Thursday and Friday

Thursday and Friday

I have not been as diligent with my blog this trip, so I apologize to those of you following. I think I was more tired than the the past 2 years- and have fallen asleep earlier than usual-  ( I often blogged at night after everyone fell asleep). 

Thursday we worked in a new community for us - in a new 2 story school building. The building was not finished but the stairs and walls were up so we were able to use the space. 

Friday we were in Tactic in Williams church as we did Friday of last year. 

Some observations from this years clinics: The people were friendlier- and not that that were unfriendly before- Perhaps they have come to increase their trust in us, and/or in Fundinor and have felt more comfortable with us.  I heard more stories from women of domestic physical, sexual and verbal abuse- something they would never have shared with us in years past.  There were more requests for birth control- either with their husbands consent or some requesting it in secret, behind their husbands back- but either way  shows me women are very slowly finding their voice.  

I felt more connected to these women this year because they let me “in”.  They cried and shared their hardships - I held their hands and wiped their faces- and while I couldn’t really change their experience, I was able to show them that someone from a very different place cared and was willing to stop to listen and validate that their feelings were real and their life was hard and that we love them. What a privilege. 

In scouts we say you should leave things better than you found it.  This week I heard someone say you need to earn your oxygen.  I think I try to live by both of these principles - with my family, my friends, my patients and with my time down here.  Perfect I am not, but I’ll keep trying, and helping and loving. Hopefully I’ll continue to get better at it, and be more open minded, more patient and less judgemental. 

For this trip, I am grateful. 

I am bringing Zach down here in July for a 7 day mission to help build a community center for Fundinor to run some of their programs in one of the central villages. We will also be doing some VBS with the children. Excited to share my experiences here with him. 

Hump Day

Wednesday-

We were told this day would be busy. They did not lie. We saw record numbers in Women’s Health clinic today. The line was extensive before we even got here. I had the same wonderful interpreter- Evelyn, a young woman studying to be a teacher. She was able to anticipate my questions, and give teaching for the common ailments with only a little prompting. Because of that we were able to cover more ground with each patient. 

I had one young woman 15 or 16 who came to me hesitantly and I could tell she was nervous. She was 5 months pregnant, but didn’t want anyone to know because she was embarrassed. She was married to a 19 yo boy/man and was living with him.  She told us that he was angry that she was pregnant- (odd since more children means more machoism). He slapped her a lot and yelled at her a lot and sometimes hit her in the stomach. Fortunately her mother lived nearby and knew about the situation and seemed to be very supportive. I will forward her information to our network here so she will be watched. I hope and pray that will be enough. 

On a better note- I was able to deliver many birthing kits today to some happy midwives. One midwife , Rosa has been using our birthing kits  from last year. She tells me she delivers approx 20 babies a month because she covers several communities. I heard from another person that it is likely she is only seeing 2-4 women a month. Her grandmother and her aunt are also midwives. Since we are relatively close to a town, she will buy a “birthing kit” at a pharmacy in town when she doesn’t have ours. She didn’t tell me what she pays- but I might go investigate if I have a chance in the next couple days. Her fee to assist in a birth is 200Q.- approx $30.00 dollars. If our translation is correct, and she speaks the truth, this is very good money. 

Most families in these communities earn the equivalent of 2 dollars a day or 10 a week.  I’ll try to validate these figures, but wow- 

Now I’m sitting in my empty exam room on the foot stool which has been my chair all day typing my happenings for the day. It’s  5:30- waiting for the last woman to be done in the other exam room so we can leave. The rest of the team left an hour ago- hope they leave us some hot water and a cold beer back at the hotel.

Tuesday

Tuesday- We didn’t have to leave today until 7:30 because our community was closer. 

Some of us, dental and GYN, are fortunate enough to hold clinic in a brand new medical building in the center of town.  We had some issues in the morning with a government nurse telling the women waiting in line they had to have PAP tests. In a population of women where sexual assault happens frequently, we were not going to force anyone to undergo this testing, despite the fact that it is important. By the afternoon we were able to sort that out and clinic ran much smoother.

I had 2 women who weren’t sure if they tied her tubes when she had her last c section. 

