I've been coming to Honduras for 14 years, and in all that time I've seen things grow. The fun of being in a developing country is being able to see it "grow up." Two days ago I was in a community that didn't have electricity the last time I was there, but now they do. The hotel we always stay at now has wireless internet and better cable!! The children get bigger every year, but I see the same ones. Friends I met fourteen years ago are still around, and have become really old friends. I know where everything is.
But there's a lot of new. I worked two days ago with a public health team, going door to door and doing surveys about the new less-smoke/less-fuel stoves they had installed. I had never done a door-to-door public health survey like that before. I've been working triage in the clinic the last two days, which I've also never done before. In doing so, I've learned some rural medical complaints, what they mean, and how to say them in medical English.
Volencia=dizziness
rabadilla=lower back
canillas=shins
piquetes=stabbing pains/palpitations of pain
I'm working on improving my medical Spanish, and find myself writing things like "shortness of breath" as a matter of course. But I'm glad I'm in triage, because I can just write "skin spots" for a variety of illnesses!!
The team is a great one. Lots of people have traveled internationally, which makes things much more fun. A lot of them speak solid Spanish, making my job much easier. There is a good emphasis on quality and continuity of health care, which makes me happy. I am not a medical person, which gives me some extra much-needed down time in my day where they are taking care of medical stuff.
After my travels last semester, it is interesting to see Honduras again with new vision. The mountains are still breathtakingly gorgeous, even after the foothills of the Himalayas. The poverty still leaves me struggling for answers and frustrated with the lack of solutions. It is so nice to be able to understand everything around me with ease.
I've also continued learning the importance of one step at a time. Continue to pray for energy while I'm taking this step, and wisdom for the future!!
