Day 1

Today was our real first day at the clinic seeing patients.  Two busloads of people came throughout the day.  I saw 60 patients myself and I am so tired.  I think we saw a total of about 250 patients today.  We had mostly kids with colds, sinus infections, and fungal infections.  A lot of the people come to get medicine to prevent worms and other parsites that they would get from food and drinking water.  Everybody is so greatful that we are there.  I thought that there was a clinic that is staffed throughout the year by different groups of people. But in actuality, there only about 3-4 weeks of the year that people provide medical care here.  So its a big deal when we come to town, and the word gets out.

I will try to explain the setup of the clinic to give you a vsual of what exactly we do there.  First the are checked in by the nurses who take vital signs, medical history and assessments.  This is what I do.  There are 4 of us.  Then, they go to a separate room where a missionary is there to provide morale support and to offer prayer.  Next they give a urine sample and they wait for that to be analyzed and then they can see the doctor.  We have 4 physicians that came with us.  Once they have seen the doctor, they proceed to the pharmacy to pick up a 30 day supply of their medicine and they have the oppurtunity to go have their vision checked and get eye glasses. Finally at the last stop they are given bags of beans and rice to take home and we offer them shoes, clothes and toys if available.

Im having a great time.  Everybody is so nice and helpful. We have translators, but I'm not doing so bad at my spanglish.  I can't wait to post some pics.  Maybe I will later this week when Im not dog tired.  Until then, keep us in your thoughts and I'm going nighty night!