Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Hard to believe today is “hump day”.  Only two clinic days left.

The day started like the ones before, dogs, chickens, packing our lunches and breakfast.  Our travels will take us to La Victoria, Santa Cruz de Yojoa.

We arrived at the school only to be greeted by over 200 community members.  They were sitting on chairs as if they were waiting for some sort of entertainment to start.

As with every location, there was more than enough help carrying our equipment into the designated school rooms.  I saw young children helping carry boxes that probably weighted as much as they did. Once we were set up the businesses of the day started.  WOW, busy was an understatement!

I had the privilege of working in the farmacia today.  I was told it usually starts off slow but the afternoons can get a little crazy.  Well, let me tell ya’, the first 15 minutes were slow but from then on we had 4-5 people standing waiting for their prescriptions.  At one point we asked people to have a seat and we would call them when their meds were ready.

How did the pharmacy work and what was my job?  Patients would come into the room and be seen by one of four doctors.  Blood pressures were taken prior to them coming to see the doctors.  The doctors then make a diagnosis, prescribe the needed meds and finally the patient brings their script to the pharmacy.  I would help pull the meds which were double checked by Vivian before given to the patient.  After the meds and instructions are given to the patient, I get the paperwork and must record each drug on supply list which ultimately gets entered into the computer.  These numbers are then calculated and used as reference as to what illnesses were diagnosed and what meds were given out.

Tonight when we get back to the Mission House we will need to pack more meds.  The most requested are adult and child vitamins, Advil, and Ibuprofen.

We saw approx 240 people today.  Sadly, 36 children were diagnosed with malnutrition.  There is a formula the nurse (Rosa) uses to identify these children.  It has to do with age, height and weight.  Rosa then consults with the mother  letting her know what is available at  the Nutrition Center  and how Healthy Ninos can help her child.  Side note: Healthy Ninos has been to these communities before so most people are familiar with the resources available to them.

Signing off for another day.  Thanking God for safety and health every day.  We have had a few team members not feeling well so we keep pushing the water to keep hydrated.