Brigada #2

Our second brigada went well today! We didn't have to travel far - just part way up one of the mountains of Tegucigalpa. This area was definitely one of the poorest parts of city that we've seen so far, so there was definitely a need for our visit. Our brigada today was part of a big event that was held at a daycare/school. In this facility, there were several doctors, specialists, and a pharmacy set up for the communities' children and families to visit. We were more cramped space-wise today, but we figured out a system that worked with the room to which we were assigned. The event was extremely busy, so it made keeping things orderly a little more difficult than the last brigada. One person's only job for the day was to control how many people were going in and out of the room!

Leah and the glasses table

Dr. Víctor talking with a patient

Dr. Bryan, an optometrist from the clinic, came to help us today

Leah giving a visual acuity test... in a doorway. The ventilation was nice, but it was a high-traffic area!

Sraavya helping with visual acuity testing. Over half of the patients we worked with today were kids!

The people running the event took very good care of us! We got a yummy, traditional Honduran lunch during our break.

Surgeries and Soccer Games

Today was the slowest day in the clinic yet. It began a bit frantically because we were short-staffed this morning, but the steady flow of patients tapered off really quickly after only 2 and a half hours.  I had the chance to work in the archives during the crazy rush this morning. I filed away patient records from the previous day and pulled the records for today's exams while Ninoska answered the phone and Nayasha created files for new patients. Sraavya and Leah worked in pre-clinic today.

The rest of the morning was pretty slow because we ran out of work to do. But thankfully, there were surgeries this afternoon with patients from this week's brigadas. UFS' policy about the free surgeries is that a UFS volunteer or affiliated doctor is required to observe and sign off on the surgery. Today was my turn! I observed Dr. Murcia perform three cataract removal surgeries. These surgeries are performed while the patient is still awake, although they are given a light sedative to relax them. Dr. Murcia calmly talked to each patient before he began and he started each of the surgeries "en el nombre de Dios." In this type of cataract surgery, the lens of the eye containing the cataract is removed and replaced with a new, artificial lens. In the next day or two, the patient can return for a post-op appointment. Unfortunately, I won't be able to be there for these patients' post-op visits, but the exciting thing about these eye surgeries is that the recovery is quick!

After work today, we were invited to go watch the Honduran soccer game with a couple of our co-workers at the clinic. We're excited to watch the team play tonight and experience such a prominent part of Honduran culture!

Our first brigada!

Teams A and B joined forces today as we went out with Dr. Víctor to Guaimaca for our first brigada. As I mentioned previously, the brigadas are the main focus of Unite For Sight's efforts. These outings provide impoverished patients with the opportunity to have an eye exam, obtain glasses, or receive a referral for surgery at the clinic in Tegucigalpa if needed, all free of charge. Dr. Víctor conducts all of the brigadas and dedicates endless hours to these patients. I cannot imagine how he must operate on the occasions in which he doesn't have five volunteers helping him!


Because the brigadas function a little differently than the clinic and because there were fewer patients, we were able to take more pictures today, so I thought I would give you all a "visual tour" of our brigada.

We set up camp at a facility that usually hosts activities for a children's organization and for the Special Olympics' events of the area. When patients would arrive, they would visit Marta at the front desk, the contact person in Guaimaca who arranged for Dr. Víctor to come. She gave each person a number for their place in line.

First, the patients had their visual acuity tested using the "E" chart.

Then, they were sent to have their measurements taken at the auto-refractor station. This auto-refractor is a bit different than the one we use in the clinic. This one is hand-held and takes measurements in a more automated fashion, making it a much more practical instrument for our mobile brigadas.

After the two preliminary tests, the patients waited in line to visit with Dr. Víctor for their in-depth eye examination. He accessed the needs of each patient and prescribed reading glasses, referred them to an optics clinic if they needed glasses for distance, referred a select few patients for surgery, and/or prescribed eye drops.

If the patient needed reading glasses, they would finish their visit by coming to us at the glasses distribution table. There they could pick out and try on glasses according to Dr. Víctor's prescription to take home with them.

There was a lot of waiting time for some of the patients, so some of the kids who came with them needed entertaining! We gladly accepted the challenge!

This little boy was really interested in Nayasha's camera!

Víctor knows all about where to find the best food and treats when we're on the road. All along the way to and from the outreach locations, there are little stores like this one, called pulperías, that sell food, drinks, and other little trinkets. Víctor tooks us to this particular pulpería because of their special homemade candy that can't be found anywhere else!

The pulpería also had a pet monkey...
A special shout out to my fellow LCMers who went on the Spring Break trip to Costa Rica: ¡Hola, mono!

On the way back to Tegucigalpa, we got a few cool shots of the city as we passed through the mountains that surround it.

