San Raymundo, Guatemala Update
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Tuesday, 26 October 2010 08:50
We started clinic this October with a bang! Usually patients do not arrive until Sunday, which is officially the first day of the “jornada” (mission clinic). However, 20 desperately ill patients were already at the clinic to meet the team when they got off the bus Saturday afternoon. The Sunday surgery schedule filled up quickly, spilling into Monday. And our nurse practitioners and doctors busied themselves seeing patients even before our supplies and meds arrived out of customs.
Refuge puts a price on this mission trip but the experience for me is always priceless. The population seems to be very sick this year. The country has had a bout of very bad weather, aggravated by a disruptive volcanic eruption in this area, prolific dengue fever and a faltering economy. Fortunately the roads are good enough that the folks can get to our clinic. Although it feels daily like the needs are overwhelming our capacity to meet them, as we collapse into our bunks, we rest assured that we did not turn away a single patient and gave the best care to the “least of these”.
Our clinicians are predominantly from Case Western and are doing a fantastic job. They are students just shy of graduation and are being mentored by three Case alumni and Dr. Sawyer from Longview, Texas. They have seen rare conditions, wasting diseases and all sorts of strange syndromes---what a learning experience.
We are also blessed to have Case anesthetist students in the OR along with a great group of talented nurses from Ohio, Washington and Texas. This is our first time to have a dental hygienist and she is doing a terrific and tireless job cleaning children’s teeth. We have seen over 300 people so far in clinic and performed 24 surgeries. But it’s not ever about the numbers for us. It’s about each individual Guatemalan who seeks healing or when we are incapable of providing a cure, comfort.
For those of you who are keeping up with your loved ones with us here in Guatemala, we apologize for the lack of communication. The wireless is down due to a malicious line cut by a pirating neighbor (the phone company refuses to repair it). And the internet cards are sloooowwww due to a poor signal here up in the hills. But everyone is safe and sound and happy. Thank you for supporting our team. We feel this support as we work long, long days giving aid to the “least of these.”
I Feel The Earth Move Under My Feet!
Tuesday, 23 February 2010 08:48
We are all happy campers in San Raymundo! Most of us slept through the 4:55 am earthquake (5.3) last night but just a second ago we had an aftershock that we all noticed! While the earth is moving under our feet, God is moving in our hearts- spurring us on to do the work of compassion for the least of these.
I say this with every group we bring here, but it bears repeating—what a privilege to have a front row seat as the drama and thrill of healing is taking place in this beautiful but desperately poor country. Our volunteers are the most admirable people who bring their best game to serve, without complaints and very little sleep. I marvel at the skill sets that are divinely provided to fill each need, from help in the pharmacy to someone to run the lab to an engineer who is keeping surgery going by running our hugely scary sterilizer. None of these folks have ever done this work before but you wouldn’t know it today! Clinic is running like clockwork!
A few numbers:
15...this is Refuge's 15th trip to San Raymundo
12...the hour the surgical team finished in the OR last night
7... clinical consult rooms we have open
200...patients seen in 2 days
0..the number of times Deb Bell let anyone take her picture
1000...smiles seen so far
1000....tears shed, both sad and happy
AND FINALLY...
42...happy Americans here in Guatemala!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Tuesday, 10 November 2009 08:47
Thanks to our wonderful team of volunteers and translators, our supporters in prayer and funding, and all the folks who worked behind the scenes to gather and pack supplies, organize the trip and make sure that everyone arrived and departed safely...we have some numbers to show for our efforts.
We always say: it's not about the numbers. Well, it is and it isn't: numbers indicate some level of effectiveness. But more than numbers of patients, the numbers of smiles, hugs and tears of gratitude drowned out the numbers for those of us who were privileged to be on the ground in Guatemala in October.
San Raymundo Clinic Totals October 2009
Surgeries 48
Patients 602
Labs 266
Again, thank you to our marvelous volunteers who worked extremely hard in sub-optimal conditions with total strangers (though not by week's end!) to accomplish this extraordinary feat. I am proud of the work you did. My thanks is meager compared to those folks in Guatemala who I am sure are still thanking God that you came bringing health and hope to their families.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Monday, 26 October 2009 08:45
We are on day 2 of the trip...so far we have seen over 300 patients, have done 18 surgeries, 58 surgical consults, and dispensed a bunch of vitamins, worm pills and medications. The team consists of 51 folks from 8 states but has swollen to include 29 Guatemalans who have volunteered to help us. It is amazing to have so many folks, some who do not even speak the same language, pull together and in a few short hours are working like a well-oiled machine in sub-optimal conditions.
The government is still holding hostage some medical bags, some of which include much need medications. It seems that the gov't, which used to embrace all the help we gave, no longer wants medical teams to serve the poor if it means that their pharmaceutical companies have competition...such sorry competition, too: our patients could never afford the medications we are giving them. Can you tell I'm a bit peeved at the current situation and frustrated as I sit here playing with our formulary?
I wish you could see the lovely people working 15 hour days here and the dear folks they are serving...the poor seem to be poorer this year. Everyone a bit more desperate. Many tears. Much begging for help. A bit less patience but who can blame them.
The Case-Western contingency is keeping us laughing as usual...what is it that they are smoking in Ohio??? Clipboard Carol and Survivor Margaret are really pulling this thing off...best group ever!! But then I always say that (but it's always true--how can this be?)
It's almost midnight and I'm off to my bunk. Someone said I snore. I'm mortified. But happy, so very happy to have a ringside seat at this fantastic drama!
Nancy
San Raymundo October 2009
Wednesday, 21 October 2009 08:43
Deb Bell just informed me that this will be Refuge's 15th trip to San Raymundo! It seems like yesterday she and I met in the dorm of this very clinic far away from our comfort zone...And now, 50 volunteers from all over the U.S. are about to leave for another week of "the hardest work you'll ever do and actually pay to do it!"
In Guatemala, the cost of socialized medicine is high: long lines, postponed surgeries, denied surgeries, lack of affordable medicines, even a lack of medicines (I was in a big town that didn't have one remedy for head lice---which is a scourge there!) We will be providing a service that for many of them, is unaffordable even if it were available, which in many cases it is not.
Those who are reading this blog, please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we: see patients, perform surgeries in less than optimal conditions, accurately fill prescriptions, and share ourselves with our southern neighbors.
The team this year has shaped up to be a great team of highly skilled volunteers, each paying their way to join us. We at Refuge are always blessed to attract not only a wonderful group of people but always just the right mix of specialties to make it work...I often wonder how can this be short of a miraculous intervention---no matter--- I will respond with gratitude and joy that once again, I have the privilege of a front row seat to watch a great drama unfold: 50 perfect strangers, melding into a well-oiled team, giving their all and their best "for the least of these". I think I definitely scored the best ticket in the place!
Nancy
More Articles...
Page 1 of 2