February 27
It’s a beautiful night in Coapilla. I am writing this in the “parque central” (central plaza) of this town of about 3500 people. It’s a beautiful night in the highklands of Chiapas. It;s getting cooler and the wind is picking up. Here in this central plaza vendors sell typical Mexican street food, including a tub of boiling sweet corn (I was offered some, but declined. After all, we’ll be sitting down soon to dinner prepared for us by the nuns here whose hospitality is absolutely incomparable. Its really obvious what an important part of the trip they are for us. A couple dozen kids are playing basketball on a concrete court coovered with a tin roof. Two police officers are standing at the door of the local police department next to the City Hall and across the way is the church we attended last night that was constructed in the 1600’s. It’s wonderful to see friends gather on the plaza just talking and enjoying the evening.
After two more or less light days of clinic, today was hard work. The patients just kept coming and a midday break was very necessary. And today was the day that something that always happens to me on these trips (this is my fourth as an interpreter) haopened: I choked up as I related the words of the patient to the physician. The situation was that of a woman who came in for generalized pain. This is very common. It’s always interesting to me to observe the doctors evaluate the patient and deduce what is really going on. The woman related to Dr. Rich “Ricardo” Peller the pains that she had and where they were in her body. As the conversation continued, Rich asking questions in the compassionate way he does and always with a sense of God’s movement in our lives and the lives of the patients, the true issue finally came up. The woman said that she suffers when her husband hits her. And then she explained one especially hard hit during which she lost hearing in an ear for some time. The interpreter needs to be conscious to more or less be “invisible” in the sense that we are communicating as clearly as possible the words and meaning of the words of the patient and doctor. As I formed the words in English that the woman said in Spanish, I felt that lump that indicates tears may come next. It’s not professional for an interpreter to do! Regaining composure quickly, I continued with the interpretation between Rich and the patient.
Rich walked this woman through ways that she may find to deal with this pain and anxiety she feels, including especially, prayer. She asked about medicine and, as we often have to explain, “we don’t have a medicine for [insert issue here] that you are dealing with.” And so he continued with wise counsel to find a trusted friend or family member and, more than anything, to keep herself and her family safe. And to pray. Sometimes it is clear to me as I observe the interaction between doctor and patient that these people have the needs we all do: to be seen, to be heard
and for a moment, to be loved and appreciated. In fact, we pray often on these trips that, more than anything, we see the human being and their needs in front of us.
And so the woman, finally smiling a little bit, at least, related to me a dream she had. She dreamt last night that someone was handing her two photographs: one of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and one of the “Lord of the Well” (a particular devotion to Christ in this area). Yesterday, she didn’t know if our team was going to be able to make it to their remote village But after that dream she had hope that she could be seen. She wanted to relate to us how grateful she was.
Ironically, we did send her with medicine - just ibuprofen or Tylenol, I forget which - but the healing that happened during that consult doesn’t take medicine. I was grateful to be there to see this interaction. Just beautiful. Thanks be to God.
Three kids just came by selling pieces of a delicious-looking cake. They are raising funds for their sister who is a candidate for “queen of the spring.” If she wins, they will use the funds to improve the classrooms at the primary school. I’m a pretty easy sale for that kind of fundraiser. Cake in hand, I’m headed to the convent for dinner. A very good day.
