinto was so beautiful!!
Faces of Corinto - David, Ingrid, Sara (from left to right)
Checking out El Ayudante, another non-profit located about an hour from Amigos for Christ
A dental group from California was working in the clinic at El Ayudante
My mom could probably handle a mission trip here :). It was a pretty swanky place.
My charla on Vitamin A - attendees eating carrots
Me teaching my charla on Vitamin A
Super Zanahoria (Super Carrot) saving Laura's vision!
Sabrina, the director's wife and experienced charla teacher, helping me out with my charla
Maerling and I
Nayeli, Theresa, and I
A little bit of the way up San Cristóbal
San Cristóbal
At the top of the highest peak in Nicaragua!
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