Connecting Hearts and Hands with Peru: First Day of Clinic

Today was our first clinic day at the St. Paul's misión médica and what a great day it was! After our wonderfully prepared breakfast we gathered upstairs for our debriefing and station working. I began working in patient intake where during recess at the school girls of 15 years old came in and stared at Miranda and I. We tried to talk to them about One direction and other music icons but our Spanish was broken and we understood more when they talked to us. One girl spoke English fairly well and said "your eyes colored" they were very intrigued with my green eyes. It's times like these when I wish my spoken Spanish was better! There was another family with 5 small children. The girls continuously asked Miranda and I what our names were, how many siblings we had, what our age was, and to talk to them in English. It was great working in registration and getting to know many of the children.

After lunch, I was able to work the nursing station with Nurse Linda and together we were able to do vitals, patient history, and background information. We worked from 8am until 7:30 pm and saw a total of 122 patients today and most were young children, mothers, or older women. There was one young boy who was embarrassed to talk to me about his painful urination. I felt sympathy as his face became redder and redder. Linda was able to hold the world's cutest baby while we tried to take its weight and determine his symptoms. Linda and I worked hand in hand and it was almost like we could read each other's minds! One woman came in with several complaints was one she called "turkey wobble" for her droopy triceps. We had many laughs which made our jobs that much more exciting. It was a long but rewarding day. It's amazing how God's grace works through people and His Love and Mercy is spread to everyone. It's truly a humbling experience.

Please pray that the rest of our week goes smooth and well. ¡Cíao!