Feliz Navidad!

Merry Christmas to all!  While Christmas wasn't quite the same for me this year, it definately will be one to remember.  My Christmas really came a week early with a surprise visit from my parents.  It was Wednesday afternoon, we had gotten done with clinic early that day, and Peggy said that she needed to go to the airport to pick up some packages and wanted to know if I wanted to go along for the ride, she was going to stop at the grocery store as well.  So I thought, why not, I have nothing better to do.  As we walked into the airport, I had in my mind we were picking up packages, so we would find them at the continental office.  Out of customs walks this guys that looks like my dad, but no, what would he be doing in Roatan?!  And besides, he just kept walking right on by.  Bt wait, am I just seeing things, or is that mom right behind him?!?  It can't be can it??  Needless to say, it took me a minute to register what I was seeing, I was left speechless, very surprised, and excited to see them!  So began my Christmas.  Over the course of the next 6 days, we would work at the clinic, tour the east end of the island, take a water taxi into the mangroves, eat seafood on the beach as the sun sets, cook together, eat together, and just simply enjoy one anothers company.  Wonderful!  I love my parents...and my whole family!
Over this past week, there was one incident at the clinic that has really stuck with me and will remain with me forever.  There were these 3 little kids, all brothers and sisters- a 12 yr old boy, a 7 or 8 yr old girl, and a 2 or 3 year old boy.  The 2 boys needed to be seen by the doctor and the sister was just along with them.  The kids looked so sad and you could tell that the little boy could use a diaper change.  Upon bringing them into the triage room, I realized they didn't have any parents with them.  When I asked them where their parents were, the 12 yr old answered by saying their mom was in Coxen Hole.  Oh no, this is not good news for them.  We are not allowed to see patients at the clinic without some adult with them.  My mom and I finished triaging them, I confirmed with Dr. Rafael that we could not see them, and then I told the receptionist this.  She then told me that the mom was just out in the car.  Ok, these kids will get to be seen.  However, when Dr. Rafael went out to get them, they had no parents.  He came back in to tell me their parents had left and we will not be able to see them.  Are you serious?  These kids look and sound sick, how can we not treat them.  But, we must follow protocol.  After a few minutes, the receptionist comes up to me and says that Dr. Rafael has agreed to see the children, if I am willing to go with them.  Of course I will!  So, when it was again their turn, I went out to get them and my heart just melted.  Here, a couple women that had been sitting on the porch of the clinic with their own kids, are changing the little boy's diaper, they had gotten them all a pastelita and juice.  What stong sense of community and family they were showing to these kids that none of them knew!  Into the doctor's office I went with my sick children.  The older boy had been having fever and chills, not eating well, and headaches-- he will need to go get some labs done to test for malaria and dengue fever.  When he was brought back to the clinic with his labs, again he was alone so I took him in and the results showed positive for malaria.  A course of medications and he should be as good as new.  The little boy came in with a nasty cough, runny nose, and fussy-- turns out he had croup and bronchitis.  A few antibiotics and he, too, will hopefully be set to go.  I am soo happy that we were able to help these children.  It really made my day.  Then after clinic that day, we had a Christmas party for the kids.  When we walked out of clinic to all the kids anxiously awaiting, here were those 3 children sitting off to the side under a tree waiting for their ride-- but also, they were on the outside looking in.  I couldn't just leave them there, so I immediately went over to them and invited them to join in the party.  Then when their ride got their, I made sure their parents and pastor understood the medications, I got the kids some cookies and sent them on their way.  Oh what a blessing those kids were to me that day.  It made me sad to see them there alone and fending for themselves (to some degree), but they are the reason I love doing what I am doing!
Christmas Eve I was able to go out on the dock to soak up some sun, so it didn't quite seem like Christmas, but it was nice none the less.  Along with soaking up some sun, we met up with a group that was doing a food drive on the island and went into the Colonia to deliver bags of food to families.  Four vehicles went into the colonia, each with 75 bags of food; what a different way to spend Christmas.  We have so much that I think we forget just how much others don't have, especially on the holidays.  As I talked to people in the colonia asking them what they were doing for Christmas, a common response was nothing, we have no money this year.  How sad!  They didn't have gifts, they didn't have food, the whole spirit of the season just really seemed to be gone.
Then Christmas day was filled with some adventures and lessons!  A volunteer was coming in at 1:15 so I went to the airport along with one of the boys from the colonia and another volunteer.  We waited for nearly an hour before her flight finally landed at 1:45.  After greeting her, we headed out to the truck, got all loaded up, only to find that the truck didn't want to start.  Great!  Why don't we try popping the clutch?  Ok, sounds good to me.  So Heather, Moises, and Johanna got out to give me a push, but no such luck.  Well, let's try the jumper cables.  I'll go get Paul, a guy I knew that was at the airport.  As we are hooking up the jumper cables, it is starting to rain and the cables don't have rubber on the handles so they risked getting electrocuted to hook them up.  Attempt #2 at starting the truck?  Unsuccessful!  So we called Dee and him and his friend came to help us get it started.  Turns out that in order to pop the clutch, you have to be in 2nd gear, and release the clutch and push on the gas after being given a push.  Who knew?!  So we go to leave the airport only to kill the engine and we need to pop the clutch again.  Now onto the gas station.  It at the top of a hill and I know that there are arrows on the ground marking which way you are supposed to drive into the lanes, but by the time I got up there it was too late to change lanes.  Oh well, it's Christmas, so not many people are out needing gas right?  Well the guy working the pump wants me to change lanes, but I inform him the only way to start my truck is by giving it a push.  So he reluctantly fills up with gas and then waits for us to go.  Since I was waiting for Dee to pay he tells me he can give me a push.  Here I am sitting at the top of a hill that leads right into the main road and this guy wants to push me down it...are you serious?!  Down we went!  But, the first 2 times weren't quite enough for me, so I didn't quite remember all the steps to popping the clutch so let's just say a perfect hill and spot for it and I failed....oops!  Alright, 3rd times a charm.  Truck in 2nd gear, check! Clutch released after getting a push, check!  Lots of gas, check! And we're off- this vehicle isn't stopping until we get home!  Now, not only do I know how to drive a stick shift, but I know how to pop a clutch on one as well- and I thought I was only going to learn things about nursing while volunteering :)
Well, I hope everyone is having a very Merry and Blessed Christmas!  As much as I wish I could be home celebrating with each and every one of you, I know that this year God has been using me in other ways.  Take some time to look around and count your blessings.  Look at this holiday season not for the consumerism, but for the true meaning of Christmas- the birth of our Lord, Jesus.
Merry Christmas!  Happy Holidays!
xoxo

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas

Christmas tree at the Cruise Ship Port

Christmas is starting to hit full force....in all forms (fortunately and unfortunately).  Christmas lights are starting to pop up here and there; while there aren't (and probably won't be) many, there are some and they are exciting to see.  Saturday afternoon, I went with Bob and Debi into Coxen Hole where there was supposed to be a parade followed by time with Santa and a Christmas tree lighting.  Well, as like most things here, it started fashionably late, the parade which was supposed to start the festivities, ended up being halfway through the festivities, and there were bits of chaos.  The tree lighting of course wouldn't take place until dark, but since I had another function to get to (yes, believe it or not I had something on my schedule!), we did not get to see the lighting.  The part that we did get to see though, was quite exciting.  There is a lady, Debra, living here on the island that used to be a music teacher in California.  She now works with children on the island and runs a steel drum band.  That was pretty cool.  If I figure out how to add videos on here, I will put up a video of it!  Following this, I went with Miss Peggy and the staff of the clinic to a Rotarian Christmas Gala.  It was a nice social evening, filled with delicious food and good company.  There were some raffles and auctions that also took place.  One of the items being raffled off was a tour of the RECO, the electric company.  I tried to get Alison, our administrator, to bid on it for a field trip for the clinic staff, but she wouldn't.....darnit!  It ended up going for $250- aka, probably not in our budget :p ; guess we will just have to go for a free tour sometime haha.  Christmas festivities continued on Sunday with a Caroling Christmas Party at Debra's house.  There were probably a dozen of us that gathered together and sang Christmas carols for an hour, ate appetizers, chili, bread, and desserts, while drinking some hot cider (all homemade!)-- what a wonderful evening we had!

