Fixing our new home

November 8, 2010:

Today Rachel, Lauren, and I worked at Km 8. We cleaned the three bedrooms: swept, dusted, and made sure the beds were cleaned. We were told that the new doctor lady was arriving this week. I’m not sure when that day will be. But I’m very excited for her arrival.

Our new home has no running water, one toilet, no shade, lots of dirt… there is a lot of work to do. It will not be easy, but we will do our best to improve our new home. The only thing holding us back is the money, of course. However, I have complete trust in God that He will provide.

Sadly, Rachel wasn’t feeling her best. And things only got worse towards the evening. On our way home she threw up. After thinking about it, we believe it was the bad mango that caused her to feel sick. Now we pray that this will pass, that she will regain her strength, and that our Rachel may return.

So what I do know:

*Our new mission is to clean up our new home and get it get ready for us to live in it.

*This coming Sunday we will start a medical campaign. Sun-Fri.

November 9, 2010:

Tuesday. Because Rachel wasn’t feeling well, it was only Lauren and I who went and worked at Km 8 with the chicos. While the guys worked hard making frames for the walls and doors, Lauren and I sawed planks of wood. These planks would then be hammered onto the frames to make the walls. For an hour we sawed about 15 planks.

We then went and had lunch at a restaurant nearby. We were served horse soup. The soup itself was very tasty, but the horse was not. We then had a very delicious dish made of: rice, tomatoes, potatoes, and onions. The dish is called Lomo. Loved it J It was a very nice and clean restaurant.

As soon as we finished lunch we headed back and started working again. This time Luaren and I had a technique figured out. We worked much faster and more efficient. We sawed about 90 boards in 3 hours! Of course towards the end of the day I could feel my arms and back weakening. When we finished working we headed towards to Pucallpa. Lauren and I used the Internet while the chicos picked up supplies for the next day. An hour later we were on the road back home.

It was a good workday. I truly feel like I’ve accomplished a lot.

November 10, 2010:

Wednesday. This time it was us three girls back at it again. Thankfully Rachel was feeling much better. Today we did less sawing and more nailing. Our first job in the morning was to finish the shower. Lucho, Lauren, and I worked on it for about two hours. Our new shower is pretty much a small black box “La cajita negrita.” The wall frames are made of wood and wrapped around the frame is a thick black tarp. The floor is made of wood and that’s it. The plan is to bring in a bucket of water and shower with that. Or we might later work on rigging the solar shower that Rachel has. Like I said our new home has a lot of work that needs to be done. But its turning out really good and we all have great ideas for improvement.

I really like this work. It feels so fulfilling because I will be living inside of the walls that my hands have been building.

After the shower was done we did some cleaning. The Doctor then stopped by and brought us lunch. We ate, rested, read a little, and then headed back to work. This time we all worked really hard in finishing the three rooms. Two teams worked on nailing the planks to make the walls. All I have to say is that my partner Daniel is a machine. I wish I could have recorded him working. He worked so fast and well. A third team worked on finishing the doors and a fourth team worked on the electrical wiring of the rooms.

Another reason I really like this work is because I’m learning a lot of new things. Construction of houses has always interested me and now I can actually learn and do it. Of course I can’t really build a house in the USA with the skills I’ve learned here. Houses here are much more simpler and faster to make. But at least I have learned the basics.

We had another long day of work. But our hard work paid of. We were able to finish the three rooms! It felt so good.

Elvita meets Yerbas

November 06, 2010:

Yerbas and Elvita. This Saturday instead of our usual church service we had a special program set up. My church, Yerbas Buenas, had invited the church members of Santa Elvita to join us for the whole day. As we pulled in it was so awesome to see all of our benches filled with members. I even noticed some new faces J We first started with some hymns and shaking of hands. We then split into our groups and started Sabbath school. Jenessa, Hanna, Rachel, and Rebecca led out the children’s class. I led out the youth’s class and Doc led out the adults class. This week we studied about David and Bathsheba and we discussed the difference between Urias and King David.

