Last week we have a few medical clinics, 2 of which were held in San Andres, Quiche. This was a special privilege as we were able to serve in the community where Stephanie and Peniel run Sion. We held the clinic at their ministry site and it was excellent to serve with them again! Peniel and Stephanie have been working in San Andres, and remote villages in Quiche to provide quality care for women during pregnancy, and for undernourished children. As before, roads on the way in were rougher than expected. Added to some failing breaks failing on the mountain added to the excitement!
We had a day and a half of clinic as the drive home was 5 hours! In this time we saw 70 people. The individuals we saw in this area had a variety of needs, but most were quite a bit more complex than what we encountered earlier in the week in El Ceylan, where nearly everyone had respiratory or stomach illnesses. A few folks just needed some creative innovation such as the invention of mepilex support insoles– shoes with better support thanks to a few extra bandages and some ingenuity!
One major difference between these clinics was the language barrier– although nearly out entire team was functional in Spanish, each provider and my intake station needed our own translators into Quiche, the local Mayan language. Only about 20% of our population this clinic knew enough Spanish to get by without, but many of these felt more comfortable with a translator to clarify. Jeremiah pegged it when he said if felt like the early years in Guatemala when we were all helpless without a translator.
The great limitation of 1 day medical clinics lies in chronic illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes. These require ongoing care, not just one medical encounter. However it was so encouraging that such expert advice was given concerning such chronic illnesses, how to control them, and where they could seek continuing resources after our clinic left. This was possible through diagnostic tools such as portable EKG’s and ultrasounds and more specifically the expertise to use them wisely. This coupled with Peniel and Stephanie’s knowledge of local resources provided many individuals with a solid grasp on their condition and where to go now. Additionally, Sion added a few new mothers who will receive ongoing prenatal care with them in the coming months, and 2 little boys with special needs were connected to further resources.