The Steel Drum Band

While we had a great weekend filled with Christmas festivities, there were also some downfalls to the weekend.  During the 2 hrs that we left to take some people to the airport on Saturday in the early afternoon, our home was broken into and robbed.  Out of the 3 of us, Jess was hit the hardest as she lost all of her electronics, where as I only lost some jewelry and a phone, and we all lost some food.  Someone's eating good right now!  I guess things could have been worse and we remain hopeful that maybe some of the stuff will get returned, but it was only material things that walked away and life will go on.  After all, material things are simply that and they are purely here for comfort.  The day will come when we are at our judgment and we will not have these things with us; what we will have are all those things that we have learned, all the actions that we have performed, and the journey that we took.  What does your slate look like if judgment day came tomorrow?  Would it be full of material things that are no longer there?  Or would there be experiences, actions, and lessons learned that you are proud of?  In this time of advent, this time of preparation for the birth of Jesus, are we prepared to readily greet Him at any moment?  What is standing between you and Him?  Is it something that you can change?  Think about it- it's worth some thought.

Clinic life hasn't brought about anything too exciting this past week.  More of the typical diabetes, hypertension patients with various other things throughout the week.  Saw another machete cut today...this one was a few days old and unfortunately infected :(  The girl was 14 yrs old and this was her first time ever coming to the doctor- wouldn't you know, first time in and she had to get a shot.  Bummer!  Luckily she had my good steady hand and I think it was pretty much pain free.  Hopefully her infection will heal up quickly as the cut was on her foot and it is preventing her from being able to walk :(  English tutoring is continuing at the school, bringing with it it's continued challenges.  The part that we find most frustrating is that these kids do not have the basics of the english language down, yet they are trying to learn information that would be taught at a 3rd grade level.  While I feel like we should/need to be working on the basics, she has all this homework that is not getting done so I also feel like we should be working on that.  Some days I feel like we make progress, and then other days I feel like we get nowhere.  Since I work with her for only 2 hrs a week, there is only so much that I can do.  The other frustrating thing is that the teacher is Honduran and has very poor written (and therefore probably spoken) english-- meaning, that they kids are probably hearing a bit more spanish in class then they are supposed to be.  When we get to school in the afternoons we will see the kids and they are of course speaking to one another in spanish.  No matter how many times we remind them to speak in english, they always revert back to spanish.  Sometimes I question how much effort they put into practicing their english.  Are they benefiting from the education that they are paying for and receiving?  I can only hope and pray that some day this will all pay off and benefit them.  For now, I guess we will just keep doing what we're doing and see what happens.

News tells me that the Viking dome has collapsed in, the giant Christmas tree in Sioux Falls was blown over from the blizzard, and snow is everywhere!  I wish I could say the same about here (at least the snow bit) but the only thing we have collapsing here are the waves upon themselves!  This weekend we were blessed with very nice weather.....up into the 80s!  Can't really complain about that (except when you love the winter and are ready for a change in seasons....I'm not sure how someone could live in the same season year round...I sure can't!).

Today I got my visa renewed for another 3 months, so looks like I'll be staying here for a while!  Hope you are all staying warm!  I'll work on my tan a little extra hard, just for all of you ;)

A Heart of Righteousness

Last week the focus for advent was Mary and a heart of surrender.  This week we look at Joseph and a heart of righteousness.  Having a heart of righteousness is something that we struggle with on a daily basis.  Often times we can over look what is right to do because it’s not what we want to do.  Sometimes we can get so wrapped up in what we are doing that we forget to take time and say God what is it that You want us to be doing?  Is what we are doing the right thing or should we be putting our focus into something else?  Over the course of the past three months I have started to be able to see this.  Life here is a lot slower than life back in the states.  Being here, I only have one real focus currently in mind- volunteering at the clinic, helping out those most in need.  There is nothing else on my “schedule”.  Heck, who am I kidding, I don’t even have a schedule here.  I can readily do whatever I want to do, whenever I want to do it (for the most part that is).  Having all this time, I have had time to really focus on righteousness.  What is the right thing for me to do—not because I want to do it, but because that is what God is calling me to do?  Just like Joseph in the Christmas story.  After he found out that Mary was with child, he was ready to “divorce her quietly” because how could that be?  But then the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream to explain it to him.  After that moment, he knew that it was right for him to stay with Mary, maybe he didn’t want to stay with her at the time being, but it was the right thing, it was God’s will.

Clinic this week brought with it some new and exciting things.  There is a psych nurse that has been on the island for quite a few years, but she is now going to start doing some psych work with the clinic!  Twice this past week she came in to do some initial psych evaluations on patients and I got to translate for her…who knew that my Spanish was that good already!?  While we uncovered some very
devastating things about what has been happening in these people’s lives, such as various forms of abuse, I can only anticipate the great help that we will be able to offer these people.  It brings me comfort to know that they were willing to open up to us so that we will be able to adequately serve them and help them.  This past week we also welcomed a volunteer from London, so I’ve been spending some of my clinic time getting her all orientated as well.  One of the med students that is here currently shared with us a presentation on diabetes and its treatment courses and afterwards I had a new idea pop into my head about ways that I could possibly do health education, but in a different fashion.  Instead of directly outreaching to the people and preaching to them, we could work on keeping the medical personnel up to date in research and also encourage them to pass this information onto patients.  One thing that I heard this past week was that no matter what you tell these people, a lot of times they won’t always hear it.  Maybe if we start with giving education at an individual level (with the providers to the patients), we will better reach these people at a community level.  Then as we begin/do health education outreach to the local community they will receive it a little better.  Another thing that I have learned is that no matter what I, as a nurse, or what a provider tells them, a lot of what they believe is based on their own experiences, either personally or through friends
and families.  In order to change their thought on something, such as the need to take insulin when your blood sugar is 539 (normal is 70-110) and oral medications are not working, can be very intensive and often times it can be like talking to a wall.  Why don’t they want to do it?  Because they believe diabetics that are taking insulin end up with their legs amputated—when actually this happens
because of uncontrolled diabetes.  This is just one of the many myths that we will try laboriously to dispel.  With time, hopefully we will get there.  So with those thoughts in mind, that’s where I am headed for the next while.  We shall see what I come up with!

Peace and Blessings this holiday season!

Laura

'Tis the Season

There are so many things to celebrate this time of year.  First, we just finished with Thanksgiving—and what a good thanksgiving it was!  For being in a nation that does not celebrate Thanksgiving (for obvious reasons—the pilgrims did not land on their land!), I had 2 spectacular celebrations.  The first was a Thanksgiving potluck with rChurch.  It was held at Keyhole Bay, next to the pool, on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Caribbean Sea.  The weather was perfect and the view was spectacular…especially when all 3 cruise ships passed by, in the dark of night, all lit up!  Sorry to those of you that were at home all bundled up with snow outside….truly I am, I do miss the snow!  Following that celebration, on Thanksgiving Day we went down the road to a small little resort that served a full Thanksgiving meal.  I must say, I never used to like Thanksgiving meal all that much, but this year the meals were exceptionally good (maybe it’s due to my lack of a variety of food from day to day, but delicious none the less).  The activities of Thanksgiving Day itself, are truly ones that I will never forget.  In the recent rainstorms that we had, there were 4 houses that were washed away from a mudslide in the Colonia leaving 26 people with absolutely nothing.  They are staying in a church in the Colonia, with nothing.  Therefore, we took them a box and a few bags of clothes, a few pillows, 3 deck chairs, some shoes, and a couple bags of rice (all things that had been given to us through cruise ship donations).  What a heartwarming experience.  On a day specifically set aside for us to think about all the things we are thankful for, I was able to share some of those things with people that had nothing.  How their faces lit up!

