You Think You've Seen it All

Today was my absolute favorite day during the course of the trip. We had the opportunity to help two extremely underserved and poor villages in the high parts of the mountains. We began our trip early in the morning with a 2 hour drive to the town of Santa Clara. The roads were full of twists and turns as we made our way from the bottom of the mountain (Lake Atitlan) all the way to the top. During our trip up, we stopped and saw the most beautiful view!

Breathtaking! 

The view overlooked both mountains and volcanos; one of the volcanos was even active and you could see smoke coming from the top! After our stop, we continued on and eventually came to a dirt road, which was the path to our final destination. I knew the villages were going to be very poor because the distance between towns and stores were miles apart. When we arrived, my suspicions were correct.

Dirt road leading to the village

Horses on the side of the road carrying wood 

Immediately upon our arrival, there was a cue of women and children. I was amazed how many children there were compared to the number of mothers. Compared to other villages, most groups of people consisted of 2-3 children brought in by their mother. In this village, there seemed to be 8-10 children brought in by one mother. I eventually learned later in the day that the children in this village are abandoned during the day and 1-2 females in the village volunteers one day a week to look after all of the children who don't have parents around. Some of the children are looked after in a "day care" center, which consists of 1 cook to provide lunch and 2 females who have assumed the role of a teacher and are responsible for entertaining and educating the kids. It was heartbreaking to know that the majority of the children in this town are left alone during the day with no one to watch, care for, or cook a meal for them. I was left wondering all day where the parents could possibly be.

Entering the gym where we would be stationed for the morning 

Soon after the doors were open, people started to enter in large groups 

Setting up the pharmacy, a very important station for this particular village

Helping set up the physical exam station, which is where I was at for the day

I was stationed at the physical exam table, a large task for the day. I teamed up with my fellow student, Vin, and we worked together to tackle groups of patients together. While one of us was examining the patient the other was writing down all of the history and physical exam findings. Together we came and conquered and were able to help so many kids.

Writing down all of Vin's exam findings 

There we so many kids that we had no chairs and this was our position for the day

We saw a lot of children with conditions that are common in those who are poor. A lot of kids had scabies and with each child we saw I knew this would be a chronic problem. These children and families do not have access to hot water to wash all of their clothes and bedding or large plastic bags to place their stuff in to kill the bugs. Additionally, most of the children came in because of a loss of appetite and distended bellies. After seeing the first few children present with these symptoms, we gave everyone Albendazol, an anti-parasitic medication.

Even though it was difficult to see so many poor and undernourished children, there was nothing better than seeing the smiles on their face when we gave them their bag full of crayons and goodies or tickled their bellies during the exam. Just take a look at how adorable all of the kids were:

I even had one young girl who brought in her 4 sisters and was very interested in what I was doing when I was examining each of them. She would get close to me and look over my shoulder as I looked into the mouth or into the ears. At the end of examining everyone and writing up their plans, I placed my stethoscope into her ears and had her listen to my heart. The look on her face when she could hear my heart beat was priceless. I will never forget this moment as I left a piece of heart in this village with this young girl.

We wrapped up our time in this village after helping over 160 patients. But before we left, we blew up some soccer balls and played with the kids. It was such a fun moment after a crazy morning.

Already late for the next clinic, we left and drove to the next. Like the first, it was filled with people underserved and in need of medical supplies. In this particular village I was on the vitals station. All of the mothers who have young children carry them by tying them onto their backs. When I had to weight the mom and baby, I had to first weight the mom + baby, and then the mom by herself. I was amazed how easily the mothers took their babies off their backs and handed them to me to hold and carry to the next station. I had seen this level of confidence with parents handing their children to strangers while in Belize, but it never fails to shock me how much they trust us. I also loved holding the little babies and having them snuggle up to me while their mom was busy.

All the citizens of the town lined up before we could even finish setting up!

The second village was equally as busy as the first as we helped over 150 patients in a short three hours. We saw similar cases to the first village: scabies, distended bellies, and coughs & colds from the wood burning ovens. All the children and adults got vitamins and the necessary medications and everyone left with a huge smile on their face and a backpack somewhere on their body. It was another great day in the villages full of memories and helping those less fortunate.

Final stop, the pharmacy! 

Some of the final patients of the day getting their vitamins 

We had an incredibly rewarding third day at the two villages, helping over 300 people. It was truly amazing to sit down on the bus at the end of the day knowing how happy you made so many people in only a few short hours.

Heading home after a successful day!