It's our last scheduled day of clinic. There are so many things I don't want to forget. Like the large black gate where we enter into the school grounds or the wooden door with a door knocker where one of the sisters lets us into the main building. Or the concrete floors inside the school buildings. Or the smiling faces of the sisters and the patients. Or the beautiful flowing Spanish. Or the giggling Peruvian boys and girls that wanted pictures with all our younger missionaries. (Olivia kissed one of the boys on the cheek and the whole group of them swooned!) Or Lindsey and Charlie with their love of all the little babies. Or how this entire group worked endlessly to provide such excellent medical care to this medically deprived society.
Cathy's last patient Saturday evening was one she eventually sent to the E.R. She was a woman in her forties who had very high blood pressure and an irregular heartbeat. The woman said she was told before that she had this and was given meds but then a family member got sick and she never followed up with her doctor after that. She seemed angry at Olivia and Linda when they took her vitals and informed her she had high BP. I think she thought it should have been 'cured' with the medicine she had consumed from a previous prescription. I don't think they are educated much on chronic disease. One young 17 year old was told he had arthritis but nothing else. Charlie had to educate him that he actually had rheumatoid arthritis and what this meant and how to care for it and how to follow up with medical care. He broke down crying. It was heart wrenching.
Dr. Roberto saw a baby with multiple birth defects who was rasping trying to breathe and was obviously in heart failure. The baby also had previous medical care but the family wasn't educated on how to care for the baby at home. Dr. Roberto didn't think the baby would live long. The baby was also referred to the hospital.
Sending patients to the ER here is not like it is in the US. There are no doctors at the hospital or in the ER at night so the best time to have an emergency would be during the day! We are so fortunate in the US to have such great medical care. Here in Peru, if you don't have the money, they can deny you treatment.
We were hoping to be finished with clinic by 11 am today, but we finished closer to noon. We began packing the pharmacy up and taking inventory of our supplies. The medicine that would expire before the next missions trip was given to the sisters for their pharmacy. When we finished, we went back to the hostel to get ready for our boat ride and excursion into the city of Paita.
We rode the motos to get the ocean. One cannot visit South America without riding a moto. There are hundreds of motos flying down the streets all the time. There are hundreds more motos than there aree cars. Motos are motorcycles with a covered bench-wagons on their back. This was the main transportation for the city. Very few automobiles. Riding a moto is a unique experience. The motos move at about 30-40 miles per hour and you fear you will tip it over if you move so you just sit still. The motos took us down the ocean front and then back to the school.
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| Headed to Downtown Paita for Boat Ride and Dinner |
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| Catherine in Moto |
We saw sea lions on these shores basking in the sun. They were practically laying on top of each other. Occasionally, we could see them fighting. The boat ride was short and once we disembarked, we walked to an ocean side restaurant. Along the way, we saw what I understood to be the oldest basilica in Peru named Our Lady of Mercy. How fitting and fortunate for us to see this basilica in the Year of Mercy.
We divided into two groups of eight, boarded small boats and motored through the fishing boats to the far shores of Paita.
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| Dr. Bob, Catherine, Linda, Sr. Paul, Charlie and Miranda |
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| "Sea Wolves" of Paita, Peru |
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| Charlie and Miranda |
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| Dr. Bob |
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| Sr. Monica and the other Group |
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| Group Picture After the Boat Ride |
Our Last Dance in Peru
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| Cerveza Grande |
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| The Team on the North Side of the Table |
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| The Team on the South Side of the Table |
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| Linda...Look at That Large Shrimp! |
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| Emily and a Chicken Dish |
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| Sister Matilde and Ceviche (Raw Fish in a Lime Marinade) |
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| A Rice Dish |
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| Charlie and a Pasta Dish |
To the right of the altar was Jesus on the cross and to the left of the altar was a shrine for Mary. This shrine had a beautiful life size statue of Mary laden with real gold and silver. She wore a beautiful white gown accented with red and gold. Lindsey asked me why her throat was cut and for the first time, I noticed a horizontal slice in her throat at about the level of her Adam's apple. We asked sister and I later asked Charlie what happened to our lady. I will have to look the story up when I get home but this is what I gathered. Two statues of Mary were brought over by the Spanish when they first arrived. One was named Carmen and the other was named Mercedes. They wanted to move Mercedes to Lima, but she was too heavy for them to carry. So they decided to move Carmen. Carmen, however, was supposed to stay in Paita. She was not supposed to be moved. But they put her on a ship and began to transport her anyway. A pagan pirate named Drake attacked the ship and tried to destroy Carmen (Mary), but he was unsuccessful and the only mark he left on her was the slice he made with his sword across her throat. Frustrated, he threw her overboard. Mary washed up onto the shores of Paita, her true home, and that is where she remains today. People come from all over the world to see Mary and pray to her.
Most of the Holy Mass was short, except for the homily which was maybe a half hour to 45 minutes. I didn't understand very much of it. The rest of the Mass though was short. No singing between scriptures. Not a lot of singing at all actually. And the music was recorded during the few short songs that were played. The church was packed. Mass is every night at 7 pm. And every night I hear is packed. It felt good to take communion. No wine/blood was given and I don't recall any wine on the altar for the priest either. Every person gave what they could during collection. One soles or more, it didn't matter. And they celebrate Mass every night. And most of them have to ride the motos so there is cost there as well. God is good. He gives us what we need.
After Mass, we rode the motos back to Santa Clara and had dinner in the dining room. We had rotisserie Peruvian chicken (Pollo a la Brasa) and french fries and finished off the last of the delicious cake that Deb had bought for us a few days ago.
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| Pollo a la Brasa Cut in small pieces |
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| Sister Paula No, she did not drink all that wine and beer!!!!! |
Miranda and Charlie would be giving classes on the filtration systems before we would leave.
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