School Day

During our time in Panama, we’ve had multiple clinical days in different community settings. Among our experiences, we’ve traveled out into the communities on foot, spend days in the clinics, and assisted in a health fair. One of my favorite experiences was our day spent at the school in Alto Caballero. Before we originally left for Panama, we had a group which was in charge of preparing the necessary supplies and activities to teach the children about several health topics. I didn’t get to see all of the hard work of that group until we were discussing the projects and separating the supplies for the following day. The piles were huge! We had a tough time getting transportation to the school the next day, but, by ambulance, we finally made it. I spent most of my time at the handwashing station and did my best to make sense when I explained to them in Spanish how to wash their hands. I picked up the kids who couldn’t climb onto the chair to reach the water bowls and motioned to them how to use friction and rinsing to get their hands clean. I was amazed and shocked at how quickly the water became murky. I suppose the hands of children are always in the dirt regardless of what country they’re in, but the fact that they’re lacking running water in many of the homes and communities makes it difficult for those little hands to ever be clean. As nursing students, we always hear that handwashing is the number one way to prevent the spread of infection, and I think that through our fun activity, we taught some of that importance to the kindergarten classes of Alto Caballero.