Once we were finished with Sabbath school we went straight to the church service. We sang some hymns, picked up offering, had special music, and so on. At the time of special music there were three groups that sang. First us SM’s sang “How deep the Father’s Love for Us,” the children of Elvita sang a hymn with two part harmony, and we had a duet from Yerbas. We then listened to Hermana Welfa as she gave the sermon.

Once church was done we all got together and had my first Peruvian potluck. Our house prepared pasta and tea. Others family brought food like rice, beans, chicken, and juanes. We all sat outside and enjoyed sharing our food. Once we were all done eating we went back inside the church and watched Gifted Hands in Spanish. After the movie we started JA (Adventist Youth). However, it wasn’t only the youth, the whole church participated. We sang, played, games, and listened to a small message from the Doc.

It was a very wonderful Sabbath, but I must admit it was a bit tiring.

When we got home I had the Doc take a look at some of my cuts and manchas (spots). I was told that I have a type of fungal infection on my face that’s causing the manchas and staph which is why I have infected wounds. So after relieving some puss from one of my cuts he told me to take antibiotics and ibuprofen. I can now truly relate with the people that I help in the medical campaigns. Ha ha And no worries, I´m doing very well and I´m in good hands.

Later that evening, Rebecca, Jonathan, and I accompanied Jenessa to a Quincenera she was invited to. I had my expectations of what it could be. I don’t know why I even bothered ha ha I had told myself to leave all my expectations behind a few weeks ago. When we arrived to the home of Angelica her mother sits us down and serves us all “chicken” soup. I wasn’t hungry at all, but I didn’t want to be rude so I started to eat. Before I knew it I had scooped out a chicken heart, the aorta and everything. Ha ha As the people around me where starring at us eat I couldn’t just toss it to the dog. So… I did it. I cut the heart in half and ate it. Yuck. Not the best thing in the world. Oh well ha ha. As we continued to eat, I noticed that some of the meat looked different. It didn’t quite look like chicken. Before I put it in my mouth Rebecca tells me, “Steph, I have guinea pig in my soup.” And then I’m like, “What?!” ha ha I looked at her bowl and she had an entire guinea pig head in her soup. She showed me the brains and everything. I couldn’t help myself from gasping and laughing. I tried really hard not to look disgusted. I didn’t want to offend the family. And before I could say anything else, I saw Rebecca eat the brains and anything else she could. Groose! Ha ha I couldn’t believe it.

Other things we found in our soups:

Chicken feet (Johnathan’s bowl), chicken kidneys (Rebecca’s bowl), and the butt of the guinea pig (Jenessa’s bowl).

It was an eating adventure for sure. Rebecca the food explorer ate it all ha ha. I ate the vegetables, rice, and chicken heart. That was all I could do. We then moved outside to where all the other people where at. We sat and listened to the evangelical band set up their audio. An hour passed and nothing had happened. Then it started to rain so we all moved inside the house and sat. Two hours had passed and nothing yet. We were so tired and we wanted to go home REALLY bad. But we hadn’t seen Angelica and we didn’t want to be rude by leaving. Finally, after sitting for four hours, the ceremony began. It was the longest ceremony I had ever been to. There was a lot of repetition, SUPER loud music, and much more. Then when it came time where everyone could go up front and congratulate her, we went and told her happy birthday and then headed out the door. I was super bummed that we had been there for five hours and I never got to try the cake. Ha ha As we were about to get in the truck the mom comes out and says, “Wait, wait, I have food for you.” So we went inside and waited a little longer. I didn’t mind waiting for some cake. Then she came out of the kitchen and handed us all plates of food; rice and more chicken. She told us that this was the food that everyone was going to eat after the games. Games? How much longer was this party going to last. We thanked her for the food and her hospitality and then left. There was no way we could stay any longer. We were beyond exhausted.

Upset that I didn’t get any cake, all I could do was laugh and get in the truck. I was relieved just to be going back home.

Boy what a long day.

Substitues!

