It was quite rainy in Riobamba when we woke up this morning.
And, we dealt with the rain all day long. We saw tons and tons of patients.
Full day of crazy activities. One man had a bug literally removed from his ear.
Pharmacy had to teach a man with asthma how to use an inhaler. Funny, since he
had no idea what it was or how to even begin to use it. I saw varicose veins on
a woman that covered her whole left calf… she said it only hurt a bit. Oh, and
there was this 52 year old woman. She brought in 3 children with her; the
youngest was 6 months old. I was just about to ask if she was the grandma when
she pulled up her shirt and started feeding the baby. Wow. Aneesh, David, and I
make an amazing team. They are so much fun to work with and we have our own
grove. We work like a well oiled machine.
There were a couple of pretty emotional moments today. A
young girl (14 years old), who was at clinic yesterday, came again today. Mary
found out that both her mother and father have passed away, along with a number
of other crappy circumstances. It also happened to be her birthday! The girl cried and cried when
a group of Ecuadorian’s and EMM14 team members sang her happy birthday. Another
little boy was having chest pain and was always super tired when he played with
his friends. Maddie could clearly hear that there was a defect in his heart. In
the United States this would be a super easy fix. In Ecuador, not so much. It
is so heart breaking when there is nothing you can do but pray for someone.
Ecuador is filled with stray dogs; it is a big problem. Up
in the village it is even more evident since we spend full days up there. As
many of you know I am a huge dog lover. It breaks my heart to see these dogs
starving to death. It totally devastates me that the people have so little
respect for them that they throw rocks, hit, and kick the dogs. There is one
that hangs around the clinic every day… every day I get to hear him squealing
from a swift kick. So, I saved a piece of bread from my sandwich at lunch. As I
was trying to feed this specific pup, the Ecuadorian’s were shaking their
fingers and scolding me for feeding the stray. What did I do? You guessed it, I
looked them in the eye and fed the dog. Sis, Bentley may have a little brother
coming home!
Yesterday, a mama was able to hear her unborn babies heart
beat on the doppler. What a great experience! After I posted last, I went
downstairs to join the party. Half of the team was pre-counting medications,
while the other half were making spiritual bracelets. The seminary was roaring
with chatting and laughter.
The last two days have been full of laughter. I am not sure
if it is because we all get along so well or if it because we are all oxygen
deprived.
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