As of yesterday, we are now entering the Advent Season.  While some may call it the Christmas season, that season actually begins with Christmas Day itself.  Currently we are in a time of waiting and preparation; preparing ourselves for the coming of our Lord.  Some may be familiar with the Advent wreath, others may not.  There are 4 candles around the wreath, representing the 4 weeks of advent, and one in the center, the Christmas candle.  Every week, a new candle is lit, and a prayer focus is set for the week ahead.  The third candle is pink unlike the others which are purple, to signify that Christmas is nearing, but we still must continue to push through to the end and work to prepare ourselves for this special time.  Debi held a little prayer service last night in which we lit the first candle and reflected on this time that is upon us.  We talked about the candles and the wreath.  What I found interesting is that some people put a standard meaning to each candle.  At first I thought this was something that I remembered doing growing up, but now that I think about it, the candles never represented anything in particular, just a time of waiting and preparation.  So let me share with you these meanings; each represents a different part of the Christmas story.  This week we focused on Mary and her willingness to say yes to God; her willingness to give up everything and say to God, not my will, but yours be done.  Wow!  How would we respond if God were to tell us that we were hand chosen and we must completely put our future in His hands?  Could we do it?  Would we be able to give up our future dreams and simply be 100% willing to fully serve Him and do His will?  How would our life change if right now God appeared to us asking us to serve Him like He did with Mary?  So many things to think about- most of which I cannot even begin to wrap my head around right now.  Continuing on with the other candles- one is for the shepherds, another for the 3 kings, one for the angels, and the final, the Christmas candle, for Jesus.  This Advent season I know I will miss all the Christmas cheer that can be seen in the storefront windows and all throughout the city.  However, I will get to see something even greater.  I will be able to see people that are so thankful for what little they have.  Christmas has a whole different meaning to the people here.  Gifts aren’t the same here as what we typically expect to see under the tree.  There are not many toys to be had, nor could they even afford them if there were.  Christmas will not be materialized like I’m used to, but it will give me time to really reflect on the season and what it really is all about; it will give me a new, refreshed view of the heart of the holidays.

Therefore, I challenge all of you to join me in taking the time to really reflect on the true meaning of the holidays.  What things do we take for granted on a daily basis that many others would do anything to have?  How can we reach out to others in need this Christmas?  Whether it be our time, talent, treasure, or prayers, I hope that each of us can find a deeper meaning in the Advent and Christmas season this year.

A Time for Thanksgiving

Being that it is Thanksgiving tomorrow (or rather today), I thought I would take some time to think about and reflect on the things that I am thankful for-- things that I have come to realize and appreciate even more since being in Honduras, things we don’t often always think about.

JD with 3 of the students we tutor-
Oscar, Vanessa, and Emy

1. Education- As I have blogged about before, I am volunteering twice a week at the bi-lingual alternative school across the street from the clinic.  There are many people that attend this school, but not without a price.  Many of the students are children that are here from the US, but a number of the students are also from the Colonia, living under very poor conditions.  The students at the school are of all ages and understand English to varying degrees.  I was talking with one of the American students the other day and asked him how old he was, to which he replied, "I'm 6 and I'm in 2nd grade."  Now as most of you know, a 6 yr old in the states would be in either kindergarten or 1st grade-- not 2nd!  However, here it is not uncommon to have children of all ages in all classes-- mostly because of comprehension levels.  Any student that attends the bi-lingual schools must pay to attend.  For some this is not an issues; for many, it is of great cost to them and they would not be able to attend if it were not for scholarships and people willing to sponsor their schooling.  Upon completion of primary school (or secondary school, for those that make it), children typically go to find work and/or start a family.  It is not uncommon for people to start having children young here, partially because in order to go to university it means moving away from the island and being able to afford it.  So why is education something I'm thankful for?  Because I was privileged enough to be able to attend a private school and receive a solid education- not only through high school but on through college and soon to be grad school.  I did not have to struggle on a daily basis to be able to understand what my teacher was telling me (even though it may have sounded like gibberish to me, at least it was in my native tongue!)

2. Faith- My faith has been a part of me ever since I was born.  I grew up going to church, attended private school all the way through college, and was involved in youth group.  Once I got to Roatan, I didn’t know where my faith would take me.  One of the other volunteers is also Catholic, so the first weekend, we were able to go to church together.  However, it was all in Spanish, so even though I was able to follow the mass, I understood very little.  Lucky for me, there is a bilingual mass on Saturday nights—perfect!  After going to the Spanish mass for nearly a month, it was nice to be able to go to mass, understand what was going on, and sing songs of praise.  There is also another church that I go to with the rest of the volunteers on Sunday mornings that is non-denominational and to me, is more like a praise and worship time.  It reminds me very much of MAGIS, a praise group we had at college.  Over the course of these 2 months, I have also seen my faith grow in the where I see God.  I have been able to see God at work in many different ways.  It is really quite amazing the things we miss out on when we are so wrapped up in our everyday lives that we can’t see God hard at work.  We are so quick to assume that God has left us high and dry when something goes wrong; however, everything happens for a reason and God works on his timeline, not ours.  He will allow things to happen, but not until we are adequately prepared for it.  This is only a glimpse into how I am thankful for my faith; hopefully as the year goes on, I will be able to give you more insight into this topic.

3. Communication- Communication is one of those things that we use on a daily basis, whether it in conversation, email, messenger, phone, or snail mail.  Being in Honduras has given me a new perspective on this.  Every day I go to work and wonder if we will have mainly English speakers or Spanish speakers.  What kinds of things will I need to say or understand today that I won’t be able to?  Having a language barrier has really opened my eyes to what people go through on a daily basis.  Those people that are living in the US and cannot understand English very well go through the same thing that I go through as I am trying to speak with patients in the clinic.  One may be able to assume that it could be frustrating to not be able to understand what someone is trying to tell you.  But when you are actually in that position, it can get frustrating very quickly if what you are trying to communicate is not getting communicated. 

Even though the postal service is not as busy as it once was, I have always loved to get mail.  Ever since I was 4 or 5, I would eagerly await the coming of the mailman in the afternoon.  Without a doubt, I would be standing at the end of the driveway when the mailman approached.  For the next 18 years, whenever the mailman came, I would always go out and greet him with a smile and make small talk with him.  Oh how I miss those days.  Now, not only can I not receive/send mail without knowing someone coming to or leaving the island, I don’t even have a street address!  Not always having internet access or being able to pick up the phone and call whoever I want is also something that I think we often take for granted.  There has been several times where I’ve wanted to talk to someone, but had to wait for them to be online at the same time I was online.  Like now, for instance.  I go on Facebook to find out my brother was in an accident and his truck was totaled—no worries, he’s alright (so says Facebook), but do you suppose anyone is online to find out the story behind it?  Nope…guess that one will have to wait!  Thank goodness we have some extra guardian angels on our side!  (As I am writing this, I find out all he walked away with was a broken finger nail….haha, I think we will be able to handle that one!)

That being said, I’m thankful that I live in an area where my language is the native language and everyone can understand me.  I am thankful that I can send someone a card or a letter whenever I want, and I can check the mailbox or talk with the mailman every day as well.  I am thankful for being able to pick up the phone whenever I want to call whoever I want. 

Education, faith, and communication are the 3 big things that I am thankful for this year, especially now that I have been in an area in which these things are so much more real to me.  However, my list would not be complete without saying that I am thankful for my family and friends as well.  Without the support that I receive from all of you on a regular basis, I would not have to strength to be where I am today.  My success is in part due to the encouragement, support, and love from all of you.  Thank you for all your love, prayers, and support as I continue on my life journey of serving God in a way that I feel I have been called to do.

I challenge you to think past the typical things we are thankful for such as family and friends, and really consider what God has blessed you with.  What things do you take for granted every day?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Laura

A Day in the Life of...

...ME! a volunteer.



The hill leading up to the clinic

 The roosters start to crow; I think to myself- could it be morning already?  Oh no, that's right, the roosters crow at all hours during the early morning starting at about 2 or 3-- it's all the same right?!  Lucky for me, because I have a big family I am not a light sleeper and I can sleep through it.  But now it's 6 o'clock, the alarm is sounding-- do I have to get up?  That depends...do I need to get things accomplished before heading to the clinic? Do I want to take a shower before I go to work?  How fast can I get ready this morning?  Maybe just 15 more minutes of sleep.  As all these thoughts go through my head, I decide that a little more sleep won't hurt anything; after all it only takes 20 minutes to get ready and 5 minutes to walk to the clinic (that is as long as I'm not moving slowly lol).  Now it's getting to be 6:30 so I drag myself out of bed, get ready for the day, and head to the clinic.  Upon arriving at 7:30, I make sure everything's unlocked and the computers are up and running.  By this time, Angely, the secretary, has hopefully started to register patients so that we can begin triaging them before the doctors arrive around 8:30, island time!  The morning carries on with patients coming and going and tasks never ending.  If I am not triaging patients, I could be doing an assortment of things-- administering medications, assisting the docs with something, cleaning and sterilizing instruments, consulting with the doctors (to get a jump start on my future!), organizing supplies, translating handwriting, or answering questions.  The day is never dull, always something to do!