November 2-4, 2010:

We taught! Because Jenessa left to Lima with Hanna and Chris Kusay (I have no idea if that’s how you spell his last name), Rachel and I had to be her substitutes. Wow. What an experience. I am positive that I couldn’t handle doing it any longer. Let’s just say that I am very happy with my position J

There were two different schools we had to teach at. One was at Santa Elvita and let me tell you, I saw some crazy stuff. In a 1 hour period I saw everything. Kids fighting, jumping on you, touching you, screaming, running around, crying, things unthinkable… The ages were from 5-8 and the majority of them were 5-6. At first I thought that they were acting this way because we were the substitutes, but Jenessa later told us that they are almost always like that. Wow, power to you Jenessa.

So at Snt. Elvita we were supposed to teach them their numbers in English, Rachel and I split the class into two groups. We hoped that this would lessen the chaos. It did for about 3 minutes. I taught the 7-8 year olds the numbers 20-30. And Rachel taught the 5-6 the numbers 1-10. It took us an hour to teach them ten numbers. It was a different adventure for sure. We left the school completely exhausted.

We then had to teach Yerbas Buenas. A completely different world. I couldn’t believe it. These kids were so well behaved; we actually loved teaching them. They paid attention, participated, and all around were great students. We also taught them English. In fact, we taught them how to present themselves, how to say goodbye, how to ask and tell time, and 10 different foods. We got some much done!

Overall, this was a completely new adventure for Rachel and I. And there was never a dull moment. Even though some kids made us want to pull our hair out, we just loved the little hugs we received at the end of the day. And it made things better. I really fell in love with several of them. We both learned many new things. Things like:

*Education is a very important thing.

*It’s not as it seems.

*Sometimes you have to be firm, even with the cutest kid.

*If you promise them something, they will NEVER forget

*Kids will be kids

*You just got to love them J

Nueva Tunuya

October 24, 2010:

Sunday clinic in Nueva Tunuya. Last night Rachel and I packed all the meds and equipment and even got to bed at 9 PM! We are doing so much better! We knew the Doc had said he wanted to be out of here by 7 AM, so we wanted to have plenty of sleep and be ready to go.

It was 7 AM and Rachel and I were ready to go. However, our new addition to our family wasn’t ready to go. This new addition that I mention is a 22 year old Toyota van. She/He has many names, but to me she is known as Gordita. After a long push from all of our guys she was ready to do her job; transport the team. We loaded all of our trunks full of meds and gear onto the truck. Some of us went in the truck and the others loaded into Gordita. As I proudly sat inside our new friend, we made our way towards Nueva Tunuya. The ride was pretty smooth considering we were driving through a dirt road.

We finally reach our destination. Janessa and I are sent to make an announcement to the whole town that we have arrived. Through a large intercom our voices are heard announcing to everyone that we are offering free medical and dental care. We tell them to invite their kids, grandparents, friends and neighbors. With the announcement done, we head over the towns clinic and start to set up. Rachel and I unpack our pharmacy in a small, but very clean room. There was a table, chair, and long bench that worked for our benefit. We had been sitting for only five minutes when the patients start lining up with their prescriptions in their hands. We worked from 9AM to 1PM handing meds and giving shots. It was a very fast paced morning but not much excitement. No procedures, no ear cleanings, no surgeries, nothing interesting. We had our lunch break and ate some chicken, rice, and beans. While we ate the ground around us was getting very muddy by the rain that was following. When we finished eating, Rachel and I left with Caleb to grab more meds that we had run out of. The muddy road was an adventure of its own as we made our way home. We quickly grabbed our meds and headed back to Nueva Tunuya. The truck was doing really well and only slid a couple of times. It was actually all Caleb, he was doing such a great job driving and controlling the truck. When we were ten minutes away from the clinic we saw a motor car stuck in the mud. Instead of colliding with him, we decided to squeeze by him on the right side. Unfortunately, we ended up sliding right into a small ditch. This left our truck tilted to the right so that our left tires had very little traction. Caleb tried to move forward: fail. He then tried to put it in reverse: fail. We were stuck and there was no one around to help. So at this point Caleb went looking for some type of wood that he could put under the tires. Unfortunately, that didn’t work either. Finally, after about 20 minutes, a man and his wife came passing by. Thankfully they decided to stop and offer some help.