Actually got back to hotel at a reasonable time - and was able to shower and talk to my family before dinner. I was in bed at 9:40- unprecedented for this nurse. Long hard days in the mountains will make you tired I guess.

Monday Monday

Monday-

First day of clinic - even I got out of bed fairly quickly. 

We knew we had an adventure ahead of us. We’d never been to a place that we couldn’t actually get to by vehicle. 

Devotions, breakfast, and into the buses we went. We drove a familiar type of road in familiar mountains, and after some time stoped in a village that seemed similar to others.  This was where we switched to a pick up truck. We climbed in the back.. and laughed at the adventure- until he gunned it! The road was as steep as it gets and Williams had to hit the gas hard to get up that road. We were hanging on with every bit of strength and adrenaline we had. Both scary and exhilarating.

We finally came to a stop at the top of the mountain- next to a Caterpillar yellow digger truck with a broken axel. This was where we got out. We unloaded our wobbly legs and all our gear and supplies. The villagers that were waiting for us? - they were mostly 10ish year old boys. One put a case of water a box full of our lunch items and a container of fruit in that thing and proceeded to wheel it down the OTHER side of that crazy mountain. He would take no help- moving faster if we got close- he wanted to do it himself! The walk down wasn’t too bad except it was really down. - and what goes down... we’ll- you know the rest.

The village was beautiful in a nice serene valley. We set up in the first several houses we saw- Several Fundenor team members we were told stayed overnight to make sure they would be ready for us. 

We set us in rather nice by comparison wooden homes with big water collecting vessels below the gutter spout. 

There was no electricity, but we made due with a few solar powered led lights and a prayer.

We saw many very thankful people- even apologizing to us because we had to come all that way to reach them. Tara did excellent- picking up her new assignment quickly and expertly. 

Getting back up the hill at the end of the day was nothing short of a miracle. We are not the youngest or most nimble group of gringos.. the little ones were moving equipment and supplies back to the truck at the top of the hill and we were coughing up lungs. 

But we made it. 

What a glorious day!

Sunday Funday

Sunday funday. Today is a day to sleep in a bit- 7am.. and get ready for the week ahead. A lot of work goes into this week by an awful lot of people.  We met with Williams and his team in the morning to get the layout for the week ahead. A new community Monday- so remote, there is no road that leads to it, no electricity and no running water. We would drive as far as we could go and walk the last 1/3 mile.  The community members will come and help us carry our supplies when we get there. Tuesday and Wednesday will be the same community both days, but a new one to us. Thursday will be another new community to us- with no electricity, and Fri we will be at a church and the neighboring communities will come to us. 

We will have fewer than usual interpreters because they had less teens volunteer. 

We as a group have sponsored 19 young girls this year to continue their education- who ordinarily would not have continued beyond 5 th grade.  Only the smartest and most motivated girls were selected, but the parents needed to sign an agreement to- we weren’t told the specifics of that agreement, though we’re sure it may have included their assurance the girls would be able to put school and homework on the top of their priority list and not miss school to tend to their younger siblings or care for the family home. 

After the meeting, We went to Catholic mass in Purulha a few minutes down the road from our hotel. We were the tallest and the fairest people there - difficult to blend in, but we were welcomed with open arms. We assumed mass would be in Spanish, but I was pleasantly surprised to see it was in native Ke-chi, one of 23 maya languages.. Impressive to see them using one of the native languages in town. Mass was a little over an hour and we arrived back at the hotel to eat lunch and unpack, sort and repack the supplies we would need for day one. 

A large group of us hiked up the mountain behind the hotel with Merced, an employee of “Country Delights” and I believe an employee of this property since he was a young boy. He proudly boasted about his age, which was advanced, though I don’t know exactly-73? He knew the trees, plants, trails-like the back of his hand- he carved some of them himself.  Impressive.

The trail was completely uphill with lots of switchbacks that led to an impressive view of Purulha- and the 2 or so mile return trip was of course much quicker and we returned to the hotel. 

Happy hour ensued- a rare occurrence on the 2 trips I’ve been on- but the sun was still shining and it just kinda happened. What great fun.

Kathy dances, John sang, we all sang- “Sweet Caroline” ( yes a real person on our trip)!

The day ended with a great meal and devotions and excitement for the week ahead.