We said farewell to the church and the community of Carapungo with tears in our eyes...truthfully, tears on our cheeks and a few sobs. Many of the patients we saw earlier this week came back with other family members to be seen, and they greeted us like loved familia. Hugs, smacking cheek kisses, huge smiles and such warmth. We saw sicker people today-- I think we had worked our way through all the chronic stomach aches and back pains the first three days to the kids with colds, rashes, allergies and parasites. Calvin and Dr. Bridget treated one family with six kids for parasitos--popped the medication in each mouth down the line to the baby. I saw a 94 yo woman with severe constipation, a man with hypertensive emergency who refused to go to the hospital-- I was worried he would have a stroke right in front of me--a woman with a kidney infection, and a case of pinworms in a baby. Every day has been so different in the types of problems we see-- it's completely unpredictable. We saw a lot more kids today than the first few days--they all give us a big hug and a kiss and a big smile before skipping out after consultation. You may think we do this for them, but in truth, we receive far more than we could ever give. We saw about 80 patients today, gave out as many medications as we could, finished early and packed up.
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| The Pastor and his wife preparing our Ecuadorian feast |
Pastor Fernando and his wife prepared a traditional Ecuadorian feast for our final lunch today--maize on the cob, hominy, cured pork chops (they tasted a little like ham).
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| Eating the feast! |
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| Our translators, cousins Daniella and Fernanda |
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| Pastor Fernando blows the Jewish Shofar for us |
At the end of the day, we were each given a tiny clay figure, representing the different regions of Ecuador, as goodbye gifts from the church. Although we are a secular medical mission, Camp Hope is supported by a Christian foundation, and we were serving within a church, so before we left, the pastor had us join hands, and he said a prayer first in Spanish, then in English. I wish I could remember the words well enough to share them with you, but I can tell you there was not one dry eye in that room when he finished. I do remember the part where he asked the angels to continue to watch over us. I rather liked that, as they have done a great job so far.
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Our dinner hosts, Jackie and Rita, with a fuzzy Dr. Choate
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This evening, we were further treated to more fabulous Ecuadorian food and salsa dancing lessons at Jackie's home. Jackie is the president of the foundation. Rita, the exec director of Camp Hope, and Mari, with foster son Ronald, joined in. Martin was picking my husband up at the airport, so he missed out. We had such an amazingly good time-- but what happens in Ecuador, stays in Ecuador (but I do have video's)!
Tomorrow and Sunday, we will be experiencing Ecuador outside of Quito-- traditional markets, the equator (we will go from spring to fall and back again), llamas, volcanos, lakes, waterfalls and cloud forests. The team has coalesced into an incredibly efficient, functional and fun group, and we are looking forward to our time together as new friends outside of our work. We will spend three days starting Monday with the special children at Camp Hope, with a very different approach from our rapid triage free clinic this past week. Thanks for sharing our journey--we love that!
www.camphopeecuador.org to learn more.
Cherie, I am so blessed to know you. What you are doing is God's work even though it's a medical mission, not a religious one. Your blog posts are inspirational...I don't know where you're finding the time to write. I read all your posts thus far in one sitting and I felt totally there with you. I was a little disoriented when I finished reading, actually, because you've painted such vivid pictures of your work, the environments, and the people. I was a bit startled to find myself back in my own little apartment, looking at a tiny screen. God bless you and those that are with you. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23 KJV
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