I jumped into the driver seat while Caleb and the guy started to push the truck. They pushed and pushed: failure once again. After many failed attempts I asked the guy if he could give me a ride to Nueva Tunuya. Without any hesitation he made room for me and we were on our way to the clinic. When I got to the clinic I passed the news to the Doc and I then went in search for a vehicle that could pull the truck out. With the help of the town leader we found an owner of a Toyota truck that was willing to pull us out. As three young guys jumped into the truck I headed back to the pharmacy to help out with the meds. After 30 minutes Rachel and Caleb had returned safe and sound with the truck.

We continued on with the clinic and finished at 6 PM.

At the end of the day Rachel and I visited an elderly lady that was suffering from a bed sore. This 90 year old lady had hardly any muscle left on her body; she was mainly skin and bone. The bedsore was on her back and it was pretty deep all around. There wasn’t much we could do. So we dressed it and left them with material that they could use to continue dressing it. We also told them that it was very important to turn her on different sides frequently.

Around 6:30 we were on the bumpy and muddy road headed home.

It was a fun, adventurous, and great day!

Other things that happened in the past three weeks.

*Rachel and I operated on my wart. We surgically removed it. And it is healing very nicely.

*We had a puppy named Oso. Unfortunately, he was sold and is no longer with us :(

*We also had a monkey for the first week after the robbery. Unfortunately he died and is no longer with us :( R.I.P. Martin the Monkey

Up the river along with pirates

October 4, 2010:

Because yesterday everyone was electing Ucayali’s president, we were unable to by meds and get our transportation for today. So today we will continue to pack and wait. I ended up getting the best birthday surprise ever! We had tostadas, cake, piñata, and dancing. It was such a blast! They even decorated the place. We then had to pack the meds. We didn’t get to bed till 2 AM.

October 9, 2010:

I still can’t believe what happened to us…

Yesterday (October 8, 2010), about noon, we loaded our stuff into the boats and headed out towards home. Hanna, Rachel, Laura, Doc, Shirley, and I were in one boat. The rest of the gang was in the other boat. We were exhausted from the jungle beating (mostly the bites from the insects) yet excited to be going home. All was going smoothly and we had been traveling for about three hours. All of a sudden I heard a big bang! I was sitting in the very front with Hanna right next to me. Rachel was sitting in front of us, near the bow of the boat. When I looked to my left I saw a small metal, grey boat. In this boat I saw four men and one of them was jumping on our boat. The two men I got a good look at had double barrel shot guns. At this point Rachel had jumped towards Hanna and I. With her head down, she grasped onto our legs tightly and began to shake in fear. The one on the boat, who I assume was the leader, began to scream demands at our driver. He demanded that the boat get moved to the shore. He also stared to yell, “No me miren!” (Don’t look at me) At his command I closed my eyes and put my head down. As he continued to yell at us, I held on tightly to Hanna and Rachel, while telling them to close their eyes.

With his gun pointed in our direction, he started asking for money and anything valuable. Afraid to be shot, I kept my eyes closed and raised my arms over my head. I let him feel in my pockets. Of course he found nothing. He searched the other girls and then asked for cell phones. I knew I didn’t have any so I didn’t say anything. Hanna kept telling him, “No tengo nada, no tengo nada!” (I don’t have anything). As he was searching us, there was another guy towards the back of the boat going through our bags and asking for the Doc and Shirley’s money. Everyone forked over what they had.

The guy with the painted face, the head honcho, started to yell questions, like: Where are you coming from? What are you doing here? Do you have guards? Where is the other boat? Are there soldiers on the other boat? I never spoke a word and neither did anyone else except the Doc and his wife (Shirley). Shirley, at this point, was in tears and pleading for our lives. The painted guy would get mad at her and tell her to shut up. He would tell her that they weren’t going to do anything to us.

This whole time, I’m praying HARD. I’m praying for courage, strength, and most of all for our lives. I was telling God that my life was completely surrendered to Him. If it was God’s will for me to go, I would be ok with it. But I would prefer to stay alive and safe. I prayed this for everyone in the boat. As soon as I prayed for strength, I had this powerful feeling come over my body. It’s so hard to put in words, but my heart rate slow downed and I felt calm. “At times God may not calm the storm, but He will calm His child.” I strongly believe in this quote. When I would get a chance I would whisper to Rachel and Hanna, “Be strong, God is with us.” Not one moment did I let go of their hands.