Fun day! I had a great time at our first brigada and I'm really looking forward to our next one! It was also neat to spend time with and to get to know Víctor. He is obviously very experienced in dealing with volunteers. He speaks articulately and clearly, so we understood him right off the bat, and although he is pretty reserved most of the time, he has a good sense of humor. Albeit, he must always have a hot cup of café in the morning before he can function properly, especially when he has to put up with us!

Adequate at last.

Day 3 in the clinic was a success! I definitely felt more adequate today while working in pre-clinic testing. And Lety, the tech that I worked with today, was relieved that we could lighten her load a bit, especially because we are now able to run the pre-clinic by ourselves and she did not need to supervise us all the time. 


After doing pre-clinic testing for a few hours this morning, I went to see what work was like in the Archives where all of the patient records are kept. Ninosca, who works in the Archives everyday, and the girls from Team A, showed me how the files are organized and what the job entails. I missed the bulk of the busiest work there, but it included going between the front desk, pre-clinic, the doctors' offices, and the archive room to distribute patient folders and to keep them orderly filed. I liked the more relaxed and low-stress ambience of work in the Archives, but I realized that I much prefer interacting with the patients and doing more hands-on work in the pre-clinic. 


The techs who we have been working with (Mario, Lety, and Rolando) have really warmed up to us and we to them. When the flow of patients slows down, we enjoy joking with them and practicing our Spanish. One thing that Leah and I have really noticed is that sometimes it takes us a while to get accustomed to every new individual's accent. The Honduran accent was hard enough to conquer on its own (well, it's still a work in progress...), but it seems that some people have an even more unique accent and manner of speaking that takes some getting used to. 


Alex took us to the grocery store today, where we had another interesting "Honduran time" experience. After promising us for three days in a row that we could go, today it finally happened, but of course, it was not at the time we were expecting. And after dropping us off, he took forever to finally get back to us and pick us up. We were frustrated at first, but he apologized, he did have a valid excuse, and we were able to make a joke out of the situation. He was so funny today and so nice for driving us around that we forgave him almost instantly.


Tomorrow we get to change things up a bit! The five of us UFS volunteers are going out with Dr. Víctor on a one-day brigada tomorrow (beginning at 6am!) to another clinic location in the city. I'm excited to learn how brigadas are run and to see the patients that are the major focus of the UFS program (and the ones that benefit most from many of your generous contributions!). Thanks so much for reading! Looking forward to sharing my first brigada experience with you!

The clinic where we work; this clinic is also actually owned by the church
we went to last Sunday, Vida Abundante

The view from our apartment balcony - the clinic is the white building across the street!

Practice Makes... Better.

After turning in pretty early last night, we were ready for another early start this morning, our second day in the clinic. This morning was a little crazy again because of the large number of patients, but things slowed down earlier than they did yesterday. We spent our day working in pre-clinic testing with Rolando again. Now that we had a little experience, we were able to begin to refine our skills and polish up some of our Spanish instructions. A few older patients that came through today were hard of hearing, which made giving directions for the visual acuity exercises a little more difficult and at times, frustrating. But, eventually (usually with a little help from Rolando) we were able to complete the test and I thanked them for their patience and they were kind and understanding.

Dr. Flores showed me and Leah a few of his patients today as well. He demonstrated how to perform a "red reflex" test using an opthalmoscope to tell if a patient may have a type of opacity blocking their visual tract, such as a cataract. We saw a couple patients with mature cataracts that varied in severity and are now in line to undergo cataract removal surgery.

We also began to learn how to take medical histories today, which I thought was a little more intimidating because it involved more complex questions and conversation with the patients, including asking the purpose of their visit, their age, if their eyes had been operated on previously, if they used medications or had any allergies, if they were diabetic or if the had high blood pressure, and in some cases, we noted whether or not they had a family history of glaucoma or other relevant ailments. After a few practice runs and learning the correct notations, I started to get the hang of it. This part of the job usually will not be expected of us in the clinic, but when we go out on brigadas we will probably take more medical history notes.

One of the highlights of the day for me was the increase in the number of kids that came through the clinic. I enjoyed working with and talking to them, especially because kids are usually more forgiving of our imperfect Spanish and because they were more enthusiastic about their exams and our "cool equipment," allowing us to make a game out of their tests. At the end of the day, when there weren't many patients left for the pre-clinic to examine, several kids who were bored of waiting in the waiting room came over and talked to us. They were very intrigued by some of the instruments, so we gave them a short demonstration of how they worked. Celeste told us that around June 15 we will begin to see a lot more children in the clinic because schools will be finished for summer vacation at that point. I can't wait to work with them!