"John, how many patients do we have today?" I commonly ask around 11:30.  It's about this time that we all start to wonder, "are we going to be here all afternoon again or will we be done shortly?"  Depeding on the number of patients we have registered and the number of docs in the clinic, we finish seeing patients anywhere between noon thirty and 2:30. 

Dr. Raymond with a girl who had some bad pneumonia

Days that end early allow for more time in the sun!  Days that go longer allow for less free time in the afternoon.  While one may be preferrable to the other, as long as the time at the clinic is moving along quickly, it doesn't really matter which day it is--unless of course, it is sunny out and we haven't seen the sun in days or weeks! 

Afternoon is upon us and what should we do?  Well, it's time to catch up on emails and accomplish other work for the clinic (i.e. medication donation requests,

Our Vitamin D dock

thank you notes, health education plans, etc).  If the day is nice, we may take advantage of the sunlight (as it sets around 5/5:30) to get our needed Vitamin D and enhance our minds through reading.  Wednesdays at 2, Karla has prenatal classes; I have gotten roped into helping.  Not a bad thing though, cause I get to hear spanish for an hour, while learning all about prenatal stuff and being an extra resource for Karla as expectant mothers ask their questions. Jess and I also work with ESL students at the Sandy Bay Alternative School across the street from the clinic.  At 3:00 the school bell rings and kids take off for home.  However, there are a few students from the colonia that stay around afterwards to read or work on homework.  Vanessa is her name.  You've heard of her before; she is 11 years old, in 3rd grade, with even a lower english comprehension level.  She is my little girl for the next year.  Twice a week, we hang out after school and read, unless she has homework.  As time has gone by, I have started to pick up on the quirks of the english language that she isn't understanding-- contractions, pronouns, abstract words-- all the things that can be difficult to explain, of course!  While it makes tutoring a little more challenging, there has been so much progress already, and it's only been 2 months!  I can't wait until the end of the year!

The sun has set, but the night is still young.  What does one do in the dark?  Time to think about dinner but what shall we have?  Let's look in the fridge and throw something together.  Our diet has quickly been converted to a Honduran cuisine consisting of many tortillas and rice and beans.  Any given combination of ingredients from the fridge usually results in some sort of taco or tostada or casserole.  Depending on what's being streamed in Denver, sometimes dinner is followed with TV, other times with a movie or our new addiction, GLEE, or sometimes the evening is spent catching up with friends and families from home via Skype, facebook, or emails.  Bedtime can come quite early if it's allowed...sometimes as early as 9:00.  While it's tempting, at times, to give in, if I did it would be a day of drowsiness the following day.  So, I push it off as long as possible by raeding and doing other things and then finally hit the sack around 11/11:30.  My day is complete; time to reflect on the day and the people I touched, thank God for my blessings and pray about my shortfalls.  "Sweet dreams," I say, "see you en la manana!" 

So there you have, my (and most of the other clinic volunteers) day in a nutshell.  Variations of course do occur ranging from a night out with the teacher volunteers or a dinner meeting with one group or another.  But for the most part things are pretty low key.

In other news:

• Today I learned/watched Dr. Raymond remove an ingrown toenail. So the next time you have one, look me up, I'll probs be able to do it for you (maybe not legally, but socially).
• As I sit here, the winds are picking up; I think our past 5 days of sunshine are done and rain is on the horizon :( 
• One of our dogs had puppies this morning-- therefore, in addition to the 2 dogs and a cat, we now have 3 puppies.
• I think I'm developing allergies- to what I have decided; but, I'm thinking it could be from pets..hmm?
• Pictures are POSTED!  Check out the link on the right hand side of the blog :) http://picasaweb.google.com/home (or here)
• Oh and how could I forget...CMMB has a telecare series running right now.  The most current episode was on the medical volunteer program.  You can view it at http://www.cmmbheals.org/medical-volunteer-program and see me towards the end of it!

That's all folks!

<3

Bug Juice

It has been decided- the blood bank might not like my blood, but the mosquitos and sand flies sure do.  Saturday, one of the short term volunteers who was here for 2 weeks wanted to explore the island so Jess, John, and I went along for the expierence.  We started off by driving past the dump, which is massive!  Past the dump is a hydroponic lettuce farm that we stopped at to explore a little.  From there we went to the east end of the island where we were hoping to get a Jam and Jelly tasting...unfortunately they are only for tastings Mon-Fri....what about all those people that have to work during the week?!  But we did have lunch there and got to taste a little bit of their jelly on our cheesecake.  It was delicious...maybe I will have to make it out there some weekday.  After lunch, we ventured even further east to Camp Bay and Old Port Royal.  Once here we got out to enjoy the sun (which we hadn't seen for a least a good week!) and water.  In the 30 minutes that we spent on the beach, somehow I managed to get eaten alive!  Official count yesterday?  66 bites on my back, probably another 20-30 up and down my legs- what now?  I itch like crazy!!

Clinic these past couple weeks has been quite busy.  We have an OBGYN resident, 2 PAs (for one week), 3 ENT doctors (2 that only were here a week), and an oral surgeon all working with us.  Talk about a lot of doctors.  However, that always means lots of patients! Since we register 12-15 patients per doctor typically (when there are more than 2), that meant we were seeing 50-60 patients for about the past 2 weeks.  While one may think we would fly through the patients with all these doctors on hand, you would be wrong.  Our days usually did not end until 2:30/3:00 because even though we had all those doctors, most were specialty doctors.  Therefore, they only saw patients in their field of specialty, leaving the majority of the patients to the 2-3 general doctors/PAs.  But, we made it through and now they are all gone, so we are back down to 2 doctors: a general practitioner and a pediatrician.  The next few weeks/couple months should actually be fairly quiet as the volunteer calendar is looking kind of bare.  However, once we get to February, our volunteer calendar is packed!  Talk about one extreme to the other!  My work around the clinic has come to a plateau, although, that doesn't mean there is ever a dull day.  I stay quite busy around the clinic with triaging, passing medications, answering questions, and assisting the doctors.  I have even gotten to shadow a little with Dr. Rafael, our pediatrician.  Who knows, maybe by the time I'm finished here they will just let me bypass grad school and sit for my doctorate licensing- I know probably a long shot but one can dream right?!  Last week I came across some of the material that had previously been used to teach diabetic classes.  While it is all very thorough, I don't know if it was completely tailored to the culture here in Roatan.  I have also made a list of problems that we see day in and day out.  With these, I will soon begin brainstorming ways in which education to the patient population will be most effective.  Once I have that, I will hopefully be able to do some health education sessions.  From the sounds of it, there are also some groups in the spring that want to do some health education as well so that will be good.

Over the past few weeks, I have also gotten to see how God is working in many different ways.  Time after time, Peggy receives news of a generous donor, or a medical volunteer that wants to spend a significant amount of time in the clinic.  While this may be seen as something that is just a typical occurance with any non-profit organization, I don't think it's coincidental that prior to receiving any of this news, there has usually just recently been discussion about what we are going to do.  For example, about a month ago at the clinic board meeting, one of the topics of discussion was about opening the upstairs (pediatric and birthing center).  A big obstacle that has been holding us up has been finances.  While the clinic has enough money to keep the doors open, a common reason that non-profits don't make it, is because of going bankrupt; that is the last thing we want to happen.  Because of this, the opening has continually been pushed back as the board works on assuring that they will have the funds to keep both the downstairs running (during the day) and the upstairs runnin (24 hrs!).  About 2 weeks later, Peggy receives an answer to a prayer.  A foundation that she was told about several years ago, has finally gotten everything worked out, and therefore, the funds are no longer an issue!  Is there any other explanation except that God is good and gives us what we need, but not before we are ready for it?!  Between these events, the work that I am doing/seeing, and the books I have been reading, I have gained insight into a new population.  The work of a mission is spectacular work.  You never know what you are going to be faced with.  While I am currently experiencing the needs of the poor here in Roatan, I am learning about populations that exist within any region, no matter the geographical location.  Hmm, I wonder what's in store for my future after I make it through grad school?  Only time will tell, that I have also learned.  God's graces and plans for our lives can not be rushed; when the time is right, we will be know!