Towards the end I heard one of the guys say, “Come on, lets go.” His voice sounded a little worried. Laura, in the back, saw the guys quickly grab Rachel’s, Hanna’s, and my bag and toss them in their boat. All that I had was in my back pack. Clothes, Bible, journal, water filter, bedding, and more. They were even so low to steal Rachel and my Chaco's. Seriously. Once they had all our stuff they zoomed out. When they had asked if we had soldiers on the other boat, the Doc told them that we had angels in the other boat. I strongly believe that we had angels in both boats. When the robbers saw the other boat they quickly took off without getting near to it. When they were gone I opened my eyes and only embraced my friends tighter. I immediately thanked God for keeping us safe and alive. We cried and only held each other close.

The rest of the trip was full of challenges as well. We encountered a spot were we thought they were ready to attack us for the second time. Down the narrow part of the river we ran into boats that had completely blocked the way. The whole time we were racing against the sun and hoping to get to the dock. We are convinced that the sun had set later than normal. Considering that the thieves also stole our gas, we were in another pickle. When we were nearing the dock our boat ran out of gas. So we decided to pray. When we finished praying for gas, our boat started up again and then took us all the way to the dock. God definitely worked miracles that day.

Exhausted and in shock, we unloaded the boats and headed towards the police station. Shoeless and confused I attempted to gather my thoughts together. At the station Doc filed a complaint and we then headed home. It wasn’t till midnight when we arrived home. This whole time Jenny had been calling and communicating with our parents. We made some ramen (because we hadn’t eaten since breakfast – we were starving) and for the next two hours we were all making phone calls and receiving them. We wanted to make sure to tell our families that we were alive and safe. I didn’t get to bed till 2 AMish.

Now I just continually thank God for my life. This has strengthened my faith, but I hope I don’t have to go through something like that again. My new prayer is that we may be able to get things figured out with insurance, our stolen belongings, and stolen documents. And that God will take fear away from our hearts so that we may continue to serve Him.

The three days of medical campaign in the villages was wonderful. Yeah it was super rough with the conditions, but to see the smiles of the people was worth it. Not only the smiles, but their friendship and hospitality was amazing. Many times we had to ask villagers if we could borrow their kitchen and they never hesitated to share with us. We made so many friends and it was sad to leave them.

They taught me a few phrases of their native language, introduced me to different fruits, showed us where to bathe, and all around helped us with anything we would ask for. I wish to go back into those villages and spend more time with them. The only things keeping me back are the millions of man eating bugs and of course the robbers. Every single one of us has more than 50 bug bites. Not even joking. There were three main bugs that feasted on our blood. There were big water flies, tiny mosquitoes that were quick and hard to kill, and HUGE mosquitoes that were the size of dragonflies. I wish I could post pictures of the week, but the camera with all the pics was stolen L

Today, I went to church and tried my best to not think about what had just happened. If I did, I would break down in tears. After church we went back to the detectives and looked at pictures of different criminals. Then when I got back home I was able to talk to my family and let them know what had happened. It was very relieving to talk to my family and let them know I was ok.

More fires then some rain

October 2, 2010:

SABBATH!!! Yahoo! My beautiful day of rest (so I thought). Today we went to the church of Ivan Sicke, because this will be the place where we’ll be doing our public health teaching. We had Sabbath school, church service, and a wonderful lunch at a friends house. They served us soup, fish, and some yummy fruit juice. We also had to stop by the premature baby’s home to follow up. She looked better, but we still had to give her another shot. It was 4ish when we arrived home. We were welcomed by two massive fires behind our house…

We threw on our fire fighting clothes and went at it. Shirley told us that the fire started up again in the jungle around noon and was too big to put out. So it got out of control and spread like crazy. Bucket after bucket we battled with these fires. My legs, back, and shoulders ached. But I had to go on. I couldn’t let my team down. Between 5pm and 1am we went out four different times to battle fires. We would put one out and think it was completely out. However, some how an ember would catch something on fire and the flames would quickly grow out of control.

