Phew! This week has been exhausting! On this week's brigada, over 500 patients came through our clinic station to receive examinations and eye glasses. If us four girls feel this tired from running preliminary examinations and distributing glasses, I can't even begin to imagine how Dr. Víctor feels after visiting with so many patients, not to mention doing all the driving there and back (and in the pouring rain no less!). But we know that all of our hard work was really appreciated, both by the patients themselves and the community. The politician, Luis Berrios Segovia, who we figured out is a congressman for the province of Olancho, presented each of us with a certificate of appreciation this afternoon after we packed up in Juticalpa. We were extremely grateful for his hospitality and generosity this week!
Most of our work this week was a little monotonous, especially to write about in a post, so I thought I would share a couple highlights:
Because we were working in a small room, post of the patients were waiting in line outside until they were called in to begin there exams. There was an elderly man outside, who had a couple people helping him walk. When we performed his pre-exam testing, we took extra care to make sure he did all of it while sitting, and provided him with water so he could take his mid-day medicine. When it was his turn to see Dr. Víctor, two of us, one on each arm, helped him walk in to the examination room. After finished the exam, the man waltzed right out of the room, completely unaided. Dr. Víctor followed him out of the room, and gave us the most hilarious look, as if we were crazy for thinking that this man needed so much help. We joked the rest of the week that Dr. Víctor was a true "miracle worker" with a "magical touch."
The last couple of days, we started running low on eyeglasses, especially in the higher powers. Today we only had two styles of +3.00 power reading glasses left... and they were both pink. The men, and even some of the women, complained about the lack of styles in this power category. We apologized and explained to them that we had had a lot of patients come through, and this is all that we had left. Some people were frustrated and a little upset, and some opted for a other styles in a lower power, but we had one patient in particular who deserves kudos. A man who was about 60 years old came in, and we all looked at each other, knowing we would have to apologize to him for the pink glasses. But after hearing the news, he tried on the flowery, pink lenses, had a nice little chuckle at himself in the mirror, graciously excepted the new glasses, and left our clinic just as tall, proud, and masculine as ever.
Most of our free time after work this week was spent laughing until our sides hurt. The four of us girls, and even Víctor, had a great time getting to know each other better, teasing each other for silly Spanish mistakes and mispronunciations, freaking out over little critters at the hotel, playing cards, and watching ridiculous movies on TV. Víctor is a fantastic and patient individual and doctor and I am inspired by all of the work that he does, all without a single complaint. I'm looking forward for the next two weeks as I can learn more from him and help him during future brigadas.
Tomorrow, we have to say goodbye to Sraavya and Nayasha. Their month here has flown by and I was glad to have spent part of it with them. They were great guides, mentors, and friends to us during our first two weeks, so I will be sad to see them go! However, as they leave tomorrow, two more new volunteers arrive in the afternoon. It will be our turn to be the "veterans" and help the newcomers learn the ropes of the clinic and of the brigadas. The first two weeks have been wonderful and I can't believe how fast they've gone by! The next couple of days will be days of transition, but by Monday I think I'll be geared up and ready to go for the second half of my time here. Can't wait for the adventures that lie ahead!
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