Have a good week!
Peace and Love
Laura

The Calm before the Storm

For the past few post, I have been meaning to tell you all that I survived my first hurricane!  (not that you couldn't have figured it out by either having talked to me or seen my current posts, but I thought it would be worth a mention!)  Hurrican Richard came and went 2 Sunday's ago now.  Saturday was a rainy day, but that evening the water became very still, like a sheet of glass; the trees were not blowing in the wind at all; it was a very calm and peaceful evening (even though there was supposedly a police order out to stay off the roads....oops!).  However, that night before going to bed around midnight, the winds picked up significantly, the water was no longer calm as waves were rolling in, the waves had changed direction from the good direction to the bad direction and it started to downpour.  During the night I woke up a few times to strong winds and heavy rains but nothing too much more.  When I woke up Sunday morning to contemplate whether or not there would be church, I realized there was no power and just about the time I was going to get out of bed, I heard a tree branch fall on Peggy's car.  Chances are that even if there was church, there would not be a single taxi on the road to get me there!  Therefore, I laid in bed for the next 2 hrs figuring that there was nothing else to do without electricity or light.  The whole day we were without power....I believe for a grand total of 18 hrs!  Needless to say, we played a LOT of games that day- Bananagrams, Nerts, Rummikub.  Our area of the island survived the storm fairly well; however, I heard the east end of the island didn't fare as well.  There were about 25 people that lost their homes and of course great amounts of flooding and mud slides, but other than that I think damage was kept to a minimum.  Monday after the storm? Everything was as calm as could be again.  Before and after the storm, you never would have been able to guess that a storm was coming or had passed through!  Today again we have seen the same thing happen.  It was calm all day yesterday and even early this morning, but throughout the morning and into the afternoon, the winds have picked up and the waves are rolling in!  Something tells me we may be in for a good storm tonight!

This week at the clinic has been going pretty well aside from the longer days.  We have more doctors in this week meaning that more patients are admitted to be seen.  However, if the doctors pair up to see patients, we don't REALLY have extra providers...it just looks that way!  So all week we have been working until 2 or 3 but I can't really complain as it's not like I had anything better to do!  Today I got to do a wound debridement of a gentleman that had recently undergone surgery to remove skin cancer.  His incision was separating in areas and therefore needed some major cleaning, before we could even locate the stitches to remove them.  After much soaking, scrubbing, patients, and tediously trying to find all the stitches, we got him cleaned up and sent on his way. Unfortunately, because it had separated he will have a nice little scar to share with all when it is all healed up.  Earlier this week we also saw a lady in the clinic that has a diabetic ulcer on the bottom of her foot that is probably the size of a half dollar and a quarter inch deep.  We have been working to heal this ulcer now for about 3-4 weeks without much success.  She recently had her right leg amputated at the knee because of an ulcer on her foot and we are afraid that if this ulcer doesn't heel the same thing might happen to her left leg....ugh!   I want to be able to help in lending my knowledge of what is the best way to treat and care for this wound, but unfortunately I haven't had much experience yet with wounds- for instance, one of the PA students asked  what's better- packing the wound or leaving it unpacked...I would surely thinking packing, but I don't know.  What makes things worse is that since we rely on donated supplies, do we even have the right supplies to be able to treat it?!  I guess this will be my research for the next few days to see if I can come up with some evidence-based practice (yes, my professors woud be so proud!) as to what is the best way to go about treating this.

In other news, Vanessa, the girl that I work with at the alternative school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I feel, is starting to make progress!!!  Just as a reminder, she is 11 years old (so the age of a 6th grader), in 3rd grade, but I would say has the english comprehension of about a 1st grader.  This could be a long year, but hopefully we will be able to accomplish something by the end.  Today, proved to me that we are headed in a good direction and she is benefitting from what we are doing.  She even told me that her mom was asking her how to say different things in english!  But, I digress.  On Tuesday we were reading a book but didn't get all the way through because we were also making a list of words that she didn't know and writing them in spanish as well as english.  Then today, before we started I had her remind me what was going on in the story and she was able to tell me!  Plus, she used one of the new words that she didn't know previously!!!  Oh, i'm so excited.  I love when you can see even the little baby steps that are taking place.  It makes for very good positive reinforcement.

Peace and Love

Dx: Island Fever

What is Island Fever one may ask? And how do you go about getting it?  Well folks, island fever is when you have been on an island that is only 30 miles long and 4-5 miles wide (at best) with nothing to and no option of leaving town (except by a $50 ferry!).  What is the treatment?  That's right...taking that $50 ferry to the mainland.  So that is exactly what Jess and I did....and we loved every minute of it!!  Last Wednesday afternoon we set sail for the mainland to take a little 5 day vacation.  I know, I know- some of you think, why do you need a vacation when you are already on vacation.  Because, while it may seem like vacation to you, my year is far from a vacation...take today for instance- I worked 7:30-3 with no break, had 20 minutes for lunch, and then went back to work for another 2.5 hrs.  No, no, I'm not complaining; I am simply proving a point :)  Anways back to my weekend.  Wednesday night we spent in a hostel up in the mountains of the jungle and then went White Water River Rafting Thursday morning.  First time rafting, hopefully not the last!  So much fun, and so pretty as well.  That afternoon we spent walking aroud the town of La Ceiba and then relaxed in preparation for the day of travel on Friday.  We got on a bus to San Pedro and not even a half hour after leaving the station, we were stopped in the road by some people that felt the need to protest.  I don't know what they were protesting, but they sure were holding up traffic!  An hour later, after they got the tree branches and rocks and people cleared off the road, we were finally rolling again.  After that 4 hrs on the bus, we then got on another bus to take us from San Pedro to Copan...another 4 hrs.  But hey, it only cost us $8.50....who can really complain about that?!  Once in Copan we settled into our hostel and just took the night easy.  We met up with Jess's friend who is in the Peace Corp and all of the Honduran and Guatemalan stationed volunteers as they were having a Peace Corp Halloween in Copan.  Saturday morning we hit up the Mayan ruins and learned all about their life (to some extent or another) while continually running into encounters with some really weird and strange people.  In the afternoon we hit up the town and just got to explore it- it is such a cute little typical Spanish looking town with a great atmosphere!  That night we could have dressed up and gone out with the Peace Corp people, but with our bus back to Ceiba leaving at 5 the next morning, us not having costumes, and not really knowing any of the people, we decided to go to the amazing wine and cheese place where we had EXCELLENT grilled cheese and coffee and then went to another little place for delicious carrot cake and cheese cake- much better decision!  The mainland differed from Roatan so very much, but we loved it.  It had much more of a "third world" feel to it and it wasn't full of expats (even though it did have Dominoes, Pizza Hut, Applebees, BK, KFC, and Wendy's all within a block of each other!).  I will probably have to venture back there at some point.  So after a great relaxing weekend, the first bout of Island Fever has been cured and we're ready for some more work.

Today brought with it a slew full of more doctors and volunteers so it was again a very busy day in the clinic.  We saw 52 patients, where typically we had been averaging 35-40.  There were 4 different med donations that all had to be sorted, entered into the computer, and put away.  The upstairs was requesting some quality cleaning/sorting time from us.  Therefore, I was welcomed back from vacation with a day that started at 7:30 and went to 5:30....whew, what a long day!

