My summer of Medical clinics kicked off with Woodlawn Christian Church. I spent two afternoons with Nancy the Occupational Therapist and her assistants. This was our first OT clinic and I wasn't real sure what to expect. Let me just say that I was wowed. Those two afternoons we saw children with Cerebal Palsy(minor to really bad), club feet, and one little girl that was so crippled, neglected, and malnourished that it just broke your heart. Each child was assessed and dianosed. Most of the patients had been recieving therapy and good care. You could tell that they were loved and well cared for. After the assessment and diagnosis, Nancy would go through her toy bag, and would begin working with each child to see if they were age appropriate in thier coordination, checking thier reflexes, loving on them, and praising the parents for a job well done. One little girl was brought in by her grandmother. She was about one year old, about 28 pounds, had a mop of curly black hair and went by the name "princessa". She lived with her grandmother, as the little girl's father was dead. Princessa had been born with a blood cot in her brain, she didn't have very good muscle movement, couldn't hold her head up very well, and she had a lazy eye. But boy was she loved! Her grandmother would clap her hands and start singing the song " La Cucaracha" and this little girl was laugh and giggle and make this hissing noise. It was adorable. The grandmother was so good with her. Nancy showed her how to do exercises with her, and by just talking to her on the opposite side of her lazy eye would force "Princessa" to to use her lazy eye muscles more and strengthen her neck muscles as well.
The following two weeks I had medical/dental clinics with Harris Praire Church and the Dr. Veal dental team. Harris Praire's first stop was to Pastor Nico's church where we saw about 250 patients for medical/dental. On the second day we visited a rural community called "Cinco" and treated about 90 patients. On our third day of clinic we visited a Haitian church plant in the downtown Santiago area. We saw about 180 patients that day. It really was a great day there. We were introduced to the Pastor of the church (about 50 people)and learned that by having a medical/dental clinic we were really putting the church on the map. Every person who walked through the door of that church left knowing about service times, and had a chance to meet the Pastor of the church. The church was located in the business district, and was extremely busy all the time. It's hard to say how many people in the church, or who visited the clinic were there as refugees. It was a good feeling to know that we were a small of what God is doing for the Haitian commiunity in downtown Santiago.
Dr. V
eal's dental team was a part of our basketball camp week. In 2 1/2 days of dental clinic we saw about 150 patients. The dentists were there to pull teeth, and they also did some cleanings as well. There really are few of us who enjoy going to the dentist...I am one of them. As I was watching our dentists pull teeth, I was thinking about the amount of faith it takes for those people to get into that chair. In the states you have xrays, they speak your language, and it's a great comfort to know that you know exactly whats going on all the time. That's not true here in one of these clinics. Sure we have Spanish and Creole translators...but it takes a lot of gumption and pain to blindly put your trust in a strangers hands. Know what I mean? Some of these patients teeth were so bad that they spent hours getting them out. The other day Eric and I were walking to a friends house to have dinner. One of our Haitian construction workers named Fran stopped me and smiled. He said "Thanks again for helping me get rid of this tooth. I feel like I have a new life without the pain I was in." The picture above...that's Felix in the chair, and that's me holding his tooth. Of course I had nothing to do with it! I mean I hear the sounds of those tendons breaking and I feel faint! Literally. One of the dentists that was working asked me to say a prayer for a young guy who was in the chair getting his tooth pulled, he was shaking like a leaf. So I am standing there at the head of the dental chair trying to pray and all I can hear is the sound of tendons breaking. I had to quickly walk before I vomited on the patient!
eal's dental team was a part of our basketball camp week. In 2 1/2 days of dental clinic we saw about 150 patients. The dentists were there to pull teeth, and they also did some cleanings as well. There really are few of us who enjoy going to the dentist...I am one of them. As I was watching our dentists pull teeth, I was thinking about the amount of faith it takes for those people to get into that chair. In the states you have xrays, they speak your language, and it's a great comfort to know that you know exactly whats going on all the time. That's not true here in one of these clinics. Sure we have Spanish and Creole translators...but it takes a lot of gumption and pain to blindly put your trust in a strangers hands. Know what I mean? Some of these patients teeth were so bad that they spent hours getting them out. The other day Eric and I were walking to a friends house to have dinner. One of our Haitian construction workers named Fran stopped me and smiled. He said "Thanks again for helping me get rid of this tooth. I feel like I have a new life without the pain I was in." The picture above...that's Felix in the chair, and that's me holding his tooth. Of course I had nothing to do with it! I mean I hear the sounds of those tendons breaking and I feel faint! Literally. One of the dentists that was working asked me to say a prayer for a young guy who was in the chair getting his tooth pulled, he was shaking like a leaf. So I am standing there at the head of the dental chair trying to pray and all I can hear is the sound of tendons breaking. I had to quickly walk before I vomited on the patient!It's been great to walk around our community here and recognize the people that I saw in the OT and dental clinic. I see the moms and ask how their kiddos are doing. They smile and say that they are well and so grateful for the advice they recieved. I see the folks from the dental clinic and ask them if they are having any pain...big grins light up their faces! I love it that I had even a small part in that!!
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