The first few days

Internet access was scarce at the Compound between our busy schedules and the fickle internet connectins, so unfortunately most of my blogs won't be fresh in my mind. Now, I would like to look back on our first few days at the Compound when Sarah and I, along with the much appreciated help of all of the Nursing students, were conducting our surveys. At this point we cannot discuss results of the surveys, but the impact of being in the homes in the communities of Soloy, Alto Caballero, and Halto Juli was stunning, and the surveys gave us the opportunity to open up our minds a little to our environment. People here have less belongings and seem much more resourceful than us in the states. The poverty is extreme, malnurishment is apparent in the human and animal population, but the generosity is great. Each house and clinic we entered seemed overjoyed at our presence and even the little help we could offer. Through the language barrier, from English to Spanish to Ngobe and back, I think we all improved on our Spanish speaking skills and learned a lot about the culture, even if only from the facial expressions of both the women during the interview, and all the members of the community as we worked and watched around the communities.