Health Fair

We are back at the villas at the City of Knowledge in Panama City after spending the last week and a half in San Felix. Words cannot describe the amazing opportunities we all had during our stay in the mountains, visting 3 different communities: Alto Cabellero, Soloy, and Hato Juli. It really was a shock to see the kind of poverty that the indigenous Ngobe-Bugle people live in. It was also quite an experience staying in the compound in San Felix where we had no A/C or hot water, and it rained most of the evenings that we were there. Bottles and bottles of bug spray were shared by everyone, and hand sanitizer since soap was hardly available. I really enjoyed being in the communities instead of at the compound, providing help to the natives. I had 2 days of clinicals in Soloy, where I gave immunizations to adults, children, and babies. Then we had a health fair in Alto Caballero where about 400 natives showed up to receive care and checkups. I gave more flu shots and other vaccines in those 7 hours we were there than I have given during the entire 3 semesters I have spent in the hospital for nursing school. Blood pressure and developmental screenings, emergency care, women's health care, and dental care were also available at the health fair. In the OBGYN room I did a Pap smear, which usually only nurse practicioners can perform, so it was a great opportunity for everyone. The language barrier was a bit of an issue that day since I am not familiar with Spanish medical terms. I also struggled with "Cemento" in the emergency room, which is a form of penicillin that basically turns rock hard once it gets into the muscle. My issue was that it became solid in the needle before I could inject it, really tricky stuff.
Until my next blog, which I will probably write when I get home, or during our 6 hour layover in Miami.

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.

Delivery in the Hospital of San Felix

Yesterday was one of the most fabulous days in Panama thus far. I was able to witness my first delivery ever!! It was absolutely incredible to see the beginning of a new life. there were some complications along the way, once the baby entered the birthing canal it was evident that the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck. This was a very scary time and it was wonderful to see that the doctor was able to clamp off the umbilical cord and cut it; and be able to hear the cry of a newborn child. Seeing this first hand had been an experience I did not expect. Incredible .. Now in boquete I am really looking forward towards the activities this weekend.

Christine

ZIP LINING

Today has been an awesome day. The big group kind of split up again today; some people went hiking and what not and a few of us went zip lining. It was absolutely amazing! We drove up into the mountain/ jungle in the bumpiest car ride ever. We went with Boquete Tree Trek which I recommend to any one who wants to zip line. They had 12 different platforms and the guides were really great. The actual zip lining part was really fun, the scenery was beautiful and we ended our little journey at a restaurant; which was great because we were all starving by the end. We are going to the Hot Springs in Caldera later which should be really relaxing. Hands down best weekend in Panama so far.

Boquete

Finally! Got to Boquete today. We've all been super excited about it all week. We are staying at a Hostal, Hostal Villa Verde to be exact, and it is absolutely beautiful. We have an amazing view from each and every room. We saw the volcano on our way in to town which was also cool. Best thing about this place however is WiFi and we all have full size beds. Once we got off the bus, we split up and some of us went into town and got some shopping done. We've met plenty of Americans who live here, or stay here seasonally, which was fun. Some people are going on an 8 1/2 mile hike up to the volcano tonight, way to intense for me but definitely awesome for them. Tomorrow is going to be an awesome day. We were are all really in need of a break, especially after such a busy week. I cannot wait to see what is in store for us on our little "vacation weekend" in Boquete.

Buenos Dias des de el Primer dia de escuela en Soloy!

Buenas! Hoy fue el primer dia en la escuela de Soloy. Hello all, today was the first day in the school of Soloy. I was a little apprehensive towards what we would encounter in the elementary school on this day. Luckily I can now say it has possibly been one of the best clinical days of our trip. I love children and enjoyed being with them an entire day. All the activities that we shared with the children seemed to be very helpful and useful for their well being. It was a lot of fun being able to sing songs with them and teaching the basics of hand washing and tooth brushing. After all the interviewing that we had done it was nice to see so many children enrolled and attending school. As a group we were able to demonstrate how germs were spread using glitter, how to floss teeth using egg cartons and how to brush teeth. We also taught them the song " No more Monkeys Jumping on the Bed!" which they really enjoyed. After an amazing day I say "Good Evening Florida, from San Felix, Panama".
Christine :)

School day

Today we all went to different communities and visited the schools. My group was me, Christine, Josh, Hannah, Meredith, Sophie, and Dr. Cadena. We went to the school in Soloy, which is a rural town. I must say today was one of my favorite days. We went to three different classrooms teaching the 4th and 5th graders how to brush their teeth, floss their teeth, and wash their hands. It was really fun and I feel like the kids really enjoyed themselves. We also joined in a school wide recycling activity. The children were taught that trash is a breeding ground for mosquitos which cause Dengue fever. It was a lot of fun. I made friends with the smallest 9-year-old I have ever seen and we worked together picking up trash. I have noticed that most kids here are very small at least when compared to children in the U.S. I guess the indigenous people are generally smaller in stature and build. All the children were really excited about fighting Dengue by picking up the trash.