Another busy week

After trying to organize 50 people to go to two separate locations everyday last week, working with a group half that size, and sending everyone and everything to only one site, has seemed like cake. This week has been great, clinics went smoothly (over 1300 people attended our three clinic days), we were so kindly welcomed into each of the three communities where we worked, I had a running partner, and because clinics ran so efficiently, we had plenty of time for fun (swimming at one of our contact's farm homes, playing with kids at the orphanage in Choluteca, lots of soccer playing, etc.)

I've also come to the conclusion that I have the world's most non-traditional job, and most days that's pretty awesome.

Yesterday, my day went something like, go for a run, drink coffee, submit financial reports, travel with group of student volunteers to hospital, schmooze with hospital contacts, have news camera in my face for an interview, send group to tour hospital while I take care of some errands/logistical things, go to the banco central to buy coins for a project in the US where the guy working had to ask me a series of questions about my intentions for the use of the coins before he would hand them over (and we are talking the equivalent of $0.75 worth of coins.....), pick up scholarship applications for a bilingual school, swing by ATM, go to grocery store to buy juice boxes for kids at the orphanage, go to restaurant to pick up food for hospital staff who helped with the tour (while here waiting for carry-out order, meet with a journalist who wants information for a news article on the organization), return to hospital, distribute food to hospital staff, visit nicu to see a precious, month-old Honduran baby girl whose mother abandoned her (very seriously wanting to take this girl home with me or find someone here who could take care of her...), round up my crew of students to travel to orphanage where we delivere juice boxes, toothbrushes, toothpaste, crayons and coloring books, piñatas, and a three month supply of food...interview girl who completed high school with really good grades and is looking for a way to attend college, travel to San Lorenzo for drinks and appetizers at restaurant right on the water, power nap back in Pespire, dinner, play soccer, spend a couple of hours responding to work emails, play cards till 1am, and call it a day. Full day.

The other thing that's pretty awesome is that each day brings some kind of challenge, but every day is different, and while things rarely go according to plan, which can sometimes make things crazy and hectic and stressful, everything works itself out at the end of the day.

It's hard to believe it, but it's Saturday...beach day with my last group before I come home next week. Time here has gone so fast!

Further South...

The last two days with the group went well, making for an overall successful week, even after I felt like the world was going to implode last Sunday.

Wednesday, we visited the hospital in choluteca. I had been a few times, but only to pick up paperwork or to drop off donations...so I was aware of the conditions and lack of resources (public hospitals are severely underfunded), like lack of lights and running water in many of the restrooms, the total absence of soap or biohazard bins, and, of course, the lack of private rooms for patients (like the hospital I went to in chile when I felt like I was on the verge of death...there was a big open room lined with table-beds where patients sat only a few feet from one another, and doctors walk down the aisles between beds to listen to symptoms).

But I got a deeper look at what was happening inside the hospital as we toured, and even stopped to observe and help in, the OR, maternity wing, and men's and women's wards. We got to see a birth, a liver operation, and clean wounds. Until coming here, I never realized how severe ulcers can be, I've seen so many people walking around with half their leg eaten away, WHAT! I was also shocked by a lot of the things I saw and heard in the maternity ward, including the fact that post birth, they don't let the mother and child (apparently having the father in the hospital at the time of birth just isn't a thing here) stay in the hospital more than two hours after the baby is born. I think the nurse who was explaining this to me was getting annoyed, because I asked her to clarify/repeat this about 15 times...are you SURE you don't mean two DAYS? Not even overnight? So many things about seeing the birth were really pretty traumatic, but knowing the average age of women having their first child here is 15 (explaining why i get such weird looks when people find out im in my 20s and dont have kids...) and that, especially in rural areas, it's not unusual to fund a family with 5+ kids, it made me feel incredibly queezy.

On to more positive thoughts, we brought several boxes of donations to the hospital and painted one of the many areas of the hospital that has been left with no love (maintenance). Also, we discovered a steep and narrow stairway to the roof of the hospital, which at about 5 stories up, is the tallest building in the city of choluteca, making for a pretty cool view.

Thursday was our beach day, so it was nice to relax on the beach, cool off in the water, and kayak around the ocean after a full full week. We couldn't have asked for a better day!

We have a couple of days to get rested up and prepare for the next group, and then ill be on my way home before I know it...

TGIW

Ever have one of those days where nothing goes according to plan? We are working with a double group right now, which makes the coordination of two clinics every day extra hectic.

Day one, two of our four doctors cancelled somewhere around the hour of 4am, which made for a stressful start to the morning. Then one group arrived to the worksite without gloves. Then one group was two lunches short. Then, one of our drivers went to the airport to pick up one girl who arrived a day later than the rest of the group and then got stuck in a standstill on the highway for two hours because there was an accident, so I was stuck at our worksite with our tubs and suitcases of remaining medical supplies for three hours after I sent the rest of the group back to relax in the air conditioning in a packed to the max 15-passenger van.

All mini-catastrophes were resolved quickly and, for the most part, the students didn't even know these things were happening behind the scenes, so it all worked out, but it made for a hectic way to start off the week.

Day two went smoothly, except for one group getting a flat tire on the way to their worksite.

Day three was an adventure for my group. We worked on an island, so after a 45 minute drive, we had to load up all of our group members and security and medical staff onto a boat. We at least had some good scenery along the way, including views of Nicaragua and El Salvador.

In all, we held six medical clinics this week and saw somewhere in the neighborhood of 2500 people (exact count yet to come). It took a few sleepless nights and stressful days to get all 50-some people (including group members, doctors, dentists, police officers, etc.) and all of our supplies where they needed to be each day, but we got the job done. Also, it's WEDNESDAY!!!! Which means we are done with clinics this week, so now we will just be doing a hospital visit, a painting project, spending a day at the beach, and enjoying a little downtime.