Honduras - Part 2 The Brigades

Now that my clinical exam is over (and went fabulously well) I have time to sit down and put together some thoughts on the medical brigades.
Let me give you a bird's eye view of each day. We would get up at 6am, pack up the trucks (which were kept inside the walls of our hotel) with all the drugs and extra stuff we would need for the day. Have a leisurely breakfast in the sunshine on the balcony while we watched kids (and cows) wander down the street. Then around 8am we would set out as a big convoy (and yes dad, on occasion we did sing Convoy just because it was funny). It took between 45 minutes and 1.5 hours to get to the different villages we visited. It was strange to get up in the morning in our little ghetto hotel prison, and then proceed to drive up and down through mountains and the most beautiful scenery I have ever experienced. And given that the guides were about our age, we listened to reggaeton and western 'bar' type music along the way!
In each town we would set up in a community building and put our banner out front advertising free medical and dental care. Most times it was an open sort of hall, one day it was an actual clinic, and on Friday it was in a church. There were usually 4 pods for the doctors, plus one curtained off area for examining, and a dental station with 2 chairs. A big area for the pharmacy. A table of glasses. A table with vitamins and worming medications. And of course lots of toys and treats for the kids.
In an average day we saw about 200 patients. Lots of common things that any family doctor would see here - like ear aches and arthritis. But also some things that only come with poverty - like scabies, and parasites, and skin infections from only the slightest wounds. I learned how to say some key things in spanish, but mostly relied on our translators. We also had armed guards with us each day...which was a little disconcerting. I'd wander outside to refill my water bottle and there are two men walking around with machine guns....ummm....ok.

One particularly meaningful day for me was when I got to do a housecall. One of the women from the village asked if we could go to her house to see her mother who was bed-bound. So on our lunch we drove over to find one of the skinniest women I have ever seen, lying in a bed in the livingroom, using all her energy just to breath. I felt so useless, not even being able to speak to her. So I took her hand, and said Hola, and from that point on she didn't let go of me. We just held hands while we listened to her lungs, and explained to her family what was probably happening, and left them some medications. It made me realize the importance of human contact, how it can overcome any language barrier, and how comforting it is. As we left her daughter ran off and brought us back coconuts as payment.....if I could be paid in smiles, and hand holding, and coconuts everyday for the rest of my life, I would be the happiest girl in the world.

Lots of love
Pamela

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