While I'm thinking about it, why don't I tell you about the hospital which I know you have all been sitting on the edge of your seats waiting to hear about!  Patients arrive at the hospital early in the morning in order to be seen.  At the hospital there are about 9 different clinics from just a regular doctor to different specialists.  They pick up their chart from the admitting window, take it to the next window to pay (5 limps or about 25 cents) and then they leave their chart to be put in a pile for the doctors to then come and pick up.  When the docs arrive, they begin their work.  The clinics are open anywhere from 7 or 8 until 2.  If the patients don't get seen by the doctor because of too many patients, they must return the next day, pay the fee again and wait in line again!  Even though it's only 5 limps, to some of these people that can make all the difference.  Plus, in order to get to the hospital, they most likely took a taxi which can be 20-30 limps one way.  All these things add up.  Then after they finally see the doctor, there are about a dozen or so meds that are available at the hospital (mostly pediatric meds) otherwise the rest they have to purchase at a pharmacy.  When patients are admitted to the hospital, they don't get their own room; it is wards.  It is about a 20-25 bed hospital.  The only thing that is supplied to the patient really is a bed.  If they need any meds or IV's or what not while there, a family member or friend must take a prescription to a pharmacy in order to get it filled and then return with it.  No stat orders will be given here!  Then, the labor and delivery- mother's are lined up in the hallway waiting to get wheeled into the delivery room.  Some don't even make it into the delivery room before they give birth.  And, there was also this lady while we were there, just chilling in the hallway resting with an IV drip hanging on the wall above her delivering some sort of medication I'm assuming.  So, next time you go into the hospital or clinic think twice before you begin to complain- things are far worse in many other places!

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!  By the looks of many pictures it appears as though fun was had by many! 

Peace and Love!  Laura

In Case of Emergency

Well this past week has been another week of excitement and learning.  It was another 4 day week as there was a holiday on Thursday (Armed Forces Day), which we deferred to Friday for a 3 day weekend!  While 3 day weekends are nice, they don't quite have the same appeal as in the US, unless you have plans for the weekend.  This morning I woke up feeling like it should be Sunday because we spent yesterday doing things that we would normally do on a Saturday.  Maybe in the future 3 day weekends will have a greater appeal, but for now, we just take 'em as we get 'em.

Let's see....what things did I learn this week?  I  learned many of things, the most important thing being, we were not adequately prepared for emergencies at the clinic.  AHHH!!!  Thursday, when we were a bit busier than normal because of our holiday scheduled for Friday, a little boy about 4 years old started to have convulsions and was seizing due to a fever.  How did this all play out?  Let me tell you:

I was in the gynecology room putting something away.  Dr. Rafael, the pediatrician, comes to me as I am exiting the room and say something in spanish to me as he is pointing to the oxygen tank in the room and putting his hand up to his face to symbolize a O2 mask.  I peak my head down the hall to see a kid convulsing on his exam table, the mother trying to calm him along with doing somewhat of a sternal rub.  My initial thought?  This kid is non-responsive; after all what else could a sternal rub mean?  My initial reaction?  Rafael must want the ambu bag so that's what I return to the gyne room to grab.  But then I see Dr. Rafael turn the child on his side; something you do when a person is seizing.  This kid is 'ok' but it is still an emergent situation we are dealing with; Dr. Rafael wants the oxygen tank.  However, keep in mind the 2 tanks we have are both about 5 feet tall....not something you would transport out of the gyne room.  Therefore I ask Dr. Rafael to bring the kid next door.  What was lost in spanish/english translation was, "I can bring the kid to the gyne room, but I need the other patient cleared out of there and the exam table prepared with an oxygen mask."  One time that having a language barrier is a problem.  We get the table prepared and are going to put oxygen on the child only to find out that both, I repeat both, of our O2 tanks are EMPTY!  Now what?!  Well we have a small little hand held tank with our emergency kit.  Do you suppose that one had oxygen in it? Nope!  Great, we have this kid that could use oxygen but no oxygen to give him.  But wait....luckily we had 2 small tanks upstairs that had some oxygen in them, they saved us!  Needless to say though, getting oxygen to this kid, which should have taken 2 min, took close to 15 minutes I'm sure.  Luckily it was a highly emergent situation!  After we had the child very stable, Dr. Rafael told me that it is important, in cases of emergency, that we have oxygen and other supplies that we can use.  I could not agree more!

This is the culture!  Everyone moves at their own pace, doing their own thing.  When something needs fixed or done, others are not always informed, they just wait until someone else finds the problem too and decides to do something about it.  The case of the oxygen tanks?  Well the nurse that had been in charge of making sure they stayed filled had probably been swamped with 3 jobs at the time and just forgot to make arrangements for them to be filled.  Then, when she quit the job at the clinic however many months back, nobody was informed of this issue probably because she had simply forgotten.  To add on top of this, I have never been in an emergency situation before so I still needed to be walked through it.  However, being walked through an emergency situation in another language?  Not the ideal situation! So plan for the next week or two?  Have the doctors walk me through an 'emergent' situation from start to finish so next time I know what needs to happen.  Emergencies aside, I did get to perform my own pap smears this week so that was exciting! 

In other news: I met this lady, Debi, at the clinic on Thursday. Her and her husband Bob, who are from Canada, have been on the island for 2 years as missionaries.  She told me about how she loves to do things for volunteers and she was having a game night last night.  So I decided to check it out.  We had soo much fun at game night and learned of a great resource, Debi herself.  She loves to interact with island people and she has connections with people all over the island.  Her and her husband work down by the cruise ship dock with locals and she loves to give true island tours where you get out and interact with the people of the island.  Looks like I will be seeing more of her!  I am very excited and looking forward to doing that sometime in the near future! 

Another hurricane is also on the horizon.  Last time when Matthew was due to be coming in the next day, we had a 'hurricane party' the night before (aka a potluck).  Since Peggy has 10 lbs of fish we were going to have a potluck with, why not make it another hurrican party!  Who knows, maybe this hurricane will turn out just like that last: windy/light showers over night and a gorgeous sunshiny day the next day.  We can only hope.  However, I still want to experience a hurricane sometime cause when else will I get the chance?!

I got my first glimpse inside the hospital as well yesterday.  That is a very interesting scenario, but I will save that for another day's reading. 

Love to all those at home!
Laura

1 Month and Counting

Yes, believe it or not, I have been here for a month; and what a fast month it has been.  It feels like I just got here, but at the same time, it feels like I have been here forever.  So you may ask, "What have you accomplished in the past month?"  Well, to that I answer, "I don't really know!"  Actually, it has been a month full of many things, but mainly it has been a time of adjustment.  Getting used to the speed of life here, the routine of working at the clinic and having free time...yeah I know, what's that?! and getting to know the people that I will be spending time with over the next weeks, months, and some, year.  Let me give you a brief recap of what life has been like over the past month.

At the clinic, I have been learning many things.  Aside from Ms. Peggy, I am the only nurse at the clinic...what big shoes I have to fill!  What would take at least a couple weeks in the states, my orientation to the clinic lasted 4 days.  After that?  I was on my own for the next two weeks; Peggy was on her way to the US for that time.  Wow!  What a busy, busy woman she is.  I can see why she needed help.  Clinic runs from about 8 to 12:30, with patients showing up starting at about 7 to get registered and then triage starts at 7:30.  On any given morning at the clinic, my job ranges from triaging patients, doing EKG's, distributing medications, answering questions for the docs and/or pharmacist, cleaning up after docs (go figure!), watching/assisting with small procedures, and learning more and more about medicine everyday.  By about 1:00 we are worn out and ready to go home for lunch.  Somedays our work is finished at this time, while other days, it continues in the afternoon.   This past Thursday, we had to make a house call to administer a shot of Haldol to a schizophrenic patient.  This patient literally is locked in a "house" which in the states, we would refer to more of as a large shed.  It's got four walls, a toilet, a bookcase (with nothing on it), a table and chair, and a bed (with no mattress or sheets).  The lady, Miss Sarah, is locked in this "house" because she is suffering from severe schizophrenia and there is literally nothing else they can do for her.  To add to this, she is also blind.  Typically, she is supposed to get a shot every month; however, this time around it had been nearly two months since the last time she got a shot.  Needless to say, it showed!  While I have dealt with a schizophrenic patient during my mental health rotation while in school, it was much more controlled than what I saw here.  This lady, because she hadn't had her medicine in a while, was suffering from the illness.  She didn't have any cloths on because they were all full of the evil spirits...she needed new ones, with clean souls.  She kept screaming at us that she didn't want her injection because it was from the devil; it wasn't going to help her.  Now, you may think, just stick her real quick, get it over with, and then once the medicine kicks in she will be better.  Not that easy...Miss Sarah is quite strong and there was a whole mL of Haldol that needed to be injected; not something that happens quickly, especially when you are fighting against the person.  After Ms Peggy talked to Miss Sarah for a good 10 minutes or so, we decided we needed to take another approach.  We went back to the clinic to get some oral medicine that we were going to mix with some food and then come back once that had kicked in to give the injection.  Well when we got back to the house, the daughter was home and she decided that we would just hold Sarah down and give the injection.  That's what we did, but man, was it work.  Hopefully that won't happen again!  Anyways, I digress.  Aside from clinic in the morning, the select house calls in the afternoon, and the meet and greats with donors and friends of the clinic, there are always emails to be answered and things to be lined up--lucky for me, Ms. Peggy does those; unfortunately, that usually leaves her quite swamped.  Hopefully now that I have had some time to get adjusted to life here and kind of get a feel for how things run around the clinic I will slowly be able to help her with more of those things.

