The doctor was in...

It’s been a few days since I’ve had an opportunity to blog. We’ve been experiencing power outages again – today’s lasted six hours…puts a bit of a crimp in daily life. I suppose it would be different if we knew the power was going to go out, when it was going to go out and how long it would be out…but that’s too much to hope for here. We will go several weeks with somewhat consistent power and then all of a sudden, we are without…sometimes for a short period, sometimes up to 8 hours or so. It makes it impossible to plan activities like laundry, ironing and blogging! We are still experiencing periodic water outages as well, but thankfully, that doesn’t hinder the blogging activities!

Saturday, we helped our friends, Roger and Rhonda Euceda, with the monthly medical clinic in Jinotepe. Rhonda had called a few days before and told us that they had been told they could no longer hold the medical clinic in the building where they have been meeting for months. It seems that some of the area’s representatives of the political party in power here in Nicaragua had taken exception with missionaries providing medical care to the community. The reason given was that Roger and Rhonda charge for the services…the nominal fee of approx. $1 for adults and 50 cents for children goes to pay the doctor and help cover the costs of the medicines…which it never does…and no one is denied services, ever. But that evidently is immaterial. It is also interesting to note that this same building is where Minsa, the government health care organization, is holding its weekly clinics.

The political gurus had a community meeting (without inviting Roger and Rhonda) to tell the people that the “gringos” could no longer hold the clinic. They obviously didn’t count on the people wanting the “gringo” clinic. I don’t know that any of us could have expected the response that came about…after all, who would give up free medical care twice a week and free medicines and replace it with our clinic where they see a doctor once a month and pay for that privilege? That community! They came to the defense of the “gringo” clinic and told the political representatives that they themselves would find a place for the clinic to be held. This is a huge thing…these poor people speaking out and against the local powers that be.

Now before I go any further with this, I need to explain that the building where we were meeting is an old World Vision building and they had already given their permission months and months ago for our medical clinic to be held there. In a more perfect world, the politicians would have absolutely no say over the use of that building as it is a privately owned entity…news flash…this is Nicaragua and as beautiful as it is, it is far from perfect and there is no point in arguing against the current regime. My favorite phrase is very appropriate for things such as this…it is what it is.

To add another twist to the situation, Saturday was a big day for the Sandanistas and they were having a huge rally and parade walking in support of the current government. They were going to be going down one of the major highways here in Managua and although we were going to be traveling a different road, we were going to be going right in to a town that is very supportive of the president of this country…a president who is not too terribly fond of our own government in the States. Unfortunately, there is as much type-casting that goes on here as there is in our own country. So, to some folks here, our light skin means we are our government. This all just meant that we wanted to be cautious and aware on Saturday. We were and there were no problems at all. What there was, was an amazing outpouring of God’s care and provision.

Every month, we all pile in to Roger and Rhonda’s van – Roger, Rhonda, their two small children, Susanna, the doctor, Jim and me. The back is loaded to the max with the plastic totes filled with the meds and necessities for the day. The road out to the community is a rutted, rough dirt road on good days…Saturday it was a muddy mire. There were a few times that we weren’t quite sure we would make it through the mud, but with Rhonda holding her mouth just right and Roger’s perseverance, we made it. To me, it was just another affirmation that God wanted us to be there that day, in spite of the opposition.

Not quite sure where we were going to actually have the clinic, we ended up having it at the new school building the Japanese government had funded for that community. We were supposed to meet in the old building…the one where the roof leaks and there’s not much ventilation…but the lady who had the keys, didn’t have the keys for the old building…only the new one. So, we set up shop in two classrooms with the waiting room and pharmacy in one room and the doctor’s office in the other.

The World Vision building was hot and stuffy with only two benches inside for the patients. There isn’t much of an area for the kids to play. The school had lots of desks, windows on both sides of the rooms where we had great cross ventilation and of course, the schoolyard, where the kids could run off some energy. Jim and I had taken a couple of soccer balls and some Frisbees so the kids had something they could play with outside…the soccer balls especially were a hit…I don’t think they really know how to do the Frisbee thing very well so they weren’t too interested in those. The doctor, having a totally separate area of her own, was able to conduct much more thorough exams than previously. Our doctor this time was actually the wife of the doctor we’ve been using the last few months. She had taken some time off after having her baby and this was her first month back at our clinic. Getting “kicked out” of the World Vision building wasn’t such a bad deal, after all. The old place was good…but God provided something better.

