... continued

During our final work week, I once again worked in the clinic, but this time in the morning. I worked with Talia at the front desk, and we helped Katia the secretary check patients in and find their files in the overflowing filing cabinets that are not necessarily in alphabetical order. Each morning when we would arrive at the clinic there would be a line of people outside the door, waiting to get a number. Each morning and each afternoon, the clinic would only give out twenty numbers for people to see the doctor. If there were more than twenty people, the remaining people would have to try again later or try and come back the next day. This was really different than any doctors appointment I've ever experienced and it made me realize how fortunate I am to be able to make a doctors appointment when I need one and go in and get to see a doctor.

Another thing that I got to observe was the way medicine was given. When people were prescribed medicines, they would come to the pharmacy and many times we wouldn't have the medicine they needed. We would make a list of the medicines that we needed but didn't have and one of the Atraves staff would go out later that day and try to get the medicine that we needed. The patients would come back the next day and check to see if we were able to get any. The availability of medicine there is different as well.  When we walked into a pharmacy right by the grocery store one day to get allergy medicine for one of the girls in the group, there were many different medicines that you could buy without having a prescription. Many antibiotics are over the counter and the patient is very involved in treating themselves. The clinic that we helped to run was very different from one I have ever seen in the United States. A group of nurses from Pennsylvania came this week to volunteer and give the kids at the school check ups. They commented how this would not be how checkups and doctors visits would be done in the States, but in my opinion, it is better that they have this clinic than nothing, even though the procedures are not as standardized as the US.

In the afternoon, I got to participate and help lead Kid's Club. Since the kids only go to school until noon, it is something fun and educational for them to do in the afternoon. It is only run when volunteers are there, so it is an exciting thing for the students. This week was international themed, so each day we focused on different countries, including the United States, Zambia, Japan, India, and Spain. We usually did an arts and crafts activity and an activity that involved running around to get out some of their energy and tire them out and then some other activity that fit the theme of the day. The hit on India day was playing cricket, which was all thanks to Vinay, who constructed a cricket bat with one of the guys that worked at the school. They also loved playing soccer on Spain day because they can never get enough soccer and won't stop talking about Barcelona. It was a lot of fun but very tiring to lead the activities and make sure the kids were paying attention and participating. It's hard to keep them focused on one thing for very long, but you never know, they always surprised us with what activities they liked the most. They were always chattering and running around when they weren't supposed to, but on e day, they were coloring Indian designs, and were silent and had to be torn away for the next activity. Overall, it was a really fun week that took a lot of planning and enthusiasm to make a success!