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The team had a great day Sunday -- we went to mass at the Catholic Church, went to a cool market, visited the Roberto Clemente Stadium and then went to see the volcano. I´m trying to upload some really cool pics but the Internet connection is very sketchy tonight. I´ll try again tomorrow.
JT
Sunday, February 8, 2009
The Team rests after a tough Saturday
Feb 6 -- The team finished day two of medical work with a few good saves in the mountains. The first was a little boy who had suffered a massive asthma attack. He appeared listless and seemed in dire straits. The docs gave him two nebulizer treatments and some steroids and he was fine in about 40 minutes.
The other was a man who showed up with a badly crushed finger. He had been stepped on by a cow. Dr. Steve thought the man was in danger of losing his finger. He had my son -- Danny -- clean out the wound and help him set the fingers. The prognosis is good.
The same can not be said for a pair of young children seen by Liz. The children were severely malnourished and were experiencing failure to thrive. She gave them am anti-parasitic and then wrote out detailed instructions for the mother on how to add more calories to the children´s milk with vegetable oil and sugar. Not convinced however, she alerted the pastor of that church and asked him to keep an eye on the babies. In all likelihood however, they will not make it.
The team drove all the way back to Masaya exhausted and looking forward to a day off on Sunday. Keep reading and praying!
The other was a man who showed up with a badly crushed finger. He had been stepped on by a cow. Dr. Steve thought the man was in danger of losing his finger. He had my son -- Danny -- clean out the wound and help him set the fingers. The prognosis is good.
The same can not be said for a pair of young children seen by Liz. The children were severely malnourished and were experiencing failure to thrive. She gave them am anti-parasitic and then wrote out detailed instructions for the mother on how to add more calories to the children´s milk with vegetable oil and sugar. Not convinced however, she alerted the pastor of that church and asked him to keep an eye on the babies. In all likelihood however, they will not make it.
The team drove all the way back to Masaya exhausted and looking forward to a day off on Sunday. Keep reading and praying!
Saturday Update - 2-7-09
Report submitted 11:25 am 2-7-09 Nicararagua time - Yolaina – 40 minutes East Southeat of Nueva Guinea
NUEVA GUINEA – The team spent a much needed restful night at a quaint little hotel about 40 minutes from our first day’s medical work.
We went down to the lobby for a breakfast of eggs, salsa, coffee, eggs and pre-fabricated toast. Then by 8, we were on the road again.
Today’s mission is another half-hour past yesterday’s and the road is fairly inaccessible. So we parked the van at a church and sent half the team – the medical folks and translators – on up ahead. The truck will return in about 90 minutes to trudge us up the hill.
Since I am a non-essential -- just kidding – I stayed back with half the crew and what a wonderful morning we had exploring. The people are gracious and humble and kind and welcome us into their homes and yards.
Along the way we encountered a little boy way up on top of a coconut tree. I started snapping photos and nearly lost my head as a coconut bounced up over my shoulder! The men on the ground cut the coconuts up for us with machetes and we spent the morning drinking coconut water and spooning out the insides – yummy.
I’ll try and send another submission later on about the great work the team accomplished today. Everyone has been wonderful and no one complains – even if they are asked to watch the vehicles for a few hours.
We continue to ask God to watch over us AND all of you – our loved ones left behind taking care of our children, our parents, our friends and neighbors. We ask that God continue to look out for all of us, we ask that He continue to bless us and inspire us to work through some of the fatigue and we ask that He bring us safely home to you all when the time comes.
The team is tired but very inspired and we are sharing in the joy of the mission.
Thanks for reading.
NUEVA GUINEA – The team spent a much needed restful night at a quaint little hotel about 40 minutes from our first day’s medical work.
We went down to the lobby for a breakfast of eggs, salsa, coffee, eggs and pre-fabricated toast. Then by 8, we were on the road again.
Today’s mission is another half-hour past yesterday’s and the road is fairly inaccessible. So we parked the van at a church and sent half the team – the medical folks and translators – on up ahead. The truck will return in about 90 minutes to trudge us up the hill.