This Saturday has been one of the most exhausting Saturdays in my WHOLE entire life. I went to bed exhausted and defeated with body aches. Almost everything behind our house was ash. There was hardly any grass left for our cows to eat.

I can’t believe that we have been fighting fires four nights in a row. I want rest. God please send some rain and finish this.

October 3, 2010:

IT RAINED!!! Yeah, it’s been SUPER windy and chilly, but it’s raining. I’m so ecstatic. God answered our prayers! Today we went shopping for food in Campo Verde and then celebrated our day off in Pucallpa. We went to an internet café and then had pizza at the same pizzeria we tried to go to on Friday. It was such an awesome and relaxing day.

The Doc told us that if the weather is better we might pack up and leave tomorrow. However, if it stays windy and rainy we will have to leave on Tuesday.

Clinics and Fires

September 27, 2010:

So I thought that two weeks ago was my first clinical experience. Nope. That was today. The OFFICIAL clinical day took place in Pucallpa.

Last night we all got together and had a big meeting. In this meeting leaders were chosen, responsibilities were given, and some details were discussed. It was a lot. But when is it never a lot. The same night Rachel and I were up till 1 AM packing up meds and setting things up for this big medical campaign.

At 6 the next morning I was in the kitchen preparing breakfast for the whole crew. We all packed up the truck and headed to Pucallpa. Half of the crew left in taxis to Pucallpa. Meanwhile, the rest of us had an adventure riding in the truck to Pucallpa. Caleb, after learning how to drive stick two weeks ago, drove to Pucallpa. He did such an AWESOME job! I told him to think of it as a video game. The closer we got to Pucallpa, the levels would get harder. Then the boss of the video game was following the Doc on his motorcycle in Pucallpa traffic. However, tonight Caleb battled against the ultimate boss; following the Doc on his motorcycle at night in Pucallpa traffic. Every time I ride with Caleb I have complete trust that he will do a great job. And he always does.

We arrived to an empty house that contained a medium and large room. Both Doctors set up their tables in the medium room and then pharmacy and dental set up in the large room. It was a bit crowded, but bearable. After 30 minutes we had a crowd surrounding outside the building. At first I worked on triage with Hanna. I took many vitals and talked with many patients. I would also then be called here and there to translate. I felt like I was running all over the place for about 5 hours straight. It got a bit tiring. I was working nonstop that I had forgotten my hunger. When 3 pm came around I finally got a chance to take a breath and eat a very late lunch with the whole team. We had some delicious noodles and salad. Immediately after eating my lunch I was back at it.

This time there were more people doing triage so I jumped back in the pharmacy and passed out meds with Rachel. At this point Doc was flying through his patients and Rachel and I were sweating buckets trying to keep up him. Which is almost impossible. The funny thing is that we didn’t notice how soaked we were in sweat until after we had finished. We were so occupied with patients that we didn’t even have time to think about our own bodies.

Even though I feel like we have worked like horses, it was a good day. I met a lot of nice people, saw new things, and I was enjoying my time. Yes, it was crazy at times, but I can see God really working in me. I’m loving this service that we are doing! I just pray that God will continue to provide me with strength and His love. We were told that this particular campaign is two weeks long. So I need a lot of strength J

Oh and I forgot to mention that around 7 AM on Sunday the new doctor arrived. Dr. Shiar, will be joining us for two weeks. He’s really cool and nice. I’m glad he has joined our team momentarily.

September 28, 2010:

Second day. Today went a little smoother compared to yesterday. We showed Anthony how things work in the pharmacy, we found a better way to organize our meds, and we had more supplies. I still ran around here and there; translating, doing triage, and pharmacy.

We headed home a little early to say goodbye to Dr. Dianne and Mary. We had our last soup supper with them and then they were off to the airport. We counted our number of patients and recorded our clinical stats. Once that was done we headed over to the pharmacy to unpack everything, take inventory, and then repack. We finally got to bed at around midnight.

