Francis Seivert greets assessment team in Montaña de la Flor

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Clinic Day 2

Hola!
Today was a very hot, sunny day. Although it was very warm it did not stop the hard work. The nurses treated around 300 people and sent about 138 to the doctors. Only the truly ill went to the doctors. Most of the people we saw only needed daily vitamins, and deworming medications.
Something that impresses us is the relationship between mothers. A mother would hand her child to another family, leave, and return to find their child taken care of by the other mother. The women seem to care for all of the children no matter whose family they belong to.
Another thing that surprised us was how much a toothbrush is worth to a family. When we pull out the toothbrushes, the people swarm!! A toothbrush here costs $2.50 and a visit to the doctor only costs 10 cents. Now compare that to the US, where a doctors visit would cost around $25.
The dentists today served 56 patients, and pulled 108 teeth. The last 5 teeth were pulled by the light of a head lamp due to the lack of light in the dentist room. We made many people happy by removing teeth that have been bothering them for some time.  They didn't enjoy having the teeth removed but they knew that they would not have a tooth ache next week.
The dentists and assistants have the best clinic on the mission.  We have two young translators that are so very caring with our patients and helpful, Roberto and Regina Sosa.  Brother and sister.  They are very dedicated to their fellow Hondurans.  Our space is perfect for our needs.  Walls of windows on two sides
 so lots of natural light.  The space faces just the right direction so the wind was not blasting through. We have the chicken pen just outside our door so we are well entertained.
We are ready for another busy day tomorrow. 
All the patients have shown amazing gratitude and patients for our care.
We look forward to the patients coming tomorrow, and we cannot wait to see what is in store for us over the next three days of clinic.

1 comment:

  1. Sounds like the clinic is helping a great deal of people. I'm amazed at the disparity between the cost of a toothbrush and the cost of a doctor's visit. Weather has been nice here in Omaha, in the 50's today and 60's tomorrow. Hope all is well. Love ya mom.

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