January 19, 2010
Brigada Medical
I have spent the last week translating for a medical brigade that came into town. The work has been long and tiring, but so rewarding and exactly what I thought Peace Corps was going to be when I signed up…getting out in the community everyday, working one on one with the people, speaking Spanish non-stop. I mean, really, if I had wanted to sit behind my computer in the municipality, I would have stayed home in the States where I got paid way better and had air-conditioning.
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| Drawing donated by my friend Laurel, given to the new maternal health clinic and women during the med brigade; for more photos go to www.donnabellasangels.org/ |
The last week has been nothing short of amazing. The medical brigade rolled into town last Sunday and on Monday morning my local friend called to see if I could help them. I jumped at the opportunity and soon I was bouncing around in the back of the 4x4 Save the Children vehicle (their counterpart), off to my tiny aldeas far up in the mountains. Each day brought new adventure and lots of repetitive illness, too. A brigade works like this: a mom normally comes in with at least three kids and they all complain of pain in their head, back, stomach, nose, ears, or cough. They are given a bunch of meds to cure all these common colds and illnesses and sent on their way. Every now and then you will see a patient that really needs more medical care, like a young boy with a heart murmur and a two-year-old that was developmentally disabled. These are people who might have walked three hours just to get to the brigade in the first place. Depending on the circumstances, some people can be sent to Choluteca or Teguz for more medical care. Some of these people have never left their small pueblo (you might remember last month when I took my counterpart to Teguz for the first time) and now they have to take their sick child or sick mother to the big city. It is very overwhelming. Try calming them down in Spanish. It is a tiring task, but oh’ so rewarding and exactly why I wanted to be in the Peace Corps. The brigade offered many great things to the people of my community, like eye glasses and pap smears. One day I was asked to translate in the OBGYN room and it was a great experience for me to get to hold women’s hands as they received top-notch medical care from these doctors, some ladies had never received a pap smear ever even though they had given birth to three babies. I learned a lot of new words that day!
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| There was a tree blocking the road so a guy chopped it with an ax and the boys moved it |
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| On the way up the mountain, we still have to get to that little white building |
Throughout the week we would get up early, have breakfast each day at 7 am, work until 5 pm, then crash into bed by 9 pm. I never knew that just translating all day could be so tiring. Since I was doing all this translating, I didn’t have time to wash my clothes (shocker! But, let’s be honest, I don’t like to wash them on the pila anyway, this is not a new post). So, I asked my fruit vendor, Dora, if her sister could wash my clothes this week. No problem, she said and she called her sister. Then, I met her sister in person and she said she would be at my house on Monday morning. She didn’t show up. I called her. She said she’d be there Tuesday. She didn’t show up, so I called her. She said she was sick. Then her friend called back and said Mirna (the sister) could was them the next day when she was feeling better. No worries, but she had to be at my house at 6:30 AM because we were leaving early for the brigade. The next morning Mirna calls me at 6:20 AM to tell me she’s on her way. At 6:50 I call her back, she says she’s still coming. At 7:00 AM I call back; I inform her I am leaving my house soon for a meeting. She says she is five minutes away. Within two minutes someone knocks on my door; she tells me she is Mirna’s friend here to get the clothes, so I give them to her (nothing out of the ordinary,okay. I figured Mirna called her and told her to come get them since I had to leave the house). Anyway, another 10 minutes later Mirna calls and tells me she’s at my house. I tell her her friend already came…what friend she asks? WHAT? Where are my clothes? For two days I have no idea where my clothes are; I’m pretty sure I’ve been robbed/hustled/whatever. I call Mirna, tell her to find out where my clothes are…I don’t care if she doesn’t know/care/give a crap about my clothes. I tell other people in Orocuina. I begin to look at people and see if they are dressing like me. After two days the little old lady is back sitting on my doorstep with all my clothes. I ask for her name and phone number. She says she doesn’t have a phone. But, my clothes are clean and smell good and they are all there. I have no idea what has just happened to me in the last two days.
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| Some of my patients that I helped to translate for |
Overall, the brigade was an overwhelming positive experience and a great way to start off the New Year. I’m so happy I was able to be a part of it, plus it allowed me to travel up into the areas of Orocuina I never get to see and make some really good contacts. Now I look forward to working with those people on my projects throughout the year!
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| Aldeas near Orocuina, heading down the mountain |
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| Heading home, but not before a hole tries to deter us |
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