Monday July 11, 2011

The kitchen crew is up before 5:00AM to start getting breakfast ready, which has to be served starting at 6:30AM. People are in line waiting to get into the hospital before daylight and as they go through the gate that are taken to the triage area to have their vital taken and determine their particular needs. They are then taken to surgeries begin at 7:30AM. Shortly after that the community development team leaves to start doing their version of complete home makeover. (Concrete Floors, Whitewash Walls, and Install Stoves)

In the clinic area there is a crush of people waiting to be seen. It can be frustrating for the Doctors working in that area because the needs are so great and it is harder to feel like you are making a big difference in people’s lives. I am not sure that the people being cared for see it that way. They seem very grateful for the care that they receive and are quite willing to sit quietly for hours to get it.

We traveled two days to get here but some of our patients traveled over much rougher terrain to get the care that we bring. One man brought his wife from Coban for surgery. The road from Coban runs through a very rough mountainous area where one thousand feet of mountain side collapsed two years ago, sending boulders trees and mud cascading down. The only road that exists in that area is a two lane track hardly suitable for mules. Other patients hike in from the mountains and others stand for hours packed in the back of pickup trucks just to get to the hospital for what they call the Jornada Medica.

The community development teams began their work pouring concrete for floor and white washing wall. They will return to each home later in the week and install stove and give them water filters. One family had five boys from the ages of 3 to 13. The 3 year old boy climbed into the lap of the team leader and sat quietly just enjoying the attention.