Days 4 & 5: Mucho Gusto- Clinic Days

As anyone who works in healthcare knows, you can never fully prepare for what you might see.  During our two days of clinic helping the people of La Chureca, our team has seen some cases that the majority of doctors and dentists only read about.

Triage

 From asthma to staph infections, from dental cleanings to root canals, we were constantly learning and helping patients with medicine and education.  For our clinic days, we divided our team into three triages, each with three members and one translator.  One individual was in optometry, two students ran the pharmacy, and two were in dentistry.  Our roles, however, constantly extended beyond our small stations when it came to the constant attention given to the children and people of the area. 




Children are often most susceptible to illness, and given the poor living conditions in an operational garbage dump, the children sufffered from respiratory infections from the dust and smoke, intestinal problems from malnutrition, and a variety of other ailments due to living in extreme poverty.  The most memorable case was that of a young baby who arrived two months early and was only 3 weeks old when we met him.  In the developed world, this baby would have remained in a hospital for a minuimum of 2 weeks.  Being exposed to so many potential infections and bacteria and the lack of knowledge for caring for a premature baby, the potential for serious illness is astronomical.

There was much more diversity in cases when it comes to the adults.  Diseases such as HIV, parasitic infections, asthma, and ptygerium, are serious enough if just one disease is infecting a patient.  However, these patients exhibited the symptoms for as many as all of them.  One woman, for example, weighing eighty pounds entered the clinic a day after being released from a one month long hospital visit.  After being treated for pneumonia, she entered the clinic with a multitude of symptoms and disease of which she was unaware.  Some of these include tuberculosis, lice, parasites, problems in eyesight, and the doctor suspected HIV; however, the woman refused to be tested because of the cultural stigma attached to the disease or her emotional unpreparedness in handling such news.  Not only did this woman leave with an armful of medicine, but she also left with a smile and hope in the form of new eye and sun glasses that allowed her to see the world more vividly.  That is truly an inspiration and testament to the human spirit.

This human spirit was found throughout the entirety of our two clinic days.  It is truly amazing to see the ability of the individuals of La Chureca to persevere through the disease, poverty, smoke, and constant struggle to survive in such a corrupt political and social environment.  The same survival instinct, however, both literally and figuratively blinds them from their medical situation.  Many of the patients seen believed their eye sight was perfectly adequate to function, but in actuality their eyesight would not be considered functioning in a developed nation.  The pure joy, appreciation, and sense of hope was no better depicted in the faces of these individuals when they received their much needed glasses.  While it is difficult to treat these patients given our limited means, at minimum we have given these individuals the attention and sense of dignity they have been deprived of due to their stigmatized social conditions. 
Dentistry was full of cleanings, fillings, and extractions.  Compared to last year, the condition of the teeth had changed drastically for the better.  Cleanliness of the teeth proved to be less of a problem, and it was very evident that the people of La Chureca were gradually becoming more educated in the ways of dental hygiene.  Most individuals came in need of fillings and tooth extractions due to the lack of dental care practiced in the past.  One of the greatest parts about being in dentistry is the production of tangible results after pulling a tooth causing great pain for the individual, or filling a hole in the front of an individual's  tooth, for example.  Overall, dentistry was a great success, and we were able to use even more instruments in order to produce both resin and amalgam fillings.

Being Pensive with Brad Corrigan.

Not only did we bond with the local people of Nicaragua, but we were also able to develop as a team.  Our fourth night was spent reflecting and enjoying a game of mafia.  In celebration of Mark's 21st birthday, we went to out to dinner at a local restaurant.  While dining, we were approached by a man from Colorado who coincidentally has spent much time in La Chureca.  After discussing with him for a while, we came to find out that this man was Brad Corrigan, a member of Dispatch and founder of Love Light & Melody, a non profit organization committed to fighting extreme poverty in the trash dumps of Managua, Nicaragua.  We share and embrace his same concept in conquering the social injustices of the world:

"When you walk with someone you're saying to them, 'I am with you.' We can walk in hell and not have fear."

I encourage you all to check out his website to gain greater insight into the community we are working in, and the strides being made to help their condition:  Love Light & Melody 

Overall, the past two days have been extremely eye opening, and allowed us to recognize the responsibility we have to help others due to our privileged situations. The people of Nicaragua could just as easily been born into the same social and economic conditions that we were born into. Thus, we move forward with anticipation for a day with los ninos of La Chureca.