Here we go...

We made it to Paita! Miranda and I have been awake for about 40 hours straight with a couple of hours of dozing off on the flight  to Piura. Neither one of us can sleep on planes. We were exhausted but seeing the Sisters again gave us our second wind! They are so full of energy,  enthusiasm and love the community they serve.

We arrived at St. Clare, had a quick snack, checked in into our hostel and got to work!  We thought through our patient flow as we would have one more provider than our last mission. We will also have a deworming and eye glass clinic in addition to seeing patients. We will be handing out toothbrushes, floss, paste, cloth diapers and formula for infants. Within a few hours, our team had set up our "flow" with a registration area, seating arrangements, nurses stations, exam rooms and opened multiple boxes of medications and set up the pharmacy. We headed down for a delicious chicken dinner and  after bagged hundred of bags with vitamins, deworming and pain medication...all before 8pm!



Setting up Clinic



Volunteer Students from St. Clare School

Children Helping to Carry Chairs Down Long Stairwell



Lindsey trying on Donated Glasses

 

Setting up Pharmacy

Adding Screens to Make Areas Private
 

Setting Up Dental Area

 

Miranda

Catherine just keeps smiling as she's counting!

Lindsey, Lisa, and Olivia doing a fun, family activity

Tomorrow, will be our first day of clinic. We will show up with our stethoscopes and otoscopes in hand and all in our matching t-shirts!! But most importantly, we will show up with serving hearts full of gratitude. Our shirts remind us that:


"Service is what prayer looks like when it gets up off its knees and walks around the world."
-Michael  Graham, SJ

God wanted us to help and serve one another. The good news? You don't have to travel to a different continent or wear a matching t-shirt to do it!! You can do it in your own church, your neighborhood, town or city. You can serve anywhere and anyone. You just have to show up with a serving and grateful heart.

Here we go...

God Bless!

Submitted by Charlie Spindt