It was kind of slow initially and we weren’t sure how many people would actually come and support the clinic…and we really couldn’t blame them if they didn’t. Intimidation can appear in many forms and I think it is sometimes even more effective in a smaller communal-type setting. But it didn’t take long and the people came – and came – and came! We saw over 50 patients Saturday – in a 6 hour period. The majority of them were children with lots of colds and respiratory problems. All the rain plus smoke-filled houses from the open cooking fires, are not good for little lungs. It was interesting to note that the only man we saw all day was a gentleman who is 80 years old and is very spry for his age…I guess he’s living proof that hard work never hurt anyone.

We learned that Minsa had not held their clinic all that week…that could also account for the large number of patients that day. But regardless the reason, they were there and many of them begged Roger and Rhonda to not give up doing the clinic. They gave hugs and kisses and expressed their gratitude over and over. As a matter of fact, there were about 3 or 4 women there who had walked over an hour to get there. One carried her child almost the entire way…the little one was about a year old and was really sick. They were from an area further out in the country which also desperately needs medical care. Another lady walked over 2 hours from that same direction to get to the clinic…she was 87 years old…and her blood pressure was sky high. Susanna put her at the head of the line and no one complained.

Thankfully, Susanna comes equipped each month with the most basic of equipment – a blood pressure cuff, a stethoscope, a digital thermometer and of course, the dreaded scale. It’s not at all the type you are used to seeing in the doctor’s office there…it’s nothing more than an old style bathroom scale but it’s more accurate than the carnival method of guessing one’s weight so it’s put to good use at every clinic. Many of the children are scared to stand on it so Susanna weighs the moms with and then without their children…and what is so funny is that even as petite as most of these women are, they give the very same reaction when seeing that weight dial on the scale settle as do the women in the States…a gasp, a look of disbelief, followed by laughter and a shaking of the head. Some things are just universal and a woman’s unhappiness with her weight seems to fall in that category.

There were a few women there whom I am sure would be reporting back to their husbands or the community leaders how the clinic went. But there could be no denying that the majority of the people there were very appreciative that the gringo clinic was held on schedule. There was even one woman who had already seen the doctor but kept waiting around. Finally, after everyone else had been seen, she came up to us and handed us two slips of paper. She had been given two prescriptions two weeks before at the Minsa clinic since they didn’t have the medicines to fill them. She didn’t have a way in to town and she didn’t have the money to get the prescriptions filled. She held on to them in hopes that we would be there and that perhaps we could fill them for her. She had waited until everyone else had gotten their medicines before approaching us with these scripts. Of course, we filled them for her…and one was for nothing more than ibuprofen and the other was an antibiotic. This woman’s infection had been able to get an additional 2-week foothold due to the fact she had no means to get her medicines – not even something as basic as ibuprofen. Rhonda did not charge her any more since she had already gotten her other prescriptions just a little bit earlier.

One more story about one of the ladies who were at the clinic. There was another elderly lady who had come earlier but said she was too tired and couldn’t wait to be seen. So, since we drive right by her house on our way back in to town, Rhonda told her we would stop by and check on her. So we did. Roger, Rhonda and the doctor made their house call while the rest of us sat in the van…oh yeah, we had an additional 3 passengers that we had picked up along the way who were walking in to town. We didn’t have to wait too terribly long until the visit was over and they all were getting back in to the van. Rhonda handed a small plastic bag with two eggs in it to the doctor. It was the woman’s payment for the doctor’s visit and her medicines. It was received graciously…but unfortunately, a few minutes later, half the payment rolled out of the bag, hit the floor and broke! Talk about seeing your nest egg disappear before your eyes!

The sun had been out all day and the mud had dried up. It was back to a bumpy, rut-filled road but no one complained. We made one more stop…to pick up an older man who was also walking in to town and we all got a lot cozier the last few miles…again, no one complained. Besides being packed in so tightly keeps you from bouncing around so much…and it probably saved the last egg!

God got us there that day in spite of the roads. He provided an even better location for us to work out of and a more comfortable location for the patients. He saw to it that the kids had something to keep them busy and a place to play. He encouraged Roger and Rhonda through the people who came. He stretched our antibiotic supply so that we had exactly enough to meet the needs and the same with the children’s vitamins. He brought in enough money so that the doctor was paid and more medicines can be purchased. There was also enough that Roger was able to pay the lady with the school keys some money for sweeping up after the clinic. She was thrilled. It helped us and it helped her. God gave us dry roads to travel on the way home. The Master of time and space orchestrated both so that we were able to give rides to 4 folks who would have otherwise had very long walks ahead of them. And on top of it all, He gave us a safe journey home without incidence in our travels in either direction.

Clinic days are long days but they are one of the most rewarding things we do and we always look forward to them. We are thankful that God allowed us to do yet another one and we are praying He will continue to open the doors of opportunity in that community. Next blog I’ll go back to telling more about our week in Rio Blanco…but I just couldn’t let God’s provision, His protection and His plan regarding the clinic go unheralded. Until next time.