Procedures done today:

Toenail extraction

Ear cleanings

Scraping out puss and infection from an open leg wound. Then dressing it up again.

September 29, 2010:

Day three. As we arrive we see a large line of people waiting to be attended. We quickly unpack and start our day. The same lady with the huge wound on her leg came in and we scraped out more infection and then wrapped it up. Today we finally learned the names of the helpers we’ve been having. Gady is the lady who helps with dental registration. Veronica and Xiomi help with pharmacy. Daniel helps with medical and dental patients.

We were seeing patient after patient. It felt as if it would never slow down or stop. Then all of a sudden the doctor says that we need to speed it up because there is an emergency. A friend from the base had called for help. A fire near our house had gotten out of control and it needed to be stopped before it reached any closer. So, the doctor saw a few more patients and we vamped up the speed. We were trying our hardest to deliver our best service to our patients in such a fast pace.

At 4 PM we were driving towards home. When we got home we all threw on long sleeve shirts, jeans, and bandanas. Then we all jumped in the shower to soak ourselves. We filled a big container of water and headed towards the jungle. In the jungle we found the rest of the locals fighting the fire with water and machetes.

I couldn’t believe it. We were literally jumping in there, dumping water, stomping out fires, and slashing at the flames. We were finally able to put it out after three hours of battling. We went back home, had a small supper of fruits, had a team meeting to discuss improvements, showered, recorded stats, and repacked meds. It wasn’t till 1 AM when I closed my eyes.

Lord continue to provide me with strength. It is only because of you that I’m still standing and breathing.

September 30, 2010:

Day four. Today really felt like it would never end.

Last night in our team meeting we had all agreed to have breakfast at 6:30 and to be out on the road by 7:30. We had to stop leaving at around 9ish, it wasn’t fair to our patients. So, today my day started at 5:30 AM in the kitchen making breakfast. At around 8 AM we were in the clinic ready to go.

I did ear cleanings, gave shots, helped in triage, translated, dressed wounds, and so much more. Thankfully, Anthony had caught on very quick and was a lot of help. I knew that I could stop in the pharmacy and take care of a procedure or translate for someone. I knew that Rachel and Anthony had it all under control. We could be backed up with 20 patients, but they had it under control. Today we saw a premature baby come in who really looked like it wasn’t going to make it. Very sad.

Tired and exhausted we arrived home to find out that another fire had started up again. We put on our crusty, dirty fire clothes and jumped on the tractor. We fought for about 2 hours until we were able to control it. We headed home and showered and got ready for bed. All of a sudden we hear, “fuego!” Out again we go. It took us another 2 hours to battle the flames and put them out.

It wasn’t till midnight-ish that we were finally asleep.

October 1, 2010:

Day five. Our last day in Ivan Sicke. We arrived early and gave it all we had. We saw the same stuff that we had been seeing the past four days. Kids with infections, fungal problems, rashes, colds, and of course bichos (worms). Adults with hurting bones, body aches, headaches, and of course bichos. At 3 pm we decided to have our lunch and pack up the clinic. While we were eating we discussed our next week of clinics as a team. We could either stay in Pucallpa or travel up the river. We calculated the cost of meds, supplies, foods, and transportation. In the end we decided to travel up river and visit different remote villages. I’m so stoked!

When everything was packed in the truck, Rachel, Lauren, Jenessa, Hanna, Caleb, and I decided to shop for a few things in Pucallpa and to eat at a pizzeria. We felt that we had been working really hard and we just wanted to treat ourselves. We got all our shopping done and then headed to the pizzeria. Just as we had ordered I get a call from Shirley (the Doc’s wife). In a frantic voice she tells me that we must head home immediately. A fire has started up again behind the house and the Doc is alone with only one other worker. We no hesitation we cancel our order an fly home. Literally, we were driving so fast, it felt like we were flying. It was almost 7pm when we arrived home and started battling the flames. After an hour we put it out and headed home to have some ramen for supper. Before I could even get a bite of my ramen, I hear, “fuego!” AGAIN. I put my bowl down and headed out AGAIN. It took another hour until it was gone. We went back home, ate my ramen, showered, and went to bed around 11pm.