Now you ask, "If clinic only goes until 1, and you aren't answering all the emails, what do you do with all your free time?"  I would like to know the same thing.  What do I do with all my free time.  There seems to be only so many things I can do online before I get bored of the computer.  I can usually only read for so long before I get bored with reading.  In order to get to any other towns on this island, it costs a taxi fare.  We are right in the midst of rainy season so the weather has cooled off a bit, you never know when it will rain, and sunny days have become few and far between.  We'll have to start playing more games and come up with something to fill our time I guess.  Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons, I go to the Sandy Bay Alternative School where I work with a girl named Vanessa on reading comprehension.  She is in 3rd grade, but I would say she probably has the comprehension skills of about a 1st grader; simply because her english isn't that good yet.  I have also learned of another program called the Sol Foundation that meets just down the road everyday from 5-9.   This program is a program where kids can come for tutoring help as well as just come to hang out.  I think this week I am going to go check that out, because hey, I can't pass up the opportunity to spend time with kids!  Then there are the evenings.  Typically, Jessie and I cook dinner together and the 2 PA students come over as well.  Some nights it's kind of funny because we will make dinner but then just sit in the room in silence each doing our own thing.  When the guys leave to head back to their apartment they will make a comment..."well, it was nice talking with you guys"....when actually not much conversation took place.  Sometimes though it is just nice to be in each others' presence.  Makes you feel not alone.  Last night, we went down to West End for dinner and a drink and then we decided we would walk part of the way home because the volunteer teachers that are here live within walking distance.  Well on our way, the bartender drove by and offered us a ride.  So we ended up hitching our first ride in Honduras in the back of a truck for part of the way home.  Then when she turned off the main road we hopped out and continued walking the rest of the way home....in the rain!  But let me tell you, it didn't actually end up being at terrible as I would usual assume walking in the rain to be.  It was actually quite enjoyable!

Another thing that I have learned here, is that weekdays go by really fast and the weekends go by really slow...who would have thought!  It's the complete opposite of in the US, but I think it's because we are not used to being able to rest and relax.  If only it could be that way sometimes in the US.  I must admit it is kind of nice, but at other times, I feel like I am just wasting my time not doing anything.  I will have to come up with a hobby or something I think.. Any suggestions?!

Some of you may be wondering about my first trip off the island.  Well, unfortunately it did not actually end up happening.  A long serious of events leading into it and just some lack of coordination and organization meant it didn't happen.  But I'm alright with it; I will get a chance to leave the island in due time.  Hey, instead of my first trip off the island, this weekend I got to have my first 3-day weekend due to the holiday this past week!

But, that's probably about enough for this time.  I've taken enough of your time for now, next time I will think of some things that you can ponder.  Hope all is well.  Enjoy the fall colors for me!

Laura

There's a First Time for Everything!

As I near the 1st month mark at the end of this week and I reflect on some of the things that I have done for the first time, I can't help but think back to the days of being a baby and then a child and the calendar got marked for Baby's first ____.  Therefore, get out your calendars, cause some more important dates are goign on it!

• Sept 20th- my first job as an RN
• Sept 23rd- first time assisting with a surgical procedure
• Sept 24th- my first "hurricane" experience (which mind you ended up being sunshine!)
• Sept 26th- first day snorkeling the reefs of Honduras
• Sept 27th- after a week of orientation, I am in charge of my first clinic!
• Sept 28th- ran my first EKG on a patient (which now happens several times a week)
• Sept 30th- assisted with my first (of what i'm sure will be many) pap smears
• Oct 11th- first time celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving
• Oct 11th- first time preparing for a medical facility inspection
• Oct 12th- first time removing sutures
• Soon to come: my first trip off the island (this weekend to Cayos Cuchenos) and my first month here

Wow!  Have I done a lot.  And there will only be more; why did we ever stop marking the calendar after we turned 1 or 2 or whatever age it was?!  Like for instance, today Angely our secretary came back and asked where Ms Peggy was because there was someone there to get some stitches removed.  Then she asked if I could just do it.  I of course answered saying yes I can!  To myself though, I was thinking hey, I've never done this before but how hard can it really be?!  After getting the right supplies, aka a suture removal kit- not too difficult, I had those stitches out in no time and am now able to chalk up one more accomplishment.

I've also decided that trying to run a clinic is soo much work, it is unbelievable!  Trying to run a clinic in the US is probably one thing, but then try running a clinic  in another country where you rely purely on donations.  That becomes tricky...especially when the Honduran Board of Pharmacy calls at 6:30 the night before they are coming.  I guess it was nice of them to give us warning, but that also meant that we had to go in and go through every single pill bottle and bag, check expiration dates, and pull all the expired ones out of the pharmacy.   Five people and two and half hours later, we finally had the task accomplished.  Now we awaited the arrival of the board to see if we would pass.  The verdict?  We passed, and they only picked up one bottle!  Really?!  All that work for nothing?  and the bottle they picked up wasn't to look at the expiration date, it was because it was a bottle of medicine provided by the government to the public hospital not us.  So then we had to explain that we trade meds between our supplies and the hospital's supplies; we don't buy or sell them (which they don't allow either).

This upcoming weekend I will hopefully be headed to Cayos Cuchinos, another island of Honduras, with an organization called the Floating Doctors.  They live on a boat and do traveling clinics all over.  For the next 2 months or so they are in Honduras.  Therefore, we will go and see as many of the 160 people of the island as possible.  Most of the interventions will be based on teaching and lifestyle adjustments and some antibiotics, because they have little to no access to medications on the island.  So we shall see how that goes-- mind you it will all be in spanish as well!

That's all I got for right now...I think there's probably more, but that will have to wait for another time.  Hope all is well back in the states!  Keep it real! lol

Laura

A Day in the Life...

...of an islander Gerafuno, Veronica.

Oh sweetie, I wake at 5:30 or 6 in the morning and do my work, you know?  And then once I am done with that I sit and embroider.  Oh I embroider for hours at a time.  Sometimes from 9 to 12 or 1 or something like that, you know sweetie?!  Oh and these glasses, I have to use them to embroider; it's fine needlework.  It takes good eye sight to see it, so I wear these glasses honey.  I don't wear them at other times, just when I am embroidering.  It takes a good eye.   Oh I have people all from all over that want things embroidered.  In fact I have 3 customers in the states that sends me things to embroider with designs that they want embroidered.  I sell these things then.  Not to those people, those tourists, those vacationers, that come of that cruise ship. Oh they are too cheap honey.  And then they just go and buy those things that have Roatan written on them.  Well they aren't genuine.  They aren't genuine at all; they are made elsewhere and then get shipped here.  No sweetie, I sell mine by the aiport.  I'm trying to get a little shop there.  My sister and I, we sell them.  Oh, and I always like to sit there and work on them while I'm selling them so people know that I make them.  With the rest of my time during the day, I rest.  I embroider and rest, sweetie, that's all I do.  I need something to keep me going, you know?  In the afternoon I like to take some time to take a nap or just sit.  Then sometimes in the evening I will embroider a little more.  But not late at night; I never embroider at night.  My day is usually done about 9 or 10; no later.  That's it sweetie; I embroider and rest.  It's very nice.

