Patience is a Virtue

If it hadn't sunk in one of the hundreds of times my mom has said it to me, I have definitely been faced with it here!  Patience is virtue that I seem to use on a daily basis.  Having a different set of volunteers every month, if not almost every week, sure has kept me on my toes with how things are run around the clinic.  Almost weekly I am orientated someone new to the ways of the clinic and I will be the first to tell you it hasn't always been easy.  Volunteers come in all shapes, sizes, colors, etc...  Some are residents, some med students, some college students, and others licensed professionals.  Everyone comes with a different skill set and from a different background.  Some learn quickly and some it takes a lit while for them to catch on.  Practicing medicine in a third world clinic where you rely on donations and where not all patients can afford to buy medications at the pharmacy can be very difficult.  However, in order to best serve these people, you have to use what you have at the time.  So, usually just as people are starting to really get the hang of things, it is their turn to go home and others' turns to come.  Here we go- teaching the same things all over again!  While at times it did get quite repetative, it has been great working with so many different people.  During the times that people took longer to adapt to the ways of the clinic I would just think to myself, 'be patient with them, they are new...it takes time; it's a different way of practicing then they are used to'.  Or, every once and a while, the thought would pass through my mind 'if you're just patient, they will be done in x amount of days'.  Luckily it was usually the prior one that passed through my mind and things all worked out with a little patience. 

The most enduring thing that I had to have patience with?  Obtaining the license for the upstairs.  Coming down here I was expecting to work in the clinic for 2-3 months before the upstairs would be open and then I would get to split my time between the clinic and the inpatient pediatrics and birthing center.  Well, that didn't quite happen.  Month after month the licensing date kept getting pushed back due to one thing or another.  We needed certain supplies, there always seemed to be a paper that we didn't have that we "needed", the ministry of health would cancel appts, etc.  It has been a very frustrating year in respect to getting to see the upstairs opened.  However, patience (and much persistance) has once again finally paid off and we received our license today!!!  So now, it REALLY is just a matter of time before we open the upstairs to our first patients.  Hopefully by the middle of September staffing will all be in place and we will be opened.  Unfortunately, I probably won't get to see the first patients, so I guess I will be returning for sure some day.

There are so many other aspects of my life as well, that I have learned that with time, patience, and trust in God, everything will all fall into place.  As much as I hate the saying "patience is a virtue", it is true.  God doesn't let things happen before He feels it is time.  If we are patient, faithful, and trust in His ways, He will guide us toward our answers and the paths that we are to follow.  So, next time you want something like right now, and you don't get it, there is probably a reason.  Be patient and it will come about the way it is meant to be.

Love to all!
Laura