Ready or not, here we come

Our first day in the clinic was a whirlwind. While we were eating breakfast in our hotel across the street this morning, patients were already beginning to line up outside the clinic. By the time it opened at 7 a.m., the waiting area in the courtyard was overflowing. Because Dr. Víctor, the doctor in charge of scheduling for the UFS volunteers, was on a brigada (outreach brigade) today, there was some confusion this morning as to what we were supposed to do to get integrated into work at the clinic. Dr. Flores, one of the ophthalmologists, finally found us and gave us a run through of how we should ease into things. He explained to us how a typical day at the clinic goes and taught us how to perform visual acuity tests. Using a chart like this one:

The test is performed by asked the patient to stand a certain distance away from the chart, cover one eye, and to tell us which direction the legs of the "E" are pointing. Because we were directing them in Spanish, sometimes there was confusion or they couldn't understand our unrefined accents, but we came up with a couple different ways to explain the exercise and we were able to complete the test. This test is part of the examination that takes place at the "Pre-clinic" area that each patient attends perform seeing an optometrist for glasses or an ophthalmologist for more specialized problems. 

At the pre-clinic station, Leah and I assisted and observed a technician, Rolando. In addition to the visual acuity testing, we ran patient records back and forth to each of the doctors, administered some eye drops to patients in the waiting room, learned how to use an auto-refractor, a machine that measures what prescription a patient may need, and we also learned how to use a lensometer, which measures the current prescription of a patient's glasses. 

Because the beginning of the day is very busy and crazy, at first we felt in the way, confused and a bit helpless. Some of the techs seemed a little annoyed that we didn't know what we were doing, but after we had helped several patients and began getting the hang of things, they were very patient with us and encouraged our learning. There was a steady flow of patients for nearly five hours before things began to die down a bit. Rolando estimated that each day the clinic may see about 300 patients. After we had our lunch break, the work at the clinic was very slow and much more relaxed. Rolando gave us further instructions about pre-clinic testing, helped us with some of the instructions in Spanish, and finally had the chance to get to know us a bit better. Once the clinic was less busy, I also had the opportunity to observe some of the ophthalmologist's more in-depth examinations. The last 45 minutes of the day, when most of the techs were done with their work, we talked and joked around with them for a while. I think that little bit of social time will be where we can improve and practice our Spanish the most! They even kindly gave us some helpful corrections, which was nice after being laughed at by some of the patients this morning for our weak Spanish!

It was kind of an overwhelming day and we could hardly think straight this afternoon after concentrating so hard in "Spanish-mode," so the first thing we did upon returning to the hotel was take a much needed siesta. We look forward to another busy day tomorrow, especially now that we have a little more confidence in what to expect!

A Serendipitous Sunday (with ALL credit to Honduran Hospitality!)

Today turned out to be an absolutely wonderful day, especially because we had no idea what to expect when it began! This morning, Celeste, the director of Unite For Sight's work at the ZOE Clinic, picked up the five of us and brought us to church with her and her family. We attended a very contemporary, lively church service at Vida Abundante (Abundant Life), where we were graciously accepted and invited to worship. There was a lot of music played by a full worship band and the pastor's message was very energetic! 


After church, Celeste invited the five volunteers to her family's home in Tatumbla, an area about 15 minutes outside of Tegucigalpa on one of the nearby mountains, which made for a scenic drive! Their house and neighborhood were beautiful. Celeste's husband, Armando, showed us around their land, pointing out some of the crops they were growing and some of the gorgeous flowers that Armando's father, an avid gardener, helped them to plant. Armando's father also planted eleven trees on the family plot, each one dedicated to one of his grandchildren. After gathering a few things at their house, we were invited to Armando's family's weekly get-together for lunch and fellowship, which they hold each Sunday. Because Armando, his parents, and his three sisters all live in the same neighborhood, they easily rotate who hosts the gathering each week. I was so impressed at how warm and welcoming everyone was! The Hondurans certainly set a new standard for "Southern Hospitality." We spent the afternoon eating, interacting with the kids, playing games, socializing, laughing (a LOT!) and taking a short drive up and down the mountain to see more of Tatumbla's gorgeous panoramic views. 


Back at the hotel, Leah and I were still so full from lunch this afternoon, that we decided to eat fresh mangos for dinner. We made a mess, but it was totally worth it! Bright and early tomorrow morning, we start our first day of work in the clinic. Celeste warned us that Mondays are usually pretty busy, so I know we'll have our work cut out for us!

Celeste and Armando's kids: Fernando, Sara, Joshua, and Samuel

Samuel was quite the ham. He played some guitar for us and even showed off his Michael Jackson dance moves!

A view from Tatumbla