There you have it folks.  The gerafuno.  Gerafunos are those people that originally came to the island to live and are therefore, true islanders.  They were here before any other people lived on and starting taking over this island.  Their lives are very simple.  They don't do much but the basics.  They have a hobby that keeps them going, but otherwise they are content just being.  Imagine what life would be like it all of us we able to do this.  Simply be.  Not have things here and there that we feel need to get done; always running around and filling our time with this or that.  I must admit; I think I would get very bored if that were my life day after day.  But these people have come to enjoy the simplicity that can be a part of life.  Wow!  (Might I mention that I love talking to these women, as they seem to say, "yes sweetie"  "all right sweetie" "ok honey" "thank you sweetie" in their gerafuno accents after everything you say!)

I have decided that over the next few weeks, I am going to explore the lives of people on the island.  We have the islanders, the volunteers, the tourists, the ex-pats, the hispanics that live in the colonia.  What is it like to be one of them on this island sometimes thought of as paradise?  By first impressions, I can tell you that is doesn't really look like paradise, that's for sure.  What do they think?  Why are they here?  It just happened to work out well that Veronica came in today and was just itching to tell me all about her and her life.  The things you can learn from people.

On Monday we received a new volunteer at the clinic who will be with us for a month.  He is a med student in his 1st year of residency.  While in clinic this week, he started off by doing some triaging to get used to the computers and to practice his spanish.  I must say, you can tell that he is a doctor and not a nurse; aka, doesn't have to take vitals in the US. haha  When watching him take people's blood pressures, he doesn't pump up the cuff once; oh no, he pumps it up about 4 or 5 times before he has gotten a reading.  I had to laugh to myself when he was talking a blood pressure of this lady and on about the 3rd time, she gave a little wince.  Then comes blood sugar testing.  He is very considerate when he decides which finger to prick by asking them what hand is there dominant hand and so far; granted I would do this when giving shots, I would not consider doing this for a simple finger prick.  Continuing on, he then goes about pricking the guys finger.  You know how it goes, some people wince at a finger prick.  His response?  "Oh I'm so sorry, I know that hurts, doesn't it; yeah it does, I'm sorry, are you going to be ok?  That's what we have to do in order to test your sugar though, I'm so sorry"  How genuine is he?!  Carrying on, I would then listen to him ask the patients why they came in to see the doctor and then later I would see what he wrote in the triage note.  He would list the symptoms and then list possible diagnosis.  While I often times think of diagnosis and ask a fair amount of questions, I don't go into an entire H and P with my triaging and arrive at a diagnosis.  Oh to be a future doctor, stuck in the triage room for a day.  Provided me with some humor non the less!

Forcast for the week (next 5 days)? Rain, rain, and oh yeah, more rain.  Yippee!  My main path to work has a giant lake in front of it that I could wade through if I wanted to, but it is all muddy and who knows what kind of parasites are groing in there.  I think I will just stick to my alternate route.  Hey, I think it may even be faster!

Well in the words of my favorite cartoon, "Tut-tut, it looks like rain!"

Everything Looks Better in the Dark...

... except the inside of my house that is.  That's right...all weekend long I had to live without power, and let me tell you it really isn't all that fun.  Here in Roatan, we have frequent power outages but they typically only last a few hours; during this time we have to rely on candles and flashlights.  Therefore, when I woke up Saturday morning and went to turn the bathroom light on only to find out that it didn't work, I thought nothing of it.  I went the next 3 hours living in the dark before the 2 PA students came over from there apartment in hopes of using the internet at Ms. Peggy's.  I informed them that the power was out so there would be no internet that morning.  They looked confused, so I asked them if they had had power that morning, to which they answered yes.  About at that time I heard our water pump running indicating that some of the power in Ms. Peggy's house was working.   I then ventured downstairs to see if Jess was without power as well and to my surprise she was just sitting there watching TV thinking nothing of it.  After checking out the breakers and flipping all of them with no success to getting power upstairs we decided we had a problem.  We called over Dee from next door and he too didn't know what was wrong.  Later that day he came back to look at it to see if he could figure out what was wrong--what did he find?  A bad circuit.  What did that mean?  We had to empty the upstairs fridge (which has just a lot of random stuff in it that gets left behind by volunteers but Peggy doesn't necessarily eat) and move everything downstairs to Jess's fridge.  It also meant, that since it was a weekend, we would have to wait until Monday before our power would be restored because the whole circuit needed to be replaced.  A whole weekend of living in a dark house with no electricity.  It wasn't all that terrible it was more of just an inconvenience.  What little things we take for granted back in the states.  While my power was out, I got to thinking-- the people living in the colonia here on the island live without power day after day.  How challenging it must be for them.  This means that their days with light go from about 6 am to 5:30/6 pm.  Then the rest of the night they are without any light other than candles or flashlights which they may or may not have.  Refrigerators?  They probably don't have them and therefore anything they have is either fresh or sits out for days at a time until they use it all.  What great lesson you can get from being without conveniences we have on a daily basis.  

Life at the clinic has been going pretty well, aside from a few stressful days.  Wow, who knew running a clinic could be soo much work!  Last week was pretty slow because most of the days it was rainy and therefore, people don't necessarily come in unless they absolutely have to.  We ended Friday on a good note by getting done a little early and by having a lot of english speakers come to the clinic.  Who ever knew encountering someone that speaks your own language could be so gratifying?!  Another thing that we take for granted everyday as we go about our lives.  Think if english weren't your first language or not a language for you at all, and the only people around you were people that spoke english.  Do you know how hard it is to get what you want and or need?  It can be so challenging to communicate if you don't speak the right language!  Then today, we had some new volunteers start (which seems to be pretty typical of Monday's....therefore I have decided I'm not a huge fan of Mondays!) so it took a little time to get them situated.  There was some miscommunication with one of our volunteers so that was even a little more frustrating on all of our parts just because we felt bad things couldn't have gone smoother with getting her to her hotel and then getting her set up in the clinic; but after a hectic morning, we got her all set up and she is ready to go for the rest of the week.  Then about an hour and a half into clinic time this morning, we realized the pediatrician still hadn't shown up yet.  Little to our knowing, he took vacation this week.  Maybe an important detail, just a thought!  So therefore, neither of our primary doctors were in this morning (because the other had a scheduled day off today) so we were running off all volunteer medical staff today!  Kind of a scary thought....and let me tell you it was very hectic!  But, we made it through, all the patients got seen and treated without too much of a wait and they were all sent on their way.  Tomorrow is a new day, all the volunteers have had a day to adjust to the clinic, and some of our primary (spanish speaking) staff will be back.  YAY!

I don't know if I made mention of this last time, but rainy season has officially started as it has been raining for about the last week now.  It usually doesn't rain all day everyday so that is nice, but still, we are ready for rainy season to be over with and we still have a few months to go.  Typically, I will wake up and it will be raining but I've been fortunate enough for it to stop by the time I need to head to the clinic.  Then throughout the morning it will rain for an hour here or an hour there.  If I'm lucky it isn't raining when it is time to go home from the clinic, but over the course of the evening it will rain another 3-4 hours.  Therefore, we plan our trips from one destination to another strategically so that we can make it there in between rain showers.  Doesn't always work, but a lot of the time it does.

We had a really nice day on Saturday, which we took advantage of by venturing over to east side of the island to check that out.  It is amazing how much we hadn't realized that we were cooped up in Sandy Bay.  It felt so good to get out and see the sky when looking up instead of the trees.  We also went to the grocery store to get a food supply for awhile.  It was much easier to shop this time since we have had some time to get adjusted and realize what we want.  Jess and I combined our groceries (because we do most meals together) and together our bill was 1460.66 (Limps that is.....not dollars, but it still seems like a lot) or something like that!  In addition to a grocery stop, we also just got a chance to see what the rest of the island has to offer.  Mom, I will have you know, there is a zoo on the island and we were going to go to it, but it looked like it was probably closed on Saturday; so when Peggy gets back we are going to inquire about that.  Across the rest of the island, it varied as far as population went.  There were several villages/towns of very, very poor people that build their houses out of whatever supplies they can find.  However, sadly enough, there are also a couple of plantations and a few high class condos and resorts.  It's sad to see that there are soo many poor people living amongst the few wealthier people on the island. How can people live in such a huge mansion and overlook a poor village and not think twice about it?  

That's about all for now.  I hope all is well in the lives of my readers and hopefully I will have a chance to chat with some of you soon!  I encourage each of you to take some time to count your blessings and consider those things that you may take for granted.  What would it be like to live without them?  

Have a blessed week!

Laura