Rained out!
We headed to Alito Camp today, where the population of the camp is about 20,000. Once again we set up clinic under some lovely mango trees, but knew that towards the end of the day we would get the sun. I started prespiring right away as I began to see patients. The number of people awaiting our arrival was small, but grew quickly as people heard word and came in from working in the fields.
The flies were the worst ever! I was constanly brushing them away and they were dive bombing my eyes and ears. I kept my mouth closed when not speaking so as not to inhale one. Some of the people seemed to bring in swarms with them. The mangoes are ripening nicely and children seem to be sticky with the juice, attracting even more flies. The heat and flies made for a tiring day, even before lunch.
Today I was able to keep my emotions in check, however, it really does hit you in the gut to see people crawling into your tent for care. They are people who are disabled or disfigured and have no alternative way to get around. One man I saw said that he had suffered from an accident and injured his back, his left leg was left useless. He had no children or family to help care for him. I did not begin to see the sick babies until after lunch, and then I got so many children with severe malnutrition and anemia. I always used to think that Kwashiorkor was in nursing text books to show something that had been eradicated. If you could see these babies with pencil thin arms and legs, with rapid breathing, feet puffy with edema, and a far away look in their eyes, you would be ashamed and outraged that this is being allowed to happen in 2006, with the knowledge that there is more than enough food in the world to feed everyone.
We knew that we would once again not be able to see everyone who had come seeking medical help, but we were not expecting our day to be cut short by a terrific down pour with much thunder and lightning. This was the kind of rain that drenches in less than 5 seconds. After the first round of storm we thought that we should attempt to break camp/clinic during the lull and I was soaked by round two. I have been in tropical storms before, and we are almost over the equator here, but here the temperatures cool down probably 20 degrees from this cold rain. This was like a camping trip gone bad. Everything and everyone soaked and needing to be thrown in the vans for the long drive home. Not even all the people we were able to see were able to receive their medications, as the pharmacy is usually the first disrupted by storms. So what was the challenge of your day?
We headed to Alito Camp today, where the population of the camp is about 20,000. Once again we set up clinic under some lovely mango trees, but knew that towards the end of the day we would get the sun. I started prespiring right away as I began to see patients. The number of people awaiting our arrival was small, but grew quickly as people heard word and came in from working in the fields.
The flies were the worst ever! I was constanly brushing them away and they were dive bombing my eyes and ears. I kept my mouth closed when not speaking so as not to inhale one. Some of the people seemed to bring in swarms with them. The mangoes are ripening nicely and children seem to be sticky with the juice, attracting even more flies. The heat and flies made for a tiring day, even before lunch.
Today I was able to keep my emotions in check, however, it really does hit you in the gut to see people crawling into your tent for care. They are people who are disabled or disfigured and have no alternative way to get around. One man I saw said that he had suffered from an accident and injured his back, his left leg was left useless. He had no children or family to help care for him. I did not begin to see the sick babies until after lunch, and then I got so many children with severe malnutrition and anemia. I always used to think that Kwashiorkor was in nursing text books to show something that had been eradicated. If you could see these babies with pencil thin arms and legs, with rapid breathing, feet puffy with edema, and a far away look in their eyes, you would be ashamed and outraged that this is being allowed to happen in 2006, with the knowledge that there is more than enough food in the world to feed everyone.
We knew that we would once again not be able to see everyone who had come seeking medical help, but we were not expecting our day to be cut short by a terrific down pour with much thunder and lightning. This was the kind of rain that drenches in less than 5 seconds. After the first round of storm we thought that we should attempt to break camp/clinic during the lull and I was soaked by round two. I have been in tropical storms before, and we are almost over the equator here, but here the temperatures cool down probably 20 degrees from this cold rain. This was like a camping trip gone bad. Everything and everyone soaked and needing to be thrown in the vans for the long drive home. Not even all the people we were able to see were able to receive their medications, as the pharmacy is usually the first disrupted by storms. So what was the challenge of your day?
posted by BrendaTravels | 8:23 AM
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