My oh my 5:30 came early! the drive to the hospital is 45 min on an old bus thru some very poor areas where there are horses, pigs, ducks & dogs roaming in the streets. Then in the middle of it is the Hospital Frances (the $$ to build it was donated by some wealthy Bolivian who now live in France?) So it is fairly new & nice in this very poor town. But apparently the govt hasn't paid the staff there (nurses doctors etc) so they are out protesting & there is no one in the hospital - unusual? I didn't really see the hospital area today as we were really out in a patio/clinic area for screening.
When we arrived at 7:15 or so there were over 100 people already waiting. I forgot how chaotic the 1st morning of screening is...you figure for the 159 patients we saw many come with 1 or 2 adults & 1-3 other children so really there was a crowd of about 600 or so in a very small area - I took pictures.
Pt #1 was Franklin...a cute little boy who I also took a picture of. Some of the people we saw are from only 30 min away, others 6,8 or 10 hours which requires many different buses, some 20-24 hours or 2-3 days. It is always humbling & amazing to see what these parents & families do to get their children the help they "might" get..there are no guarantees & the hardest part of today is there were 5 or 6 kids who REALLY need surgery but their blood counts are too low from their poor diets so we cant do the surgery :( We are hoping to get Iron drops to give them so they can have surgery at the next mission here in 6 months.
One sight I was not prepared for was a large population of Mennonites....they live about 9 hours away & came her from Germany? They have German names & speak German & Spanish. Their dress is very unique...the men wear overalls & plaid shirts & hats & the baby boys are in matching outfits. The women wear long skirts in a unique material with aprons, hats, long sleeves & sort of tights...all in a very humid 80 degrees. The women aren't allowed to talk & the men don't look at you when you talk to them. They don't like having photos taken & when holding their babies with Cleft Lips or Palates they put blankets over their faces so people dont see the deformity. I was not expecting that one....and after travelling 9 hours some of them then say they cant stay until Monday for surgery????
Some other interesting patients were identical win boys who were 4 years old with identical cleft lips, and in screening we ask the families if they have any idea why their child was born with this abnormality & let me tell you there are some interesting answers...mom got hit by thunder? (yes thunder not lightening), dad works in the fields, its Gods will, mom had a bad spirit visit her, they had an argument while they were pregnant...the list is quite long.
Ethicon (a Johnson & Johnson company) has donated suture materials to Op Smile for 30 years = several million dollars. 7 Ethicon people are here visiting & volunteering...they are quite nice but you can tell a couple of them had no idea what a mission was like & were pretty overwhelmed today.
We had 2 DARLING 17 year old girls help us as translators Estefania, & Paola. They attend a private International (American) high school & are part of the Operation Smile Club at their hospital. They were with us from 7 am-6 pm & were such a big help & so much fun to talk to. They are from well to do families here with siblings at prestigious colleges in the US & Europe & parents who are professionals. They were FABULOUS & so kind to all those we saw - they will be back again tomorrow :)
That's about it - just a busy long day - we got back to the hotel at 7:30 pm. I love being here & having the opportunity to do this - thanks to my family & friends at home & work etc who are covering for me in my absence!
Oh P.S. Verizon fixed my phone so now I can text but this great International Blackberry has no Internet capability & calling is super expensive so I am basically carrying around a texting device???
THANK GOODNESS for Skype calls - its been great to talk to my family :)
Yikes wake up call in 5 hours & I still need to shower! Good Night from Santa Cruz!
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