Pachancho and Ecuadorian Vampires

P.S. From Yesterday: With all the rain and mud in Alao, walking around the village was a little tricky. Even the military struggled to stay unmuddy. On they way out, Madison, Amanda, and Iulia stopped at the snack stand (selling cookies and lollie pops). Well, when they stopped Madison did not. She took out the table, scratched Amanda on the neck, and covered herself in mud. It looks like Amanda was bitten by an Ecuadorian vampire.

Pachancho
Elevation 14,000 ft

This village is a two hour drive from Riobamba. A much less eventful drive; no cliffs and mud. It is windy, cold, and windy, and cold.... We drive by the beautiful Chimborazo. Chimborazo volcano is Ecuador's highest active volcano and the highest in the Northern Andean Volcanic Zone. We did not get to see this beast on the way up due to clouds, but did catch a glimpse or two on the way back down. There is a protected species of lama type animals called vicunas that hang around the base of Chimborazo. They look like a cross between a deer and a lama. They are super cute!






Vicunas

 
We made it most of the way to the village before we had to take a pit stop. There was a truck right in the middle of the one lane (that's a bit generous to even consider it that) gravel road. How many military men/women does it take to fix a car? Seven. It takes seven to fix a broken town truck.... or just push it to the side of the road so that we could pass. I am actually not totally sure if they truck was fixed by our guys, but it wasn't there on our way home tonight.



Please Park Your Donkey Before Coming To Clinic

It is so much fun to see the progress that this village is making. I have had the pleasure of going each of my trips to Ecuador. Each year they seem to grow! My first time in Pachancho (the second year One Heart Global Ministries had been in this community), people were very sick, ears stuffed full of wax, teeth rotting, church nonexistent. In fact, they had run the pastor out of town. Now, they are in the process of building a community center/church. Construction should be complete by October. We saw very few bad teeth. We had almost no ear washing; in the past it was rare to NOT have a patient skip ear washing. And, most of the children we saw were truly "well child" checks. In the back of my mind I have always wondered if short term missions actually work. Can a week of work really change anything? Yes, yes it can. Pachancho is changing, every year I see the fruit of short term mission work.

Children's Clinic

Cold Conditions In Pachancho

In our short day we were still able to see 52 patients! Yea!!! That means tomorrow will be crazy. It was a lot of fun seeing people from last year in clinic again. There was one lady, whom Katty and I taught how to use condoms last year (a really funny story from last years blog if you can find it) that was back in clinic this year. Well, they either did not work too well or they ran out, because she is five months pregnant!

Checking In For Clinic

One of the things that the providers and pharmacists struggle with is leading questions and the answer yes. If you were to ask the patient if he/she has pain, the answer is yes. If you ask them if they have diarrhea or constipation, the answer is yes. If you ask them if their skin is green, the answer is yes. I was very surprised when I was palpating a patient back today, when I asked if it hurt she said, "nnnnoooo it feels good." That's the translated version of course. So, I gave this nice Ecuadorian lady a massage. I love when we can provide non-medical remedies for ailments in these villages, because what happens when the medications run out?

The Pachancho Pharmacy

The pharmacy was rocking today. They had about half the space of the previous pharmacy. However, I think they were able to make it run even smoother than before!