L.A.M.A: Los Amigos Medical Aide

This week marked the third mission trip for the LAMA group.  The group consists of 46 people: doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacist and several other helping hands.  A week before the group arrived tickets were distributed throughout the neighborhoods in Chimbote.  4,000 people received tickets, the ticket gave them the opportunity to come get a check up and receive medical attention for any problem they may have at the time.  In the span of 5 days approximately 3500 people received care.  Needless to say it was a chaotic week. 

I spent the week translating for one of the doctors, Dr. Lisa Bean, a 28 year old gynecologist from Pensacola FL, to be specific…  Let me tell you that I was translating about feminine issues that I didn’t even know how to describe in English- which lead to a few fits of laughter between Doc Bean and I. 

(This is me and Bean- i am sporting the ever so stylish red 2009 uniform shirt for the 5th day in a row...)

The week ended and I don’t know if I have ever been so exhausted.  Between the constant switching from Spanish to English, the constant flow of patients and the desperation of their cases made for a draining week.  I’ll try and paint the picture as best as I can.  The group was set up in a church that is connected to a clinic called Posta Santa Anna.  All of the LAMA volunteers were stationed in the actual church itself.  The day started at 8 am but the line outside the church began as early as 4 am, hundreds of Peruvians securing there time with the Gringo doctors.  Upon entering each person was weighed, got their blood pressure taken and received pill for parasites.  Then they waited… after waiting they were sent to triage with the nurses. There were ten nursing stations that consisted of a school desk, nurse, translator and patient.  The nurses got a general idea of what the patient needed, gave them vitamins, and sent them to the doctor they saw fit.  Now more waiting… this time outside of the doctors “offices.” There were 7 make shift wooden offices lining the church walls- each contained a light, an exam table, a desk (the kind you use in grade school), three chairs and a “door” that was actually a curtain.  Let me remind you that this is all inside of a church, a very small church.  Let me also remind you that when I refer to patients waiting for a doctor they are indeed waiting but it is not just the patient- they are waiting with their whole family- women and children mostly (never in my life have I seen so many nursing mothers- if there was a baby it was nursing).  The set up was a ZOO!  But it was as effective as it could be with the amount of people being seen. 

(this is the "office" as you can see the sanitation is well- nonexistent.)

The minute Dr. Bean saw her first patient of the day marked the last calm minute of the day.  Women entered her office, sat down and immediately starting spilling their problems.  After addressing their ailments that the nurses wrote down on their “chart” (aka half a sheet of loose leaf paper) they often came up with several new “illnesses” as the appointment progressed.  This aspect of the experience was frustrating because while you are working so hard to help the people in need- the people who literally have no access to medical care there was a great majority of people that were taking advantage of this opportunity.   Every woman came in complaining of either kidney, ovary, uterus, or liver pain… however when Dr. Bean had me ask them to point to where their pain was they really did not know where those specific body parts were located.  What they wanted was an ultrasound and any medicine they could get their hands on.  They were often very insistent and difficult about it.  We’d send them to get their ultrasound and sure enough the ultrasound tech would come back and they’d be healthy as a horse…   At first I wanted to sympathize with these women but after the first day and the repetition of the “problems” they had we had to work with our guard up so we weren’t sending these people home with medicine they didn’t actually need.  On another hand there were many women that actually did need help.  The most common problem these women had were infections, urinary and bacterial.  These infections are so frequent because of the extreme lack of sanitation and also lack of hydration.  If anyone has a yeast infection or UTI I’m positive that I’d been able to diagnose it after this week…  The second most common diagnosis was pregnancy.  Birth control of any kind here is uncommon- practically inexistent here.  The majority of the women who came into the office and were worried about pregnancies already had several children (typically in the room with them).  One woman we saw had a chart that said she thought she might be pregnant- well she sure was- no question about it, she was 6 months pregnant (and already had 4 kids under the age of 10).  It’s amazing how many resources these people lack.  The most basic sex education could help the population immensely- like Fr. Jack has reiterated education is the best way to help these people out of their current situation.  Another woman came in the office 36 weeks pregnant- she was 14.  Shortly after she came in another young woman at the age of 17 came in, pregnant with her second child, her first was just a year and a half.  It was hard seeing woman after woman come in with their arms full of children and their pockets completely empty.  These women are among the poorest of the poor.  They live in one room homes made out of estera (woven straw walls), dirt floors, and no plumbing.  Sanitation is obsolete and nutrition is scarce.  These families keep growing and they have no means to support themselves.  Their daily income is less than 2 dollars a day, that can barely cover one person let alone a whole family.

(this is a typical home this dirt floor, straw wall covered in a tarp, i took the photo from the "kitchen" a burner on a table, and the precious children you see in the pic all share this one bed- with their parents) BUT still manage to have something to smile about.

This week I was asked to be a madrina on four occasions.  Madrina is a godmother.  It is a little different than being a godmother in the states- it is more of a financial sponsor.  This was made very clear seeing as of the 4 women who asked me to be madrina none of them knew my name.  These women were just so desperate for a means to provide to their children.  Many of the women were single, husband have the tendency to leave when the goin gets tough.  It was a week of heartbreaking cases, and again a week of great appreciation for all the blessings in my life that I never realized I took for granted.