We anticipated that the number of people attending the clinic yesterday might be a little lower, but we were very surprised when we arrived and there were three people waiting. The smallest crowd we have seen waiting this week was about 50 and the biggest was around 300. The heat today, even early in the morning, was also the most oppressive we have experienced. Although the temperature was the same as other days, there was extreme humidity and absolutely no breeze; many of the clinic rooms felt like saunas.
The day started a little earlier for the dental team as we changed our logistics a little to allow them to begin treatments as soon as the set-up was complete. By that point the line had grown to 10 people and several needed dental work. We were up and running.
It would seem that slow and steady really does win the race. The line-up of 10 always stayed at 10 no matter how many we saw. By noon we had seen close to 300 patients.
Each community presented some uniqueness in terms of ailments. This area seemed to have the most diabetes and hypertension. Today we did an IV and stitches and attempted to educate people on the ill effects of constantly drinking pop instead of clean water. A steady diet of pop not only contributes to health issues like diabetes and hypertension, it is also the main reason their teeth experience so much decay.
As the day went on in the stifling heat, a small but consistent line persisted and by the end of the day we had seen 655 patients, 554 through medical and 101 through dental. This week we were fortunate to serve 3,114 patients. On our last night the Canadian contingent celebrated this success over dinner with everybody from the Guatemalan team and the host Nicaraguan team and the interpreters.
We extend a special thank you to all of our family, friends and FTC donors who have supported us. We will continue to post stories and pictures to this blog in the coming weeks and also provide updates on the next trip so please keep checking in.
The Children's Program Team:
Distribution Team
Dental Team
Medical Team
Pharmacy Team
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