So sorry I was unable to update during my last few days in Honduras! After we got back from our brigada to Choluteca on Wednesday, we had two busy days at the clinic and I was in the midst of straightening things out for my departure on Saturday, so I did not have much down time!
Tuesday and Wednesday in Choluteca were two more busy brigada days! There were a LOT of patients, especially on Wednesday, but having all five of us volunteers present really helped to keep things moving. By the time Wednesday rolled around, word had gotten around town about our brigada clinic, so there was a huge crowd waiting for us when we arrived Wednesday morning. We started a number system to keep order among the patients, but had to stop giving out numbers at 10am because there were so many people and Víctor wanted to get out by noon. We slightly over estimated how many patients we could fit into those two hours, but Víctor, being the extremely patient and caring doctor that he is, saw every last one of the patients who had been waiting. We calculated that at least 400 patients must have passed through during our two and a half days in Choluteca.
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| Had a visit from a little friend while I was giving visual acuity tests outside during our Choluteca brigada! |
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| More paletas! |
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| Elisabeth, Christine, Leah and I in the car back to Teguc |
Once we made it back to Teguc on Wednesday, it really started to hit me that I only had a few days left in Honduras. I had just finished my fifth and final brigada and there were only two days of clinic work left. Thursday was a busy day, especially at the pre-clinic station, where I helped two technicians with patient's preliminary testing before they went in to visit with the doctors. The other volunteers observed doctors attending to patients, helped in archives, and observed some of the brigada surgeries. It was neat to work at pre-clinic that day because I recognized a few of the patients that came through from previous brigadas and it was nice to see that they were able to make it to Teguc to seek the extra treatment they required. After a solid day of work, Fabio, one of the technicians who works in the operating room, invited us to the dance class that he teaches at a gym a few times a week. It was similar to zumba, but definitely more intense and with awesome Latin American music! We had a great time, got a great work out, and probably shook things up a little bit for all of Fabio's regulars!
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| We got a kick out of the name and slogan of Fabio's gym! |
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| The girls and Fabio in the dance studio; one side of the room was open to outside, which made for an extra humid, sweaty work out |
On Friday, we headed to the clinic for our last day of work! I floated between nearly all of the volunteer positions, filling in wherever I was needed on a not-so-busy day. In addition to helping in the archives and in pre-clinic, I had the opportunity to observe Dr. Flores attend to some of his patients. I enjoyed watching how gentle and caring he was with each of his patients and he took the time to explain to me each of their cases and their diagnoses. The rest of the afternoon was pretty slow, so were able to spend some time with all of the wonderful friends we had made at the clinic during our last afternoon with them! After work, some of the technicians invited us to a pupusa dinner in honor of our last day. We had a great time telling jokes, fun stories, and reminiscing about the month we spent at the clinic.
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| Rolando being goofy during our goodbye dinner |
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| Christine, Elisabeth, Leah, Karen, Blair |
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| Christine, Elisabeth, Leah, Ninoska, Blair, Karen, Keyla |
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| Leah, Dr. Victor, Blair |
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| Blair, Leah, Dr. Victor, Elisabeth, Christine |
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| Blair, Leah, Fabio, Elisabeth, Christine |
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| Blair, Elisabeth, Alex, Leah, Christine, Ryan |
I made it safely back to the States on Saturday without any complications or delays. Some of the mini "readjustment" moments that I encountered upon my return were noticing how naked the landscape looked without a single mountain in sight, how coke tasted funny without cane sugar, how I didn't need to greet others or ask for things in Spanish, and how silent the roads sounded without a constant chorus of car horns. It is definitely strange to realize how much of a routine we had gotten into while living in Honduras and it will take some slight adjusting to get accustomed to the schema of my life in the States.
After all of the positive memories and experiences that I had during my program, I look forward to keeping up with the work of the ZOE Eye Clinic in Teguc and with the impact that Unite For Sight is making on a larger scale. I have also been inspired to continue my studies and work hard to pursue a career in optometry and to persevere in my learning of the Spanish language.
I do not know where to begin in order to try to describe how wonderful this experience has been. I learned so much about Honduran culture, the Spanish language, and eye care in an extremely unique and first-hand way. It was incredible to be a part of the important and impactful work that Unite For Sight does and to know that so many lives were touched because of my contribution. I built close relationships and connections with the individuals that worked along side of me, especially through our common goals and shared passion for assisting these needy patients. I feel so blessed to have been constantly surrounded by such genuinely loving and caring individuals during the entirety of my time in Honduras. Often times, the work was tiresome or even draining: working in the hot, humid weather, having to patiently explain the instructions for the visual acuity testing in five different ways, or announcing that Víctor could not see any more patients for the day and having to watch patients turn away. However, the truly inspiring moments - a patient's overjoyed reaction at the clarity of their vision with reading glasses, receiving blessings and heartfelt thanks, or performing a post-op visual acuity test for a cataract-excision patient and witnessing them score a 20/20 - made every single second of my time there worth it.