Since I am a non-essential -- just kidding – I stayed back with half the crew and what a wonderful morning we had exploring. The people are gracious and humble and kind and welcome us into their homes and yards.
Along the way we encountered a little boy way up on top of a coconut tree. I started snapping photos and nearly lost my head as a coconut bounced up over my shoulder! The men on the ground cut the coconuts up for us with machetes and we spent the morning drinking coconut water and spooning out the insides – yummy.
I’ll try and send another submission later on about the great work the team accomplished today. Everyone has been wonderful and no one complains – even if they are asked to watch the vehicles for a few hours.
We continue to ask God to watch over us AND all of you – our loved ones left behind taking care of our children, our parents, our friends and neighbors. We ask that God continue to look out for all of us, we ask that He continue to bless us and inspire us to work through some of the fatigue and we ask that He bring us safely home to you all when the time comes.
The team is tired but very inspired and we are sharing in the joy of the mission.
Thanks for reading.
Friday, February 6, 2009
What a Day!
The team started it´s day at about 3:30 in the morning for our 6 plus hour ride to Nueva Guinea. We made it safely, dropped off some bags at the hotel and then drove straight to the clinic.
We set up in a church in a little country village where we shared the roadway with pigs, mules, oxen and brahma bulls. There were few cars. We separated the church with bedsheets hanging from clothing lines and got started. The two docs -- Frncisco Ruiz and Stephen Badolato -- our physician´s assistant Liz Van Hemmel and our optician David Bressett all got started seeing patients immediatley.
They were able to help most with everything from stomach ailments to rashes to infections and ear aches. There were also many cases of high blood pressure. But, they also saw patients they were not able to help -- like the woman they diagnosed with pancreatic cancer or the mother in denial that her son has muscular dystrophy. The docs were moved by these situations.
Everyone chipped in: Danny played with the kids, ran errands and patrolled our belongings and the vehicles. Jerry stood guard. Joe displayed the voyager water purifier and pumped clean water for us to drink. Jennifer organized clothing distributions with Elaine, Rube took photosd and helped unload, Meredith was our pharmacist and I was on gopher duty when I wasn´t playing ball with the children.
For me it was a day of pure joy. I blew balloons, played soccer and made jokes with the numerous children who just hugged me and clammored around me most of the day. These mission trips are filled with wonderful little miraculous moments that we will cherish forever.
Of course, what´s a mission trip without laughs? I accidentally caused Joe to stand in a huge mud pile where he nearly lost his shoe. While I was busting a gut laughing, he dropped to his knees and washed his shoe in the creek!
Thganks for reading, more to come tommorrow along with some pics in a few minutes.
God bless all of you.
John
We set up in a church in a little country village where we shared the roadway with pigs, mules, oxen and brahma bulls. There were few cars. We separated the church with bedsheets hanging from clothing lines and got started. The two docs -- Frncisco Ruiz and Stephen Badolato -- our physician´s assistant Liz Van Hemmel and our optician David Bressett all got started seeing patients immediatley.
They were able to help most with everything from stomach ailments to rashes to infections and ear aches. There were also many cases of high blood pressure. But, they also saw patients they were not able to help -- like the woman they diagnosed with pancreatic cancer or the mother in denial that her son has muscular dystrophy. The docs were moved by these situations.
Everyone chipped in: Danny played with the kids, ran errands and patrolled our belongings and the vehicles. Jerry stood guard. Joe displayed the voyager water purifier and pumped clean water for us to drink. Jennifer organized clothing distributions with Elaine, Rube took photosd and helped unload, Meredith was our pharmacist and I was on gopher duty when I wasn´t playing ball with the children.
For me it was a day of pure joy. I blew balloons, played soccer and made jokes with the numerous children who just hugged me and clammored around me most of the day. These mission trips are filled with wonderful little miraculous moments that we will cherish forever.
Of course, what´s a mission trip without laughs? I accidentally caused Joe to stand in a huge mud pile where he nearly lost his shoe. While I was busting a gut laughing, he dropped to his knees and washed his shoe in the creek!
Thganks for reading, more to come tommorrow along with some pics in a few minutes.
God bless all of you.
John
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