Sunday: At 6:30am in San Lucas Toliman, if you have not yet heeded your cell phone alarm, the roosters will help wake you up. Fabulous natural alarm here comprised of local birds and roosters! When we stepped out of our hotel rooms, we were greeted by amazing views of the mountains surrounding Lake Atitlan and lush vegetation. After a delicious breakfast of black beans, eggs, tortillas and oatmeal before packing up in two teams to head to two different children's homes in San Juan and Salcaja, roughly three hours away. The goal was to perform well child checkups, as well as identify anyone who would need medical attention later in the week by our team, or perhaps even by the MMF team traveling to Antigua in June. A third OR team remained in San Lucas to set up the hospital for work throughout the week.
At Salcaja, the team saw roughly 100 patients, nearly all children, for well child checkups. This children's home is home to roughly 150 children who live in 10 different houses, overseen by one "house mom" each. In addition to the roughly 150 full-time residents, this children's home serves breakfast each day to countless more children who otherwise would not get much food throughout the day. Physician's Assistant Ashley saw a number of children in need of having their tonsils removed. With assistance from translator Katelyn, she helped patients understand that they could have these procedures performed by our Antigua team that's coming back to this general area in the coming weeks. While the medical team cared for patients, the art team traveled up the hill on foot to seek out playmates! Nearly 20 children joined Riley and Susan for soccer, jump rope, bubbles and other games.
The San Juan team held a clinic that included well child checkups, adult checkups as well as dental care by our dental team made up of Dr. Lisa, Paul Mike and Cindy. Since they'd decided to wear Dr. Seuss-esque hats in rainbow colors and clown noses, we may just start calling them Rudolphs, the Red-Nosed Clinicians! Dentist Lisa performed both fillings and extractions in both children and adults. Lisa commented that many patients had advanced tooth decay as well as periodontal disease, causing teeth often to be loose in adults, as well as causing pain. Patients were gracious and calm as they were cared for, and left the clinic no longer feeling the pain that they had come to accept as "normal". Across the open courtyard filled with people waiting, as well as a few roaming town dogs here and there, the medical team performed roughly 70 exams and well child checkups, seeing a lot of runny noses, respiratory issues and skin conditions. Mission trip coordinator Josie said that some of the respiratory issues the team saw is due to cooking and heating homes almost entirely with wood fires. In small homes, often with corrugated tin ceilings, families cook over open wood fires, without the chimneys we use in the US. The smell of wood smoke fills the air constantly in this area, and while it's welcoming and terribly charming, it's also hazardous to the health of those who experience it daily.
After a long day, the team consolidated gear and bodies into busses for the three-hour windy, bumpy ride back to San Lucas Toliman. We stopped in Quetzaltenango, home town of Mission Coordinator Carmen, where we enjoyed the sights and sounds of the town square on a Sunday night and had a brief & delicious Cafe Enrique (coffee with cinnamon, nutmeg and other spices) before heading back. Mike said he counted more than 400 speed bumps as we ka-bumped over them en route back. We arrived back in San Lucas Toliman after 9pm, weary and hungry, but satiated from a long and productive day helping those in need.
Ready to rock it in San Lucas on Monday! The dental team and a few other medical gurus will be headed back to Salcaja to care for children there on Monday.
Sounds like a terrific 1st day. Congratulations all!
Posted by: George Harbeson | May 03, 2011 at 10:42 AM
Really very heart warming.
Posted by: General Practice Perth | April 17, 2012 at 08:03 PM