Clinic Days 3 & 4 The Great Escape
We drove up the mountain from San Lucas to San Gabriel yesterday for our clinic, in contrast to the trip down the hill to all our other clinic locations. San Gabriel is a small village with a population of 1200 inhabitants and the people were very grateful to receive our visit. I worked with Nancy Linder and we saw several very sick children – we diagnosed several with strep throat and one small two year old had both strep throat and scabies covering her entire body. She was cute as a button and was wearing traje, the traditional women’s clothing, and even had on a tiny wuipil, or traditional blouse. After lunch we saw a family of 5, a mother and her 4 children, and while the oldest (age 11) was content to sit and wait with her mother the younger three were running around the clinic. At one point some of the kids were listening in on another family’s consult! Carmen came over to entertain them by explaining and having them describe a poster on the wall (which happened to be one listing dangerous signs and symptoms during pregnancy and labor). The clinic area we were in was small and noisy but we kept busy throughout the day, seeing around 45 patients in total. Rod described the small town we were in as paradise so high up in the mountain surrounded by clouds and fresh air.
Today’s clinic was in a working finca called Tarrales Naturales, which is an area I have never visited before. Father John told us at breakfast this morning that the owner of the finca is very “agreeable” and pays his workers a living wage which is why the mission is willing to work within its borders. Large parts of the finca are now a nature reserve while other parts have been transformed into a hotel but it does remain a working farm. Our clinic was in an open air salon and it was quite humid – we were far enough down the hill that the terrain was more jungle-like. Mom’s only comments on today’s blog was “it was hot and buggy, say that.” Our clinics have continued to increase in volume and the three providers saw a total of 54 patients today. We kept Colette especially busy distributing reading glasses. We also provided a number of referrals for optometry and ophthalmology visits by leaving names with the local health promoters and Vicente.
Outside of our clinics we have been exploring the town and enjoying ourselves in the evenings with games and drinks. We have played rousing rounds of bananagrams as well as Blink and fooseball. Yesterday we had happy hour and dinner at Hotel Toliman. We were able to watch the lake darken during happy hour and the twinkling lights of San Antonio begin to brighten across the lake. Dinner was delicious as it always is and the cordon bleu and tamale soup were fan favorites. Today after clinic we stopped at Parma on the way back to the mission and ate some fantastic soft-serve (I had the passionfruit flavor). Now onto “The Great Escape.”
There is an LTV named Mary currently at the mission who told our group she walks every morning for 30-45 minutes prior to breakfast. Nancy and my mom were interested in joining her on a walk this morning and they had arranged to meet Mary outside our hotel at 6:15 in the morning. Unfortunately for them, when they arrived at the entrance to the hotel the gate was locked. Nancy and my mom did not let this stop them as they were absolutely determined to go on this walk despite the fact that the car entrance was locked as was the personal gate. They happened to notice that in the garden to the side of the entrance the wall was slightly lower - no longer double the height of a person. Nancy and Mom decided to climb the wall. As an additional challenge there was barbed wire on top of the wall at about 6 inch intervals. Mary called out that there was a slight area where the barbed wire was higher above the top of the wall and she thought Nancy and mom could slide over the wall and under the wire. So they began the climb. They then shimmied under the wire and hung their bodies on the far side of the fence. They then slid themselves along the wall until they reached a part where they thought it would be easier to climb down, though Nancy fell onto her butt after landing. They tell me it was a wonderful walk and was “definitely worth it” but the rest of the team remains skeptical. I’m not sure if the hilarity of the story is fully conveyed through this post but it was the most entertaining thing to happen so far this trip so if you see Nancy or Mom in the near future be sure to ask them about it!
For me, one of the most impactful little moments this trip happened this morning when Rod told me “I see you. I see how you fit here.” As someone who loves this people and this place and misses the time I spent here as an LTV, this is one of the highest compliments I could ever receive and I feel honored that he thinks of me this way. I only hope I can continue to live up to such high praise.
We will continue to update you throughout the trip. Please make sure and read the heartfelt blog message from Dr. Rodrigo Garcia. Nos vemos!
-Sarah
