Now that the storms have passed and we have found a little bit of time, we are finally able to update the blog. The trip into Guaimaca went relatively smoothly...the most hectic part was getting all of our people and bags check in at LAX. Upon arrival in Tegucigalpa via San Salvador, we were picked up by an school bus owned by the local Parish for the 2 hour drive to Guaimaca. We first stopped at a shopping mall, but after seeing Pizza Hut, Subway, Burger King, and a whole host of American eateries in the food court, we opted to get back on the bus and drive to a real authentic Honuran restaurant further out of the city. The food was excellent...bean and cheese dip served in clay pots heated by coals, steak, sausage, rice, vegetables, and beer-soda, all for around 13 bucks each, which was an amazing deal given the amount of food we got.
We arrived in Guaimaca at around 4pm, and worked hard to set up the clinic in time for Church at 7. We ran countless air and power lines, tested our hodgepodge of equipment, and fixed or jerry-rigged enough equipment for 5 functional chairs, each with air, water, a handpiece attachment, and marginally-functional suction. At 7pm we attended mass, and were introduced by the local Priest, an American named Craig who has been here in Guaimaca for the past 7 years, and has helped out the people here not only spiritually, but by brining in American doctors and densits like ourselves. His sermon, in Spanish, was in part about community, and how the cross is both vertical (representing the relationship with God) AND horizontal (representing the members´relationship with each other). Afterwards, we came by our dorms to welcome us, and he really made us feel at home. We had an interesting converstation about the transition he and his parish made coming down here, and how the town has improved since. One of the sisters, Maria, also speaks English, and happens to also be a nurse practitioner from Colombia, and she has been very warm and helpful to us as well. The people here are very poor, and some walk 3 or 4 hours to receive treatment. It makes us a little sad and appreciateive of what we have, but it feels really good to be able to help them.
In clinic, the way we organize things is for each of the 4 Seniors to be assigned to a chair, and a doctor at the 5th. The second years act as assistants, and jump in to do whatever procedures we are qualified for. The two other dentists float around giving advice and assistance wherever necessary. This has worked great so far, and as Ryan wrote, we saw around 25 patients on the first day (Monday) alone! The sisters have been very impressed with and grateful our efforts and efficiency so far. However, we had to turn 7 or 8 people away the first day, and in our meeting afterwards we all expressed our desire to not have to turn away that many people.
Monday night there was a huge thunderstorm that started just as we were winding down clinic...the thunder sounded like it was right on top of us, and occured almost simultaneously with the lightning. We were all startled, but the Hondurans acted like it was no big deal at all. It´s very strange when it´s pouring rain yet 80 degrees outside. At one point the power went out and we were in total darkness, but it came back on surprisingly fast, about 20 minutes later. We went to the local market to get snacks and drinks for the evening, and played cards until an early bedtime.
On Tuesday, the clinic ran much more smoothly. We organized our supplies better, and communicated more to help each other work more efficiently. We treated a smaller number of patients, but much more involved cases, and most of the second years got to do preps or extractions as well. We treated a large proportion of children, mostly boys, because the girls have exams in school this week. Even the littlest kids (5 or 6) are pretty tough and don´t complain much in the chair, even with our loud equipment and big needles.
Tuesday night after dinner we went out for ice cream, and spent a while talking with some kids who were hanging around outside. Some of us played dominos, and others sat around and talked, read, etc. We were all pretty relaxed, and went to bed early again, since we start clinic early each morning.
Today, Wednesday, we are halfway through the day, and after work this evening we are either going to play soccer with the locals or go on a tour of the town (farm, school, etc) with Sister Maria. More updates to follow whenever possible. Internet is spotty and time is even spottier, haha.
Ryan will add some pictures too. Over and out -JD
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